A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Wednesday, July 30, and Friday, August 1, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 3 at 2:00 p.m.Dido and Aeneas
Thursday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. · Saturday, August 2 at 2:00 p.m.Eric Harvie Theatre, The Banff Centre
Adult $26, Student and Senior $21, Child $16 · Arts Lover Passholders free
Banff Centre Box Office: 1-800-413-8368 or 762-6301
Presented as part of the 2008 Banff Summer Arts Festival
The 2008 Banff Summer Arts Festival will showcase significant works in the history of The Banff Centre’s opera program, including stagings of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Re-stagings of both pieces were conceived by Kelly Robinson, director of Theatre Arts at the Centre, who has directed premieres of two original and critically acclaimed Canadian operas, Filumena and Frobisher, in recent Arts Festival opera productions.
Presented as part of the Centre’s Opera as Theatre program, which trains singers in stage craft, the two works represent different challenges in movement and acting for the up-and-coming opera singers performing in each.
To mark the history of opera at the Centre and celebrate the 75th anniversary, Dido and Aeneas will return to the stage on July 31 and August 2. This is the first time it has been staged at The Banff Centre since its Canadian premiere in 1952, when it was directed by Leona Paterson with conductor Clayton Hare. For this performance, the singers will be accompanied by participants from the Summer Chamber Music program.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed with the Banff Festival Orchestra conducted by David Agler. It was originally performed as part of the 1984 Opera as Theatre program under the direction of Colin Graham and conductor Steuart Bedford with set, lighting and costume design by Neil Peter Jampolis. Both 2008 works will have scenic and lighting designs from Scott Reid and Harry Frehner.
