Always known for searching out rare and intriguing works for the opera stage, this VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert tradition continues on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 2:30 pm with Saverio Mercadante’s I DUE FIGARO. Mercadante completed the work in 1826 but the premiere was delayed by the censors in Madrid until 1835 when it was heard at Teatro Principe. The work disappeared after its premiere and the score was only rediscovered in Madrid in 2009. Ricardo Muti presented the modern premiere in Ravenna in 2011 and since then there have been performances in Europe and the USA.
“This is a very exciting moment for VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert”, said General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin. “Stuart Hamilton began OIC with a totally unknown opera, but never before have we presented a work thought to have been completely lost to posterity. Opera lovers rejoice!”
The cast features the first Stuart Hamilton Memorial Award recipient Beste Kalender as Countess Rosina ruling the estate outside Seville with Tonatiuh Abrego as Count Almaviva. The two competing Figaros are Nicholas Borg and Marjorie Maltais, really Cherubino in disguise as Figaro number 2. They will be joined by debuting Ilana Zarankin as the Count’s daughter Ines and Holly Chaplin as Susanna, Stuart Graham as Plagio and Edward Larocque as Torribio. Narmina Afandiyeva will lead the opera as Pianist and Music Director while Robert Cooper directs the OIC Chorus.
Opera in Concert is supported by the Jackman Foundation, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and Classical 96.3 FM.
Single tickets are available from the St. Lawrence Centre Box Office, 27 Front St. East, by phone – 416-366-7723 or 1-800- 708-6754 – or online at www.stlc.com
The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking. All performances are on Sunday afternoons at the St. Lawrence Centre at 2:30 pm