Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Opera Atelier’s 30th Anniversary Season begins with its magical production of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Armide, the supreme operatic masterpiece of the 17th century. This production will showcase the very best of Opera Atelier, with the full corps of the Artists of Atelier Ballet and spectacular visual effects and stage machinery, coupled with sets and costumes that bring the glittering world of Persian miniatures and calligraphy to life. Armide runs October 22, 24, 25 (3:00pm), 27, 30, and 31 (4:30pm), 2015 (start time 7:30pm except where noted) at the Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge Street.
“We are proud to open our anniversary season with Opera Atelier’s most iconic production, Lully’s Armide,” says Opera Atelier Founding Co-Artistic Director and Armide director Marshall Pynkoski. “We are revisiting this production because we consider it the finest achievement in Opera Atelier’s 30-year history and, like all masterpieces, it offers audiences and artists alike new perspective and insight each time we encounter it. Armide still has so much to teach us!”
Following its Toronto run, the production will tour to the Royal Opera House in the Palace of Versailles, France (Nov. 20-22, 2015) as part of a countrywide program of lavish exhibitions and special events commemorating the 300th anniversary of the death of the Sun King – Louis XIV, for whom Armide was written. Opera Atelier is one of the only companies outside of France who have been invited by the French government to participate in this historic tercentenary. Opera Atelier is proud to provide more than 100 of our country’s finest singers, dancers, instrumentalists, and designers with this unprecedented showcase for Canadian talent. This tour will mark the first of Opera Atelier’s recurring engagements at the Royal Opera House in the Palace of Versailles where the company will produce every second year.
The Muslim and Christian worlds collide in Lully’s Armide, in which the invincible Christian knight Renaud and the Muslim warrior princess Armide play out their tragic love affair against a backdrop of hopeless obsession, jealousy, magic and intrigue. Armide was celebrated in its day as one of Lully’s greatest “magic operas”. Armide will reunite the cast that created Opera Atelier’s 2012 production, which enjoyed sold-out houses and critical acclaim in Toronto and Versailles. Reprising their roles as the ill-fated lovers are soprano Peggy Kriha Dye (Armide) and tenor Colin Ainsworth (Renaud), along with soprano Carla Huhtanen, bass-baritone Olivier Laquerre, soprano Meghan Lindsay, and tenor Aaron Ferguson. Joining the cast are Stephen Hegedus (Hidraot) and Daniel Belcher (La Haine & Aronte). The production will feature the full corps of Artists of Atelier Ballet and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir under the baton of David Fallis. The creative team for Armide includes director Marshall Pynkoski, choreographer Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, set designer Gerard Gauci, and lighting designer Bonnie Beecher. Armide will be sung in French with English surtitles.
Tickets for Armide start at $35 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster at 1-855-622- ARTS(2787) or www.ticketmaster.ca, or at the Elgin Theatre Box Office (189 Yonge Street). New reduced youth ticket price: $15 Operatix tickets may be purchased by patrons 15-30 in person at the Elgin Theatre Box Office or online with the code OPERATIX. (Subject to availability. Valid I.D. required at pick-up.) Group discounts (10+ people) are available by calling 416-703-3767 x222. For more information, visit www.operaatelier.com.
Photo: Jack Rennie and Peggy Kriha Dye. ©2012 Bruce Zinger.
2015-10-07
Toronto: Opera Atelier begins its 30th season with Lully's "Armide" October 22-31