CAPAB Opera

CAPAB Opera was formed in Cape Town as one of the principal arts segments of the Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB).

History

CAPAB Opera closed in 1997, becoming Cape Town Opera, an independent, nonprofit organisation.

Staff

Murray Dickie was a former Artistic Director of CAPAB Opera. David Matheson was resident producer with CAPAB Opera from 1978 to 1984. Angelo Gobbato was appointed Director of CAPAB Opera in January 1989, and continued as Director until 1997 when CAPAB Opera closed.

Productions

Operas

1965: CAPAB's first opera, The Bartered Bride by Smetana, was presented on 8 February 1965 in the Alhambra Theatre.

1973: Die Lustige Witwe/The Merry Widow

1981: Rigoletto

1982: Tristan und Isolde

1985: Don Giovanni, Aida, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Faust

1986: Le Nozze di Figaro, Der Fliegende Holländer, Cavalleria Rusticana, Gianni Schicchi, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Fledermaus

1987: Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Falstaff, Madama Butterfly, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Turandot

1988: Rigoletto, Die Zauberflöte, Aida, Le Nozze di Figaro, Otello

1989: Carmen, Lohengrin, La Traviata, Die Lustige Witwe

1990: Fidelio, Don Carlo, The Rape of Lucretia, Der Freischütz, L'elisir d’amore, La Bohème, Hänsel und Gretel

1991: The Consul, Der Rosenkavalier, Aida, Tosca, Così Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Belle Hélène

1992: Tristan und Isolde, William Tell, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, Il Turco in Italia, Il Trovatore, Die Lustige Witwe, Amahl and the Night Visitors

1993: Peter Grimes, Der Fliegende Holländer, Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Aida, Die Fledermaus, Amahl and the Night Visitors

1994: Die Zauberflöte, Fidelio, La Traviata, Così Fan Tutte, Turandot

1995: Nabucco, Enoch, Prophet of God, La Tragedie de Carmen, La Cenerentola, Tosca, Die Zauberflöte, La Bohème

1996: Porgy and Bess, Madama Butterfly, La Tragedie de Carmen, Turandot

1997: Lucia di Lammermoor, Sacred Bones, La Traviata, La Bohème Noir

1998: Don Pasquale, Così Fan Tutte, Norma, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Dialogues des Carmélites, Rigoletto

Musicals

1992: Taliep Petersen and David Kramer’s Poison

1996: Jesus Christ Superstar

For more information, see Cape Performing Arts Board

Sources

Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.

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