Opera Lyra Tickets

This was an unforgettable experience for my wife and me! This was our first time to an opera, and although the bar has been set very high, we will definitely be back to experience more opera at the NAC. we were also fortunate enough to get tickets to the opening show - so the atmosphere was great. Carmen is a must see!

Well staged and executed. The chorus performed extremely well - you are left with wanting to hear more of them in several of the scenes. The principle performers executed their roles very well. Carmen, Don José and Micaela were able to emote and engage the audience. Micaela's moments on stage were too few. A beautiful, mesmerizing voice. Equally wonderful was Don José's voice and acting as he deteriorated due to his passion for Carmen. Overall a very entertaining night at the NAC. A job well done by all.

It was a most enjoyable evening. Performances were fantastic I particularly enjoyed don Jose he was absolutely wonderful. I fell in love with him!

Carmen surely has to have up-tempo, dazzling music and performances. Where was the pizazz ? Where the excitement ? The overture seemed to have lead boots and was followed by more rather colorless, pedestrian orchestration throughout. The childrens' chorus were the one high spot of the whole evening. They were well rehearsed and sang remarkably well. The principal soprano Lara Ciekiewicz as Micaela was enthusiastically received and quite outshone the Italian diva Alessandra Volpe in the title role. Corey Crider as Escamillo and Don Jose sung by David Pomeroy were both competent and pleasing. Overall the evening was long and rather underwhelming.

The actors in this opera were superb and it made for a lovely evening.

It was an amazingly well performed opera! The singing was so good that there were no lulls in the quality of the music. The orchestra also played amazingly well. This was my first time at an Opera Lyra production, but based on that performance, it most certainly will not be my last. Lyubov Petrova deserves an especially big kudos for her performance! Edgardo's farewell to Lucia had me crying like a baby. I also loved the props! Only thing I would have changed is to remove the markings on the floor....

The performence of Lyubov Petrova and Marc Hervieux was just WOW.

Our first opera experience. Fantastic show! Such talented singers/actors! Bravo!

i've been to operas and plays before at the NAC and i've always been impressed. mind you they were not local productions........ for the price i paid, i was expecting more and it did not deliver. many times i could not hear the signers because the orchestra was to loud and they did not wear microphones. i felt there was no emotion or acting; it was just a bunch of people standing around signing. i also wonder if people could understand the italian...... i think my expectations where to high but i will not go see the local theatre again. i go to be impressed and see a good show, not simply to support local theatre. i also didn't really like the fact that on top of paying $250 for tickets to the show, they asked for donations before the production started. not again.

I am a big fan and I love Opera Lyra’s productions but this Turandot left me wanting. The staging of it looked at times like a collegiate production. Shadows of squirming women are hardly original and cheapened the context of the scene. Act III’s lack of any set decor was pitiful; I didn’t pay $132.00 for a rehearsal. Tenor Margison’s voice lacked conviction starting in act I but finally shined for the famous Nessun Dorma. No doubt he did a great job at it, but it would have been nice if he had kept it going, we weren’t so lucky. Lori Phillips (Turandot) was the stronger voice, the power and quality of her voice gave me goose bumps, I wanted to applaud on several occasions but the score kept cutting in, it’s almost as if Puccini did it on purpose. But it is Shu-Ying Li (Liù) that got showered with well deserved Bravo’s at curtain call for the sweet quality of her singing. What a treat that was. Is Opera Lyra’s new mandate of Canadian talent only to blame for all this unevenness? I am not sure, but I did catch myself thinking that this was not up to par with Lyra’s usual high standard of performances past. To be noted, the NAC Orchestra played with amazing quality. I am always amazed at the sound these guys and gals can produce. This being all said, Turandot remains a recommended act. It is Puccini in 3 acts all of which have a big bang finish with chills up your spine, a bit like the quality/price ratio; not a fair deal on this one. For 100 dollars more I get a seat at the Metropolitan Opera, get a weekend out of it and actually see a production with actual staging and actual sets. Opera Lyra needs to be wary of its new concept; For Opera fans, it’s not about where the talent comes from; it’s about the voices, not our respective nationalistic beliefs.

I enjoyed it. It is always a treat to see these performances.

My teenager daughter and I had a wonderful evening. Turandot was just amazing!!! All singers were incredibly good! We have fallen under the Opera spells! Thanks to Turandot, Opera is going to become our girl's night out!

I have to say that though I love the NAC I wish there was a better venue to watch operas in this city (this being the capital city and all). Coming from Europe where the opera houses are so much more grandiose and seem somehow worthy of hosting such beautiful operas as Turandot, it is hard to get use to the lack of such grandiose places here. But that is just a personal feeling. Nonetheless, I truly appreciate the quaint and comfortable feeling you get when watching any performance at the NAC. And though I'd say I had an average time I still had an lovely evening and would still recommend this opera and this venue to friends. As for the performance itself it was wonderful and I think Puccini could rest assured that his opera was in good hands. The only other thing lacking for me was the stage design. It seemed far too minimal. A warm thanks to the NAC and to the performers for a lovely evening.

It was an excellent event - very good voices, costumes, and performance overall! In my opinion it was the best production of the Opera Lira company. I enjoyed the every moment of this opera.

Turandot was a delight of very good opera singers, a complex yet interesting decor and an overall very professional rendition of Puccini's opera. Opera Lyra should be pround of this performance.

Opera Lyra has once again assembled a star-studded line-up for the first opera of the 2010/2011 season. Overall, the orchestra and cast did a marvelous job, but we found the acting to be a little flat for the context. Some emphasis on range would certainly help to bring out the full potential of this otherwise first rate production. Unfortunately, Opera Lyra may have priced their tickets a bit high for this date, as one could not help but notice the stockpile of empty seats. They have attempted to rectify this by offering last minute discounts to the dismay to those loyal supporters who purchased well in advance. Still, who among us can resist this Puccini masterpiece ?

Saw Opera Lyra's Turandot at Ottawa's NAC on it's openning night. The singers were all superb, but very disappointing sets. Where are the grand asian architectures and the vivid colours? the epic costumes? Sitting at the balcony, we couldn't even see the emperor because he was too high up, how can they not think of that? Very poorly conceived. But again the singing was superb.