The Canadian Opera Company has announced the details of its 2025/26 season, which includes both traditional favourites from Rossini and Verdi, and a brand new Canadian-built production of Massenet’s Werther.
Robert Carsen and Robert Lepage, two Canadian icons from the world of international opera, add their stylistic touch to the season, which also offers a new to Toronto audiences version of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
“The Canadian Opera Company has long established itself as a global leader in artistic excellence,” says COC General Director David C. Ferguson. “However, even more important than international reputation is one of our company’s key, value-driven priorities: that Canadians, of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences, fully understand and share our pride in the incredible opera being performed right here at home. In curating our 2025/2026 mainstage season, we have put great thought into programming a lineup that offers a variety of entry points and layers of engagement with the art form so that there are just as many thrilling experiences to be had for a seasoned subscriber as there are for anyone making their very first visit in 25/26. It’s going to be a terrific year to join us at the opera house.”
Here’s a look at the season in full.
September 27; October 5, 8, 10, 14, 16, and 18, 2025
Sung in French with English SURTITLESTM
A production from Malmö Opera
This striking and colourful version of the quintessential tragic romance comes from Sweden’s Malmö Opera. The production is directed by Amy Lane, who Toronto audiences will remember from her cabaret-inspired take on Gounod’s Faust, which kicked off the COC’s 2024/25 season. This time, she sets Roméo et Juliette in New York City during the Gilded Age, where the family feud explodes at a lavish costume party. Bekhzod Davronov and Kseniia Proshina make their COC debuts as the titular star-crossed lovers. Multiple alumni from the Ensemble Studio are in the cast, including bass Robert Pomakov (Frère Laurent), bass-baritone Gordon Bintner and baritone Korin-Thomas Smith (they share the role of Mercutio), tenor Owen McCausland (Tybalt), bass-baritone Alex Halliday (The Duke), and mezzo-soprano Alex Hetherington (Stéphano).
October 9, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 25, 2025
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
A Canadian Opera Company co-production with Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Lyric Opera of Chicago
Canadian director Robert Carsen’s iconic minimalism draws the attention to the romantic story at the heart of the Greek myth of Orfeo ed Euridice. After the death of his beloved wife, Orfeo implores the gods to allow him to bring her back from the Underworld. But, there are conditions: she must never look back. Countertenor Iestyn Davies stars as Orfeo, with soprano (and Ensemble Studio graduate) Anna-Sophie Neher as Euridice. Canadian conductor Bernard Labadie leads the COC Orchestra, with Price Family Chorus Master Sandra Horst leading the COC Chorus.
January 24, 28; February 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14, 2026
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
A COC co-production with English National Opera
Verdi’s Rigoletto is perennially popular with good reason: a dramatic story, and iconic melodies that are among the most recognized in the opera world. Baritone Quinn Kelsey, known for his interpretations of the role, stars as the titular clown, with tenor Ben Bliss as the Duke of Mantua. Soprano Andrea Carroll sings the role of Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda. When the evil Duke seduces her, Rigoletto sets on a tragic path of revenge. Director Christopher Alden’s production puts the story into a meticulously detailed Victorian men’s club, with set and costume designs by Michael Levine.
February 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, and 21, 2026
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
A COC co-production with Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Opera Australia
Fast-paced and fun, this is the perfect opera for families and newbies to the art form. Director Joan Font and the Spanish street theatre troupe Els Comediants have created a comic masterpiece on a grand scale for the story, where the town’s barber, Figaro (baritone Luke Sutliff), schemes to make sure the sweet Rosina (mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny) and her true love Count Almaviva (tenor Dave Monaco) outwit the evil Dr. Bartolo. Conductor Daniela Candillari makes a much-anticipated debut to conduct the COC Orchestra.
April 25, 29; May 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16, 2026
Bluebeard’s Castle is sung in Hungarian with English SURTITLESTM
Erwartung is sung in German with English SURTITLESTM
A COC production
Innovative Canadian director Robert Lepage created this double-bill that delves into stories of twisted love. In Bluebeard’s Castle, a wife discovers horrific secrets behind the locked doors of her husband’s home. Mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill sings the role of Bluebeard’s wife, Judith, with bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the enigmatic Bluebeard. In Erwartung, a woman spirals into insanity during a frantic search for her missing lover. Anna Gabler makes her debut performance at the COC in this solo work. François Racine will direct the revival of this work.
May 7, 9, 3, 15, 17, 19, and 23, 2026
Sung in French with English SURTITLESTM
A COC co-production with Opéra de Montréal and Vancouver Opera
Three Canadian opera companies team up in this production of Massenet’s story of romantic obsession. Tenor Russell Thomas sings the role of Werther, a young man and poet. Toronto audiences will recognize him from his stunning turn as Otello in 2019. Mezzo-soprano Victoria Karkacheva makes a company debut as the woman who loves him, but won’t abandon her engagement to another. Ensemble Studio alumni, bass-baritone Gordon Bintner and soprano Simone Osborne, co-star as Charlotte’s fiancé, Albert, and her sister, Sophie, respectively. Bass Alain Coulombe and tenor Michael Colvin portray Werther’s friends, Johann and Schmidt. Canadian director Alain Gauthier leads this new Canadian collaborative production.
October 23, 2025 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
The COC’s Ensemble Studio Competition showcases the next generation of operatic talent in Canada each year. Along with cash prizes comes the chance to be part of the Studio Ensemble, and benefit from its intensive professional training program.
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