Anita Rachvelishvili Joins Canadian Opera Company's DON QUICHOTTE; Leonardo Capalbo to Lead ROBERTO DEVEREUX

The Canadian Opera Company welcomes Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili to the role of Dulcinée in Don Quichotte as well as American tenor Leonardo Capalbo to the title role of Roberto Devereux, when both productions take to the stage of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts this spring.

Rachvelishvili joins Don Quichotte in place of Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, who has regrettably had to withdraw for personal reasons. The COC looks forward to welcoming Ms. Gubanova next May as part of its 2014/2015 season when she sings the role of Judith in the Robert Lepage-directed production of Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle. Capalbo will share the title role of Roberto Devereux with previously announced Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti, who has had to withdraw from three of the seven scheduled performances due to a family emergency necessitating a return to Italy.

Rachvelishvili has quickly become one of the most exciting singers to emerge on the opera stage in recent years since making an electrifying North American debut as Carmen with the COC in February 2010. She went on to make star turns at the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper München, Staatsoper Berlin and Carnegie Hall, among others. The New York Times had only admiration for Rachvelishvili in her recent engagement with the Metropolitan Opera as Konschakowna in the acclaimed new production by director Dmitri Tcherniakov of Borodin's Prince Igor, singling out her "plush big voice and sultry physicality." She added the role of Dulcinée in Don Quichotte to her repertoire in April 2012, delivering a performance with Teatro Lirico di Cagliari for which Spettacoli praised the strength of her voice and stage presence.

Capalbo is an established singer on the international opera scene who has been lauded for his rich lyric voice and dramatic intensity in engagements with the Berlin Staatsoper, the Glyndebourne Festival, l'Opéra de Lyon, Teatro Regio di Torino, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Semperoper Dresden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, New York City Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper and the Spoleto Festival, among others. Called "dashing" by the New York Times and "lithe, sunny and effortlessly lyrical" by the Financial Times, Capalbo was singled out for his "authentic Italianate timbre" (The Telegraph) as well as "power and elegance" (The Guardian) as Roberto Devereux with Welsh National Opera this past fall. He makes his COC debut on April 25, 2014, with additional performances on April 29 and May 3.

Roberto Devereux and Don Quichotte run in repertory this spring at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, each presented in seven performances. Roberto Devereux takes place on April 25, 29, May 3, 10, 15, 18, 21, 2014, and Don Quichotte on May 9, 11, 14, 17, 20, 22, 24, 2014. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit coc.ca or call 416-363-8231.

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