The Canadian Opera Company announced its 2023/2024 season today featuring a slate of exciting new productions and rare musical gems that showcase the most celebrated of international stars, as well as incredible homegrown talent—the lineup features five new-to-Toronto productions, including rarely performed Medea, and a world premiere opera based on Canadian contralto Portia White Toronto.
“The Canadian Opera Company is a beacon for the very best in operatic storytelling and experience,” says COC General Director Perryn Leech. “In creating this season, we collaborated extensively with creators and companies from all over the world to share new programming with our audiences. Throughout 2023/2024, we can explore familiar and less familiar repertoire through innovative and thought-provoking new productions and also hear the most thrilling singing to be heard anywhere. It is a heady mix.”
“We are proud to continue the creation and presentation of contemporary opera,” continues Leech. “As part of our ongoing commitment to introducing distinctive new voices and reaching a wider audience, we are honoured to present the world premiere of Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera For Portia White at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre in summer of 2024.”
For complete cast and creative team information, please visit coc.ca/2324.
FULL 23/24 SEASON ▼
Fidelio by Ludwig Van Beethoven
September 29, October 1, 7, 12, 14, 18, and 20, 2023
Sung in German with English SURTITLESTM
A production from San Francisco Opera
The Canadian Opera Company launches its season with Beethoven’s only opera, a work unseen at the COC in nearly 15 years. Finnish soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä stars as Leonore, a woman who has disguised herself as a man named Fidelio in order to save her husband from being imprisoned for his revolutionary political views. American tenor Clay Hilley sings the role of the prisoner Florestan, and rising Canadian soprano and Ensemble Studio graduate Anna-Sophie Neher is Marzelline, the daughter of the prison guard Rocco. American director Matthew Ozawa transports the storyline to a modern-day prison facility, creating a powerful reminder of the continued conflict between corruption and tyranny, and justice and freedom. COC Music Director Johannes Debus conducts the master composer’s triumphant musical score.
La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini
October 6, 8, 11, 13, 19, 21, 22, and 28, 2023
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
A Canadian Opera Company co-production with Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera
The irresistibly charming production by Tony Award-winning director John Caird returns this fall, inviting audiences on a whirlwind of youthful pleasure and ill-fated romance. Set against the blustery winter streets of 19th century Paris, the opera follows a band of struggling artists on a quest for love and purpose. Real-life husband and wife, tenor Pene Pati and soprano Amina Edris, play the poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimì who captures his heart; this is Pati’s COC debut and a return to Toronto for Edris, whose portrayal of Violetta in the COC’s La Traviata last spring earned her the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance. Two performances of Rodolfo will be sung by Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang, and a vibrant cast of fresh voices round out the cast, including baritone Joo Won Kang as Marcello, current Ensemble Studio soprano Charlotte Siegel as Musetta, Congolese bass Blaise Malaba as Colline, and Canadian baritone Justin Welsh as Schaunard. Magnetic Canadian maestro Jordan de Souza makes his COC debut, conducting one of Puccini’s most achingly beautiful operas.
The Cunning Little Vixen by Leoš Janáček
January 26, 28, February 3, 8, 10, 14, and 16, 2024
Sung in Czech with English SURTITLESTM
A production from English National Opera
In a poignant and topical exploration of humans’ relationship with nature led by English director Jamie Manton, The Cunning Little Vixen tells the tale of a chance encounter that forever changes the lives of everyone involved. In this new-to-Toronto production, Canadian soprano Jane Archibald steps into the role of Sharp Ears, a clever fox who narrowly escapes a local forester that captures and attempts to domesticate her, sung by British baritone Christopher Purves. Janáček’s lush score has not been presented at the COC since 1998, and COC Music Director Johannes Debus expertly leads the COC Orchestra through the opera’s poetic beauty and unique rhythms. On-stage, colourfully costumed creatures from London-based designer Tom Scutt are juxtaposed against the modern reality of deforested landscapes, also by Scutt. With its mesmerizing storytelling, this family-friendly opera is a perfect introduction for new audiences and a rarely performed treat for seasoned opera-goers.
