Email this Article Printer-friendly

By Vivien Schweitzer
23 Apr 2007

Pierre Dufour, managing director of the Opéra de Montréal, has given the deficit-afflicted company a "clean bill of health," according to The Globe and Mail.

Dufour reportedly aims to reduce the company's C$1.9 million deficit by C$1 million by the end of the current season. Montreal's The Gazette quotes him as saying, "Things could always be better, but I don't know many cultural organizations that have worked on its deficit as quickly." He attributed the turnaround to increased ticket sales this season (92% capacity, according to the paper) and an intense fundraising campaign by chairman Alexandre Taillefer.

The company also announced four productions for its 2007-08 season at Montreal's Place des Arts: Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

The season opens on September 22 with Jean Bard's new production of Ballo. Tenor Richard Margison will sing Riccardo, with soprano Manon Feubel as Amelia; Gregory Vajda conducts.

Marc Hervieux and Maureen O'Flynn sing the title roles in Roméo et Juliette; Jean-Yves Ossonce conducts and Michael Cavanagh directs.

A revival of Robert Prevost's 1970s production of Barbiere features Aaron St. Clair Nicholson in the title role and Julie Boulianne as Rosina; Frédéric Antoun sings Count Almaviva, and Jacques Lacombe conducts the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. (The other three productions use the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal.)

In Madama Butterfly, Japanese soprano Hiromi Omura makes her North American debut in the title role, with American tenor Richard Troxell as Pinkerton. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts and Moffat Oxenbould directs.

The Opéra de Montréal season also includes a double-bill by the company's Atelier Lyrique at the Monument National: Ravel's L'heure espagnole and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Il segreto di Susanna. Alain Trudel conducts.

Dufour also announced the promotion of Michel Beaulac, a Montreal native, from artistic administrator to artistic director, accoding to the Gazette. He succeeds Bernard Labadie, who resigned after the 2005-2006 season.

Keyword: Features/Location: All News Features Writer:

Contact Us | Advertise

Send questions and comments to the Webmaster
Copyright © 2008 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.