What to know
- The Canadian Opera Company has unveiled its 2026/2027 season, with seven new and exciting productions on its slate.
- Opera enthusiasts can buy tickets for: La Traviata, Così fan tutte, The Turn of the Screw, Ariadne auf Naxos, Empire of Wild, The Elixir of Love, and Come Closer.
- Ian Derrer, the COC’s general director, says La Traviata is a great opera for people who have never seen an opera performance before.
- Keep reading for 5 fun facts about the Canadian Opera Company and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
Classical music enthusiasts, get ready for an exciting season at the Canadian Opera Company filled with never before seen operas and spectacular live performances.
The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts will open its doors for the 2026/2027 season on Sept. 18, 2026 all the way until June 20, 2027. The programming will feature seven productions ranging from La Traviata, the 1853 opera by Giuseppe Verdi to Come Closer, a new Canadian work that explores grief, love, loss, and healing.
Ian Derrer, the Canadian Opera Company’s General Director, says La Traviata is a great opera for people who are dipping their toes into classical performance for the first time.
“Without question, if you’ve never seen an opera before, you should come see La Traviata at the beginning of the season. You definitely should see the Elixir of Love — that is perfect for families as well,” he says.
“If you have a little bit more of an edgy interest in drama, come see The Turn of the Screw and Ariadne auf Naxos, which is really particularly good for people that have a love for opera and like to see shows within a show.”
While the uninitiated might find opera boring or hard to understand, Derrer says there are two common misconceptions about going to the opera. The first myth is that every opera singer sings using their natural voice. Unlike Mirvish shows, singers are not mic’d up.
“This is their natural voice, it’s like the Olympics for singing,” he explains. “To be able to sing with such incredible artistry and technique that carries across an opera house and all of the orchestra — it’s a feat.”
Secondly, while the opera may be in a foreign language like Italian or Spanish, surtitles run across the top the stage in English and French to help bridge the language gap for the audience.
“It’s a caption, it’s a translation, both in French and English. So no matter what language the opera is being sung in, you’ll be able to follow along.”
Fun facts about the Canadian Opera Company
Aside from the productions the Canadian Opera Company will be putting on in 2026 and 2027, here are five fun facts you might not know about the company and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
The Canadian Opera Company invented Surtitles
In 1983, the Canadian Opera Company invented surtitles that run on a screen above the stage. Similar to closed captions, surtitles translate an opera’s lyrics in real time and have been used in opera houses around the world since the 1990s. Starting last season, the Canadian Opera House displays surtitles in both English and French. The technology was first used in a production of Elektra in the winter of 1983.
Oldest opera orchestra in Canada
The Canadian Opera Company’s opera orchestra is the oldest of its kind in the country. The orchestra is composed of over 50 full time musicians and is led by Johannes Debus, a German conductor who took over the role of music director of the Canadian Opera Company in 2009.
Shaped like European Opera Houses
The R. Fraser Elliot auditorium in the Four Season Centre for the Performing Arts is designed in a horseshoe shape, not dissimilar to European opera houses. This unique shape offers audiences optimal sightlines and acoustics. The backstage is also big enough to accommodate two different opera sets, which lets the company rotate between shows.
The nosebleeds are the best seats
Disappointed you couldn’t snag seats closer to the stage and you’re stuck in the uppermost seats in the auditorium in Ring 5? Fret not, because the “nosebleed” seats have the best acoustics. The auditorium’s stacked design means a casual conversation on stage can travel all the way to the last row.
The orchestra pit is an elevator
The orchestra pit, which sits recessed in front of the stage in the R. Fraser Elliot auditorium, can be raised or lowered depending on the size of the orchestra. When there are fewer musicians in the orchestra, the pit is raised so the sound feels fuller. When completely filled, the orchestra pit can hold over 100 musicians. For aquatic themed operas, the pit can also hold up to 30 tonnes of water.
