SALOME, ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO and More Set for Utah Opera's 2013-14 Season

Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth today announced Utah Opera's complete 2013-2014 season on Classical 89.1 FM, during which the company will celebrate 35 years of opera in Utah.

The new season will feature five productions from October 2013 through May 2014: Richard Strauss' "Salome," Kathleen Cahill's "Fatal Song," Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata," Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot" and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio." These productions will be performed at the Capitol Theatre, Abravanel Hall and the Jeanne Wagner Theater in Salt Lake City, due to Capitol Theatre renovations taking place in the fall of 2013.

"We have the great opportunity to thank our community for 35 years of support and engagement with a truly unique and exciting new season," said Christopher McBeth, Utah Opera Artistic Director. "With five productions that range from grand and stirring to witty and intimate, there is sure to be something for everyone."

The season will open with deception, power and seduction October of 2013 with a semi-staged performance of Richard Strauss's chilling one-act opera, "Salome," based on Oscar Wilde's play of the same name. This large scale opera will be performed a select number of nights in Abravanel Hall with minimal sets and full costumes.

Then, the season continues in November 2013 with a special run of "Fatal Song," a lighthearted cabaret opera about some of opera's favorite divas written by Salt Lake Acting Company's Resident Playwright Kathleen Cahill. These performances, part of Utah Opera's ongoing American Opera Initiative, will be offered in the Jeanne Wagner Theater in a more intimate setting than most opera patrons have ever experienced.

In January of 2014, Utah Opera returns to the Capitol Theatre with Verdi's tragic and beloved "La Traviata," as Parisian courtesan, Violetta, eats, drinks and is merry until love and consumption turn her world upside down. This production of "Turandot" will be a remount of Utah Opera's October 2006 production.

In March of 2014, Utah Opera audiences will journey to an exotic land with Puccini's "Turandot", as an Asian prince almost loses his head in an attempt to marry the cruelly beautiful princess Turandot. Having received rave reviews in Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Seattle, this co-production of "Turandot" is sure to be a highlight of the season.

The season closes in May 2014, with Mozart's witty blend of comedy and drama in a production of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" Created by Arizona opera.

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