Opera Columbus to Present Lully's ARMIDE, 9/17-20

Opera Columbus will open the 2015-16 season with a spectacular new production of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Armide, the first professional production of a French Baroque work in central Ohio. Produced by Opera Columbus and performed in collaboration with BalletMet Columbus and Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra (Cleveland), the production will be the first collaboration between Opera Columbus and Apollo's Fire, and the second full-scale collaboration with BalletMet.

Regarded as Lully's masterpiece, Armide (1686) explores the internal conflict of the sorceress Armide, who is tragically torn between love and hate for her enemy, the Christian knight Renaud, during the First Crusade.

Opera Columbus presents Armide at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.). There will be a preview performance on Thursday, September 17, at 7:30 pm with additional performances on Friday, September 18, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, September 20, at 2 pm. All performances will be sung in French with English surtitles provided.

Tickets are $25-$88 (preview tickets are $15-40) at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase by phone, call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000. Young people aged 13-25 may purchase $5 All Access tickets while available. For more information, visit www.GoFor5.com.

Peggy Kriha Dye (Armide)

Described by Opera News as "a forceful presence with an intriguingly complex lyric soprano," Peggy Kriha Dye has performed with major opera companies and orchestras throughout the world and is currently Artistic Director of Opera Columbus. In 2012, she performed the role of Armide for the Toronto-based Opera Atelier at Toronto's Elgin Theatre, the Royal Opera House in Versailles, and the Glimmerglass Opera Festival. Toronto's The Globe and Mail found that "Her Armide was wary yet trusting, impervious yet vulnerable, and fearsome yet pitiable - all at the same time." Her performance was also noted in The New York Times, stating, "Peggy Kriha Dye, a soprano, sang the formidable title role with alluring sound and urgency." She will reprise the role for Opera Atelier in Toronto and Versailles immediately following the Opera Columbus performances.

Additional roles will be performed by Colin Ainsworth (Renaud), Stephen Hegedus (Hiradot/Hate), Jeff MacMullen (Atemidor), Carla Huhtanen (Nymph/Phenice), and Brian Hupp (Aronte/Chorus).

Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra

Armide will mark the first operatic collaboration between Columbus and Cleveland, as Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra, a Cleveland ensemble known throughout the world for excellence and period authenticity, will accompany all performances of Armide. While Apollo's Fire has performed concerts in Columbus, this will be the first time the ensemble has partnered with a Columbus company for a major production, and the first time they have worked with Opera Columbus. David Fallis will conduct Apollo's Fire for all performances. Fallis is one of Canada's leading interpreters of operatic and choral repertoire, especially known for his work in both the Baroque and Classical periods, as well as contemporary music. www.ApollosFire.com

BalletMet

Ballet is an essential part of French Baroque opera, and Armide will continue this tradition through a partnership with BalletMet, Columbus' premiere ballet company. The production will feature new choreography by BalletMet Artistic Director Edwaard Liang for the second company, BalletMet 2. BalletMet 2 is comprised of six highly skilled dancers ages 18-22 from BalletMet. The dancers will be making their 2015-16 debut in this production. www.BalletMet.org

Sarah Fairchild (Production Designer)

Painter Sarah Fairchild will make her theatrical debut as the Production Designer for Armide, filling the stage with her incredibly modern and vividly-colored work, which will offer a modern visual interpretation of Baroque. An Ohio native, Fairchild's lush, sensual representations of vegetal and floral forms have met with critical and popular acclaim. "Her work brings intense aestheticism into a crashing encounter with flowery sensuality in something unique and wonderful-boudoir meets psychedelic opera." ("'Four (outstanding) Ways of Looking' at the Lindsay Gallery," Starr Review, 3.16.13) www.SarahFairchild.com

Photo by Scott Cunningham