Calgary Opera looks ahead to new season
The dust is only now settling on Calgary Opera’s current season, one that concluded with Puccini’s Turandot.
This production also saw the conclusion of 20 years at the helm of the company for general director and CEO Bob McPhee.
With the new season, there will be not only a new season of operas, but a new artistic director for the company.
When asked about the thinking that went into the new selection of operas for the new season, interim artistic director Taras Kulish said, “Next season the company will be taking a break from the offering of newly commissioned works and will concentrate upon operas that have not been seen and heard in Calgary for a long time.”
Kulish said McPhee will continue to be involved during the transition.
“Given the schedules of artists today, it is necessary to plan ahead to be able to secure the right singers and conductors for future productions,” he said.
“Before Bob indicated that he was retiring, the coming season was almost fully planned. Moreover, Bob will continue to be a presence in the background as special adviser.”
Kulish, as the interim director, has some history with the company himself, and an even longer history first as a professional opera singer and more recently as the director of his own opera company.
He clearly has the background and experience to lead the company during this transition.
Inevitably, of course, the board of directors will appoint a new top person to replace McPhee.
The coming season will open on a familiar note with a production of Rossini’s perennial favourite, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
Central to this production will be the presence of Russell Braun in the title role as Figaro, the irrepressible barber. Braun is now at the peak of his distinguished career, having now sung lead roles all over the operatic world. His appearance in one of his signature roles will be greatly anticipated.
Also of local interest is the appearance of Andrea Hill as Rosina, the opera’s prima donna.
Hill studied in Calgary with Elaine Case, one of the city’s prominent voice teachers, before going on to McGill University in Montreal, and from there to a developing career in Europe. This will not be her first performance in Calgary, but it will be her first mainstage appearance in a leading part.
After Christmas, the company will mount a production of Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky’s most popular opera.
“We would like to have a production that exhibits a spirit of youthfulness, since the story involves a youthful phase in the lives of its characters,” Kulish said.
In that spirit, the production will feature Canadian baritone Philip Addis as Onegin and Lara Ciekiewicz as Tatyana.
Adam Luther, last seen in Calgary as Tamino in the recent production of The Magic Flute, will sing Lensky, complete with his famous farewell aria.
And rounding out the main series will be Puccini’s Tosca, which will feature Gregory Dahl as the evil Scarpia, in a production staged by Rob Herriot, familiar to Calgary audiences from previous much enjoyed productions.
But there is still more: the Emerging Artists program is reverting to its main production the Spring with a semi-staged production of Mozart’s Cose fan Tutte; and in the summer, the company will once again present Opera in the Village, with a big tent production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. And at Christmas time there will be a choral extravaganza with the Calgary Opera Chorus and soloists from the Emerging Artists Programs.
For a company with the size and resources of Calgary Opera, this is an ambitious season, one that promises both vocal thrills and productions imaginatively conceived. There may be a changing of the guard at the top, but the message to the opera-going public is clear: steady as she goes.