Quality of Productions

Over the decades, Vancouver Opera has achieved an enviable level of consistency in its productions. One of the company’s main strengths is its capacity for continually enhancing the quality of physical productions to match and support the high musical values. In recent years, the company has dramatically increased its investment in the look of its shows, in direct proportion to its increased investment in top-level international singers and conductors. The company has also developed its artistic capacity by creating new productions (Peter Grimes, 1995; Candide, 1996; The Rake’s Progress, 2000; The Threepenny Opera, 2004; The Magic Flute, 2007), by investing in co-productions (Of Mice and Men, 2002; Turandot, 1997 and 2005; Macbeth, 2006; Ariadne auf Naxos, 2007), and by commissioning new works (The Architect, by David McIntyre and Tom Cone, 1994; Naomi’s Road, an opera for young audiences by Ramona Luengen and Ann Hodges, 2005; and Lillian Alling, by John Estacio and John Murrell, which had its World Premiere in October 2010).

Vancouver Opera presents a balance of traditional and innovative productions of established repertoire along with newer operas and less frequently produced works by master composers. Among the most memorable innovative productions of established repertoire have been a controversial Lucian Pintile staging of Carmen in 1986, a visually compelling production of La traviata in 1989 directed by Goran Jarvefelt, a multi-media production of Salome in 1997 directed by filmmaker Atom Egoyan, and, in 2006, a spectacular production of Faust, directed by Nicholas Muni. Among rarely produced works, the company has received international attention for several productions, including Le Roi de Lahore, Janáček's From the House of the Dead in its North American stage premiere in 1986, The Cunning Little Vixen in 1988, and the universally acclaimed Robert Lepage/Michael Levine production of Bluebeard’s Castle and Erwartung in 1999. Less frequently performed works by master composers have included, in recent years, Puccini’s La fanciulla del West in 2003, Verdi’s Masked Ball in 2005, and, during the 2007-2008 season, Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers.

Also in recent years, the company has focused on the major works of Richard Strauss: Elektra (2003), Der Rosenkavalier (2004), and Ariadne auf Naxos (2007). The Canadian premiere of John Adams' Nixon in China was presented during the company's Golden Anniversary Season, 2009-2010.