The Canadian Opera Company has announced its 2022-2023 season, launching on October 7 with Wagner’s brooding The Flying Dutchman.
“This season, we’re excited to present opera across many scales,” says COC General Director Perryn Leech in a media release. “Opera can be subtle and intimate, and it can be huge, powerful, and overwhelming. It lives and breathes in both fantastic traditional theatres and exciting non-traditional performance spaces. This season is all about embracing opera’s full breadth of experience and emotion, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the Canadian Opera Company Theatre, and anywhere where the human voice can be heard and stories told.”
“This is my first full season of live opera as General Director,” continues Leech. “But we certainly will not be leaving behind the digital technology that propelled us through the last two years. We look forward to exploring new opportunities in that creative realm, and will be looking to complement our on-stage productions with high-quality recordings and streams, opening up this fantastic art form to a wider community.”
The season will include some familiar favourites as well as new productions in the first full in-person season since 2019. Here’s a quick look at what’s on offer.
The 2022/2023 Season
The Flying Dutchman (Richard Wagner) | Oct. 7 – 23, 2022
A visually striking production of Wagner’s tale of a ghost ship by director Christopher Alden, with Danish bass-baritone Johan Reuter as The Dutchman, and American soprano Marjorie Owens as Senta.
Carmen (Georges Bizet) | Oct. 14 – Nov. 4, 2022
American mezzo J’Nai Bridges stars as the fiery Carmen in Bizet’s crowd-pleasing opera about soldiers, smugglers, and superstar bullfighters. Bridges makes her COC debut in the role. Directed by Joel Ivany, with Juno-nominated Lebanese-Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury sharing the role of Micaëla, and Argentine tenor Marcelo Puente as Don José.
The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) | Jan. 27-Feb. 18, 2023
Just in time for Valentine’s, Mozart’s story about wise women, and servants who finally gain the upper hand features the return of COC Ensemble Studio grad Gordon Bintner as The Count in Claus Guth’s acclaimed production. Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni is Figaro, with British soprano Louise Alder performing Susanna.
Salome (Richard Strauss) | Feb. 3-24, 2023
Strauss’ modernist score tells the story of a dance, a kiss, and an execution, directed by Atom Egoyan, with Ensemble Studio graduate Ambur Braid (fresh from success in Frankfurt) in the title role. Renowned Canadian tenor Michael Schade will play King Herod.
Macbeth (Giuseppe Verdi) | Apr. 28-May 20, 2023
Verdi’s music brings Shakespeare’s dark story about ambition, power, and murder to life. The brand new COC production by Sir David McVicar stars Quinn Kelsey and Sondra Radvanovsky. Radvanovsky and Sir McVicar previously collaborated on the COC’s Rusalka in 2019. Italian conductor Speranza Scappucci returns to Toronto to lead the orchestra.
Tosca (Giacomo Puccini) | May 5-27, 2023
The Puccini favourite stars Moldovan soprano (and rising opera star) Olga Busuioc as Tosca, with Italian tenor Stefano La Colla in the role of her lover Cavaradossi. British baritone Roland Wood plays the evil Scarpia, with Scottish opera director Paul Curran, and Italian conductor Giuliano Carella directing the musical score.
Pomegranate (Kye Marshall / Amanda Hale) | Jun. 2-4, 2023
The subject is love in a story that shifts from Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. to Italy in 1977 to a Toronto lesbian bar in 1981. The chamber opera is directed by Jennifer Tarver, with Rosemary Thomson conducting, and Price Family Chorus Master Sandra Horst leading the COC Chorus.
*Note: Pomegranate is not included with subscription packages, with tickets going on sale in September. This production will be presented at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre (227 Front St. E.).
All other productions are presented at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (145 Queen St. W.) COC members can get tickets as of September 1, and they go on sale to the general public on September 2, 2022.
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