The Canadian Opera Company has announced an interesting season that I’m sure will be filled with all sorts of ups, downs, and in betweens. Retaining its very fine chorus and well-tempered orchestra, the company has staged some exciting productions in the past years. A bright light for opera in Canada, its new home at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts has provided a permanent home for opera goers and sales have increased dramatically in the past several years. Although the COC seems to be bringing some bigger name artists and moving away from the infiltration of Russian singers that had been brought into the mix by the late Richard Bradshaw, the casting directors are still not taking advantage of the current trend of casting whatever voice in whatever role. The COC should be trying to find Italian voices for Italian operas and cast more Germanic ones for the German rep; in other words, try to create as much authenticity as possible. As of late, the German repertoire has been very well performed at the COC, but the Italian repertoire continues to suffer because it is not stylistically nor aesthetically accurate, an unfortunate circumstance since the orchestra and chorus are actually quite wonderful. Hopefully, the drought in aesthetic singing will finally hit a boiling point and instigate directors to pay attention to these details for future seasons.
Several Canadians return home this season, and also some new voices make appearances at the COC for the first time. In my opinion, the staple of the company, however, is Sandra Horst, the chorus director who continues to produce a musically sound and effective chorus, no matter the production. Kudos to her and here’s to the upcoming season.
Aida: Giuseppe Verdi:
October 2-November 5, 2010.
Cast and Creative Team:
Aida: Sondra Radvanovsky (Oct. 2, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18)
Michele Capalbo (Oct. 21, 24, 27, 30, Nov. 2, 5)
Radames: Rosario La Spina
Amneris: Jill Grove
Amonasro: Scott Hendricks
Ramfis: Philip Ens
King of Egypt: Alain Coulombe
Creative Team:
Conductor: Johannes Debus (Oct. 2, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, Nov. 2, 5)
Derek Bate (Oct. 24, 27, 30)
Director: Tim Albery
Set Designer: Hildegard Bechtler
Costume Designer: Jon Morrell
Choreographer: Laila Diallo
Lighting Designer: Thomas C. Hase
Chorus Master: Sandra Horst
Death in Venice: Benjamin Brittan
Oct. 16, 2010-Nov. 6, 2010
Cast and Creative Team:
Gustav von Aschenbach: Alan Oke
The Traveller: Peter Savidge
Apollo: William Towers
Creative Team
Conductor: Steuart Bedford
Director: Yoshi Oida
Set Designer: Tom Schenk
Costume Designer: Richard Hudson
Associate Director: Robert Kearley
Chorus Master: Sandra Horst
The Magic Flute: W.A. Mozart
Jan. 29, 2011-Feb. 25, 2011
Cast and Creative Team:
Tamino: Michael Schade (Jan. 29, Feb. 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18)
Frédéric Antoun (Feb. 10, 20, 23, 25)
Papageno: Rodion Pogossov
Queen of the Night: Aline Kutan
Pamina: Isabel Bayrakdarian (Jan. 29, Feb. 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18)
Simone Osborne (Feb. 10, 20, 23, 25)
Sarastro: Mikhail Petrenko
Papagena: Lisa DiMaria
Speaker of the Temple: Robert Gleadow
Conductor: Johannes Debus
Director: Diane Paulus
Set and Costume Designer: Myung Hee Cho
Chorus Master: Sandra Horst
Nixon in China: John Adams
Feb. 5, 2011-Feb. 26, 2011
Cast and Creative Team:
Chou En-lai: Chen-Ye Yuan
Richard Nixon: Robert Orth
Henry Kissinger: Thomas Hammons
Mao Tse-tung: Adrian Thompson
Pat Nixon: Maria Kanyova
Madame Mao: Tracy Dahl
Conductor: Pablo Heras-Casado
Director: James Robinson
Set Designer: Allen Moyer
Costume Designer: James Schuette
Choreographer: Sean Curran
Chorus Master: Sandra Horst
La Cenerentola: Gioacchino Rossini
Apr. 23, 2011-May 5, 2011
Angelina (Cenerentola): Elizabeth DeShong
Don Ramiro: Lawrence Brownlee
Dandini: Brett Polegato
Don Magnifico: Donato DiStefano
Clorinda: Ileana Montalbetti
Tisbe: Rihab Chaieb
Alidoro: Kyle Ketelsen
Conductor: Leonardo Vordoni
Production Team: Els Comediants
Director: Joan Font
Set and Costume Designer: Joan Guillén
Chorus Master: Sandra Horst
Ariadne auf Naxos: R. Strauss
April 20-May 29, 2011
Cast and Creative Team
A Music Master: Richard Stilwell
The Composer: Alice Coote
The Tenor/Bacchus: Richard Margison
Zerbinetta: Jane Archibald
The Prima Donna/Ariadne: Adrianne Pieczonka
A Dancing Master: John Easterlin
Harlequin: Peter Barrett
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Director: Neil Armfield
Set and Costume Designer: Dale Ferguson
Lighting Designer: Tim Mitchell
Orfeo ed Euridice: C.W. Gluck
May 8-28, 2011
Cast and Creative Team
Orfeo: Lawrence Zazzo
Euridice: Isabel Bayrakdarian
Amore: Ambur Braid
Creative Team
Conductor: Harry Bicket
Director: Robert Carsen
Set and Costume Designer: Tobias Hoheisel
Lighting Designers: Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet
Chorus Master: Sandra Horst
The Last Verista 
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