Arizona Opera‘s 2017-18 season has been announced, featuring four main stage programs and one special engagement, including Puccini’s beloved Tosca, the company premiere of Bernstein’s Candide, Rossini’s comedy, The Barber of Seville and Arizona Opera’s return to Wagner with Das Rheingold.

Starting this February, the upcoming season will also feature a special engagement, Hercules vs Vampires, a film and live music hybrid combining a campy 1960s technicolor classic with performers singing on stage. There will also be the Opera & Gelato Film Fest, a film series showcasing a series of performances from the great opera houses of Italy.

The film festival is geared towards families and newcomers to opera, and is free to the community.

2017-18 opera schedule:

Candide:

  • Tucson: January 27 at 7:30 p.m.; January 28 at 3 p.m. in Tucson Music Hall
  • Phoenix: February 2 & 3 at 7:30 p.m.; February 4 at 3 p.m. in Symphony Hall

The Barber of Seville: 

  • Tucson: March 3 at 7:30 p.m.; March 4 at 3 p.m. in Tucson Music Hall
  • Phoenix: March 9 & 10 at 7:30 p.m.; March 11 at 3 p.m. in Symphony Hall

Das Rheingold:

  • Phoenix: April 6 & 7 at 7:30 p.m.; April 8 at 3 p.m. in Symphony Hall
  • Tucson: April 14 at 7:30 p.m.; April 15 at 3 p.m. in Tucson Music Hall

Opera & Gelato Film Fest:

  • June 25 at 2 p.m., The Magic Flute
  • July 23 at 2 p.m., La Fanciulla del West
  • August 20 at 2 p.m., Aida

Hercules vs Vampires:

  • Tucson: October 15 at 3 p.m. in Fox Theatre
  • Phoenix: October 21 at 7:30 p.m.; October 22 at 3 p.m. in Symphony Hall

Tosca: 

  • Tucson: November 11 at 7:30 p.m. and November 12 at 3 p.m.
  • Phoenix: November 17 & 18 at 7:30 p.m.; November 19 at 3 p.m. in Symphony Hall

Main stage performances will be held at Symphony Hall at 75 N. 2nd St in Phoenix and at the Tucson Music Hall at 260 S. Church in Tucson. The special engagement of Hercules vs Vampires will be held at Symphony Hall in Phoenix and Fox Theatre in Tucson. The Opera & Gelato Film Fest will be held at the Arizona Opera Center in Phoenix.

Beginning with the 2017/18 Season, all Sunday Matinees will have a new start time of 3:00 pm to better serve Arizona Opera patrons.

“Today, opera companies are breaking through all sorts of barriers, from multi-media and site-specific works, to the incorporation of new technologies to create spectacular visual environments, all in support of telling both new and classic stories in the most compelling way possible.  This is an exhilarating and creative time for the art form, and at the center of it all is the beauty and power of the human voice, that communicates to us on such a primal, emotional level.  We look forward to sharing this vibrant and richly varied season with our community, who make all of it possible.” – Joe Specter, Arizona Opera president and general director.