•Opera North’s new production of Mozart’s effervescent comedy The Marriage of Figaro is directed by Jo Davies, who returns to the Company following previous productions of Ruddigore and Carousel.
•Christopher Alden revives his blisteringly intense production of La vida breve with French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels as Salud, in a double bill with a new Gianni Schicchi, starring the outstanding British baritone Christopher Purves in the title role.
•La traviata continues after a highly successful run of Alessandro Talevi’s opulent and sensational Belle Époque production in Autumn 2014, with new cast members Anna Jeruc-Kopec as Violetta and Stephen Gadd as Germont.
The Marriage of Figaro NEW PRODUCTION
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1786)
Sung in English
Mozart’s sublime comedy, The Marriage of Figaro, is one of opera’s most tender, funny and heart-warming works. From the famous overture which sets the scene for comic misadventures in an opera aptly subtitled ‘The Follies of a Day’, Mozart’s music expresses all the joy and pain of love, along with the agony and ecstasy of desire.
On Figaro’s wedding day, he discovers that his master, the Count, is in pursuit of his bride, Susanna. The Countess is heartbroken by her husband’s infidelity – but is herself soon the object of the teenage desires of the page boy, Cherubino. To top it all off, Figaro has borrowed money from the housekeeper, and if he can’t pay it back, he’ll have to marry her instead!
A top international and British cast includes baritone Richard Burkhard as Figaro, whose previous roles at Opera North include Sir Despard Murgatroyd in Ruddigore. Norwegian soprano Silvia Moi sings Susanna, a role she has previously sung in Malmö and at the Komische Oper Berlin. She also appeared as Papagena in Kenneth Branagh’s film version of The Magic Flute.
Quirijn de Lang and Ana Maria Labin are the Count and Countess, while Australian mezzo soprano Helen Sherman sings the ‘trouser role’ of the page boy Cherubino. Sherman represented Australia in the 2011 Cardiff Singer of the World competition and performed as a soloist with the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North in the 2014 Tour de France Opening Ceremony in Leeds.
Young British conductor Alexander Shelley, winner of the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition, returns to Leeds to conduct Mozart’s sparkling and ravishing music in this new production directed by Jo Davies. With previous work for Opera North including a deliciously funny Ruddigore and a heartfelt, freshly-minted Carousel, Davies is perfectly placed to balance the effervescent comedy and serious heart of Mozart’s masterpiece.
La traviata
Giuseppe Verdi (1853)
Sung in Italian with English titles
Alessandro Talevi’s new production of Verdi’s great tear-jerker proved an instant hit with audiences in Opera North’s Autumn 2014 season, with glamorous costumes and stunning sets evoking the decadence and debauchery of Belle Époque Paris. La traviata now returns for an extended run with Polish soprano Anna Jeruc-Kopec taking the role of Violetta, the ‘Fallen Woman’ of the title.
Violetta is a courtesan to the rich, whose world of wine, song and reckless pleasure is turned upside down when she falls in love with a young nobleman, Alfredo. Unable to suppress her feelings, she gives up her lavish lifestyle in Paris for a simpler life with him in the country. But when her past threatens his family’s honour, she is forced to sacrifice her only chance of real love.
South Korean tenor Ji-Min Park continues to charm audiences as Alfredo, bringing ‘eloquent intensity’ (Opera Now) to the role, while the acclaimed baritone Stephen Gadd joins the cast as Alfredo’s father, Germont.
Oliver von Dohnányi, returning to Opera North for the first time since the Company’s critically acclaimed production of Norma (2012), conducts a sensational production, brimming with instantly recognisable music, which showcases the strong ensemble talents of the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North.
Double bill: La vida breve REVIVAL
Manuel de Falla (1913)
Sung in Spanish with English titles
Double bill: Gianni Schicchi NEW PRODUCTION
Giacomo Puccini (1918)
Sung in Italian with English titles
Two outstanding operas come together to create one extraordinary evening, in a double bill of La vida breve and Gianni Schicchi.
Director Christopher Alden’s ferocious take on Manuel de Falla’s short exuberant opera, La vida breve is an intense, unforgettable experience. An all or nothing tragedy of a woman who loves a worthless man, the atmosphere is heightened by the influence of Andalusian folk song and Spanish dance rhythms.
Originally staged as one of Opera North’s groundbreaking ‘Eight Little Greats’ season of one-act operas in 2004, Alden’s production received extravagant audience and critical praise. It is revived with a new cast including French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels (Cio-Cio San, Madama Butterfly) in the devastating lead role of Salud.
A perfect, light-hearted companion to La vida breve, Gianni Schicchi is Puccini’s only outright comedy, based on an episode in Dante’s Inferno. Puccini’s exquisite music delightfully illustrates the greed and absurdity driving the actions of a dying man’s scheming relatives.
With its vivid characterisation and inventive music, Gianni Schicchi is a comic masterpiece in miniature. Featuring one of Puccini’s best loved arias, ‘O mio babbino caro,’ it is brought alive by a top drawer cast, including one of the current great operatic performers, Christopher Purves, in the title role. Schicchi’s daughter Lauretta is sung by fast-rising young artist Jennifer France, while Spanish tenor Jesús Álvarez sings Rinuccio and also takes the role of Paco in La vida breve.
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