Edmonton Opera 09-10 Season

EDMONTON'S 2009-2010 OPERA SEASON
~ SURRENDER YOURSELF ~

The 2009-2010 opera season is brimming with love, lust, murder, betrayal’Ķ And pirates!

Edmonton Opera presents Verdi's Rigoletto, Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance and Verdi's Otello, as well as a special collaboration between Edmonton Opera and Alberta Ballet: Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer and Weill's Seven Deadly Sins at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Single tickets are available now at Ticketmaster, call 780-451-8000 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca.

"To me, Surrender Yourself means escaping life's worries and embracing the struggle, the spectacle and the magic of opera," says Edmonton Opera's Artistic Director Brian Deedrick.

"This season, we'll take you to worlds of passion, love, revenge, adventure, and, of course, the wacky world of a Pirate King!"

Verdi's Rigoletto
October 24, 27 and 29, 2009 - 7.30pm
Sung in Italian with English supertitles

A surreal set and provocative costumes by Edmonton's award-winning designer Bretta Gerecke transforms this season opener into a true circus of decadence and depravity. Despite his attempt to save his daughter Gilda from the Duke of Mantua's lecherous grasp, the hunchbacked jester Rigoletto pushers her ever closer to a horrific fate. With Theodore Baerg in the role of Rigoletto for the first time, Conductor Robert Tweten and director David Adams lead an all-star cast including Robert Breault as the Duke of Mantua; Canadian Superstar Tracy Dahl as Gilda; Uwe Dambruch as Monterone and Sparafucile; Norine Burgess as Maddalena; Benjamin Covey as Marullo; and Milton Liska as Borsa, with live accompaniment by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and featuring the Edmonton Opera Chorus.

Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance
February 6, 9 and 11, 2010 - 7.30pm
Sung in English with English supertitles

Returning by popular demand, the Modern Major-General and a band of merry pirates follows in the footsteps of Edmonton Opera's silly Sterling Award winner HMS Pinafore. After the young pirate apprentice Frederic woos Mabel, Major-General Stanley's comely daughter, the pair wades through a series of ludicrous mishaps and misunderstandings in an attempt at life spent happily ever after. Conducted and directed by comedy super-duo Peter Dala and Robert Herriot, Pirates of Penzance stars Curt Olds as Major-General Stanley; Aaron St. Clair Nicholson as the Pirate King; Lawrence Wiliford as Frederic; Edmonton's own Andrew MacDonald-Smith as the Police Sergeant; Sonya Gosse as Ruth; Nikki Einfeld as Mabel; Kendra O'Connor in her Edmonton Opera debut as Edith; and the beloved Renˆ©e Brad as Kate. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Edmonton Opera Chorus include their high notes on the high seas.

Verdi's Otello
April 24, 27 and 29, 2010 ’Äì 7.30pm
Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Edmonton Opera's production of Otello rounds out Verdi's trio of Shakespeare operas. Otello pairs a story faithful to the Bard's tragic tale of jealousy and deceit with beautiful and complex music. Conducted by James Meena and directed by Edmonton Opera's Brian Deedrick, Otello showcases an all-Canadian cast including John MacMaster as the title character; Sally Dibblee as Desdemona; Gregory Dahl as Iago; Colin Ainsworth as Cassio; Elizabeth Turnbull as Emilia; Brian McIntosh as Lodovico; Thomas Macleay as Roderigo; and Gregory Atkinson as Montano, along with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Edmonton Opera Chorus.

Special co-production with Alberta Ballet:
Mahler/Weill's Songs of a Wayfarer/Seven Deadly Sins
April 9 & 10, 2010 ’Äì 7.30pm

Edmonton Opera and Alberta Ballet team up once again, this time focusing on the work of two ground-breaking German composers. Though from different eras, both Gustav Mahler and Kurt Weill were visionaries who explored the way music creates worlds of its own. Choreographers Emily Molnar and Yukichi Hattori will each present a new ballet set to these innovative works, and the event will be conducted by Peter Dala, with stage consulting by Edmonton Opera's Brian Deedrick. Vocal soloists include Allyson McHardy, Patricia O'Callaghan, Stuart Howe, Thomas Macleay, John Conlon and Uwe Dambruch, with movement by Alberta Ballet's corps and live accompaniment by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.


Subscribers to Edmonton Opera's 2009-2010 save up to 25 per cent on ticket prices, sit in the best seats in the house and pay 2008-2009 subscription rates. Subscriptions are available by contacting the Edmonton Opera Box Office at 780-429-1000 or www.edmontonopera.com. For more information about Edmonton Opera's season, signature events and education programs, visit www.edmontonopera.com.