Pacific Opera Victoria announces 2014-2015 season

Pacific Opera Victoria announces 2014-2015 season.

Victoria’s 2014-2015 opera season is big and bold.  A golden treasure unleashes the destruction of the gods; a Scottish heiress pays with murder and madness for loving the wrong man; and the stage’s greatest heroine, Madama Butterfly, makes the ultimate sacrifice to save her honour and her son.

Pacific Opera Victoria (POV) presents main stage productions of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.  In addition, POV and the Victoria Symphony collaborate on a special concert presentation of Camelot by Lerner and Loewe. All productions take place at the Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton Street, Victoria, BC.

The season opens with Das Rheingold, which has been staged only once before by a Canadian opera company. Here is a world of giants and river nymphs, of dwarves that toil beneath the earth and gods that rule from the mountaintop hall of Valhalla. The first opera in Wagner’s monumental Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold sets in motion the epic conflicts that will ultimately destroy the gods.  Acclaimed Canadian baritone John Fanning returns to POV in the role of Wotan, ruler of the gods. Performances take place October 16, 18, 24, 2014, at 8 pm, with a matinée October 26 at 2:30 pm.

Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is the iconic bel canto opera, with its brilliant melodies, tempestuous passions, and murderous deeds – not to mention the most celebrated mad scene in all of opera. Tracy Dahl, one of Canada’s finest coloratura sopranos, is Lucia, the Scottish heiress who falls in love with the wrong man and is bullied into an arranged marriage.  Performances are

February 12, 14, 18, and 20, 2015, at 8 pm, with a matinée February 22 at 2:30 pm.

Puccini loved the exquisite Madama Butterfly above all his heroines. Laura Whalen makes her debut in the title role of the geisha who renounces her family to marry an American man. Guided by honour and fidelity, sustained by hope, she refuses for the longest time to believe she has been abandoned by the man she loves. Puccini’s music pours out lush melodies, infused with delicate Japanese harmonies – it is as ravishing as anything in opera!  Madama Butterfly is presented April 9, 11, 15, and 17, 2015, at 8 pm, with a matinée April 19 at 2:30 pm.

In November 2013, POV and the Victoria Symphony presented South Pacific in Concert, marking the first time a Broadway classic has been performed in Victoria with full orchestra and operatic voices. In November 2014, POV and the Victoria Symphony will present another musical theatre classic in concert – Lerner and Loewe’s beautiful Camelot.  Based on the legend of King Arthur and the ill-fated love affair between Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, Camelot will be presented November 22, 2014, at 8 pm and November 23 at 2:30 pm.

Pacific Opera Victoria’s 2014/15 season is generously sponsored by BMO Financial Group.

Pacific Opera Victoria is now taking subscriptions for the 2014-2015 season. Subscribers receive guaranteed seating, savings up to 30% and ticket exchange and replacement privileges.  Call 250.385.0222 or email boxoffice@pov.bc.ca.   For more information visit www.pov.bc.ca.

About Pacific Opera Victoria

Pacific Opera Victoria has earned a reputation as one of Canada’s leading opera companies, thanks to its dynamic repertoire choices, its original productions, and its commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for artists and audiences. Founded in 1979 and incorporated in 1980, POV has become one of Canada’s most exciting arts institutions, with an audience that is, per capita, two to five times that of any other Canadian opera company.