It's Tonight Opera Fans.

The young artists of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio take on the lead roles in
their own performance of George Frideric Handel’s Semele tonight, May 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.  This special performance is a valuable and exciting step in developing the next generation of Canadian opera stars as they take to the main-stage in this “scenically
stunning” (New York Times) production by famed Chinese visual and performance artist Zhang Huan.  All tickets are accessibly priced at only $22 or $55.

Under the direction of the same artistic team as the main stage cast, including conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini, director and set designer Zhang Huan and costume designer Han Feng, the artists of the
Ensemble Studio perform Semele with the full COC Orchestra and Chorus. Zhang’s Semele draws on parallels between Greco-Roman mythology and Chinese legends, as well as Buddhist concepts of karma and reincarnation, to create a true interaction of Eastern and Western cultures. The production’s centerpiece is a 450-year-old Ming Dynasty ancestral temple salvaged by Zhang from a small town in China, and used to tell this operatic tale of a love affair between the god Jupiter and the mortal princess Semele.

The title role of the flighty, narcissistic and naïve Semele is shared by two rising young sopranos: Mireille Asselin and Ambur Braid. (We've had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Braid at OperaNation, and can say firsthand that she is fantastic.) Commanding the stage as Jupiter is tenor Christopher Enns, and mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb brings her vivacity and passion to the roles of Jupiter’s jealous wife, Juno, and Semele’s sister, Ino.  Cast as Juno’s messenger, Iris, is soprano Jacqueline Woodley.  Bass-baritone Philippe Slydemonstrates his dramatic and musical versatility in the roles of Cadmus, Semele’s father, and Somnus, the god of sleep. Rounding out the cast is guest artist Ryan Belongie, who sings Semele’s jilted suitor, Athamas.