Don Giovanni by Wolfgang A. Mozart
February 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 17, and 24, 2024
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
A co-production of Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Gran Teatre del Liceu; The Israeli Opera; and Houston Grand Opera
Mozart’s dark, twisted masterpiece is presented as never seen before. When infamous predator Don Giovanni’s latest attempted seduction ends in murder, what follows is a twisted, supernatural tale of guilt and vengeance that is equal parts glamour and gloom. UK-based director Amy Lane takes on Kasper Holten’s original vision of a sensory fusion of breathtaking visuals, light, and music. Here, a high-tech revolving set by award-winning and sought-after set designer Es Devlin converges with imaginative video projections from Luke Halls to create an Escher-like web of interlocking rooms. Canadian bass-baritone and Ensemble Studio alumnus Gordon Bintner stars as Don Giovanni, returning to the COC following his “compulsively watchable” (The Globe and Mail) performance as the Count in the COC’s The Marriage of Figaro (2023). Romanian soprano Anita Hartig, Armenian soprano Mané Galoyan, and Italian baritone Paolo Bordogna also star in COC debuts.
Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti
April 26, May 2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14*, and 18, 2024
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
A production from Scottish Opera
*Don Pasquale – Ensemble Studio Performance
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
In a special one-night-only performance, artists of the COC Ensemble Studio will perform Don Pasquale, illustrating the crucial mainstage experience provided through the country’s leading career development program for emerging opera artists. Support the exceptional talents of these artists and the future of Canadian opera! For more information, please visit: coc.ca/EnsemblePasquale.
Medea by Luigi Cherubini
May 3, 5, 9, 11, 15, 17, and 25, 2024
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, Greek National Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and Lyric Opera of Chicago
Never before seen on the COC stage and seldom performed anywhere in the world, Medea is an exquisite rarity, featuring one of the most challenging title roles in opera history. The ancient Greek myth details a powerful sorceress who aids Giasone (Jason), leader of the famous Argonauts, in stealing the Golden Fleece, only to soon be abandoned by him for another. What follows is a chilling, no-holds-barred unleashing of fury that sees Medea get the last word against all who have wronged her. Canadian soprano Sondra Radvanovsky takes on the daunting title role with a performance that is ferocious, committed, and viscerally intense. She reunites with renowned Scottish director Sir David McVicar who she previously collaborated with on the COC’s Rusalka in 2019 to widespread acclaim, and is joined by an unmissable cast featuring a number of Metropolitan Opera regulars: American tenor Matthew Polenzani, American soprano Janai Brugger, and American bass-baritone Eric Owens.
Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White by HAUI x Sean Mayes
June 14, 15, and 16, 2024
A world premiere opera
Nova Scotian contralto Portia White was the first Black Canadian concert performer to achieve international fame in the mid-20th century, hailed as the best classical voice of her generation. Yet, despite her accomplishments, her story has been largely erased from Canadians’ collective memory. Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White is a bold, new Black opera from Canadian director and librettist HAUI and Toronto and New York-based composer Sean Mayes that sets out to reclaim Portia White’s story, featuring Canadian soprano Neema Bickersteth and Emmy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Adrienne Danrich. The opera begins at the end of Portia’s life, as she is thrust into the crossroads of the spirit realm. As she is fractured into her divine feminine trinity of Body, Soul, and Spirit, she must reconcile the coded and cryptic secrets from her past to shed her earthly existence and finally ascend. Spoken word, rap, folk songs, hip-hop, R&B, and classic opera repertoire collide in an explosive score that seeks to break down musical silos and unite artistic and cultural communities.
Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition
October 26, 2023
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting evenings of the year where history is made, and a star is born, Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition showcases the new generation of brilliant young singers as they compete in the final round of auditions for the Ensemble Studio, Canada’s leading career development program for emerging opera artists. Finalists, selected through rigorous cross-country auditions, perform one aria each for the evening’s live audience, demonstrating technical ability, dramatic expression, and overall stage presence. For most singers in the competition, this moment represents their biggest artistic accomplishment in their careers to date— and a potentially life-changing experience. All proceeds from the unforgettable showcase go to the Ensemble Studio, making it a great chance to support emerging Canadian talent.
TICKET INFORMATION AND SPECIAL PRICING
Subscriptions to the 24/24 season are available now and may be purchased online at coc.ca, or by calling 416-363-8231. Subscribe by May 30, 2023 to guarantee your renewable seats. Single tickets to all 23/24 operas will be available to the general public on Monday, August 28, 2023. Subscribers, donors, and newsletter subscribers will be contacted directly with details on exclusive pre-sale access. Opera Under 30 offers $22 tickets to patrons under the age of 30.
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