TORONTO - The Canadian Opera Company hopes to become more accessible with its upcoming season, which includes the classic "Aida," contemporary hit "Nixon in China" and standing-room-only tickets for $12.
"It's a mandate that we've given ourselves," COC general director Alexander Neef said in an interview after the 2010-2011 season was unveiled Wednesday.
"We have to try and attract the whole community to what we do -- not only for, let's say, our free concert series but really for the mainstage activities. I think it's something that we need to be committed to."
"The fact that we will have standing room in the theatre, which we didn't have ever before, will help people who had difficulties coming to the opera before," he added.
Verdi's "Aida," about the love affair of an enslaved Ethiopian princess and a military commander, will open the season at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on Oct. 2. It was last produced by the company in 1986.
Canadian soprano Michele Capalbo will share the title role with American Sondra Radvanovsky, while COC music director Johannes Debus conducts and Tim Albery helms.
"Tim Albery is one of the most accomplished directors of opera in the world today and he knows how to handle a big piece and he's dug into the piece and I think he's developed a very exciting concept ... I won't reveal it now," teased Neef.
John Adams's heralded 1987 opera "Nixon in China," about U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 trip to the country, will land at the COC on Feb. 5, 2011, with Canadian soprano Tracy Dahl as Madame Mao.
"It's probably the most successful opera of the past 25 years," said Neef, the German-born artistic administrator who replaced the late Richard Bradshaw in June 2008.
Five other productions round out the season, including Mozart's mystical fairytale "The Magic Flute," helmed by Diane Paulus, the Tony Award-nominated director of Broadway's "Hair." It opens Jan. 29, 2011.
"Death in Venice," based on Thomas Mann's novella about the relationship of an aging writer and a young boy, premieres Oct. 16, 2010.
Opening the 2011 spring season on April 23 is Gioacchino Rossini's "La Cenerentola," based on the Cinderella fairytale. Launching a week later is "Ariadne auf Naxos," Richard Strauss's opera within an opera.
Closing the season is the COC premiere of Christoph Willibald Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice," which will mark the highly anticipated return of Canadian director Robert Carsen.
"We characterize it as the perfect opera mix," said Neef. "When we try to set up a season, we try to balance different repertoires, operas in different languages, operas from different periods to give people a large overview of the complete operatic possibilities that we have."
Contrary to recent reports, star Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman has not been confirmed to make her debut appearance at the COC in 2012, added Neef.
"We're talking about a project but we have neither a period nor a piece confirmed."
Two Canadian commissions -- one from Winnipeg composer Randolph Peters and another from James Rolfe of Ottawa -- are "waiting to be performed" at the Four Seasons Centre in future seasons but aren't ready yet, said Neef.
The COC is also eyeing the Cree opera "Pimooteewin: The Journey," which has a libretto from celebrated Canadian playwright Tomson Highway and toured northern Ontario last spring.
"We're looking at it, actually," Neef said.
"I think the challenge for us is, if we put on a contemporary Canadian piece -- I mean, I've spoken about the challenges of contemporary opera in general -- because of the sheer size of what we're doing, we need to be able to sell it for eight performances, which means 16,000 tickets.
"And it may sound like a very plain economic argument but it's something we have to keep in mind, so essentially it needs to be a very strong piece that will carry through eight performances and will fill the theatre."
