Opera Atelier

How better to celebrate Pride Month than with a salute to Serge Diaghilev, the visionary Russian impresario who created the Ballets Russes?

Diaghilev elevated the status of male dancers such as his lover, Vaslav Nijinsky, placing them on par with the great early 20th-century ballerinas, such as Pavlova and Karsavina.

Stravinsky, Debussy, Cocteau, Picasso, Miró, and Chanel all fell under Diaghilev's creative spell, and the ballet world was changed forever.

Photo 1 credit: Serge Diaghilev, 1910.
Photo 2 credit: Vaslav Nijinsky in Léon Bakst's design for Debussy's L'Après-midi d'un Faune. Programme cover for the Théâtre du Châtelet premiere on May 29, 1912.
Photo 3 credit: Vaslav Nijinsky as The Faun in Léon Bakst's design for Debussy's L'Après-midi d'un Faune. Photographer: Adolf de Meyer.

Pynkoski writes, "Soprano Meghan Lindsay is one of Opera Atelier's most cherished artists. I have known Meghan ever since she was a young student at the Glenn Gould School and have watched her career blossom with great pleasure and pride. Most recently, Meghan won accolades for her performance as Mélisande in Opera Atelier's production of Debussy's masterpiece, Pelléas et Mélisande.

Come and marvel as Meghan returns for Opera Atelier's 26/27 season as the enigmatic, sensual Mary Magdalene in Handel's 18th-century Italian masterpiece, The Resurrection."

Visit our website for subscription details! Don’t miss your chance to secure the best seats at the best prices — visit operaatelier.com or call 416-703-3767 ext. 1 to purchase your subscription today.

For Opera Atelier’s 26/27 season, we have chosen the title ‘A Season of Heroes’.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s The Descent of Orpheus and Handel’s The Resurrection explore two stories of heroic self-sacrifice, providing inspiration for all of us to live our own quests for lives full of intention and purpose.

Visit our website for subscription details! Don’t miss your chance to secure the best seats at the best prices — click the link in our bio or call 416-703-3767 ext. 1 to purchase your subscription today!

Marshall writes, "Over the long Victoria Day weekend, I began, after a hiatus of many years, to reread Flaubert's Madame Bovary and was as captivated as though it were my first read. What an astonishing novel.

Flaubert's exacting attention to the details of his character's exterior and interior worlds does not stand in the way of Madame Bovary being an irresistible page turner.

When I first encountered Amaury Duval's portrait of Mme. de Loynes in the Musée d'Orsay, my first thought was Emma Bovary was gazing at me.

Mme. de Loynes had one of the most glittering literary salons of the Second Empire in France—attended by Flaubert himself. Could her features have provided an inspiration for the beautiful, discontented Emma? I like to think so."

Credit: Portrait of Mme. de Loynes by Eugene Emmanuel Amaury Duval, 1862.

Marshall writes, "I first met bass baritone David Witczak when I staged Charpentier's David and Jonathan for its Royal Chapel premiere in Versailles. I was at once fascinated by this captivating and enigmatic artist.

How can it be that this gentle, sensitive man excels in the depiction of villains and madmen? I never want it explained. I simply watch David in rehearsal and performance, and I marvel.

What a thrill to have him return to Opera Atelier as Pluto in our Fall production of Charpentier's The Descent of Orpheus and as Lucifer in our Spring 2027 production of Handel's The Resurrection."

Visit our website for more details! Don’t miss your chance to secure the best seats at the best prices — click the link in our bio or call 416-703-3767 ext. 1 to purchase your subscription today.

The Counter-Reformation Catholic Church harnessed the power of human sensuality and transformed it into an expression of divine ecstasy.

Tenor Antonin Rondepierre has this quality in spades — made all the more potent by his innate innocence and charm… the perfect artist to portray St. John in Handel’s masterpiece The Resurrection.

Antonin makes his role debut in Opera Atelier’s production — first in Chicago for the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, and then at Toronto’s Koerner Hall.

Visit our website for more details! Don’t miss your chance to secure the best seats at the best prices — click the link in our bio or call 416-703-3767 ext. 1 to purchase your subscription today.

Seen here: tenor Antonin Rondepierre as Pelléas in Opera Atelier’s production of Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. Photo by Bruce Zinger.

How often does a successful soprano die on stage over the course of an international career? For Opera Atelier alone, Canadian soprano Mireille Asselin has died on stage as Eurydice in Orpheus and Eurydice, as Créuse in Médée, and nearly been devoured by a sea monster as Andromède in Persée.

In Opera Atelier’s 2026/27 season, A Season of Heroes, Mireille expires once again — this time as Eurydice in The Descent of Orpheus.

Visit our website for more details! Don’t miss your chance to secure the best seats at the best prices — click the link in our bio or call 416-703-3767 ext. 1 to purchase your subscription today.

Seen here: Mireille trapped in the poisoned dress as Créuse in Médée. Photo by Bruce Zinger.

On Sunday, May 24th, 2026, Opera Atelier will present three fun, family-friendly, and FREE 30-minute performances for Doors Open Toronto. Each performance will take place on the hour at 11:00am, 12:00pm, and 1:00pm in the beauty and opulence of the St. Lawrence Hall Ballroom at 157 King St East.

Performances will feature renowned Canadian soprano, Karine White, and students from the School of Atelier Ballet. Prepare to be thrilled by this international programme of Spanish Flamenco Dance, French Baroque Dance, and vocal music! Artists of Atelier Ballet will make a special guest appearance along with Beijing Dance Academy graduate Xi Yi who will perform the captivating Chinese Crane Dance. Join us for this program that is both entertaining and educational!

Marshall writes, “On Sunday I experienced a ‘madeleine de Proust’ moment when I unexpectedly heard a song by Cat Stevens that had touched me so deeply in my turbulent early teens.

How many decades had passed since I last heard ‘Morning has broken’? The memories that it evoked were so overwhelming I could barely continue to listen to the song’s conclusion.

At long last, I can thank Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) for this gift.”

In Handel’s ravishing opera, The Resurrection, heavenly and earthly characters appear in this timeless story of the hero, providing inspiration for us all to live our own quest for a life full of intention and purpose!

First produced in Rome at a time when opera was forbidden, Handel persevered to create his first masterpiece, mounting it in a private venue to avoid prosecution. Today, we can all thrill to this extravagant Baroque drama, fully staged in set designer Gerard Gauci’s glorious transformation of Koerner Hall.

Opera Atelier Music Director David Fallis conducts Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Cast:
Coloratura soprano Carla Huhtanen
Mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel
Soprano Meghan Lindsay
Tenor Antonin Rondepierre
Bass-baritone David Witczak

Visit our website for more details! Don’t miss out on securing the best seats at the best prices; click the link in our bio or call 416-703-3767 x1 to purchase your subscription TODAY!

Seen here: coloratura soprano Carla Huhtanen with Artists of Atelier Ballet.

Photo by Bruce Zinger.