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Toronto, Ontario – The Canadian Opera Company’s 61st season
continues this winter with a new COC production of Mozart’s
mystical and beloved fairytale, The Magic Flute. COC Music
Director Johannes Debus conducts this timeless masterpiece and
Tony Award®-nominated director Diane Paulus makes her COC debut
with this playful production for all ages. The Magic Flute
also
features Canadian opera stars Michael Schade and
Isabel
Bayrakdarian, singing together at the COC for the first time, in
the roles of Mozart’s star-crossed lovers Tamino and Pamina.
The
Magic Flute is sung in German with English SURTITLES™, and runs
for 12 performances on Jan. 29, Feb. 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18,
20, 23, and 25, 2011.
A humorous, sometimes profound, exploration of the trials of
growing up, seeking ideals and finding love, The Magic Flute
follows the adventures of Prince Tamino as he undergoes feats of
heroism to rescue his love, Pamina, from the forces of evil.
Joining Tamino on his journey is the comic bird catcher
Papageno, who dreams of one day finding his own sweetheart. The
Magic Flute was an immediate hit when it debuted in 1791, with
nearly 100 performances taking place in the first year after its
premiere, and has been an audience favourite ever since. The
opera’s eternal appeal can be attributed to the music as The
Magic Flute features some of Mozart’s most beautiful and purely
infectious melodies.
Leading the COC Orchestra and Chorus is COC Music Director
Johannes Debus, who recently conducted the COC’s thrilling new
production of Aida. He is joined by director Diane Paulus, a
Tony Award®-nominee for Broadway’s HAIR and the Artistic
Director of the American Repertory Theater, who makes her COC
debut. Sets and costumes by acclaimed designer Myung Hee Cho
capture the sense of play and wonder in Mozart’s music, as well
as the whimsy and wisdom experienced in the opera’s journey for
self-knowledge, truth and love. The lighting is designed by
Scott Zielinski.
Canadian tenor Michael Schade performs the role of Tamino. Last
heard with the COC in 2009’s Rusalka, Schade is one of the
leading Mozart tenors on the stage today. COC Ensemble Studio
graduate soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, whose stage presence and
musicality last enchanted COC audiences in 2010’s Idomeneo and
2008’s Pelléas et Mélisande, is Pamina, a role she recently sang
with the Metropolitan Opera. Canadian tenor Frédéric Antoun, who
is quickly becoming a much sought-after performer in North
America and Europe, shares the role of Tamino and makes his COC
debut with this production. Also cast as Pamina is COC Ensemble
Studio member Simone Osborne, a rising young singer lauded by
the New York Times for her “sweet and clear sound, sensitive
phrasing and gleaming sustained high notes.”
Russian baritone Rodion Pogossov, last heard in 2007’s The
Barber of Seville and a regular performer with the Metropolitan
Opera, returns to the COC to sing the role of Papageno, and
recent Ensemble Studio graduate soprano Lisa DiMaria is his
sweetheart, Papagena. Canadian soprano Aline Kutan makes her
mainstage debut in her signature role, the Queen of the Night.
Also making their COC debuts are Russian bass Mikhail Petrenko,
who is the priest-king Sarastro, and American tenor John
Easterlin as Monostatos. Former Ensemble Studio bass-baritone
Robert Gleadow, last seen with the COC in 2009’s La Bohème and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, sings the Speaker of the Temple.
Rounding out the cast are many new and returning Ensemble Studio
members: graduate soprano Betty Waynne Allison, mezzo-soprano
Wallis Giunta and graduate mezzo-soprano Lauren Segal are the
First, Second and Third Ladies, respectively; bass Neil
Craighead sings the First Priest and is joined by graduate tenor
Michael Barrett as the Second Priest; and bass
Michael Uloth is
cast as the Second Armed Man. Performing the role of the First
Armed Man is tenor Gregory Carroll, in his COC debut. Singing
the First, Second and Third Spirits are members of the Canadian
Children’s Opera Company.
The Magic Flute was Mozart's final opera, receiving its premiere
only three months before his death in December 1791. At least
two films (not including recordings of staged productions) have
been made of The Magic Flute, including Trollflöjten (1975),
directed by Ingmar Bergman, and The Magic Flute (2006) directed
by Kenneth Brannagh. In the Kenneth Brannagh version, Tamino is
played by Joseph Kaiser, a former member of the COC Ensemble
Studio. The Magic Flute was last performed on the COC mainstage
in 1993.
ENSEMBLE STUDIO PERFORMANCE
Experience the exciting young singers of the Canadian Opera
Company’s Ensemble Studio performing the lead roles in their own
performance of The Magic Flute on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 at
7:30 p.m. Under the direction of the same creative team as the
mainstage cast, the Ensemble Studio members also appear with the
full COC Orchestra and Chorus. More details will be available in
a forthcoming press release.
Tickets for the Feb. 17 performance are only $20 or $55 and are
available online at coc.ca, by calling COC Ticket Services at
416-363-8231, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre for the
Performing Arts Box Office, located at 145 Queen St. W.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for The Magic Flute are available online at coc.ca, by
calling 416-363-8231, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre
Box Office (145 Queen St. W., Toronto). Ticket prices for The
Magic Flute range from $62 to $281 plus applicable taxes.
NEW THIS SEASON: Standing Room
Standing Room tickets for only $12, go on sale at 11 a.m. on the
morning of each performance at the Four Seasons Centre Box
Office. Limit of two tickets per person. Subject to
availability.
Young People
Special young people’s tickets are priced from $31 to $95 plus
applicable taxes. These ticket prices apply to those who are 15
years of age or under, accompanied by and sitting next to an
adult.
Opera for a New Age
Patrons between the ages of 16 and 29 may purchase
$22 Opera for
a New Age tickets as of Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 10 a.m.,
online at coc.ca or in person at the Four Seasons Centre Box
Office (145 Queen St. W., Toronto). Opera for a New Age is
presented by TD Bank Financial Group. Student group tickets are
also $22 per student and may be purchased by calling
416-306-2356.
Rush Seats
Rush seats, starting at $22 and subject to availability, go on
sale at 11 a.m. on the morning of each performance at the Four
Seasons Centre Box Office.
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