Alexa Frankian / Reviews

After Blanche, perhaps the most complex role is Mme Lidoine. It’s not flashy and it’s psychologically extremely complex. Portraying that is a challenge and it’s well met by Alexa Frankian. One thing the ladies all have in common is that while their music isn’t flashy it isn’t easy either and doing justice to it and to the character development is demanding. They all rise to it.

Another pivotal personage in this opera is Madame Lidoine, the New Prioress, here taken by budding spinto soprano Alexa Frankian. Lidoine arguably has the most beautiful music to sing, her last act aria, “Mes filles, voilà que s’achève” an absolute highlight. Frankian has the vocal chops to do it justice.

I attended the first of two evenings of GGS Chamber. A total of four short pieces showcasing eight singers altogether, some appearing in more than one work, all commissioned by Tapestry Opera between 2002 and 2009. The operas take place in such unusual settings “as an ice rink, a sock drawer, a park, and a hardware store.” Three amusing pieces plus one frighteningly dark piece, a bit of an incongruous pairing, to be honest. These short, rather unconventional pieces allow the students to explore the dramatic possibilities within each mini-drama. Of the four works "Ice Time" was the most enjoyable. The music by composer Chan Ka Nin — of Iron Road and Dragon’s Tale fame — is tonal and accessible. It also featured two of the best voices of the evening, with top vocal honours to soprano Emma Pennell as the reluctant figure skater. Also very fine was soprano Alexa Frankian as the Coach and Mother. While billed as a comedy, I find the piece quite thought-provoking.

The Glenn Gould School’s Fall Chamber Opera offering this year was four short pieces from Tapestry Opera’s back catalogue. First up was Ice Time by Ka Nin Chan and Mark Brownell. It’s the story of a has been ice skater and her futile attempts to get her daughter, who wants to be a civil engineer, to follow in her footsteps (or icy equivalent). The music is in much the same vein as other works by this composer such as Dragon’s Tale. It’s a pretty light hearted piece and it got a lively and credible account from Emma Pennell as the daughter and Alexa Frankian as the mother. As with the other pieces direction was by Dana Fradkin with accompaniment by chamber ensemble conducted by Peter Tiefenbach.

"Alexa Frankian makes the most of the Older Woman; who you can take as hilarious or rather pathetic as you choose. She manages both."

"It can’t be easy for a young artist to play an older woman, but Alexa Frankian was entirely convincing — and I mean that in a good way."