The first major Canadian opera company to venture a return to live for the coming season, Opéra de Montréal has announced their 21/22 program with brand new operas, thrilling productions and an exciting double bill presented alongside the company’s training arm, l’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal.
Kicking things off in September 2021 is Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, postponed from May 2020. Telling the story of the ocean which both sustains us and can destroy us, this double bill will carry that theme through to a new work, composer Hubert Tanguay-Labrosse and librettist Olivier Kemeid‘s Le Flambeau de la Nuit. Both will feature Canadians Andrea Núñez (soprano) and Allyson McHardy (mezzo-soprano).
Olivier Kemeid, librettist of Le Flambeau de la Nuit, part of Opéra de Montréal 21/22 season. Photo: Courtesy Opéra de Montréal
Taking on La traviata in January 2022, soprano Marie-Josée Lord and baritone James Westman will star in the Alain Gauthier production which has already graced stages in Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Edmonton. This take on Verdi’s iconic Romantic favourite infuses Josephine Baker, an icon of the emancipation of black women, into a version of the story set in Paris during the Roaring Twenties.
Soprano Marie-Josée Lord in La Traviata in Opéra de Montréal 21/22 season. Photo: Laurence Labat
In the third production of the Opéra de Montréal 21/22 season, playwright Michel Marc Bouchard and composer Julien Bilodeau‘s La Beauté du Monde will finally debut after another long pandemic delay. This new opera tells the story of two people who risk their lives to save artwork being plundered from the Louvre by the Nazis during WWII. Taking on the main roles are bass baritone Philippe Sly and mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne, alongside tenor Jean-Michel Richer, soprano France Bellemare, and tenor Isaiah Bell.
Playwright Michel Marc Bouchard, librettist of La Beauté du Monde, part of Opéra de Montréal 21/22 season. Photo: Courtesy of Opéra de Montréal
Finally, director Barrie Kosky‘s now iconic Komische Oper Berlin staging of Mozart’s The Magic Flute comes to Montreal in May 2022. Inspired by the era of silent film, singers meld with German Expressionist-inspired set projections for a unique take on the fairy tale classic. Starring tenor Aaron Blake and soprano Kim-Lillian Strebel alongside Canadians Kirsten LeBlanc (soprano), Florence Bourget (mezzo-soprano) and Elizabeth Polese (soprano).
Scene from LA Opera’s staging of Barrie Kosky’s KOB production of The Magic Flute. Photo: Craig T. Mathew
Tickets and more information for Opéra de Montréal’s 21/22 season can be found here.
