Queen of Puddings: New Opera with a Canadian Intercultural Flavour
All of Portugal is familiar with the tragic tale of Inês de Castro, a Spanish noblewoman, and her legendary and fatal romance with the Prince of Portugal. But what of Inês de Toronto? The medieval romance has been updated and relocated to 1960s Toronto in the new chamber opera, INÊS, by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre (Toronto), with the support of the Canada Council.
Queen of Puddings Music Theatre is firmly rooted in the multicultural fabric of Toronto, combining the voices of opera singers with those trained in the classical repertoires of their cultures. Queen of Puddings has explored the history of slavery in Nova Scotia (Beatrice Chancy - The Opera) and has staged an Irish epic poem (The Midnight Court Opera). It now now turns to a Portuguese musical tradition, the fado.
With music by James Rolfe and libretto by British librettist Paul Bentley, INÊS will feature the fadista Catarina Cardeal - a well-known figure in the local Portuguese community - along with four opera singers.
Freely inspired by the original medieval tale, INÊS integrates modern elements such as Portugal's colonial war with Angola, the dictatorship of Salazar, and Portuguese immigration to Toronto in the 1960s. The team consulted the Portuguese community and professors at the University of Toronto to find this story that is rooted in the Portuguese cultural heritage but has universal appeal. For Dáirine Ní Mheadhra, co-artistic director, “it is important for the Portuguese community to recognize itself in this opera in order for it to succeed."
This programming comes at an opportune moment, since there is currently “a huge appetite for art forms that are concerned with cultural integration.”