NC Opera season includes ‘Cold Mountain’

A Confederate soldier’s arduous quest to return home, the tragic consequences of a father’s revenge on his daughter’s seducer, and the conflict between religious faith and carnal desire, are the subjects of N.C. Opera’s 2017-18 main-stage productions. In addition to Jennifer Higdon’s “Cold Mountain,” Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and Camille Saint-Saens’ “Samson and Delilah,” the season also includes an evening of songs by Daniel Thomas Davis based on the N.C. author’s works and a program of opera scenes co-produced with UNC School of the Arts.

NCO’s general director Eric Mitchko is particularly pleased to bring “Cold Mountain,” based on N.C. author Charles Frazier’s bestselling novel, to the state where the story takes place. This will be the third production of the opera, after performances by the Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia. The production also brings back Metropolitan Opera tenor, Jay Hunter Morris, who previously appeared for NCO in Richard Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde, Act II” in concert.

Conductor Timothy Myers returns to lead “Samson” next April. In the meantime, his last duties for the company as its artistic and music director will be conducting Georges Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” Friday, April 28, and next Sunday, April 30, in Raleigh’s Memorial Auditorium.

For “Pearl Fishers” tickets and 2017-18 season information, call 919-972-3853 or visit ncopera.org.

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 8:02 PM with the headline "NC Opera season includes ‘Cold Mountain’."