Here is a selection of my photographs from the recent dress rehearsal of the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Siegfried. This is the third of four operas that make up Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The production opens this Saturday and runs through February 14 at the Four Seasons Centre. Visually it’s very rich. It’sdetailed during the first two acts, and somewhat more sparse, though still dramatic, in the final act. A wonderful cast and orchestra make for terrific production, and the audience responded enthusiastically. It’s also a long production, clocking in a little over four hours not including a little less than an hour of intermissions.
I found it challenging to photograph. The set is very dark, with most performers dressed in white. The lighting was stark at times, so a lot of my post production work involved bringing up the background, toning down the highlights and de-emphasizing the grain that results from shooting at high ISO. A lot of the images were made at very slow exposure times. Quite a few blurred images never made it past my initial review. As it was, I ended up with 400 – about twice the usual amount. Since nothing leaves here without some level of post processing that was about twice as much work as the usual production.
Click on any of the images below to see larger versions and/or run a slideshow of them all.
All images © 2016 Chris Hutcheson.
