Author: Bodhi Anders

For Immediate Release
July 24th, 2019

Handel’s final great London success, Alcina opens in Halifax August 4th.

Alcina was originally composed for Handel’s first season at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London. However, like other great operatic works composed by Handel, Alcina (1735) actually fell into obscurity until 1928. The production by Halifax Summer Opera Festival features a rich, updated plot and thrillingly beautiful Baroque music!

Alcina is sung in Italian with projected translations, so audiences won’t miss any of the drama. Fully-staged and costumed and performed with keyboard, cello continuo and violin, it opens August 4th and runs through the 6th, 9th, and 11th at the Lillian Piercey Concert Hall, at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts.

Set on a mysterious and beautiful island, Alcina’s paradise was actually created to lure her unsuspecting lovers into her grasp. One of these unfortunate men is the warrior, Ruggiero, who while under Alcina’s magical spell had forsaken his duty as well as his betrothed, Bradamante. Not only does Handel’s Alcina feature the unique tale of a powerful enchantress, but the entire opera is filled with music of extraordinary beauty and grace.

“Alcina is by Handel, who composed the Christmas and Easter hit Messiah,” said stage director Erin Bardua, who directed last year’s sold out hit Poppea. “If you love the music of Messiah, you’ll love this. And the plot of our version has everything: wicked witches, mistaken identities, a ton of flirting, and pyramid schemes.” Bardua went on to say the cast of Alcina is stellar. “These young singers arrived fully prepared to mount a professional-sounding and entertaining show. I’m laughing and crying in rehearsals. I’ve even had chills a couple of times. We’re having a great time, even while we’re working hard.” The opera, which premièred in 1735, has undergone an update. Halifax Opera Festival’s version, staged by Bardua with music direction by Markus Howard, takes place at the headquarters of an eerie cult-like business that scams the vulnerable out of their freedom. The twist is that the wicked Alcina is doing it all for love.

Tickets for the festival are on sale online at TicketHalifax.com, by phone at (902) 422-6278 (ext. 500), in person at The Coast’s offices, 2309 Maynard Street, or at the venue an hour before the show, payable by cash, credit card, tappable debit, ApplePay or cheque. Audience members can also buy season passes, which will get them into every performance of every show (which can be quite interesting since there are two casts for each opera, providing two quite distinct interpretations).

Halifax Summer Opera Festival and Workshop educates and develops both singers and audiences through the performance of operatic repertoire. For fourteen seasons, HSOF has presented fully staged operas each summer, giving singers from university undergrads to professionals opportunities to learn roles in the context of performing an entire, full-staged opera. Participants are selected from live or recorded auditions and participate in rehearsals and master classes on everything from auditioning techniques to dramatic and musical interpretations by seasoned pros. HSOF is a not-for-profit society with a volunteer Board of Directors, based in Lunenburg and Halifax. You can find out all the details at www.halifaxsummeroperafestival.com.

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Information / interviews: 
Bodhi Anders: mobile: 902-293-0264 or email: 
bodhi.anders@gmail.com

For Immediate Release
July 23rd, 2019

Offenbach’s darkly humorous opéra fantastique, The Tales of Hoffmann, opens in Halifax August 3rd.

Jacques Offenbach never lived to see the immortal success of his last and greatest opera, Les contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) (1881). This production by the Halifax Summer Opera Festival features a steampunk theme, which fits perfectly with E.T.A. Hoffmann’s weird and often humorous stories of love thwarted by science, technology, magic and death.

Hoffmann is sung in French with projected translations, so audiences won’t miss any of the drama. Fully-staged and costumed and performed with piano, it opens August 3rd and runs through the 4th, 7th, and 10th at the Dunn Theatre.

The opera opens in a tavern in Nuremberg in 1880, where the poet Hoffmann confesses his love for the opera singer Stella, who reminds him of the three women he has most loved. He tells his fellow students their stories in flashbacks, and how in every case he was thwarted by a villain who took many shapes. Then follow the stories of Olympia, the clockwork doll whom Hoffmann was tricked into thinking human; Antonia, the young singer, who sang herself to death; and Giulietta, the Venetian courtesan who betrayed him and stole his shadow.

