Giulio Cesare in Egitto by G.F. Handel

Giulio Cesare, HSOF 2014

Giulio Cesare in Egitto , the most popular and frequently-performed of  Handel’s operas, will be presented by the Halifax Summer Opera Festival (HSOF) in August 2024 English-speaking audiences often know George Fridrick Handel best as the composer of the oratorio Messiah, (or perhaps of the anthem Zadok the Priest, heard at King Charles III’s coronation).  […]

Menotti’s The Consul

The Consul 2008 Halifax Summer Opera Festival

One of the works the Halifax Summer Opera Festival will stage and perform in 2024 is The Consul, a brilliant and celebrated opera composed in 1950 by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Menotti was extraordinarily involved in all his productions. Not only did he compose the music, he also wrote the English libretto and directed […]

Opera Canada review of 2023 Halifax Summer Opera Festival Season

Opera Canada review of HSOF 2023

Read the entire review “This summer, in its 17th season, Halifax Summer Opera Festival brought enthusiastic young singers to town again to produce two double-cast fully staged operas: Serse (1738) by G.F. Handel and La Jolie Parfumeuse (1873) by Jacques Offenbach, the latter apparently a Canadian premiere. This provided eight performances of welcome entertainment to a COVID, fire and storm-weary audience. The choice of […]

Article on intimacy coordinators in opera by Michael Zarathus-Cook published in the Globe and Mail, featuring interview with Nina Scott-Stoddart of HSOF

From on-stage sex scenes to believable kisses, intimacy coaches are helping opera performers navigate tricky territory Published August 12, 2023 Felix Mendelsohn’s The Story of A Hundred Operas, though published in 1913, still presents a fairly accurate sampling of the operatic canon, particularly as it pertains to the portrayal of women. In most of these operas, the […]

Read Mark Robins’ interview with Nina Scott-Stoddart for Halifax Presents

We’d like to thank Mark Robins for his interview with Artistic Director Nina Scott-Stoddart about the 2023 season. “Scott-Stoddart also says there are many levels in which to enjoy opera. “You can enjoy the music, the voices or supporting emerging artists,” she says. “And you can also enjoy the drama unfolding on stage because the […]