welcome to mco

Minnesota Concert Opera (MCO) performs full-length operas in concert format using local and guest artists, piano or orchestra and an opera chorus, and is sung in the original language with English surtitles. Produced with minimal sets, costumes or staging, this unique and portable performance style allows MCO to bring world-class opera to Minnesota’s communities, introducing a large variety of opera (and occasionally musical theater) repertoire to all age groups and demographics. Using some of our state’s finest up-and-coming singers, side-by-side with seasoned guest artists, MCO connects with every community in which it performs, interacting with local choirs contracted by the company to sing the chorus.

MCO’s home at the Cowles Center for the Dance and the Performing Arts in downtown Minneapolis allows us to perform in the 505-seat, state-of-the-art The Goodale Theatre (picture above by Steve Henke), which encompasses the ideal size and acoustics for concert opera. When on tour, MCO will perform in theatres of a similar size to maintain the ambience and acoustical criteria that bring out the best in the intimate and dramatic concert opera experience.

Launched in September 2011, MCO will debut it's 2012-2013 season in September 2012.

TICKET SALES NOW AVAILABLE

FOR OUR 2012-2013 DEBUT SEASON

Tickets for our first season can purchased through The Cowles Center boxoffice and

online. Please join us for an exciting season of great opera. Click on link below.

http://thecowlescenter.org/buy-tickets/2012-2013-season/

SHOWS IN OUR DEBUT SEASON

I Puritani (The Puritans) Length: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Italian Opera in Three Acts
Music: by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Libretto: by Carlo Pepoli

First performed in Paris on January 24, 1835

In this powerful love story set during the English Civil War of the 1640s, a would-be bride becomes unhinged by the battles that swirl within and outside the castle walls. Bellini’s last and perhaps greatest bel canto masterpiece overflows with melodies and vocal fireworks. Sung in Italian with piano, chorus and English surtitles.

Il Trovatore (The Troubadour) Length: 2 hours
Italian Opera in Four Acts
Music by Giuseppi Verdi (1813-1901)
Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano
Based on the play El Trovador (1836)
First performed in January 1853 in Rome

Three plots of love, war and revenge intertwine in one of Giuseppi Verdi’s most popular operas. Melody after melody soars through this romantic classic about a gypsy’s revenge, a son’s abduction, and a border-war in Northern Spain in the fifteenth century. Sung in Italian with piano, chorus and English surtitles.

Julius Caesar Length: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Italian Opera in Three Acts
Music by Georg Frederic Handel (1685-1759)
Libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym
First performed in London February 20, 1724

The most beloved of Handel’s operas, this baroque tour de force sweeps us into Caesar and Cleopatra’s world of love, betrayal, war and heroic action during the Roman Empire’s war with Pompey in 48 B.C. Performed in Italian with chamber orchestra and an outstanding cast of singers, this concert production of Julius Caesar is set to conquer Twin Cities audiences. With English surtitles.

OUR NEW HOME

MCO is thrilled to be part of the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, where we opened our studio office in December 2012 and have scheduled our debut season of performances. 528 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN