Opera Atelier announced the details of its 2008/09 season featuring two operatic masterpieces by Monteverdi and Mozart. The season begins in November with a new production of Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio which tells of the adorable antics of the Spanish nobleman Belmonte and his servant Pedrillo as they plot to rescue their girlfriends from the harem of Pasha Selim.
Commissioned by Austrian Emperor Joseph II, the opera was an instant success upon its 1782 premiere in Vienna. Opera Atelier's resident designer Gerard Gauci has created a spectacular new production which evokes the exoticism that enthralled 18th-century Europe at the time of the opera's premiere.
The Abduction from the Seraglio marks the company debut of Canadian tenor Frederic Antoun as Belmonte, coloratura soprano Amanda Pabyan as his fiancee Konstanze, and Norwegian-American bass Gustav Andreassen as Osmin, overseer for the Pasha. The production also features soprano Carla Huhtanen in the role of Blonde, Konstanze's English maid, tenor Lawrence Wiliford as Pedrillo, bass-baritone Curtis Sullivan as Pasha Selim, and Artists of Atelier Ballet. David Fallis conducts the Tafelmusik Orchestra. The Abduction from the Seraglio runs November 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, and 15, 2008 and will be sung in German with English SURTITLESTM; the spoken text will be delivered in English.
The season continues in the spring of 2009 with the return of Opera Atelier's internationally acclaimed production of The Coronation of Poppea, Claudio Monteverdi's final masterpiece. This lavish spectacle of love, power and greed is based on the true story of Poppea, Nero's fiercely ambitious mistress, who aspires to be Empress of the Roman Empire and who will resort to any means – treachery, seduction, and murder – in order to realize her goal.
Canadian mezzo soprano Kimberly Barber makes her Opera Atelier debut in the role of Nero and soprano Peggy Kriha Dye returns to sing the role of Poppea. They are joined by Olivier Laquerre (Ottone), Laura Pudwell (Arnalta/Virtue), Joao Fernandes (Seneca), Carla Huhtanen (Drusilla), Jennie Such (Fortune/Venus), Vicki St. Pierre (Nurse), Curtis Sullivan (Liberto), Artists of Atelier Ballet, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir under the baton of conductor David Fallis. The Coronation of Poppea will be sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM and runs April 25, 26, 28, 29, May 1 and 2, 2009. -- www.operaatelier.com
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
