Single tickets are now on sale for all of the Canadian Opera Company’s 2022 in-person programming.

Two productions will be presented at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts, located at 145 Queen St. W.; Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata celebrates the return to live opera with a spectacular feast for the eyes and ears, while Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute marks the 70th anniversary of the first staging of classical opera by the COC, featuring some of Canada’s finest young opera artists.

Two exciting new productions have been added for 2022, which will be performed at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre, located at 227 Front Street East, as part of the company’s Front Street Stage: Fantasma, a world premiere commissioned by the composer’s COC Ian Cusson with libretto by Colleen Murphy, as well as The Queen In Me, a new co-production by the Canadian Opera Company, Amplified Opera, Theater Gargantua and Nightwood Theatre, created by Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野.

LA TRAVIATA

April 23, May 1, 3, 7, 12, 18 and 20, 2022

Sung in Italian with English surtitles

A COC production, co-production with Houston Grand Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago

Violetta is the most captivating courtesan in all of Paris, but when she falls in love with a handsome young man, Alfredo Germont, she dares to embrace a different kind of life and love. This acclaimed revival is led by American director Arin Arbus who returns to bring 1850s Paris back to life with spectacular party scenes, beautiful period costumes and breathtaking arias. Egyptian-born New Zealand soprano Amina Edris is one of the most exciting rising voices on the opera scene today. she stars as Violetta alongside internationally acclaimed American tenor Matthew Polenzani as Alfredo. COC Music Director Johannes Debus leads the COC Orchestra through one of Verdi’s most famous and popular operas.

The magic flute

May 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19 and 21, 2022

Sung in German with English surtitles

A Canadian Opera Company production

Mozart’s fairy tale opera centers on the timeless search for wisdom, truth and love. As Tamino sets out alongside the hilarious ornithologist Papageno to rescue the kidnapped Princess Pamina, their journey brings them face-to-face with gunmen, enchanted animals and evil henchmen – luckily for them, a magical instrument turns up. turns out to be their secret weapon. Turkish-born, Austrian-based tenor Ilker Arcayürek stars as Tamino, with two recent COC Ensemble Studio graduates leading the cast: soprano Anna-Sophie Neher as Pamina and bass-baritone Gordon Bintner as Papageno. Canadian Ashlie Corcoran returns to conduct the upbeat audience favourite, while German conductor Patrick Lange also returns to the COC podium.

At the Canadian Opera Company Theater (227 Front St. E.)

Fantasy

by Ian Cusson and Colleen Murphy

March 9 and 10 (7:30 p.m.) and March 12 (1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.)

Sung in English

A world premiere of the Canadian Opera Company

While visiting a loud, old-fashioned carnival, best friends Lea and Ivy uncover a dark secret. Their ghostly discovery confronts them with an age-old dilemma: faced with the suffering of others, do we turn away or do we try to help? This new opera, by recent COC Composer-in-Residence Ian Cusson, to a libretto by acclaimed playwright Colleen Murphy, explores themes of death, violence, compassion and the courage to insist on being heard.

Former COC Director/Playwright-in-Residence Julie McIsaac joins the creative team as Director and Playwright, alongside a number of current and graduate Ensemble Studio artists in lead roles; these include: sopranos Jamie Groote and Midori Marsh as Lea and Ivy; tenor Owen McCausland as carnival worker Emile; and soprano Charlotte Siegel as Manon, Léa’s mother. Set design and costumes by Camellia Koo, executed by design coordinator Jung-Hye Kim, and lighting by Mikael Kangas infuse the atmosphere of fantasy, nostalgia and mystery in this haunting contemporary ghost story.

The queen in me

by Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野

June 2, 3 and 4, 2022 (7:30 p.m.)

Sung in Italian, French, German and English

A new co-production by Canadian Opera Company, Amplified Opera, Nightwood Theater and Theater Gargantua

Combining comedy, drama and lots of opera, this exuberant performance by interdisciplinary artist Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/them) explores the many ways gender and sexuality are controlled in the opera industry. Through the lens of iconic operatic characters, the show reclaims space for the multitudes of women, trans and non-binary excluded from the stage, daring to imagine new narrative possibilities for the art form. Featured music includes selections from: Esclarmonde, La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Macbeth, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, Salome and The Magic Flute.