Three productions close a full year of new productions in the 2012/13 Season, from Don Giovanni, Faust and The Makropulos Case to Otello, La clemenza di Tito and a double-bill of Poulenc’s La voix humaine and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in the new year.
The new productions announced for Spring 2013 begin in April with Handel’s mighty oratorio, Joshua, at Leeds Grand Theatre. Depicting the Old Testament story of Joshua, as he leads the Israelites in conquest of Canaan, this dramatic oratorio demonstrates Handel’s skill as an opera composer in its highly theatrical and strongly characterised score. Daniel Norman (Joshua) and Fflur Wyn (Achsah) lead a cast directed by Charles Edwards.
A new production of Benjamin Britten’s chamber comedy, Albert Herring, will be staged in the intimate space of the Howard Assembly Room in May. Albert Herring is directed by Giles Havergal (The Merry Widow, 2010), with set and costume design by Leslie Travers (Giulio Cesare, 2012). Casting includes the return to Opera North of Dame Josephine Barstow as Lady Billows, Alexander Sprague as Albert, and Joseph Shovelton as Mr Upfold.
Conducted by Music Director Richard Farnes, the next thrilling instalment of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Siegfried, will première at Leeds Town Hall in June before travelling to The Sage Gateshead, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and The Lowry, Salford Quays. Annalena Persson (Die Walküre, 2012) returns as Brünnhilde, while Estonian tenor Mati Turi sings the heroic title role.
The upcoming 2013/14 Season will now open with a ‘Festival of Britten’ in September 2013 and will close with the final part of Opera North’s four-year Ring Cycle, Götterdämmerung, in June 2014. Full details of the 2013/14 season will be announced in February 2013.
General booking for Joshua, Albert Herring and Siegfried will go on sale on 17 December.
