The Canadian Opera Company unveiled its 2011/2012 season today at a press conference at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The company’s 62nd season will be its most innovative and captivating yet, featuring seven operas, including one double bill, no fewer than four COC premieres – two being performed for the first time in Canada – and three new productions. The COC presents the Canadian premieres of the 21st-century opera Love from Afar by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho and the 20th-century opera A Florentine Tragedy, by Alexander Zemlinsky; Gluck’s Iphigenia in Tauris will see its COC premiere as will Semele, the first Handel opera to be performed at the Four Seasons Centre, in a staging that features an actual Ming Dynasty ancestral temple; a new production of Rigoletto; the long-awaited returns of Gianni Schicchi and The Tales of Hoffmann; and, an operatic favourite, Tosca.
View the Digital Brochure!
Iphigenia in Tauris
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)
COC Premiere
Susan Graham leads a dream cast. Russell Braun and Joseph Kaiser join Susan Graham, the world's leading Iphigenia, as she makes her much-anticipated COC debut.
Photos from the 2006 Lyric Opera of Chicago production
Download
Iphigenia in Tauris. Susan Graham (centre) as Iphigenia in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production, 2006. Photo: Dan Rest
Susan Graham (centre) as Iphigenia in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production, 2006. Photo: Dan Rest
A scene from the Lyric Opera of Chicago production, 2006. Photo: Robert Kusel
Susan Graham (centre) as Iphigenia in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production, 2006. Photo: Robert Kusel
Rigoletto
New Production (Co-production with English National Opera)
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Verdi's consummate heartbreaker. Rigoletto is an operatic tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions brought to life by some of Verdi's most passionate, heartbreaking melodies including the celebrated tenor area "La donna è mobile." This new production is led by the innovative creative team of Johannes Debus, Christopher Alden and Michael Levine.
Costume sketches by Michael Levine
Preliminary sketch of Rigoletto by Michael Levine, set and costume designer for Rigoletto.
Preliminary sketch of Gilda.
Preliminary sketch of The Duke.
Preliminary sketch of Sparafucile.
Preliminary sketch of Maddalena.
Tosca
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Adrianne Pieczonka is Puccini's Prima Donna. The return of our lavish production brings the chapels, palaces, and fortresses of Rome to life, and showcases the phenomenal Adrianne Pieczonka as Tosca.
Photos from the 2008 Canadian Opera Company production
Eszter Sümegi as Tosca and Mikhail Agafonov as Mario Cavaradossi. Photo: © Michael Cooper 2008.
Eszter Sümegi in the title role in the COC’s production of Tosca, 2008. Photo: © Michael Cooper 2008.
(l — r) Robert Pomakov as the Sacristan and Mikhail Agafonov as Mario Cavaradossi. Photo: © Michael Cooper 2008.
Alan Opie as Scarpia and Eszter Sümegi as Tosca. Photo: © Michael Cooper 2008.
Alan Opie as Scarpia (centre, ground) and Eszter Sümegi as Tosca. Photo: © Michael Cooper 2008.
(l — r) Alan Opie as Scarpia, John Kriter as Spoletta, Robert Pomakov as the Sacristan, and Jon-Paul Décosse as Sciarrone. Photo: © Michael Cooper 2008.
A scene from the COC’s production of Tosca, 2008. Photo: Gary Beechey © 2008.
Love from Afar
Kaija Saariaho (1952- )
Canadian Premiere
New Production (Co-production with English National Opera and Vlaamse Opera)
Cirque meets Saariaho. Daniele Finzi Pasca, best known for his work with Cirque du Soleil, brings his signature style to this visually arresting production featuring an all-Canadian cast.
Video trailer from the 2009 ENO production
Photos from the 2010 Vlaamse Opera production
Acrobats: The COC presents Love from Afar. Phillip Addis (right, on swing) as Jaufré Rudel and Rachel Harnisch (below) as Clémence in the Vlaamse Opera production, 2010.
Phillip Addis as Jaufré Rudel and Kathérine Rohrer as The Pilgrim in the Vlaamse Opera production, 2010.
Rachel Harnisch as Clémence and Phillip Addis as Jaufré Rudel in the Vlaamse Opera production, 2010.
Rachel Harnisch as Clémence in the Vlaamse Opera production, 2010.
Rachel Harnisch (centre) as Clémence in a scene from the Vlaamse Opera production, 2010.
All photos of the Vlaamse Opera production © Annemie Augustijns, 2010.
The Tales of Hoffmann
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
Fantastical fables, magical melodies. This richly melodic work was Offenbach's final masterpiece, a wondrous journey through the mind of the Gothic-Romantic E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Photos from the 2000 Vlaamse Opera production
The COC presents The Tales of Hoffmann. A scene from the Vlaamse Opera production, 2000.
A scene from the Vlaamse Opera production, 2000.
Gerard Powers as Hoffman in the Vlaamse Opera production, 2000.
Stephanie Houtzeel as Nicklausse in a scene from the Vlaamse Opera production, 2000.
All photos of the Vlaamse Opera production © Kurt Van der Elst, 2000.
A Florentine Tragedy / Gianni Schicchi
Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942) / Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
New Production
A Wilde and witty double bill. Sir Andrew Davis conducts, and opera legend Catherine Malfitano directs these one-act gems.
Semele
Feast your eyes and ears. One of today's most acclaimed visual artists, Zhang Huan, blends a baroque aesthetic with the splendour of China in a production the New York Times called "scenically stunning, theatrically absorbing, musically rewarding" and "a feast for the eyes." Using an actual Ming Dynasty ancestral temple as his canvas, Huan paints astonishing and playful stage pictures for Handel's most sensuous opera.
Photos from the 2009 Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie production
The COC presents Semele. Jeremy Ovenden as Jupiter and Ying Huang as Semele in a scene from the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie production, 2009.
A scene from the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie production, 2009.
All photos of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie production © Forster, 2009.
Tweet
Posted by Cecily Carver / in Season Announcement / comments (0) / permalink