'The Canadian Opera Company' (COC), located in
Toronto, Ontario, is the largest opera company in
Canada and the sixth largest in
North America.
It was established in 1950 as the Royal Conservatory Opera Company, by
Nicholas Goldschmidt and the late
Herman Geiger-Torel.
Lotfi Mansouri was the COC's director for 12 years. It was during this time that the COC introduced
surtitles (supertitles), which are English translations (English and French in Ottawa; French in Montréal and Québec City) of foreign libretti projected above the
stage during performances. This soon caught on with many opera companies around the world. Theatre companies have started using this feature to show foreign plays in their original languages.
The COC is currently without a general director. The former general director,
Richard Bradshaw, died of a heart attack on
August 15,
2007.
Arguably, the COC's greatest triumph was its many performances featuring Dame
Joan Sutherland.
The COC makes its home in the
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, designed by
Diamond and Schmitt Architects. The COC's new home opened with a run of Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen. On
April 15,
2006, the COC had made its final performance at the
Hummingbird Centre with
Bellini's
Norma, ending a 40 year partnership between the company and the performance centre.
External links
★
Mmicrosite for the Canadian Opera Company
★
The Canadian Opera Company