Production History

Production History

Pacific Opera Victoria’s adventurous exploration of the opera repertoire has resulted in a wealth of new productions over the years, encompassing now only classic favourites, but many exciting, lesser known works, including new commissions and Canadian premières.


Productions as Pacific Opera Association & Pacific Opera Victoria

October 2022 | Carmen, Georges Bizet

November 2022 | Take this Waltz, Leonard Cohen

February 2023 | The Birds, Walter Braunfels
Canadian première

April 2023 | Così fan tutte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
International co-production with Theatre des Champs Elysees, théâtre de Caen, and Tokyo Nikikai Opera Foundation

May 2023 | The Book of My Shames, Isaiah Bell

February 2022 | The Garden of Alice, Elizabeth Raum
Film Release

March 2022 | The Italian Lesson & Bon Appétit!, Lee Hoiby

April 2022 | Don Giovanni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

April 2022 | For A Look Or A Touch, Jake Heggie & Gene Sheer
Film Release

May 2021 | The Italian Lesson & Bon Appétit!, Lee Hoiby
Recorded for digital distribution.

June 2021 | Phaedra & Serenade, Benjamin Britten
Recorded for digital distribution and co-produced with The Victoria Symphony.

October 2019 | Il trittico, Giacomo Puccini

November 2019 | Missing, Brian Current & Marie Clements
Remount with performances in Victoria, Regina, and Prince George. Presented in partnership with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, Prince George Native Friendship Centre, Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services, Regina Symphony Orchestra, and Prince George Symphony Orchestra

February 2020 | Flight, Jonathan Dove & April De Angelis
Canadian première

March 2020 | The Flight of the Hummingbird, Music by Maxime Goulet, Libretto by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Barry Gilson
Co-commission and Co-production with Vancouver Opera. World première performances and BC School Tour

October 2018 | Fidelio, Ludwig van Beethoven

October 2018 | Ayre, Osvaldo Golijov
Co-production with Aventa Ensemble

February 2019 | La traviata, Giuseppe Verdi
Co-production with Manitoba Opera, Edmonton Opera, Vancouver Opera, Opéra de Montréal

April 2019 | Countess Maritza, Emmerich Kálmán

October 2017 | Jenůfa, Leoš Janáček
Co-Production with Opéra de Montréal

November 2017 | Rattenbury, Tobin Stokes.
Staged Première, in collaboration with The Other Guys Theatre Company

November 2017 | Missing, Music by Brian Current, Libretto by Marie Clements.
Co-Commission and World Première Co-Production with City Opera Vancouver

February 2018 | La bohème, Giacomo Puccini

April 2018 | Rinaldo, George Frideric Handel

October 2016 | Simon Boccanegra, Giuseppe Verdi

February 2017 | The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

April 2017 | Les Feluettes, Music by Kevin March. Libretto by Michel Marc Bouchard
Co-Commission and World Première Co-Production with Opéra de Montréal (2016)
Also staged at Edmonton Opera 2017

October 2015 | Otello, Giuseppe Verdi

November 2015 | Mary’s Wedding, Music by Andrew P. MacDonald. Libretto by Stephen Massicotte.
School Tour Production

February 2016 | The Barber of Seville, Gioachino Rossini

April 2016 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Benjamin Britten

May 2016 | La Voix humaine, Francis Poulenc
First Chamber Opera Production in the Baumann Centre

October 2014 | Das Rheingold, Richard Wagner
First standalone Canadian production outside of the Ring Cycle

November 2014 | Camelot in Concert, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (with the Victoria Symphony)

February 2015 | Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti

April 2015 | Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini

October 2013 | Falstaff, Giuseppe Verdi

November 2013 | South Pacific in Concert, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (with the Victoria Symphony)

February 2014 | Ariadne auf Naxos, Richard Strauss

March 2014 | La descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Boston Early Music Festival, co-presented with the Early Music Society of the Islands

April 2014 | The Marriage of Figaro, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

