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Searing drama and epic lyricism open the Canadian Opera Company's 2016/2017 season with a new production of Bellini's Norma.
This Bel Canto masterpiece is a remarkable showcase for the rare soprano who can handle the demands of this title role and the COC production boasts the return of two of today's most sought-after divas to its stage: Canadian-American Sondra Radvanovsky and South African Elza van den Heever star as the high priestess Norma.
Norma was last performed by the COC in 2006 and returns for eight performances on October 6, 15, 18, 21, 23, 26, 28 and November 5, 2016.
Bellini's opera tells of all-consuming passion and devastating betrayal when the Druid high priestess Norma finds her life in turmoil with the discovery that she's been cast aside by her Roman lover for a fellow priestess. American director Kevin Newbury makes his COC debut with this new staging, co-produced by the COC, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Gran Teatre del Liceu. One of the finest directors working in opera today, Newbury sets the action of Norma in a mythic, Game of Thrones-inspired milieu, brought to life through his creative team that includes recent Tony Award-nominee set designer David Korins, rising star costume designer Jessica Jahn and internationally acclaimed lighting designer Duane Schuler.
American maestro Stephen Lord has made a specialty of Bel Canto operas and conducts the graceful melodies and musical fireworks that distinguish the florid magnificence that is Bellini's Norma, presented by this all-star cast with the acclaimed COC Orchestra and Chorus. Chosen by Opera News as one of the "25 Most Powerful Names in U.S. Opera" (one of four conductors), Lord returns to the COC after past productions of A Masked Ball and Lucia di Lammermoor.
The title role of Norma demands a true diva to convincingly convey the character's emotional range while effortlessly delivering some of the most vocally challenging music ever composed. Globally celebrated artist Sondra Radvanovsky, acclaimed in past COC productions of Roberto Devereux and Aida, now brings her "dramatically and vocally arresting" (New York Times) Norma to Toronto. Elza van den Heever mesmerized audiences in the COC's Il Trovatore with her "plush, dramatic voice capable of formidable power and dazzling high notes" (Associated Press) and delivers triumphant performances with premier opera companies around the world, including a Norma where she is "breathtaking throughout ... with her controlled virtuosity, [has] the audience anxiously awaiting every note" (Bachtrack).
American mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard is acclaimed by critics for her passionate intensity and vocal beauty. She returns to the COC after a much-admired performance in La clemenza di Tito to make her role debut as Adalgisa, Pollione's new lover, a character that demands supreme dramatic and vocal sensitivity and authority in order to harmonize with Norma and deliver the duets that make up some of the opera's greatest musical moments.
American Russell Thomas is one of the most exciting vocal and dramatic talents on the international opera and concert scene. His "gorgeous, warm tenor" (Globe and Mail) makes a swift return to the COC, after his recent Dora Award-nominated turn as Don José in Carmen last spring, to sing Pollione, Norma's Roman lover. Russian bass Dimitry Ivashchenko, last heard as "a menacing, vocally chilling Hunding" (New York Times) in the COC's recent Die Walküre, is Oroveso, Norma's father.
Recent COC Ensemble Studio graduate soprano Aviva Fortunata is Clotilde, Norma's maid. Ensemble Studio tenor Charles Sy is Flavio, Pollione's friend.
Norma is Bellini's best-known opera and was the composer's personal favourite. Bellini claimed that, were he shipwrecked, it was the score to Norma that he would try to save.
Norma is sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM. It premiered at La Scala on December 26, 1831.
The COC performs Norma at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The COC's 16/17 season marks the 10th anniversary of the Four Seasons Centre, Canada's first purpose-built opera house, which opened in fall 2006 and has been hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world.
Single tickets for Norma range from $35 - $235 and box seats, when available, are $350. Tickets are now on sale, available online at coc.ca, by calling 416-363-8231, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office (145 Queen St. W.). For more information on specially priced tickets available to young people under the age of 15, standing room, Opera Under 30 presented by TD Bank Group, student groups and rush seating, visit coc.ca.
Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The COC enjoys a loyal audience support-base and one of the highest attendance and subscription rates in North America. Under its leadership team of General Director Alexander Neef and Music Director Johannes Debus, the COC is increasingly capturing the opera world's attention. The COC maintains its international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation by creating new productions within its diverse repertoire, collaborating with leading opera companies and festivals, and attracting the world's foremost Canadian and International Artists. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the Four Seasons Centre opened in 2006. For more information on the COC, visit its award-winning website, coc.ca.
Pictured: Sondra Radvanovsky as Norma in Norma (San Francisco Opera, 2014). Photo by Cory Weaver.
