Barihunk duos in two Opera Philadelphia performances

Zachary James and John Moore in Mazzoli's Breaking Waves

Opera Philadelphia announced their 2016-17 season, which will include the barihunk duo of John Moore and Zachary James in the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s chamber opera Breaking the Waves, which features a libretto by Royce Vavrek. Mazzoli is a graduate of Opera Philadelphia’s Composer in Residence program.

The opera is based on the Oscar-nominated 1996 film by Lars von Trier. The libretto tells the story of Bess McNeill (sung by Kiera Duffy), a religious young woman with a deep love for her husband Jan (sung by John Moore), a handsome oil rig worker. When Jan becomes paralyzed in an off-shore accident, her marital vows are put to the test as he encourages her to seek other lovers and return to his bedside to tell him of her sexual activities. He insists that the stories will feel like they are making love together and keep him alive. Bess’s increasing selflessness leads to a finale of divine grace, but at great cost.

Performances will run from September 22 through October 1st. The cast also includes the rising tenor sensation David Portillo, Eve Gigliotti and Patricia Schuman.

Brandon Cedel and John Chest in The Marriage of Figaro

The company's new production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro will feature the barihunk duo of Brandon Cedel as Figoro and John Chest as the Count. Performances will be at the Academy of Music and will also feature Ying Fang as Susanna, Layla Claire as the Countess, John Chest, Cecelia Hall as Cherubino and Patrick Carfizzi as Bartolo.

Other operas in the season include Puccini's Turandot with Christine Goerke in the title role and Daniel Belcher as Ping; a re-imaging of Verdi's Macbeth by South African director Brett Bailey set in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the title character as a Congolese warlord: and Stephanie Blythe making her role debut as the title character in Rossini’s Tancredi along with Daniel Mobbs as Orbazzano.

You can find more information on the Opera Philadelphia website.