Atlanta Opera to Open 2013-14 Season with TOSCA; Tickets On Sale Today

The Atlanta Opera opens its 2013-2014 season with a production of Giacomo Puccini's dramatic tour de force, Tosca. Tosca will be presented on October 5, 8, 11 and 13 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and will be directed by new General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, who joined the Opera on June 1. Single tickets, ranging from $26-$133 plus convenience and venue fees, go on sale today, Sept. 5 at 10 a.m., and can be purchased online at atlantaopera.org, or by calling 404-881-8885. Season tickets are still available as well, offering patrons the best seats at the best prices.

Tomer Zvulun will be the stage director for Tosca. Zvulun has previously directed The Flying Dutchman, The Magic Flute, and, most recently, Lucia di Lammermoor, on the Atlanta Opera stage. The New York Times praised one of his recent operas for its, "witty, fast-paced staging" and "Felliniesque" directing style. As the Opera's general and artistic director, Zvulun is expected to direct up to two Atlanta Opera productions each season.

Soprano Kara Shay Thomson will be making her debut with The Atlanta Opera as Floria Tosca, a role she has sung more than 75 times. The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote, "Kara Shay Thomson was the most exciting debut of the season; she projected an alluring presence and a luxuriant lyric voice that remained smooth all the way to her powerhouse top notes." The tenor role of Mario Cavaradossi will be sung by Massimiliano Pisapia in his United States debut. Baritone Mark Delavan performs the role of Baron Scarpia, which he performed previously with The Atlanta Opera in 1997 at The Fox Theatre. Delavan has sung to great acclaim the role of Wotan in Wagner's Ring Cycle with The Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera. Recently, Delavan has been seen on the Atlanta Opera stage as Amonasro in 2010's Aida and as The Dutchman in 2009's The Flying Dutchman. The conductor of Tosca is the Atlanta Opera's Carl and Sally Gable Music Director Arthur Fagen. Tosca also will feature The Atlanta Opera Orchestra and Chorus as well as The Atlanta Opera Children's Chorus.

A melodramma in three acts created after Victorien Sardou's 1900 play La Tosca, Tosca is an opera full of lies, lust and corruption that turns a tale of love into a struggle for survival. Amid the bloodshed of revolutionary Rome, the diva Tosca becomes trapped between her allegiance to her rebel lover, Cavaradossi, and the scheming of a treacherous police chief, Scarpia, who will stop at nothing in his lust for her. Set to Puccini's intensely passionate music, this gripping melodrama is quintessential opera and presents the composer's most varied and interesting soprano role.

Tosca will be sung in Italian with projectEd English translations. Ticketholders may also attend a free pre- opera talk about Tosca. Pre-Opera Talks are held one hour prior to each performance inside the John A. Williams Theatre at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and provide opera attendees a free sneak peek into the opera they are about to see.

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