Two dazzling new opera productions are at the core of the second annual Vancouver Opera Festival, April 28 to May 6, 2018.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece of Russian lyric opera, Eugene Onegin, will be presented at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and features Russian baritone Konstantin Shushakov as Onegin. Soprano Svetlana Aksenova sings Tatiana, and tenor Alexey Dolgov makes his VO debut in the role of Lensky. This new production has been created in collaboration with Calgary Opera and is directed by Tom Diamond. The Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus will be conducted by Jonathan Darlington. This production is sponsored by Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP.
James Rolfe’s The Overcoat – a musical tailoring, a collaboration with Toronto’s Canadian Stage Company and Tapestry Opera and inspired by the 1998 smash-hit play of the same name, fills the stage of the intimate Vancouver Playhouse. Morris Panych returns to direct this new operatic reinterpretation of his original play set to music by James Rolfe. Leslie Dala conducts. This production is sponsored by The McGrane-Pearson Endowment Fund.
The Vancouver Opera Festival will also feature Requiem for a Lost Girl, a powerful chamber musical about homelessness written and directed by Onalea Gilbertson and conducted and composed by Marcel Bergmann. This powerful work will be performed by members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus, with performances and material by participants from The Kettle Society – an organization that supports people with mental illness to lead better lives.
A number of special events take place throughout the nine days. The Festival will kick off on April 28 with a full day of all things Russian, including street performers, projections, food trucks and a big screen presentation on the Queen Elizabeth Plaza. On May 1, Vancouver Opera celebrates Jonathan Darlington’s fifteen-year tenure as Music Director with a special evening of music, entitled From Russia with Love to Jonathan Darlington. A Russian Songfest on May 2 features outstanding young opera singers from the Vancouver Opera training programs. On our closing day May 6, Vancouver Opera, in collaboration with Early Music Vancouver and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, presents an afternoon of Russian baroque music-- Russian White Nights: Opera Arias from 18th century St. Petersburg, featuring soprano Karina Gauvin, at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts.
An original series of short chamber music concerts featuring Russian composers, and Russian inspired artists, performed by members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and invited guests, will take place at CBC Studio 700.
Rounding out this nine-day Russian-themed festival are numerous additional panel discussions, talks, keynote speakers, community events, the return of the ever-popular Opera Bar, a full day dedicated to families on May 5 including Prokofiev's much-loved Peter and the Wolf, and much more.
Tickets and passes: VO Ticket Centre 604-683-0222 or online at vancouveropera.ca
Photo: Onegin by Courtesy Calgary Opera, Photo by Trudie Lee
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