October 2012 | Macbeth, Giuseppe Verdi

February 2013 | Albert Herring, Benjamin Britten

February – March 2013 | Britten Festival (Noye’s Fludde and Let’s Make an Opera / The Little Sweep), Benjamin Britten

April 2013 | Tosca, Giacomo Puccini

October 2011 | The Flying Dutchman, Richard Wagner

November 2011 | Mary’s Wedding, Music by Andrew P. MacDonald. Libretto by Stephen Massicotte
Pacific Opera Commission. World Première. Recorded by CBC for national broadcast

February 2012 | Carmen, Georges Bizet

April 2012 | Maria Stuarda, Gaetano Donizetti

September/October 2010 | Cinderella, Gioachino Rossini

November 2010 | Rodelinda, George Frideric Handel

February 2011 | La bohème, Giacomo Puccini

April/May 2011 | Vanessa, Samuel Barber

October 2009 | La traviata, Giuseppe Verdi

November 2009 | The Rake’s Progress, Igor Stravinsky

February / March 2010 | Capriccio, Richard Strauss
Canadian première. Recorded by CBC for national broadcast

April 2010 | Così fan tutte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

October 2008 | Thaïs, Jules Massenet

February 2009 | Semele, George Frideric Handel
Recorded by CBC for national broadcast

April 2009 | The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

October 2007 | Idomeneo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

February 2008 | Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini

April 2008 | Regina, Marc Blitzstein
Canadian première. Recorded by CBC for national broadcast

October 2006 | Manon Lescaut, Giacomo Puccini

February 2007 | Daphne, Richard Strauss
Canadian première. Recorded by CBC for national broadcast

April 2007 | Don Giovanni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

October 2005 | Eugene Onegin, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

February 2006 | The Rape of Lucretia, Benjamin Britten

April 2006 | Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi

October 2004 | Norma, Vincenzo Bellini

February 2005 | The Cunning Little Vixen, Leoš Janáček

April 2005 | Tosca, Giacomo Puccini

October 2003 | Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti

February 2004 | The Tempest, Lee Hoiby
Canadian première. Recorded by CBC for national broadcast

April 2004 | Carmen, Georges Bizet

October 2002 | La bohème, Giacomo Puccini

February 2003 | Wozzeck, Alban Berg

April 2003 | The Marriage of Figaro, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

October 2001 | La traviata, Giuseppe Verdi

February 2002 | Julius Caesar, George Frideric Handel

April 2002 | The Gypsy Baron, Johann Strauss Jr.

October 2000 | The Barber of Seville, Gioacchino Rossini

February 2001 | The Taming of the Shrew, Vittorio Giannini
Canadian première

April 2001 | Nabucco, Giuseppe Verdi

October 1999 | Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini

February 2000 | Erewhon, Louis Applebaum
World première

April 2000 | Il trovatore, Giuseppe Verdi

August 1998 | A Masked Ball, Giuseppe Verdi

September 1998 | The Mikado, Gilbert & Sullivan
National Arts Centre Production

February 1999 | Ariadne auf Naxos, Richard Strauss

April 1999 | Don Giovanni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

September 1997 | The Italian Girl in Algiers, Gioacchino Rossini

February 1998 | Werther, Jules Massenet

April 1998 | Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi

September 1996 | The Pearl Fishers, George Bizet

February 1997 | The Turn of the Screw, Benjamin Britten

April 1997 | Tosca, Giacomo Puccini

September 1995 | The Elixir of Love, Gaetano Donizetti

February 1996 | The Love of Three Kings, Italo Montemezzi
Canadian première

April 1996 | Carmen, George Bizet

September 1994 | The Daughter of the Regiment, Gaetano Donizetti

February 1995 | Macbeth, Giuseppe Verdi

April 1995 | La bohème, Giacomo Puccini

September 1993 | Don Pasquale, Gaetano Donizetti

February 1994 | Der Freischütz, Carl Maria von Weber
Canadian première

April 1994 | La traviata, Giuseppe Verdi

October 1992 | The Abduction from the Seraglio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Recorded for broadcast by Knowledge Network

February 1993 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Benjamin Britten
Recorded by CBC for national broadcast

April 1993 | The Merry Widow, Franz Lehár

October 1991 | Così fan tutte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

February 1992 | A Masked Ball, Giuseppe Verdi

April 1992 | Die Fledermaus, Johann Strauss Jr.

