The Met's 1952 performances in Canada were given at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens (where a production of Carmen with Risë Stevens established an attendance record - 11,352 - for opera indoors) and at the Montreal Forum. The Met as such did not perform again in Canada until 1952. The orchestra, chorus, and ballet were borrowed from the New York house. Jeanette MacDonald (who never sang at the Met) and Armand Tokatyan sang the title roles, Pinza was Frère Laurent, and there were other Met singers in the cast along with three Canadians: Lionel Daunais (Mercutio), Jeanne Desjardins (Gertrude), and Gérard Gélinas (Gregorio). In the same category was a production of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette that Pelletier conducted in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, and Windsor in May 1943. Although these performances used the Metropolitan's singers, chorus, and ballet, they were not officially Metropolitan Opera performances. In 1945 performances of Lakmé, Manon, Carmen, Faust, La Traviata, and La Bohème were given in Toronto's Massey Hall and in Quebec City's Capitol Theatre as well as in Montreal under France-Film auspices. Jean-Marie Beaudet was a guest conductor in 19. In 1945 Desjardins appeared in Manon, Faust, and Lakmé. In 1944 Pelléas et Mélisande was one of seven operas offered. Canadians were included again in 1943 in Boris Godunov: Desjardins (The Innkeeper), Anna Malenfant (Marina), and Gérard Gélinas (Lovitzky). Met singers included Moore, Steber, Sayão, Jepson, Martini, Peerce, Tibbett, Thomas, and Pinza. Canadians who appeared with the troupe were Rose Comète-Morin, Paul-Émile Corbeil, Jeanne Desjardins, Dolorès Drolet, Marcelle Monette, and David Rochette.Ī season in September 1942 offered 10 operas including Charpentier's Louise and Massenet's Thaïs, but was under France-Film's sole sponsorship, with Pelletier as artistic director. These were Tourel's first performances in Montreal she sang the title roles in Mignon and Carmen. Leading Met singers included Bampton, Martinelli, Warren, and Jennie Tourel. The Met technical staff and scenery were used but the orchestra was that of the Montreal Festivals. In September 1941, the Montreal-based France-Film, leading French film distributor in Canada and owner of the St-Denis Theatre, joined forces with the Montreal Festivals to present at that theatre "Metropolitan Opera au Saint-Denis," seven performances using singers from the company and a number of Canadians for supporting roles, a chorus of 40, and 16 dancers all from the New York house, with Wilfrid Pelletier and Jean Morel as conductors, Désiré Defrère as stage director, and Fausto Cleva as chorus master. Singers included Sybil Sanderson, Emma Eames, and Marcel Journet.įour operas were offered in Montreal in 1911: Aida with Louise Homer, Emmy Destinn, and Antonio Scotti under Arturo Toscanini Madama Butterfly with Geraldine Farrar Tannhäuser with Olive Fremstad, Alma Gluck, and Leo Slezak and Faust with Jeanne Maubourg as Siebel. The Met returned to Toronto and Montreal in 1901 with Lohengrin, Romeo and Juliet, Faust, Manon, Carmen, and Tannhäuser. The cast included Marcella Sembrich, Giuseppe Campanari, Emma Calvé, Pol Plançon, and Édouard de Reszke. This illustrious and venerable (founded 1883) New York company has influenced the development of opera in Canada through its tours, broadcasts, and talent-development programs.Īfter an appearance in Toronto ( at the Pavilion, in excerpts from Rossini's Semiramide) by Adelina Patti supported by Metropolitan Opera soloists and orchestra (about 20 instrumentalists) under Luigi Arditi, and after four concerts in Montreal (1896 at Windsor Hall) by the Metropolitan orchestra under Anton Seidl, the Metropolitan as a company gave its first season in Canada in 1899 performing La Traviata, Carmen, Faust, Romeo and Juliet, and The Barber of Seville at the Toronto Grand Opera House and Montreal's Her Majesty's Theatre.