Vancouver Opera
Cosi fan Tutte by W.A. Mozart, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

When and Where February 7 & 12 at 7.30pm + February 15 at 2pm, 2026 | Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Don Alfonso Daniel Okulitch Guglielmo Clarence Frazer Ferrando Owen McCausland Fiordiligi Jamie Groote Dorabella Alex Hetherington and Tracy Dahl as Despina. The Vancouver Opera Orchestra and the Vancouver Opera Chorus

Conductor and Chorus Director Leslie Dala Director Rob Herriot Principal Repetiteur Tina Chang Set design Sheldon Johnson and Costume Design Donnie Tejani Lighting Design Jamie Sweeney Stage Manager Theresa Tsang

Sung in Italian with English Projected Titles

Reviewer Elizabeth Paterson

Against a fabulously picturesque backdrop, not of Naples in the 18th century, as in the original setting, but of the Rockies from a grand 1930’s tourist hotel, Vancouver Opera’s Cosi fan Tutte plays out its themes of love and courtship with style. The limpid lakes and post-card mountain views from set designer Sheldon Johnson are as intimately familiar as the parallel changes in the characters. While the young ladies remain visitors from Ferrara, the young men are transformed from Italian officers to Mounties. Despina (Tracy Dahl) is the hotel housekeeper and the manipulative Don Alfonso (Daniel Okulitch) appears as a suave lounge lizard. Full review

Vancouver Opera
Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto

When and Where October 25 & 30 at 7.30pm + November 2 at 2pm, 2025 | Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Rigoletto Michael Chioldi Gilda Sarah Dufresne Duke of Mantua
Yongzhao Yu
Sparafucile Nathan Berg Maddalena Emma Parkinson Count Monterone Neil Craighead

Conductor Jacques Lacombe Stage Director Glynis Leyshon Set Designer James Rotondo Costume Designer Pam Johnson Lighting Designer Gerald King Chorus Director and Associate Conductor Leslie Dala

Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™

Reviewer John Anthony Jane

The opera, originally named La Maledizione, but later changed to that of its central character Rigoletto, a master of bad karma, is densely packed with emotional arias and filled with curses and ironic twists. Vancouver Opera has for this production assembled a fine cast of singers who breathe life into their roles. Full review


Vancouver Opera
Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly

When & Where April 26 - May 3, 2025; evenings at 7.30pm + 2pm matinees on Sunday | Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™

Conductor Jacques Lacombe Director Mo Zhou Assistant Director Tayte Mitchell Chorus Director Leslie Dala Lighting Design Marie Yokoyama Set Design Lloyd Evans Costume Design Ruoxuan Li Intimacy Director Lisa Goebel Stage Manager Theresa Tsang

Cio-Cio-San Yasko Sato (Karen Chai-Ling Ho) Pinkerton Robert Watson (Adam Luther) Sharpless Brett Polegato Suzuki Nozomi Kato Goro Julius Ahn Yamadori/Imperial Commissioner Luka Kawabata Imperial Registrar Danlie Rae Acebuque The Bonze Insung Sim

Reviewer John Anthony Jane

Director Mo Zhou’s vision of Butterfly is markedly different from the traditional version that we have come to love. It is still in set in Nagasaki, and of course contains the glorious music and the achingly poignant arias. Nonetheless, Ms. Zhou has reset the story in the historic period of the so-called “American occupation” that followed the surrender of the Japanese Empire in 1945, introducing a political element to the narrative. Full review