Canadian Opera Company Music Director Johannes Debus Will Conduct TRISTAN UND ISOLDE; Other Casting Changes

Containing some of opera's most sublime music, La clemenza di Tito is Mozart's final opera. It was last performed by the COC in 1991 and runs for nine performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on February 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 19 and 22, 2013. This includes the special Ensemble Studio performance of La clemenza di Tito, featuring the young artists of the COC's training program for young opera professionals, on February 6.

There is an additional casting change as it relates to the COC's upcoming production of Strauss's Salome.

One of the most outstanding singers on the world stage today, German mezzo-soprano Hanna Schwarz will now sing Herodias, Salome's mother, in the COC's Salome this spring. She replaces Julia Juon who has withdrawn from the role.

Schwarz is a world renowned concert and opera singer, and the role of Herodias marks her COC debut. Schwarz has sung under the batons of classical music's greatest conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Lorin Maazel, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph von Dohnanyi and Leonard Bernstein. Her international career has brought her to San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Royal Opera House Covent Garden, as well as regular appearances with the Salzburg and Bayreuth festivals.

At the 1905 premiere of Salome, the audience and critics were shocked by its subject matter and erotic themes; Salome's world of voyeurism and sexual abuse still elicits an equally visceral response today. Last performed by the COC in 2002, Salome runs for eight performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 21, 27, May 1, 4, 7, 10, 16 and 22, 2013.

The COC's production of Tristan und Isolde has been generously underwritten by Lisa Balfour Bowen and Walter M. Bowen; Cecily and Robert Bradshaw; Philip Deck and Kimberley Bozak; Donald O'Born; Tim and Frances Price; Colleen Sexsmith; Sandra L. Simpson; and Ryerson and Michele Symons.

Tristan und Isolde Production Sponsor: BMO Financial Group
The COC's production of Salome has been generously underwritten in part by Mark and Gail Appel

Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The COC enjoys a loyal audience support-base and one of the highest attendance and subscription rates in North America. Under its leadership team of General Director Alexander Neef and Music Director Johannes Debus, the COC is increasingly capturing the opera world's attention. The COC maintains its international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation by creating new productions within its diverse repertoire, collaborating with leading opera companies and festivals, and attracting the world's foremost Canadian and International Artists. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the Four Seasons Centre opened in 2006, and is also the performance venue for The National Ballet of Canada. For more information on the COC, visit its award-winning website, www.coc.ca.

Photo Credit: Kira Perov