September 1990 | The Marriage of Figaro, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

February 1991 | Romeo and Juliette, Charles Gounod

April 1991 | Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini

September 1989 | La Cenerentola, Gioacchino Rossini

February 1990 | Eugene Onegin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

April 1990 | The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert & Sullivan

September 1988 | The Barber of Seville, Giacchino Rossini

December 1988 | The Tales of Hoffmann, Jacques Offenbach
Canadian Opera Company Touring Production

February 1989 | The Flying Dutchman, Richard Wagner

September 1987 | Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti

February 1988 | Fidelio, Ludwig van Beethoven
Directed by Robert Carsen. Professional debut of Michael Schade. Recorded by CBC for national broadcast. Filmed by PBS for broadcast as part of a documentary on Pacific Opera and Victoria.

September 1986 | Il trovatore, Giuseppe Verdi
Canadian mainstage opera debut for director Robert Carsen

February 1987 | The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

September 1985 | Don Giovanni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

February 1986 | La bohème, Giacomo Puccini

September 1984 | Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi

February 1985 | Faust, Charles Gounod

September 1983 | The Elixir of Love, Gaetano Donizetti

December 1983 | Amahl and the Night Visitors, Gian-Carlo Menotti

February 1984 | Carmen, Georges Bizet

June 1984 | The Merry Widow, Franz Lehár

September 1982 | Die Fledermaus, Johann Strauss Jr.

December 1982 | Cinderella in Salerno, Gioacchino Rossini (adapted by Raymond Walker and William Beaumont)

February 1983 | Tosca, Giacomo Puccini

September 1981 | The Abduction from the Seraglio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

February 1982 | La traviata, Giuseppe Verdi

September 1980 | The Barber of Seville, Gioachino Rossini
Glynis Leyshon’s debut as a director of opera, with Richard Margison as Figaro

February 1981 | Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini

September 1979 | The Merry Wives of Windsor, Carl Otto Nicolai
Conducted and directed by Timothy Vernon, with Richard Margison as Fenton, Selena James as Mrs. Ford, Ingrid Attrot as Anne Page

February 1980 | La Bohème, Giacomo Puccini

Productions as Vancouver Island Opera Society

September 1978 | The Bartered Bride, Bedrich Smetana
Conducted by Timothy Vernon, with Richard Margison as Jenik

February 1979 | The Yeomen of the Guard, Gilbert and Sullivan

September 1977 | The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

March & April 1978 | The Beggar’s Opera, John Gay

November 1976 | The Marriage of Figaro, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
After a 40-year hiatus, Victoria has its own opera company again . . . as the Vancouver Island Opera Society made its auspicious debut . . . with Mozart’s exquisite and happy Marriage of Figaro.
Audrey Johnson, Victoria Times

December 1976 | Amahl and the Night Visitors, Gian Carlo Menotti


Aviva Claire & Adam Luther in Il tabarro, 2019. David Cooper Photography.

Armida (Jennifer Taverner) and her minions in Rinaldo. Pacific Opera Victoria, 2018. David Cooper Photography Jennifer Taverner and Pacific Opera Chorus Members in Rinaldo, 2018. David Cooper Photography.

Cinderella, 2010Julie Boulianne in Cinderella, 2010. Emily Cooper Photography.

Sharleen Joynt, John Brancy, Kimy McLaren, & William Towers in Flight. Pacific Opera Victoria 2020. David Cooper Photography Sharleen Joynt, John Brancy, Kimy McLaren, & William Towers in Flight, 2020. David Cooper Photography.

Lucia Cesaroni in La traviata, Pacific Opera Victoria, 2019. David Cooper Photography Lucia Cesaroni in La traviata, 2019. David Cooper Photography.