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Toronto –Spectacular party scenes, gorgeous period costumes, and show-stopping arias bring 1850s Paris to lavish life in Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. The production marks the first in-person opera performances hosted at the Canadian Opera Company’s downtown opera house since the beginning of the pandemic. La Traviata runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 23, May 1, 3, 7, 12, 18, and 20, 2022.

Violetta Valéry is a celebrated Parisian courtesan and captivating hostess whose famous parties attract the city’s most glamorous residents. She’s also slowly dying and knows she doesn’t have long left but handsome young Alfredo makes a persuasive case for taking a chance on true love. Their romances is short-lived, however, as Violetta is soon forced to choose between her own happiness and that of her great love.

Award-winning costumes and puppetry by Cait O’Connor, combined with sets by Riccardo Hernandez and dramatic lighting by Marcus Doshi brings audiences along on a rollercoaster of experiences and emotion, plummeting from exuberance and glamour to passionate despair. Choreographer Austin McCormick adds visual punch through lively dance scenes that mesmerize with swirling ballgowns.

Director Arin Arbus returns at the helm of this deeply moving COC production. For Arbus, many of the opera’s underlying themes remain, unfortunately, universally relevant: “La Traviata scandalized society when it was originally performed,” she says. “It is a deeply drawn psychological portrait of a woman struggling to survive in a moneyed, stratified patriarchy. And that, unfortunately, remains an important story” (Macleans).

Egyptian-born soprano Amina Edris is one of the most exciting up-and-coming voices on today’s operatic stage; she brings her “fiery vocal ornamentation” (Washington Post) to her COC debut in the role of Violetta Valéry, opposite renowned American tenor Matthew Polenzani also making a company debut as Alfredo. As Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, Italian baritone Simone Piazzola makes his debut on COC’s mainstage, while Canadian baritone Gregory Dahl (last seen at the COC in 2018 in the world premiere of Hadrian) takes on the role of Baron Duphol. A number of COC Ensemble Studio artists complete the cast in featured roles: sopranos Jamie Groote and Midori Marsh as Flora Bervoix and Annina respectively, baritone Jonah Spungin as Marquis d’Obigny, and bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian as Dr. Grenvil.

COC Music Director Johannes Debus makes a long-awaited return to the podium, conducting the COC Orchestra through one of Verdi’s most popular works. Price Family Chorus Master Sandra Horst leads the COC Chorus through several energetic ensemble arias that includes “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici,” the iconic, celebratory drinking song featured in everything from The Godfather to the 1945 classic film, The Lost Weekend.

La Traviata is sung in Italian and presented by the COC with English SURTITLES™

Cast and Creative Team

Violetta Valéry	Amina Edris
Alfredo Germont	Matthew Polenzani
Giorgio Germont	Simone Piazzola
Flora Bervoix	Jamie Groote
Marquis d’Obigny	Jonah Spungin
Baron Duphol	Gregory Dahl
Annina	Midori Marsh
Dr. Grenvil	Vartan Gabrielian
Conductor	Johannes Debus
Director	Arin Arbus
Set Designer	Riccardo Hernandez
Costume & Puppet Designer	Cait O'Connor
Lighting Designer	Marcus Doshi
Choreographer	Austin McCormick
Associate Choreographer	Laura Carless
Price Family Chorus Master	Sandra Horst

With the COC Orchestra and COC Chorus


TICKET INFORMATION

Single tickets for La Traviata range from $35 – $250 for adults, with Grand Ring seats available at $290 and $350, and $22 tickets available for guests between the ages of 16 and 29 through the COC’s Opera Under 30 program. Tickets can be purchased online at coc.ca or by calling the Four Seasons Centre Box Office at 416-363-8231. For more information on booking student groups, standing room, and rush tickets, as well as other specially priced tickets available to young people under the age of 15, please visit coc.ca.

A SAFE RETURN
For the most up-to-date information regarding current health and safety protocols, please visit coc.ca/SafeReturn.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Season Sponsor: BMO Financial Group

Production of La Traviata underwritten in part by:
The Estate of Hellen Allen Stacey

Production Sponsor for La Traviata: CIBC

Thank you to the entire COC community, including our COC Board of Directors, our Corporate Sponsors and Foundation Supporters, generous public funders, union partners, and — most critically — our audience. Your inspiring support ensures that opera flourishes, uniting global audiences and paving the way for a vibrant future.


ABOUT THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY
Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. General Director Perryn Leech joined the company in 2021, forming a leadership team with Music Director Johannes Debus and Deputy General Director Christie Darville. The COC enjoys a loyal audience, including a dedicated base of subscribers, and has an international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation. Its diverse repertoire includes new commissions and productions, local and international collaborations with leading opera companies and festivals, and attracts the world’s foremost Canadian and international artists. The company is an incubator for the future of the art form, nurturing Canada’s new wave of opera performers and creators with customized training and support. The COC’s purpose-built opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, is hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world. For more information, visit coc.ca. 

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For more information, please contact:
Avril Sequeira, Director of Public Relations, email: [email protected]
Davin Leivonen-Fok, Communications Coordinator, email: [email protected]