Capital proposition: fifteen years on, Ottawa's Opera Lyra looks set to grow again...

Conductor Bernard Labadie, in grey sweatshirt and slacks, is in the pit, the National Arts Centre Orchestra is in mufti and roughly 40 singers in full costume are arrayed across the stage against a lavish opera set. Backstage, other singers in full make-up pace the dressing-room corridor, and stagehands trade jokes as they sort out trays of glasses, lighted candelabras and the placing of a harp for an off-stage aria.

Anybody involved in opera production will recognize this as the first dress--in this case, of Opera Lyra's most recent production, La Traviata, presented in March at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The opera, starring soprano Lyne Fortin, tenor Raoul Hernandez and bass Gaetan Laperriere, opened two nights later to rave reviews. The full run, helped by those reviews, exceeded the most optimistic estimates, with an average 97% occupancy in the 2,300-seat house. Not bad for a company that, something over a decade ago, had its office in a basement storeroom under a downtown restaurant. Not bad in a city where sophisticated music-lovers can get their opera kicks via a short journey to Montreal or a longer one to Toronto or New York, and who habitually take a wait-and-see attitude before committing to tickets in their home town.

The wave of enthusiasm that fuelled this latest production is all part of a larger groundswell that sees this company launched on a new, upward trajectory. Working closely with the new guard at the NAC, opera in Ottawa these days seems fair-set to rekindle dreams of the former days of glory when the NAC ran its celebrated summer opera festival. That time, when government largesse flowed freely, saw some of the finest artists in the world creating opera on NAC stages. It all stopped on a black day in 1983, when then NAC director general Donald MacSween cancelled opera at the NAC on the grounds that it could no longer be afforded.

Those halcyon days may never be recaptured in quite the same way. However, the fact that some of opera's finest artists in the world are now Canadian, along with the parallel fact that this time, opera has its roots firmly planted in Ottawa's soil and is not so dependent on the whims of government, make it possible to start thinking opera in the capital could one day rescale the heights. For that to happen, though, a new partnership will have to be forged between the civic Opera Lyra and the national Arts Centre. And for it to work, this relationship, which is currently in its early stages, will require a continuous, on-going, delicate balancing and sharing of energies.

When the National Arts Centre cut its opera festival in 1983, audiences had already feasted for more than 10 years on lavish productions featuring some of the world's leading singers. When the cuts came, a handful of passionate opera-lovers, led by then budding soprano Diana Gilchrist, determined they could not let the art form die in their city. Starting small, with two chamber operas presented for less than $30,000, the group slowly gained momentum, moving into the theatre at the National Arts Centre in 1985 (after a technically disastrous production of Cosi fan Tutte in a hall at Carleton University almost sank the company). Marlene Bogert, later to become general manager, and an early and staunch supporter, remembers that "things were so bad, the Ontario Arts Council took away our grant."

Arriving at the Arts Centre meant turning a corner for the company, and within two years, it had hired Jeannette Aster as artistic director. With a middle-level international career, Aster took on Opera Lyra because of her belief in Canadian talent. She felt, with cause, that Canada badly needed some solid, mid-size companies to provide Canadian artists with experience and a step up to major international houses. Overall, in her 10 years with the company, Aster made solid progress in moving the company toward that goal.

Nevertheless, she found relations with the NAC difficult. For example, the logistics of booking the Centre were continuously problematic. Even though the Centre might not have bookings of its own, it sometimes gave less than a year's lead time in providing dates for opera productions, and those dates were often bad, falling immediately after Labour Day or during the March school break, when many people were away. There was also a seemingly pervasive attitude at the NAC that "we're the Arts Centre and you're not" that often put the opera company on the defensive.

Still, Opera Lyra continued to make modest gains until a disastrous production of Faust in 1997 upset the financial apple cart. While the company limped through the next 18 months, it was concluded fresh leadership was needed. It was decided to seek a new general director, combining the jobs of artistic and administrative leadership, and Aster's time with the company came to an end.

At the same time, the NAC was experiencing its own leadership problems, and John Cripton was brought in as the new director. While Cripton's faults are well documented, less well known were his positive efforts to root the Arts Centre in the community. Recognizing the need for opera at the NAC but the inability of the NAC budget to pay for it, he embraced Opera Lyra, including sharing a financial gift to the Centre with the opera company in the form of a joint fundraising event held in the winter of 1998. The Merry Widow In Concert featured ABC news anchor and native Ottawan Peter Jennings in his operatic debut as Njegus the Narrator, along with a star-studded cast of Canadian singers, all of whom, along with the NAC Orchestra, donated their talents. The fundraising concept has led to an annual, midwinter joint fundraiser, co-produced by the two organizations. Known as The Black and White Opera Soiree, it raises nearly $150,000 a year for the cause of opera and music at the NAC.

The quest for a new general director for Opera Lyra turned up a dark-horse winner from western Canada. Tyrone Paterson, now 38, is a product of the music program at the University of Calgary. He acquired a solid grounding in Calgary with 12 years at Calgary Opera, in jobs ranging from driving the tour van and changing the sets to preparing the opera chorus, artistic administration and finally, as the company's resident conductor. His inside-out learning of the profession, combined with a growing reputation as an opera conductor (including gigs conducting for Opera Lyra), made him a good choice for the company, which hired him in November 1998.

