Canadian Opera Company takes on ‘Rusalka,’ ‘Hansel & Gretel’ in new season

Mythical legends and fairy tales feature strongly in the Canadian Opera Company’s upcoming season.

COC general director Alexander Neef says the 2019/2020 season will feature Antonin Dvorak’s water nymph fantasy “Rusalka,” Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel & Gretel” and a revival of Richard Wagner’s seafaring thriller “The Flying Dutchman.”

It also includes a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot,” and revivals of Gioachino Rossini’s audience favourite “The Barber of Seville,” and Giuseppe Verdi’s war-time epic “Aida.”

Neef says the company was drawn to “extraordinary scores and vivid storytelling” and that the productions will “challenge existing notions of how best to tell these stories.”

That includes “a clean, modernist” take on “Aida” that shifts the opera’s action from ancient Egypt to the modern Middle East and a revamped set for “Turandot” that includes “clean lines and sleek minimalism.”

The season begins Sept. 28 with nine performances of “Turandot.”