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As an old form of art in a new country, opera came to Canada relatively late. Although the first composition can be traced back to the seventeenth century it was not until 150 years later that Canadian opera caught up. Canadian opera became especially fashionable on Canada’s 1967 Centennial year. These celebrations set off an interest in operas among Canadian composers that was never seen before. This interest in opera, among composers and audience alike, is noticeable until today. However, most Canadian works in the realm of opera are not known internationally since many of them specifically concern Canadian themes and are small in scale. Canadian operas are typically influenced by the history of the country. Many deal with First Nations and immigration themes or concern specific historical events and figures. Canada’s diversity is thus very much reflected by the operatic works of its composers. == Early Canadian Opera == The first opera written on Canadian soil was Joseph Quesnel’s ''Colas et Colinette''. Written in 1788 and first performed in 1790 in Montreal, it was again produced in Quebec in 1805. The comedic opera in three acts is written in a manner that clearly shows the composer’s French heritage. The characters are “stock characters” that were often found in French comedies such as Molière’s and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s.〔Helmut Kallmann, A History of Music in Canada 1534–1914 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), 65.〕 The similarities between the characters but also the plots may be due to the fact, that the plays as well as operas show the morals of French society at the time. From the musical part of ''Colas et Colinette'', only the vocal and second-violin parts are preserved. It contains many arias and duets that differ and vary to show the contrasting characters. The opera ends with a vaudeville finale before the closing chorus – a common practice at the time. In 1963 Godfrey Ridout reconstructed the musical parts of ''Colas et Colinette''. He also composed an overture for the work that he based on the themes of the opera. Since the piece was first composed as an afterpiece, there was no overture included. The reconstructed version was first staged in 1963 at the Ten Centuries Concerts in Toronto and broadcast on television by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1968.〔Elaine Keillor, Music in Canada: Capturing Landscape and Diversity (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006), 90-91.〕 Even though it is regarded the first Canadian opera, ''Colas et Colinette'' is in its tradition still closer to France than to Canada. Joseph Quesnel also wrote a second opera, ''Lucas et Cécile''. A notice on its production can be found in 1808 while an actual performance of it is not certain.〔Keillor, Music in Canada, 91.〕 Of this work, only the vocal parts were preserved. Five singers are employed in the twelve solo numbers, two duets, two trios and one finale.〔Kallmann, Music in Canada, 65.〕 The opera was reconstructed by John Beckwith in 1989 and staged by Tafelmusik in Toronto in 1994 and later in Montreal.〔Keillor, Music in Canada, 91.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Opera in Canada」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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