The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday O cto b e r 17, 2001 - C l v H O O P E R 'S UK "lAKXSTGROWBOFBBUNGP Flor Essence special $ * | | 9 5 500/7 7 / 1 0 1 1 U p p e r M i d d le R o a d E a s t " lip p m * O a k v illtt S h o p p i n g C e n t r a '* .t - i i j j j r g j r a Arts & Entertainment Oakville Beatw A & E Editor: Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Ext. 254); Fax: 337-5567: E-mail: baldwin@haltonsearch.com F e a tu m g : GARDEN cn M m UM v i nS j Ic id eP a n s ie s ·M yF a vo u riteM u m ·F a ll B u lb sa n dm u c hm o re PLANTS FOR THE FALL SEASON 3 $Q99 F O R 5SS8 Trafalgar Road (905) 8 7 8 -0 7 2 2 La Traviata Local singer inadvertently stumbled into opera life B y C a r o l B a ld w in ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR B o W isser answered the door in a tux, white ruffled shirt and black bow tie, No, he's not the doorman. He was dressed in the costume that he wears on stage when he plays Flora's servant in Verdi's La Traviata with Opera Mississauga. The large man with the deep voice is relative ly new to the opera scene. Once a computer and communications specialist, the Oakville resident almost stumbled into singing. "I've always sung but never opera," he says, explaining that, about 15 years ago, he sang with an amateur group that staged musicals. "One pro duction, Showboat, I sang Old Man R iver ...the transposed version, which is lower than the stan dard version...A nd there was a gentleman in the audience - a professional singer, came up and asked if I'd taken any schooling. And I hadn't. So, he gave me a name at the Royal Conservato ry (of Music)." Wisser took that m an's implied advice; did some work with a voice coach at the Conservato ry and began auditioning for more professional shows. His first audition led to his discovery of the Toronto Opera Repertoire, which he soon got involved with. "There I was allowed to do a number of major roles in various operas...T hey also taught me lighting and staging," says the 58-year-old second-bass, who really w asn't an opera buff until he began auditioning for parts. However, he was partial to classical music and became a member o f the Oakville Choral Society when he and his wife moved to Oakville. But, Wisser maintains that he never would have gotten involved with auditions and professional compa nies if it hadn't been for the man in the audience that fateful night. Now he enjoys singing and listening to opera, which he likens to musicals - the only difference being the classical music and the foreign lan guage. "It's acting with an orchestra, costumes, and a storyline. It's a big difference from doing choral work. There's memorizing lines and stag ing, and you have to sing at the same time. Show boat could have been called an opera," says the Swedish native who also speaks German and a bit o f French. But he prefers to sing in the "more melodic" Italian. "Opera is a musical. They just decided to call them (other musical performanc es) musicals to get people out, because they thought opera was too stuffy. A lot of singers sing both. It's just a matter of classification." His claim to fame in La Traviata, he says, is two bars of music announcing that dinner is ready. However, he is part of the opera chorus as well. "Those (minor) roles are hard, because you have to come on (stage), timing-wise, right on, versus getting on, singing a big piece and then getting off," he explains, noting that he then has to unobtrusively blend back into the chorus after his short appearances as the servant. "I have a quick change in the w in g ...I'm on four times as the servant, and all relatively quick changes...There are eight people from the chorus singing minor roles." W isser says he feels privileged to sing with an opera company that has such acoustically sound facilities, just moments away, for rehearsals and performances. "We have our own chorus rehearsal room. We have a break-out room. We have a full staging room. Free parking - heated...The acoustics are outstanding," he says of the Living Arts Centre (LAC). Adding to the attraction this time round is lyric-coloratura soprano Silvia Dalla Benetta, who had returned to Opera Mississauga, by pop ular demand, to play the beautiful heroine, Vio letta. This opera is said to be among the most tune ful and engaging of any of Verdi's works. It fol lows the tradition of Grand Opera, which focuses on a dramatic contemporary story set in Paris about 1850 with popular melodies and wonderful vocal numbers. La Traviata will continue at 8 p.m. in The Liv ing Arts Centre, Mississauga, Oct. 18 and 20. For tickets, call the LAC box office at 905306-6000. Photo by Barrie Erskine Oakville singer Bo W isser is playing Flora's servant in Opera M ississauga's presentation of La Traviata, which is on stage at the Living Arts Centre tomorrow and Saturday at 8 p.m. $W I$$ R O T I S S E R I E G R I L L FRIDAY, October 19, 2001 S iO Q fcM , 11:00 R M , Come and See the Prestigious G r e y C u p and Meet Hall of Famer Granville Liggins Upper Oakville Plaza 1011 Upper Middle Rd. D o n Y m s s th e f u n