Opera Atelier’s 2018-19 season to cater to a broad audience

Opera Atelier, Canada's leader in baroque, rococo and classical opera, has announced a 2018-19 season that has broad appeal. Greek mythology buffs will revel in the stories after Ovid and Homer; habitual company patrons will find familiar repertoire paired with today's leading Canadian talent; and operatic newcomers will be struck by the onstage aesthetic: a combination of bold drama and otherworldly grace that is unique among Torontonian stages.

The season's three works – a double bill of French baroque operas and a full-length Mozart masterwork – are not entirely new to Opera Atelier 's production history. Nor is the creative team, the long-established triumvirate of director Marshall Pynkoski, choreographer Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg and set designer Gerard Gauci. Yet, there's something to be said for a company that, among Canadian operatic organizations, comes the closest to engaging a fixed house ensemble.

Fall 2018 sees the pairing of Marc-Antoine's Charpentier's Actéon and Jean-Philippe Rameau's Pygmalion, both after myths in Ovid's Metamorphosis (Oct. 25-Nov. 3). Actéon is the story of the hunter who is turned into a stag by the goddess Diana. Its complement is the operatic telling of Pygmalion, the sculptor who falls in love with his sculpture, and who gets his wish when his artwork is transformed into a real woman. Canadian tenor Colin Ainsworth, an OA staple performer in recent seasons, takes on the title roles of both Actéon and Pygmalion, sharing the stage with Mireille Asselin (Diana and Amour) and Allyson McHardy (Juno and Céphis).

OA's production of Mozart's Trojan War tale, Idomeneo, returns in the spring of 2019 (April 4-13), revived for the first time in more than 10 years. Full of pack-a-punch arias, Idomeneo is a rarer sight among Mozart operas, demanding a skilled, almost specialized cast. Ainsworth returns for a third title role, joined by fellow OA favourites Wallis Giunta (Idamante) and Meghan Lindsay (Ilia), and by star soprano Measha Brueggergosman, who returns to her Dora Award-winning portrayal of Elettra.

Brueggergosman's OA homecoming is a point of interest; Mozart's Elettra is a thrilling, difficult role, and one that inevitably changes and matures over the course of a decade. The New Brunswick native has expanded her career beyond the operatic and concert stage, from television appearances (Canada's Got Talent, Songs of Freedom) to the publishing of her memoir, Something is Always On Fire. Brueggergosman's return to a taxing operatic role is sure to pique curiosity.

Also exciting is OA's naming of Ainsworth as their first artist in residence. Ainsworth's steady presence on the Elgin Theatre stage makes the title perhaps unsurprising, yet it's well deserved. Along with a monopoly on title roles in the 2018-19 lineup, Ainsworth will take on a mentorship position in master classes with fellow Canadian singers, and with OA's free Making of an Opera program for diverse students of Toronto-area secondary schools.

The company boasts two more coups in 2018-19: The fall double bill will also feature Inception, OA's first Canadian commission; the "pas de deux for instrumentalist and dancer" will see its premiere by new work by composer/violinist Edwin Huizinga and choreographer/artist of the Atelier ballet Tyler Gledhill.

Finally, following the Toronto run of Actéon and Pygmalion, the production will head to the Royal Opera House of Versailles, marking OA's fifth visit since 2012.