The Canadian Opera Company’s 2014 season is heavy on international talent, and Atom Egoyan

The Canadian Opera Company’s 2014 season is heavy on international talent, and Atom Egoyan

A scene from COC’s 2006 production of Die Walküre. (Image: Michael Cooper)

The Canadian Opera Company announced its 2014/2015 lineup on Wednesday evening, and opera fans have a few things to look forward to. For starters, film director Atom Egoyan, a perennial favourite at the Four Seasons Centre, will be returning to direct a production of Wagner’s Die Walküre, last performed by the COC in 2006. Anyone interested in seeing the show will have to be patient, though, because the first of seven performances won’t take place until January 31, 2015. (Those with an urgent need for some Egoyan can catch his production of Così fan tutte, starting this Saturday. It runs until February 21.)

Also of note, October 2014’s production of Madama Butterfly will feature a well-known American soprano in the title role: Patricia Racette, whose portrayal of Puccini’s tragic heroine was broadcast to movie theatres around the world in 2009 as part of The Metropolitan Opera‘s Live in HD series. Racette will be sharing the role with another American soprano, Kelly Kaduce.

Season tickets are already on sale, but individual tickets won’t be available until August 25.

Here’s a quick rundown of the full 2014/2015 schedule.

  • Verdi’s Falstaff: October 3, 9, 12, 14, 25, 29 and November 1, 2014
  • Puccini’s Madama Butterfly: October 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 2014
  • Mozart’s Don Giovanni: January 24, 27, 30, February 1, 3, 6, 12, 14, 18, 21, 2015
  • Wagner’s Die Walküre: January 31, February 4, 7, 10, 13, 19, 22, 2015
  • Rossini’s The Barber of Seville: April 17, 19, 21, 26, 29, May 2, 7, 9, 13, 15, 19, 21, 22, 2015
  • Double bill of Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Arnold Schoenberg’s Erwartung: May 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 23, 2015