Edmonton Opera's 2008/09 Season - Fall In Love

Media Release

For immediate release: April 20, 2008

Media contact: Liz Lepper, Bottom Line Productions

P: 780.988.8914 x 3 | E: liz@bottomlinepro.com

Fall In Love with Opera

Edmonton, AB ’Äì Edmonton Opera's 2008/2009 season explores love in all its glory, hilarity, power and sorrow. Wagner's The Flying Dutchman delves into haunting and redemptive love; Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment takes to us the silly side of love in the military; Verdi's classic La Traviata transports audiences to the glittering world of 19^th century Paris for a tale of love and loss; and Bizet's The Pearl Fishers portrays the conflict and ensuing sacrifice when friendship collides with love.

A haunting production rooted in German Expressionist cinema, Wagner's masterpiece The Flying Dutchman will astound Edmonton Opera audiences for the first time in 20 years. With music that perfectly evokes a raging storm, Dutchman is the tale of a ship's captain doomed to sail the seas for eternity in search of faithful love. Jason Howard and Susan Marie Pierson, the artists who sparked audiences' excitement in Bluebeard's Castle & Ewartung, reunite to bring Wagner's genius to life. Marc Embree, Scott Scully and Emilia Boteva join Director Brian Deedrick and Conductor John Keenan in the new season's opening production. The Flying Dutchman runs October 25, 28 and 30, 2008, and is sung in German with English supertitles.

Edmonton Opera escapes winter with joyous laughter at military mayhem, as an exuberant 'band of brothers' joins its adopted 'daughter' Marie in Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment. When Marie must decide between her love for the regiment, (yes, the whole regiment), and her love for Tonio, hilarity ensues. Rob Herriot, director of H.M.S. PINAFORE, is joined by Andriana Chuchman, Colin Ainsworth, Theodore Baerg, Sonya Gosse, Chad Louwerse, and Conductor Peter Dala. Daughter of the Regiment runs February 7, 10 and 12, 2009, and is sung in French with English supertitles.

The opera season closes with Verdi's beloved and heart-wrenching La Traviata. Alberta-born Laura Whalen takes on the tragic role of Violetta, the famed courtesan who loses everything in her love for Alfredo. Edmonton Opera also welcomes the return of Theodore Baerg, Quˆ©becois star Marc Hervieux, Thomas Macleay, Doug MacNaughton, Alain Coulombe, Krista de Silva, Alexander Dobson, Renˆ©e Brad, Director Michael Cavanagh and Conductor Steven Osgood. La Traviata runs April 25, 28 and 30, 2009, and is sung in Italian with English supertitles.

On a journey to an exotic island in the Indian Ocean, Edmonton Opera goes beyond its three Jubilee Auditorium productions this season. A special presentation of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers brings a tale of love, friendship, betrayal and sacrifice to the intimate acoustical splendour of the Winspear Centre. Colin Ainsworth, Gregory Dahl, Amy Hansen, and Andrew Stewart join Director Brian Deedrick and Conductor Robert Dean for this two-night production. The Pearl Fishers runs March 12 and 14, 2009, and is sung in French with English supertitles.

"Opera is the greatest and grandest art form of them all," says Brian Deedrick, Edmonton Opera's Artistic Director. "We laugh, we cry, we lose ourselves in the sublime beauty of the music, we succumb to the world being created before us on the stage’Ķ For once, even I'm hard-pressed to come up with words to describe the all-encompassing experience of opera. I urge and invite everyone to fall deeply and deeper in love with this wonderful art form. Fall in love with the music and the stories that sing. Fall in love with the brilliant artists sharing their talents on stage. Fall in love with the excitement. Fall in love with Edmonton Opera!"

All performances begin at 7:30pm and take place at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, with the exception of The Pearl Fishers at the Winspear Centre. Subscriptions are available through the Edmonton Opera Box Office, call (780) 429-1000. The deadline to renew current subscriptions is June 6, 2008. For more information or to download a subscription form, please visit www.edmontonopera.com.