Cape Town Opera (CTO) is a professional

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

company in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa. CTO was founded in 1999 by the management and staff of the former South Africa Arts Council Opera and the Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB), itself a successor to the Cape Province Performing Arts Council and the previous Opera School at the South African College of Music at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, which had been founded in the early 1920s under the Italian tenor Giuseppe Paganelli.

Mission

The company produces many fully staged opera productions during an annual season at the Opera House of the Artscape Theatre Centre, the Joseph Stone Auditorium and approximately 15 other venues throughout South Africa. The company has established itself as South Africa's largest performing arts organisation and the only opera house in Africa with a year-round programme;''Cape of Good Voices''
, summary alongside the classics, Cape Town Opera fosters the expression of a national identity through the creation and performance of new SA works such as Mandela Trilogy and Tsotsi, The Musical, based on Athol Fugard’s novel. Cape Town Opera’s calendar offers an exciting repertoire of opera, operetta and musicals.

Training

Cape Town Opera maintains a training programme for young singers, the Voice of the Nation Studio. In addition to being coached in all opera disciplines and

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to ap ...

ing and performing in

comprimario A comprimario is a small supporting role in an opera (or a singer who sings those roles). The word is derived from the Italian "''con primario''", or "with the primary", meaning that the ''comprimario'' role (or singer) is not a principal role (or ...

roles, the singers undertake a 2-week tour once a year through the South African provinces to conduct workshops and perform reduced opera productions. The 2009 tour was subject of a one-hour documentary, ''Cape of Good Voice'', by director Ralf Pleger for broadcasters

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

. Cape Town Opera’s Youth Development and Education department provides valuable musical training, free of charge, to more than 2 000 learners in rural and township communities each year.

Tours

The company maintains an energetic touring schedule that includes

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', itse ...

, African Angels, Mandela Trilogy, African Prophetess and Showboat. In this way, Cape Town Opera serves as a cultural ambassador showcasing South Africa’s singing talent to the rest of the world. CTO regularly tours to Europe and has partnered with companies such as Sweden's

NorrlandsOperan The NorrlandsOperan (literal translation, ''The Norrland's Opera''; NOP), is a Swedish opera company in Umeå, located in Norrland, Sweden. The ownership of NOP is divided between the Umeå Municipality (40%) and the Västerbotten County Council ...

and

Malmö Opera Malmö Opera ( Swedish: ''Malmö opera'') is an opera house in Malmö, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house. Built 1933-1944 by architect Sigurd Lewerentz and, until 1992, known as the Malmö City Th ...

, and the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

. Notable international productions include performances for the opening of the

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...

in Cardiff, Puccini's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...

'' with NorrlandsOperan, a 2005 European tour of

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

's and Oscar Hammerstein's ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'', and performances of ''

'' with both the Welsh National Opera and NorrlandsOperan in 2006, and

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

in 2008. In October 2009, the company brought ''Porgy and Bess'' to the Wales Millennium Centre,

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

and

Edinburgh Festival Theatre The Edinburgh Festival Theatre (originally Empire Palace Theatre and later shortened to Empire Theatre) is a performing arts venue located on Nicolson Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is used primarily for performances of opera and ballet, larg ...

; it toured six locations in the UK with 26 performances again in 2012 and featured in a concert performance under

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

in the final concert of the 2012 Musikfest Berlin, part of the

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German for Berlin Festivals) are a series of festivals, art exhibitions, and other cultural events organized all year long by a common organization in Berlin. Events are held at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a pre-ex ...

. In September 2012, the ensemble gave two concerts at

Hamer Hall, Melbourne Hamer Hall (formerly the Melbourne Concert Hall) is a 2,466 seat concert hall, the largest indoor venue at Arts Centre Melbourne, used for orchestra and contemporary music performances. It was designed by Sir Roy Grounds as part of the Cultural C ...

, Australia. One concert presented a selection of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

choruses and arias and works by Gershwin; in the other, the company performed

David Fanshawe David Arthur Fanshawe (19 April 1942 – 5 July 2010) was an English composer and self-styled explorer with a fervent interest in world music.''The Times'' obituary 9 July 2010. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work '' African Sanctu ...

's ''

African Sanctus ''African Sanctus'' is a 1972 choral Mass and is the best-known work of British composer and collector of world musics David Fanshawe. In ''African Sanctus'' the Latin Mass is juxtaposed with live recordings of traditional African music, whic ...

'' and extracts from the ''Mandela Trilogy''. Peter Conrad
"Plenty o' Nuttin': Cape Town Opera"
''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

'', August 2012, pp. 56–57

Awards

The chorus of CTO, then directed by Albert Horne, was awarded the prize for the best opera chorus at the first International Opera Awards in London in May 2013. The Awards are sponsored by the London magazine, ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

''.Brommert, Beverley, "Company Profile: Cape Town Opera", ''Opera Now'' (London), June 2013, p. 62

References

External links

* {{authority control South African opera companies Music of Cape Town Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in South Africa