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History of Opera de Québec
The year 1983 marked a turning-point for the history of opera in Québec City. After the pioneering work of Le Théâtre lyrique de Nouvelle-France, l’Opéra du Québec and La Société lyrique d'Aubigny, both of which presented opera performances, La Fondation de l'Opéra de Québec was founded on Jaunary 7, 1983, leading to the creation of La Corporation de l'Opéra de Québec on November 16, 1983 with the mission of producing professional opera in Québec City.
The objective set by L'Opéra de Québec was to produce two major operas each season, drawing on the pool of talent already present in Québec City. The first production by the new company, Madame Butterfly, was presented in May 1985 and was warmly received, thanks in part to the magnificent performance by soprano Evelyne Brunner in the title role.
Well-wishers from around the world expressed their support for the new venture, including Luciano Pavarotti, Jessye Norman, Placido Domingo, Jon Vickers, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Pierrette Alarie and Léopold Simoneau. On the opening night, L'Opéra de Québec innovated by presenting the libretto in the form of French surtitles, the first time this had been attempted not only in Québec, but in the French-speaking world.
From the beginning, L'Opéra de Québec has worked tirelessly to encourage and promote talent in Québec, and has given several singers from the greater Québec City area their first true opportunity to make their mark as professional singers, including Sonia Racine, Lyne Fortin, Hélène Fortin, Agathe Martel, Odette Beaupré, Monique Pagé, Louis Langelier, Jean-François Lapointe, Claude Robin-Pelletier and many others. These young singers also benefited from singing alongside more experienced colleagues from Québec and around the world, such as Colette Boky, Joseph Rouleau, Robert Savoie, Claude Corbeil, Gaétan Laperrière, Bernard Turgeon, Yves Cantin, Pierre Charbonneau, Theodore Baerg, Brett Polegato, Jean Stilwell, Peter Strummer, Maria d'Aragnès, John Cheek, Stephen Powell, Leslie Richard, Jianyi Zhang, Audrey Stottler, John Fanning, Richard Fredricks, Kevin Glavin, Joanne Kolomyjec, Brenda Harris, Russell Braun and others.
Several outstanding directors have also worked on productions at L'Opéra de Québec: Pierrette Alarie, Irving Guttman, Antonello Madau Diaz, Albert Millaire, Peter Symcox, Bernard Uzan, Brian MacDonald, Brian Deedrick, Serge Denoncourt, Jacques Leblanc, John Pascoe, Louise Marleau.
The arrival of Bernard Labadie and Grégoire Legendre at the start of the 1994-95 season was another turning point, as the new team initiated changes to broaden the repertoire and rejuvenate the staging, while remaining open-minded and respectful of established traditions. Bernard Labadie was the company's artistic and musical director before Grégoire Legendre took over as artistic director in addition to his duties as the general administrator.
With the coming of the new computer age, L'Opéra de Québec understood the need to take action to draw young people into the world of opera. It decided to make an educational contribution by organizing an unusual range of awareness-raising activities. First, it allowed secondary-school students to attend dress rehearsals, and since the spring of 1999 over 10,000 young people in the Québec City area have been able to attend their first opera. The second activity was a drawing contest called "Dessine-moi un opéra", (200 to 2004) an original approach in which elementary-school students were asked to design costumes and scenery for a specific production. This not only introduced them to the world of opera, but also allowed the contest winners to become part of the production team as their drawings were used as the basis for the costumes and scenery of a new production. Four contests were organized, for Mozart's The Magic Flute in June 2000, Humperdinck's Hänsel and Gretel in October 2001, Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio in March 2003 and Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore.
Grégoire Legendre, the company's general director since 1994, became the artistic director in July 2003.
He was the driving force behind the world première, in Québec, of Luc Plamondon and Michel Berger’s Starmania Opera in the spring of 2008. That same year, Robert Lepage staged a double Québec première of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Schönberg’s Erwartung. And, in November 2009, during ceremonies in honour of excellence of Arts and Culture in the City of Québec, the Opéra de Québec was awarded the Ville de Québec Prize for having succeeded in bringing the Plácido Domingo World Opera Festival to Québec in 2008. This prize was created to acknowledge the effort and underscore the excellent work of a professional cultural organization.PRODUCTIONS BY L'OPÉRA DE QUÉBEC
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Madama Butterfly Norma / Carmen La Fille du régiment / La Bohème Les Noces de Figaro / Faust Manon / Samson et Dalila Rigoletto / Cavaleria Rusticana / I Pagliacci Lucia di Lammermoor / Les Contes d’Hoffmann La Flûte enchantée / Le Barbier de Séville / Tosca L’Elisir d’amore / La Traviata Les Pêcheurs de perles / Aïda Mignon / La Belle Hélène / Nabucco Cosi fan tutte / Carmen Cendrillon / La Bohème Faust / Les grandes voix du Québec / Les Noces de Figaro Don Pasquale / Madama Butterfly L’Italienne à Alger / La Traviata / Projet spécial La Flûte enchantée Norma / Tosca Hänsel et Gretel / Don Giovanni / Le Babier de Séville La Veuve joyeuse / L’Enlèvement au sérail / Rigoletto Turandot / Gala / l'Elisir d'amore / Manon Un bal masqué / Gala / Les Contes d’Hoffmann Madama Butterfly / Gala / Carmen La Bohème / Gala / Roméo and Juliette Otello / Gala / Starmania Opéra Barble-Bleue et Erwartung / Le Gala / Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci Aida / Le Gala / Lucia di Lammermoor |
RAOUL JOBIN AWARD
Sonia Racine Lyne Fortin, aequo avec Hélène Fortin Jean-François Lapointe Mario Tremblay Agathe Martel Renée Lapointe Monique Pagé Annie Larouche Luce Vachon Sophie Marie Martel Guylaine Girard Marie-Hélène Couture Joane Bellavance Marie-Josée Lord Nancy Coulombe |
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 |
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PRIX D’EXCELLENCE PRIX D'EXCELLENCE DES ARTS ET DE LA CULTURE (award for excellence in arts and culture) PRIX DE LA FONDATION DE L'OPÉRA DE QUÉBEC |
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| Prix de scène (for performers) Sonia Racine École de musique de l’Université Laval Lyne Fortin Jean-François Lapointe Renée Lapointe Sonia Racine L’Atelier lyrique du Conservatoire Monique Pagé Guy Lavigne Monique Pagé Hélène Fortin Gisèle Petitgrew Not awarded |
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 |
Prix hors scène (for non-performers) Denis Guérette Dominique Lemay Sylvain Doyon Guy Bélanger Marc Bégin Louise Courville Arthur Labrie Serge Denoncourt Claude Gosselin Mario Dufour – Festival de musique sacrée Rhapsodes Pierre Boutet Yves Cantin |
Beginning in 20003, the Foundation presents a single award. |
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| Jacques Leblanc Agathe Martel Marie-Josée Lord Hélène Guilmette Lyne Fortin Serge Gingras Jean-Guy Gingras Lyne Fortin |
2003 2004 2005 2005 (19th edition) 2006 2007 2008 2009 |
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