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Utah Opera's 2016-17 season will include not one but two works written in this century.
The company will stage a new production of Jake Heggie's 2006 opera "Moby-Dick," based on Herman Melville's classic novel, in January. In addition, the season will include a bonus selection: Jeremy Howard Beck's 2015 chamber opera "The Long Walk," based on Brian Castner's Iraq War memoir.
Three operatic mainstays round out the season: Bizet's "Carmen," Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" and Mozart's "Don Giovanni."
"I have been looking forward to next season with more excitement than I can remember," artistic director Christopher McBeth said in a news release.
All productions will have a five-performance run at Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre except "The Long Walk," which will have a two-performance run at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.
'Carmen' • The tragic tale of a convention-flouting Gypsy woman and the Spanish soldier whose obsession with her proves his undoing, this perennial favorite plays Oct. 8-16. Tenor Dominick Chenes, a former Utah Opera resident artist, will sing the role of Don José, with mezzo-soprano Elise Quagliata as Carmen. Baritone Christian Bowers will portray the bullfighting superstar Escamillo. Robert Tweten, a regular at Utah Opera, will conduct.
'Moby-Dick' • Heggie's adaptation of the classic revenge tale has become one of the most successful operas to debut in the 21st century. Canadian tenor Roger Honeywell, whom Utah Opera buffs may remember from his performance as Jim Casy in the company's 2007 production of Ricky Ian Gordon's "The Grapes of Wrath," stars as Captain Ahab; baritone David Adam Moore is Starbuck. Joseph Mechavich conducts the production running Jan. 21-29, with Kristine McIntyre as stage director. Costumes designed by Jessica Jahn and sets designed by Erhard Rom will be constructed at the Utah Opera Production Studios.
'Lucia di Lammermoor' • Soprano Nicole Haslett will sing the title role, a young Scottish noblewoman torn between her lover and the man her family has arranged for her to marry. Baritone James Westman portrays Lucia's brother, Enrico Ashton. Gary Thor Wedow conducts. Performances are March 11-19.
'The Long Walk' • Baritone Daniel Belcher originated the role of a soldier who struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder upon returning from active duty in Iraq when "The Long Walk" premiered at Opera Saratoga in New York last summer. Belcher, who wraps up a run in the company's production of "The Merry Widow" on Sunday, Jan. 22, will return to Utah to reprise the role in two performances, March 31 and April 1.
'Don Giovanni' • Mozart's setting of the Don Juan tale, transported to the 1920s in a film-noir production that originated at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, plays May 13-21. Baritone Joshua Hopkins will sing the title role; McIntyre returns to direct, with Christopher Larkin conducting.
Subscription renewals and purchases will be available at utahopera.org beginning Tuesday. Single tickets go on sale June 28.