Back on stage: Cape Town Opera – announces 2021 season

Back on stage: Cape Town Opera – announces 2021 season-April to November 2021

Cape Town Opera has announced the programme for its 2021 season, curated by the outgoing Artistic Director, Matthew Wild. He says: “I’ve concentrated on works with small principal casts, and large performance venues which allow for physical distancing. Many outstanding South African singers are facing a temporary career hiatus while European and American opera houses stand empty, and we are thrilled to be able to welcome many of them back to CTO in 2021. We trust that our patrons will also embrace our necessarily flexible approach through the year, and understand that advertised dates, times, venues and casting will be subject to change as the situation with the pandemic evolves.”

The season starts with Erik Dippenaar’s Camerata Tinta Barocca for Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine in St Georges Cathedral. The production was filmed for broadcast on kykNET but live performances will be hopefully presented in the cathedral in April. Dates to be advised. An exciting opera is Hänsel und Gretel for “grown-ups” Alessandro Talevi and artist-photographer Roger Ballen are collaborating on the design. [April 3, 6, 8, 10, Artscape Opera House]. Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River “will be paired with a fascinating new commission by Sibusiso Njeza and Asanda Chuma Sopotela, Amagokra, which contemplates the resilience of South African women in the face of the scourge of gender-based violence.” [June 4, 5 at the Novalis Ubuntu Institute.]  Vuvu Mpofu, Lukhanyo Moyake and Jan Latham-Koenig (UK) will headline three concert performances of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers [June 15, 17, 19, Artscape Opera House].  Cape Town opera’s annual Duet Gala with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra is on June 26 in the Artscape Opera House. Cape Town Opera, in collaboration with UCT Opera School, will stage Puccini’s La Rondine [September 8-11, Baxter]. The CTO’s new Artistic Director, the British director Michael Hunt, will head up a series of annual regional tours, starting with La Bohème [September to October]. Ending his tenure as Artistic Director, Matthew Wild will direct Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera The Turn of the Screw [November 20, 25, 27, Artscape Opera House]. He is excited to be working with South African designer Andrew Moerdyk on this production- the first time that they have worked together.

Booking alert: Under lockdown regulations, seats are limited [currently a 100 seats a performance- as of March 2021], so it is advisable to reserve seats as soon as booking opens for each opera.

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