Opera Atelier, the premiere Baroque opera company in Canada — and in the world — just announced its 2017-18 season, and it’s a good one!  OA is bringing back a perennial favourite, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, paired with Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, the latter celebrating the 450^th anniversary of Monteverdi’s birth.

The Mozart masterpiece is one of the most frequently performed opera in the world. A search of the most recent statistics of operas performed in the past five seasons, Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) ranks 8^th out of a total of 2,658 operatic works performed worldwide in terms of the number of performances (2,483) — how’s that for popularity!  The cast is a strong one, including an important OA debut of American bass-baritone Douglas Williams in the title role. Mr. Williams is a fast-rising star on the operatic firmament, with a rich and robust baritone, matched by model-handsome appearance. You can get a preview of his voice here, singing “Non piu andrai” from Nozze.

The rest of the stellar cast are all OA favourites and well known to Canadian audiences – Mireille Asselin (Susanna), Stephen Hegedus (Count), Peggy Kriha Dye (Countess), Mireille Lebel (Cherubino), Laura Pudwell (Marcellina), Gustav Andreassen (Bartolo), Christopher Enns (Basilio/Don Curzio), and Olivier Laquerre (Antonio).  This is a revival of the production with set design by Gerard Gauci, directed by Marshall Pynkoski and choreographed by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg. It features the Artists of Atelier Ballet and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra conducted by David Fallis. It is sung in English with English surtitles, and runs from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4

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Joseph So

Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent University and Associate Editor of Opera Canada.He is also a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His interest in music journalism focuses on voice, opera as well as symphonic and piano repertoires. He appears regularly as a panel member of the Big COC Podcast.He has co-edited a book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance, published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).

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The OA Spring presentation is Claudio Monteverdi’s masterpiece, The Return of Ulysses (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria). This is Monteverdi’s third most popular opera, after L’incoronazione di Poppea and L’orfeo. First performed in 1639-40, it was considered musically modern and progressive in its time. Since the middle of the 20^th century, this work has earned a rightful place in the standard repertoire. It’s drawn from Homer’s Odyssey.  Croatian dramatic tenor Krešimer Špicer, a frequent OA guest artist, returns in the title role. He is joined by Mireille Lebel (Penelope), Carla Huhtanen (Fortuna/Melanto), Christopher Enns (Telemaco), Isaiah Bell (Eurimaco), Aaron Sheehan (Eumete), Douglas Williams (Suitor), Kevin Skelton (Jupiter), Michael Taylor (Suitor), Laura Pudwell (Nurse), Stephen Hegedus (Neptune), and Meghan Lindsay (Minerva). The production runs from April 19 to 28. The opera is sung in Italian with English surtitles. All performances at the Elgin Theatre.

For details, go to operaatelier.com

For more CLASSICAL MUSIC NEWS, visit HERE.

#LUDWIGVAN

• Author
• Recent Posts

Joseph So

Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent University and Associate Editor of Opera Canada.He is also a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His interest in music journalism focuses on voice, opera as well as symphonic and piano repertoires. He appears regularly as a panel member of the Big COC Podcast.He has co-edited a book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance, published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).

Latest posts by Joseph So (see all)

• SCRUTINY | Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Opens Season With Deeply Moving Brahms Requiem - November 10, 2025
• PREVIEW| A Critic’s Pick Of The Met Opera Live In HD 2025-26 Season - September 29, 2025
• SCRUTINY | Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute 2025 Concert A Deeply Moving Experience - August 20, 2025