Portland Opera 2011/12 Season

Gala Concert Big Night — September 24, 2011
The Marriage of Figaro — November 4, 6, 10, 12, 2011
Madame Butterfly — February 3, 5, 9, 11, 2012
Galileo Galilei — March 30, April 1, 3, 5, 7, 2012
Candide — May 11, 13, 17, 19, 2012

PORTLAND OPERA ANNOUNCES 2011–12 SEASON

“WHEN OUR WORLD CHANGES”

Portland Opera General Director Christopher Mattaliano has officially announced the details of the 2011–12 Season, the Company’s 47th Season and Mr. Mattaliano’s eighth as General Director. The season—“When Our World Changes”—explores some of the most electrifying points in our shared human history, times when our world changed in extraordinary ways. Galileo’s new universal order. The French Revolution. The reaction to the Age of Enlightenment. And the opening of Asia to the Western World. “Opera has the power to have an extraordinary effect on audiences and their lives,” noted Mr. Mattaliano. “This season it is our hope that the communal experience of enjoying opera together will provide us all with the ability to look forward to our unknown future with hope and optimism.”

The season begins on a spectacular, star-studded note with a Company first—Portland Opera’s Big Night. All proceeds from this special, season-opening Gala Concert, featuring headliners soprano Maria Kanyova, who made an impressive debut in 2008 as Violetta in La Traviata, and tenor Richard Crawley, remembered for his recent performance as Canio in Pagliacci, will benefit the Opera’s Education and Outreach efforts, helping to keep music in the lives of our children and grandchildren throughout the state of Oregon and SW Washington. Joining Ms. Kanyova and Mr. Crawley will be the acclaimed Portland Opera Orchestra and Chorus. “We’re pulling out all the stops,” said Mr. Mattaliano, “for an evening of unabashed Opera celebration, with everyone’s favorite arias, duets, choruses and orchestral pieces. It will definitely be an evening not to be missed.”

The 2011–12 Season continues with an opulent look at Mozart’s THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO. Mozart’s masterwork focuses on the delicate, and historically controversial, interplay between the nobility and serving class in a way that is both humorous and touchingly human. The season’s emotional rollercoaster reaches a zenith with Puccini’s MADAME BUTTERFLY. One of the greatest tragic operas of all time, MADAME BUTTERFLY never fails to wring tears and win hearts from audiences that are expected to include many first-time opera attendees. The always popular Portland Opera Studio program returns to the intimate Newmark Theatre with an all-new and locally designed, West Coast premiere of Philip Glass’ GALILEO GALILEI. This production marks the composer’s second appearance at Portland Opera after the hugely successful Company premiere in 2009 of Orphée. And the season ends on a brilliant note with Christopher Mattaliano’s original production of Leonard Bernstein’s CANDIDE. A feast for the eyes and a whirlwind escapade of an evening, the production uses innovative projections to whisk the audience around the world with the naïve hero in search of goodness, beauty and truth.

For season ticket information and more about the Portland Opera, please visit www.portlandopera.org