Stage Door News
Stage Door News
For 2016-2017 VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert celebrates operas from the belcanto, baroque and romantic traditions with works by Bellini, Haydn and Mussorgsky.
The season opens on Sunday, November 20, 2017 at 2:30 pm with one of Bellini’s early masterpieces, I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI. “The COC’s splendid production of NORMA has whetted opera lovers’ appetites for Bellini and we are delighted to bring the belcanto master’s version of those tragic lovers, Romeo and Juliet, to our stage…Bellini forever!!!” enthused General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin. VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert’s stellar cast includes mezzo-soprano Anita Krause as Romeo and debuting soprano Caitlin Wood as his beloved Giulietta. Ms Krause was a sensation as the Mother Abbess in Stratford’s recent production of SOUND OF MUSIC and looks forward to starring in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO for the Vancouver Opera. Caitlin Wood will also star in the Vancouver production of the Mozart masterpiece and was seen earlier in Toronto as Despina in Against the Grain’s version of COSI FAN TUTTE Debuting tenor Tonatiuh Abrego will be heard as Tebaldo, while Diego Catalá sings Capellio and Austin Larusson appears as Lorenzo, all led by Raisa Nakhmanovich as pianist and music director. Robert Cooper, C.M. will put the esteemed Opera in Concert Chorus through their paces in the stirring choral scenes Bellini has devised for the rival families.
I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI premiered at La Fenice in Venice in 1831and was an instant success. Bellini had composed the opera in a very short period of time to a libretto by his favourite collaborator, Felice Romani. Admirers have pointed to the maturity of his lyric genius in this work and even Berlioz was taken by the wonderful élan and intensity of his mature bel canto style. The brilliant stroke of presenting Romeo en travesti as a mezzo-soprano adds yet another layer of poignancy to this tale of rebellious love and innocence betrayed.
Opera in Concert is supported by the Jackman Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. Single tickets are available from the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts’ Jane Mallett Theatre Box Office, 27 Front St. East, by phone – 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 – or online at www.stlc.com. The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking. All performances are on Sunday afternoons at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts at 2:30pm.
Photo: Maria Malbran as Romeo. ©1832.
2016-11-09
Toronto: Voicebox: Opera in Concert presents Bellini's "I Capuletti e i Montecchi" November 20