ARGOSY
Mount Allison’s
Independent Student Newspaper
THE February 21, 2013
Going for Baroque since 1872
Badminton champs
Vol. 142 Iss. 17
Mounties qualify four players for CCAA nationals Robert Murray Sports Editor
With a streak of four straight Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) championships and large representation at nationals, the Mount Allison Badminton team were looking to put the finishing touches on another perfect season. They accomplished their goal to a certain degree this past weekend, winning their fifth straight ACAA banner and qualifying four players for Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national championships at the end of February. On Saturday, the Mounties squashed their competition in a fashion unparalleled to their three regular season tournament victories. With five categories in play, the maximum amount of points a team could earn was fifty. The Mounties brushed off some close games to sweep five categories and bring home the banner. In men’s singles play, Feng Li lost only a single set during his three matches, defeating his three opponents from the Dalhousie Agricultural College (DAL AC) Rams, Université SainteAnne (USA) Dragons and University of Kings College (UKC) Blue Devils. Li’s only set loss came in the opening match against USA’s Lucien Bernard, but Li quickly recovered, winning the last two sets with identical 21-9 scores. Rookie Gillian Tetlow of Port Williams, NS also lost a single set, but got past the rest of her competition in order to claim the women’s singles crown. “It’s great to have people who are older to help step you up and make you want to play better, make you want to win for them,” she commented. The doubles sections were the strongest component of Mt. A’s team going into the tournament and it showed. The men’s doubles team of fourth-year Eric Freeman and firstyear Nathan Dix captured the men’s doubles section with three straight victories. In women’s doubles another veteran and rookie combination paid off as Carrie Drake and Kristyn Visser steamrolled their opponents. They didn’t relinquish a single set all day and limited their opponents to fifteen points or fewer in each set. The mixed doubles team of Greg McGuire and Margaret Arsenault came together for the first time in tournament play all year and cruised to victory in three straight sets. “It all came together
Kirsten LeBlanc of the Mount Allison Opera Ensemble wowed the audience on Monday evening. (Kory d’Entremont/Argosy)
Opera performance delights Mt.A
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
The Mount Allison Opera Ensemble was proud to present “From Baroque to Britten,” exploring opera from the sixteenth and seventeenth century periods as well as the critically-acclaimed work of Benjamin Britten. It was a performance that explored the art of opera. The group of students, made up of dancers, singers, and musicians, delivered a powerful performance that was clearly framed by extensive practice and measured effort. The Mount Allison Opera Ensemble is organized by Helen Pridmore, who coordinates the group and selects pieces for them to work on. For this year, a few different pieces were performed. “I would describe them as interesting,
but a little more obscure pieces,” says Pridmore. A scene from the Italian play L’Ormindo, as well as one from the French play Les fêtes d’Hébé were performed. To honour the mood of the plays, a harpsichord was used for the music in each scene. What followed in the scenes was a beautiful display of opera balanced with singing and acting. In particular, Les fêtes d’Hébé featured an intricate and beautiful ballet segment. The combination of clear, powerful, and acousticallybalanced singing with the dancing, harpsichord, and costume design by the students really brought life to the Baroque period in each scene. “The students didn’t have a large budget for this project, so they had to design their own sets and costumes,” says Pridmore. “I think it was useful for them to learn how to budget a production like this, and they did a really good job.” In addition to the scenes from the Baroque time period, the ensemble performed scenes from the works of Benjamin Britten. This year marks the one-hundredth anniversary of Britten’s birth. Britten was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He managed to make it to the international scene as an English opera
writer and established himself as one of the leading twentieth century composers of his genre. Scenes from Britten’s Shakespearean opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream and his play Albert Herring, were performed. Garnet and Gold aided in the production of Albert Herring, which pokes fun at British aristocracy in the 1800s. Like the first half of the performance, the scenes from Britten’s work were delivered with clarity and precision. Albert Herring was particularly playful and excited laughter from the audience. There was a sense of interested nostalgia to see a Shakespearean play represented so well to an audience familiar with its content. The performance was brought to a higher level by the ensemble singing; the many layers of opera happening at once created a fantastic experience. The opera ensemble did an amazing job with their performance of “From Baroque to Britten.” The acting, dancing, singing, and organization were wonderful and really brought these original operas to life. Overall, the experience was testimony of the amazing talent here at Mt. A and the impressive dedication of our faculty.
News
Features
Centrefold
Entertainment
Pg. 2
“From Baroque to Britten” inspires appreciation of opera John Fraser
Arts & Literature Writer
Pg. 8
Pg. 12
Pg. 17