“The music is drop dead gorgeous”, says one of the stage directors, Nina Scott-Stoddart. “The opera is packed from start to finish with incredible numbers; from Olympia’s famous Doll Song, with its super high range to the legitimately creepy trio during which Antonia sings herself to death in a duet with her dead mother, to the lushly glorious Barcarolle of the Venetian Act”.

This production features gorgeous steampunk costumes by Egyptian-Canadian costume designer Wafaa Latif, as well as performances by Iranian-Canadian tenor Koosha Khorramian as Hoffmann and Canadian baritone MarKo Hubert as all four villains and the other talented singers of the 15th Halifax Summer Opera Festival.

Tickets for the festival are on sale online at TicketHalifax.com, by phone at (902) 422-6278 (ext. 500), in person at The Coast’s offices, 2309 Maynard Street, or at the venue an hour before the show, payable by cash, credit card, tappable debit, ApplePay or cheque. Audience members can also buy season passes, which will get them into every performance of every show (which can be quite interesting since there are two casts for each opera, providing two quite distinct interpretations).

Halifax Summer Opera Festival and Workshop educates and develops both singers and audiences through the performance of operatic repertoire. For fourteen seasons, HSOF has presented fully staged operas each summer, giving singers from university undergrads to professionals opportunities to learn roles in the context of performing an entire, full-staged opera. Participants are selected from live or recorded auditions and participate in rehearsals and master classes on everything from auditioning techniques to dramatic and musical interpretations by seasoned pros. HSOF is a not-for-profit society with a volunteer Board of Directors, based in Lunenburg and Halifax. You can find out all the details at www.halifaxsummeroperafestival.com.

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Information / interviews:
Bodhi Anders: mobile: 902-293-0264 or email:
bodhi.anders@gmail.com

For Immediate Release
July 22nd, 2019

Mozart’s final majestic masterpiece, The Magic Flute, opens in Halifax August 2nd.

It is no secret that W.A. Mozart has a very impressive roster of classical works under his belt. However, Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) (1791) is often regarded as his most beloved stage work. This production by the Halifax Summer Opera Festival features a child-friendly environment in which everyone can enjoy this tuneful and magical Mozart opera together. 

The Magic Flute is sung in German with English dialogue, and with projected translations, so audiences won’t miss any of the humour or drama. Fully-staged and costumed and performed with piano, it opens August 2nd and runs through the 3rd, 8th, and 10th at the Dunn Theatre.

Filled with ritual and symbolism, Mozart’s The Magic Flute is a playful, serious, and at times, profound look at man’s search for love, as well as his struggle to attain wisdom; two virtues that could be often difficult to obtain simultaneously. Ranging from the stunning arias of the Queen of the Night to the sweeter and simpler melodies of the bird catcher Papageno, Mozart’s magical operatic talents are certainly on display in this fairy-tale opera.

“It is celebrated as Mozart’s final opera and it is filled with some of Mozart’s most unforgettable music,” says stage director Jason Davis. “Every second is filled with famous arias, duets, ensemble pieces, children’s voices and choruses.” He adds “It was Mozart’s last opera, and many consider it his best. The form is that of a ‘singspiel’ or ‘sing-play’ opera, not so different from contemporary musical theatre. By presenting our dialogue in English, we are making it truly accessible to everyone.”

Tickets for the festival are on sale online at TicketHalifax.com, by phone at (902) 422-6278 (ext. 500), in person at The Coast’s offices, 2309 Maynard Street, or at the venue an hour before the show, payable by cash, credit card, tappable debit, ApplePay or cheque. Audience members can also buy season passes, which will get them into every performance of every show (which can be quite interesting since there are two casts for each opera, providing two quite distinct interpretations).

Halifax Summer Opera Festival and Workshop educates and develops both singers and audiences through the performance of operatic repertoire. For fourteen seasons, HSOF has presented fully staged operas each summer, giving singers from university undergrads to professionals opportunities to learn roles in the context of performing an entire, full-staged opera. Participants are selected from live or recorded auditions and participate in rehearsals and master classes on everything from auditioning techniques to dramatic and musical interpretations by seasoned pros. HSOF is a not-for-profit society with a volunteer Board of Directors, based in Lunenburg and Halifax. You can find out all the details at www.halifaxsummeroperafestival.com.

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Information / interviews:
Bodhi Anders: mobile: 902-293-0264 or email:
bodhi.anders@gmail.com