Despite the fact that previous conducting engagements kept him out of Ottawa for most of his first year, Paterson began to act swiftly on plans to move Opera Lyra forward. While La Traviata was already planned for the winter of 2000, there was a gaping hole in the Fall of 1999. Using his wide-ranging contacts in the opera community, Paterson was able to plug it with a respectable production of Les Pecheurs de Perles, staged by Edmonton's Michael Cavanagh and featuring Kathleen Brett and Theodore Baerg in an opera that was being seen for the first time in Ottawa.

Since then, things have barrelled ahead at breakneck speed. Paterson rolled up his sleeves to straighten out the confusion in the Opera Lyra office, while at the same time, he worked swiftly to articulate a new artistic vision for the company, to, as he put it, "raise the quality, increase the number of operas, use the best Canadians." The audience response has been hugely positive, with a surge in subscriptions and attendance, as well as an increase in all-important corporate financial support for the company.

One of his initial challenges, Paterson says, was learning to function in a bilingual community. Fully 40% of Opera Lyra audiences are francophones, which means, for example, that such things as opera surtitles must appear in both languages, an automatic production cost of $20,000 to $25,000 for each new opera. It also meant the new general director had to learn to address his bilingual public in both languages, a skill Paterson is rapidly acquiring.

Among the most important items on his agenda was to establish new and better relations with the National Arts Centre, which had acquired a new music director, Pinchas Zukerman, and last September appointed the practical and tough-minded Peter Herrndorf as its new director general. Here, the personable yet confident and strong-willed Paterson has made marked progress. Already dates have been improved for the 2000-2001 season, and on-going talks are underway for future projects. Among them is how to co-ordinate with Zukerman, who wants opera to be an integral part of the NAC music program. Christopher Deacon, manager of the NAC Orchestra, points out that the principle of "how repertoire is prepared and performed will have a fundamental effect on the end results." Zukerman, he says, is interested in introducing the opera company's activities "more seamlessly" into the orchestra's work, instead of its present role as a hired gun. Zukerman has indicated he would like to conduct an Opera Lyra production, something Paterson says the company is enthusiastic about, given the right conditions.

There are also possibilities of other partnerships. Both directors share a common desire to present work of the highest artistic quality at the Centre. Deacon confirms that Zukerman's ideas about opera at the NAC are predicated on the assumption "that Opera Lyra is a strong and healthy partner." In short, all NAC planning assumes an Opera Lyra that is a going concern. The leadership of both organizations have spent considerable time this past spring hammering out how this can be made to work in practice, and there seems to be a strong will on the part of both organizations to build on each other's strengths. Opera Lyra has access to one of the country's finest orchestras, best opera halls and solid production skills backstage. But the relationship is not just a one-way street. While the NAC offers Opera Lyra superb facilities, Opera Lyra in turn puts serious money back into NAC coffers: close to $400,000 in direct revenues last year. It also provides access to close to $300,000 in grants that are not available to the NAC. Above all, it ensures regular opera is a given on the NAC roster. For Paterson, this winning combination, coupled with "such a rich choice of Canadian talent," offers enormous potential. If the public can be persuaded to back it, then, Paterson says enthusiastically, "There is no limit to what this company can do."

Opera Lyra's dedication to Canadian artists has helped mark the company. Carrol Anne Curry, managing director of Dean Artists, which manages many of the country's top operatic artists, believes Opera Lyra to be one of the key companies that has formed "the base of the pyramid" that has helped foster the current extraordinary flowering of Canadian talent. Emerging Canadian artists have often had their first big chance with companies such as Opera Lyra, she says, and established international artists have been able to try out things where "the spotlight is not too bright." She cites the example of Joanne Kolomyjec, who did her first Tosca for Opera Lyra, a role she has now made her own, or John Avey, whose casting as Scarpia in the same production was "a great leap of faith for the company." Vienna-based tenor John Mac Master, who will sing in Il Trovatore next year, is another example. Then there is the case of Richard Margison, who was a relative unknown when he sang the lead role in La Boheme for Opera Lyra, an opportunity he has not forgotten and which he has repaid many times by donating his talent for benefit concerts and other events for the company.

This has been an important year for Opera Lyra's fortunes. With the National Arts Centre seemingly on the right track for the first time in decades, and Ottawa audiences pouring in for productions of music, opera and theatre, there is a positive feeling in the air. The critical element is whether this upsurge can be translated into substantial private support to replace the long-gone government subsidies. A newly appointed advisory council at Opera Lyra, which includes the first director of the NAC, opera buff Hamilton Southam, high-tech venture capitalist and NAC benefactor Michael Potter and Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills, suggests Opera Lyra is getting the imprimatur it requires to capture the attention of would-be philanthropists. If the powers-that-be can work out the thorny business of getting along together, then the sky could indeed be the limit for opera in this city.