Cape Town Opera celebrated the launch of its season with big plans for 2011. The new year sees an increase in the number of productions on offer – eight in Cape Town (compared to five last year) and three on tour (compared to two in 2010).
The season starts with Bizet’s Carmen, with Michael Williams directing a revised version of his 2005 staging, designed by Michael Mitchell.
Violina Anguelov, a new permanent addition to the company, takes on the role of the tempestuous gypsy. She shares the role with the Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, who has recently performed the role at La Scala and the Met.
Argentinian tenor Marcelo Puente sings Don José, while Zanne Stapelberg plays Micaëla.
A streamlined version of the production will travel to Durban late next month.
There are two Puccini offerings in April, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. Director Matthew Wild, who has joined the company as dramaturge and staff director, directs Suor Angelica, while Sandile Kamle makes his directorial debut with Gianni Schicchi. Albert Horne conducts the production.
The new productions are designed by Tina Driedijk, Hailey Kingston and Maritha Visagie and singers from the CTO Vocal Ensemble and Studio will step into key roles.
Philip Miller’s REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape and Testimony returns after touring New York, London and Joburg, with a multimedia staging by visual artist Gerhard Marx. The production features the return of CTO guest singer Sibongile Khumalo.
Then it’s Hans Krása’s Brundibár, directed by Aviva Pelham and produced by CTO, in collaboration with Artscape, the Cape Town Holocaust Centre and Magnet Theatre, which will create a new play to performed in tandem with the children’s opera.
2010’s African Songbook, revised and rechristened Mandela Trilogy, written and directed by Michael Williams and with music by composers Allan Stephenson, Mike Campbell and Peter Louis van Dijk, will mark CTO’s first performances at Montecasino in Joburg, and will also tour to Durban and Bloemfontein before going abroad next year.
The company will present two gala concerts; in Joburg, featuring tenor Johan Botha, and Cape Town, where Botha is paired with American Deborah Voigt.
Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, a collaboration between CTO and UCT Opera School, is an accessible and entertaining addition to the programme.
South African-born director Alessandro Talevi helms La Traviata. The production also sees the return of soprano Kimmy Skota, fresh from a year based in the Netherlands.
In October, Mozart’s Turkish singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail returns to Cape Town after a 12-year absence. Christine Crouse directs, Michael Mitchell designs and Kamal Khan conducts.
To end the season, acclaimed American director Francesca Zambello revives Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars, based on Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country.
l For more information, visit www.capetownopera.co.za