Reviews

  • Music by Kye Marshall for a small ensemble evoked the ancient world through modal melody and the almost mandatory devices of harp, flute, oboe and English horn, with cellos adding elements of drama (and smartly imitating a swarm of bees unleashed on poor Marcus). After intermission, the sounds naturally became urban, with keyboard and saxophone in the mix. Nevertheless, the texture remained through-composed and lyrical. In both acts, the love of Cassia/Cass and Suli/Suzie is portrayed as forbidden. Their quest to express that love freely animates the narrative. Still, Pomegranate remains stubbornly universal in its message. Which is to say, it is a successful opera.

    Arthur Kaptanis, Ludwig van Toronto (June 2019)

  • Pomegranate, an opera about lesbian love and loss, is intriguing and appealing, (with) a plot line that shifts between ancient Pompeii as Vesuvius erupts and a lesbian bar in 1981 in the explosive aftermath of the Toronto Police bathhouse raids. Pomegranate is the first full-scale new work mounted by the COC since Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian in 2018.

    Wayne Gooding, Opera Canada (June 2023)

  • The production was excellent in every way, beginning with the costumes in the first act … so well integrated … how sophisticated the lighting and design, revealing in an instant a rich array of colour like a graphic tapestry. Not to mention the sense of trompe l'oeil with the stage floor ... from that moment on, the opera won me over. Reference to the (1981) police raids of the bathhouses in Toronto … made the opera not only contemporary and local but socially and politically significant. How thoroughly absorbed I was; Pomegranate makes opera relevant to today’s social reality in a vivid and compelling way, and I believe it will be influential.

    Vincenzo Pietropaolo, audience member

  • What a triumph! Judging by the huge standing ovation … we'll have MANY more chances to see Pomegranate evolving! Great staging, brilliant music, gorgeous set and lighting --- And what a cast -- Amazing! Seeing our Toronto queer history brought to life with such wit and passion and utterly gorgeous, aching music -- Pomegranate was an unforgettable night for me, full of tears and laughter and shivers of recognition.

    John Greyson, audience member