Love, death and puppets feature prominently in Atlanta Opera’s 2024-25 season

Last season, the company presented magnificent productions of “Rigoletto,” “La Bohème” and a powerful “Die Walküre,” among other great works.

Two years ago, the company took on the challenge of Richard Wagner’s imposing four-part play “Der Ring des Nibelungen”, the ultimate challenge for any opera company. The “Ring” cycle continues next season with the third and most heroic of the four operas, “Siegfried” (April 26 to May 4, 2025).

Credit: Raftermen

Credit: Raftermen

The 2024-25 season opens with a compelling initiative that takes the company into rock opera territory at Pullman Yards. “Project Bohème” (Sept. 18-Oct. 16) alternates Puccini’s 1896 “La Bohème” with the 1994 Tony Award-winning adaptation of the same story, “Rent.”

Although there is a marked contrast in styles — with “Bohème” a lyrical favorite and “Rent” a fast-paced Broadway blockbuster, both celebrate love, art and freedom in the midst of an epidemic. In Atlanta Opera’s traditional “Bohème” from last season, the heroine dies of tuberculosis; next season’s production will be a modern version set during the Covid years. In “Rent,” the story is set in New York during the AIDS crisis of the 1990s.

The works will be performed alternately on the same stage, with the action taking place in and around the seated audience at Pullman Yards.

Credits: David Adam Moore

Credits: David Adam Moore

“Project Bohème” will be followed by four productions at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. All center on the idea of ​​the “hero’s journey,” Zvulun said.

Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (November 5-10) is an ever-popular opera about Prince Tamino and his comical companion, Papageno, who set out to rescue Pamina, the Queen of the Night’s daughter. This production features a brightly colored set with whimsical puppets. Musical highlights include the Queen of the Night’s famous aria, with the soprano soaring to a stratospheric “F” above the high “C.”

Verdi’s “Macbeth” (March 1–9, 2025), based on Shakespeare’s tragedy, is a dark early masterpiece by the Italian composer. A work of grand arias and bold choruses, “Macbeth” highlights some of Verdi’s most challenging music for soprano — in this case, Lady Macbeth, to be sung by Sara Gartland. The role of Macbeth, meanwhile, will be performed by Atlanta Opera favorite Michael Mayes, who has appeared in such productions as “Bluebeard’s Castle,” “Dead Man Walking” and “Sweeney Todd.”

Wagner’s “Siegfried” (April 26 – May 4, 2025) is a five-hour epic opera in which love, courage and wisdom triumph over greed and power. German tenor Stefan Vinke will take on the title role, one of the most demanding in the operatic repertoire, requiring unique vocal strength and endurance. The cast also includes the return of Greer Grimsley, the masterful Wotan from the first two parts of Atlanta’s “Ring” cycle.

To close the season, Handel’s “Semele” (June 7–15, 2025) should be a rare treat for opera lovers. Opera houses are so dominated by the 19th-century Romantic repertoire that there is often little room for Baroque works like this 1744 opera about an adulterous affair, taken from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” It premiered in London during Lent and was not what audiences expected during such a solemn season. Musically, it is an opera characterized by melting lyricism and dazzling vocal pyrotechnics.

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Paul Hyde is a longtime arts journalist and English teacher in upstate South Carolina. He writes frequently for the Greenville Journal, the South Carolina Daily Gazette, and Classical Voice North America.

Credits: ArtsATL

Credits: ArtsATL

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