City Opera of Vancouver

Der Kaiser von Atlantis

On 1 February 2009, City Opera gave the British Columbia premiere of Viktor Ullmann's The Emperor of Atlantis (Der Kaiser von Atlantis). It was attended and addressed by the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, the Honourable Steven Point. Subsequent remarks and analysis were provided by Dr Jaap Hamburger, a child of Auschwitz survivors. This chamber opera, professionally produced, was undertaken in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It was written at Theresienstadt in 1944, and has been recorded by Decca.^[3]

Sumidagawa and Curlew River

Opening 26 May 2010, City Opera (together with co-producers UBC Drama and Film, and Blackbird Theatre) gave the Canadian premiere of Sumidagawa together with the opera it inspired, Benjamin Britten's Curlew River. The first, drawn from the 15th-century Japanese noh play, starred Butoh artist Denise Fujiwara as Madwoman in a choreography by Natsu Nakajima. The second starred tenor Isaiah Bell as Madwoman, together with John Minágro, Sam Marcacinni, Joel Klein, and members of the Vancouver Cantata Singers. It was directed by John Wright of Blackbird Theatre, with scenography by Robert Gardiner of UBC Theatre and Film.^[4]

Fallujah

On 21 February 2011, it was announced that City Opera Vancouver had received the largest opera commission grant in Canadian history. The Annenberg Foundation of Los Angeles, in collaboration with its Explore.org affiliate, awarded City Opera $250,000 US to create a chamber opera based on an original story about the war in Iraq. That story was inspired by the life and work of USMC Sergeant Christian Ellis.^[5] The new opera, using the working title Fallujah, was created over a period of two years, with its workshops held in Vancouver. The fourth and final workshop set was given before an invited audience at the Frederic Wood Theatre on 13 May 2012. It is scored for nine singers and eleven players. The librettist is Iraqi-American Heather Raffo, of New York City, and the composer Canadian Tobin Stokes of Vancouver. On 2 July 2012, the work was officially launched via a long-form feature published by The Associated Press. At the same time, the Annenberg Foundation's explore.org affiliate began the online release of a series of filmed excerpts from the opera. On 9 July, it was announced that the foundation had granted City Opera Vancouver an additional $100,000 toward the making of these film materials. In March 2016, "Fallujah" received its US premiere, produced in Los Angeles by Long Beach Opera and, in November 2016, its New York premiere at New York City Opera. A KCET television documentary about the work received a Los Angeles Emmy in July 2017.

Pauline

On 23 May 2014, the company presented the world premiere of Pauline, a chamber opera composed by Tobin Stokes to a libretto by Margaret Atwood. Starring dramatic mezzo-soprano Rose-Ellen Nichols, soprano Sarah Vardy, and tenor Adam Fisher, it sold out all five nights. Commissioned by City Opera of Vancouver, the opera is set in Vancouver in March 1913 during the final days in the life of the Canadian writer and performer Pauline Johnson.^[6] At the invitation of the literary festival Québec en toutes lettres, the work was performed in concert version at Le Grand Theatre du Québec on 16 October 2015 featuring the original cast.^[7]

The Lost Operas of Mozart

The company produced its first comedy, its first Mozart, its first production at Christ Church Cathedral, the first appearance of Bramwell Tovey in an opera, and the premiere of a 'new' Mozart opera, on 27, 28 and 29 October 2016. Based on the scholarship of Raphaël De Vos, John Drummond, Jane Oakshott, and Richard Rastall, these were re-constructions of three operas Mozart started, but never finished. Two were Italian comedies (Lo sposo deluso, and L'oca del Cairo), and the third a German Singspiel (Zaide). They were conjoined in an original play by Maria Reva, and all founded on a concept by stage director Alan Corbishley: an impresario is sitting in a theatre, considering his next project when – to his amazement – the Gates of Limbo open. Out pour lost souls, spirits who have been waiting 200 years for Mozart to give them life. They beg for a chance to sing, but the impresario is unimpressed.

Missing

City Opera Vancouver produced its third commission, Missing, in November 2017: a story everyone knows, about a woman no one remembers. It is a work by librettist Marie Clements, and composer Brian Current, focussed on the phenomenon of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. After a four-year creative process, which included significant participation with First Nations elders, leaders, and artists, and numerous public workshops, Missing opened on 1 November 2017 in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, at a special invitational event for the families of missing women only. This event was part of the DTES Heart of the City Festival. Thereafter it ran five nights at The York Theatre, and another six at Pacific Opera Victoria. Missing won extraordinary reviews, and standing ovations every night.

Missing is an extraordinarily moving and thought-provoking work, and a milestone for the opera world. It has taken a painful and horrifying topic and rendered it into accessible art. Ultimately, its message is a universal one: open our eyes and hearts to each other's pain. By doing so, humanity has a chance for healing and redemption. Missing begins this healing journey in a magnificent mélange of singing, acting and music that, one hopes, will be seen by audiences across Canada and the world. -- THE WHOLE NOTE, Toronto

Gradually, by the opera's end, they reach reconciliation in a supremely poignant scene when the developed trust between them enables Ava to allow the Native Girl to hold her newborn child—a child the Native Girl will never have—while their voices bond in gentle, accepting harmony… The creators of Missing have forged a powerful story that tackles all the issues it should, head-on and unflinchingly. Missing [goes] one step further to the healing and reconciliation that can come after bereavement. It needs to be seen and heard. -- OPERA CANADA City Opera Vancouver, and Pacific Opera Victoria, have announced plans to tour Missing along the Highway of Tears in late 2018.

Nigredo Hotel

The Vancouver premiere of this "bizarre operatic thriller" was given by City Opera Vancouver in September 2018, at The Cultch Historic Theatre. Nigredo Hotel was written by Canadians Nic Gotham and Ann-Marie MacDonald, and originally premiered in 1992. Directed by Alan Corbishley, and starring baritone Tyler Duncan and soprano Sarah Vardy, this production featured a giant head conceived and lit by John Webber. Barbara Clayden designed the costumes, and Malcolm Dow the sound. The four-player combo performed onstage throughout.