Costumes from Death in Venice by The Canadian Opera Company

The fall schedule of the Canadian Opera Company features a production of Death in Venice with period costumes designed by Richard Hudson.

Death in Venice is an opera based on German author Thomas Mann's novella. Mann was inspired by the true story of Goethe's love for 18-year-old Ulrike von Levetzow and wrote a fictional story about Gustav von Aschenbach, a famous author in his mid-fifties travels to Venice and encounters lost luggage, disease, longing, lust, confusion and degradation.

The Canadian Opera Company's production originally premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in 2007 and was Benjamin Britten's last opera. The opera will be sung in English and tickets are available now at the COC website or box office.

Note: All images were provided courtesy of Canadian Opera Company. Designs are the copyright of Richard Hudson 2007.

More Costumes on Stage

Feast your eyes on another beautiful costume design from Martha Mann, created for Opera Atelier's 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro.  Created by Mozart and first performed in 1786, the opera features two female characters, The Countess Rosina and her maid Susanna, in a single day of madness in the Spanish court.

This lovely gown is for Susanna, the maid. Consider the lovely colour harmony in the choice of complementary coloured fabrics with peach tones for the Countess (see yesterday's post) and the lovely pale blue tones for Susanna.

Martha Mann will be speaking at Costumes on Stage event at the Royal Ontario Museum on Saturday, September 25, 2010 along with Marshall Pynkowski of Opera Atelier and Rita Brown of the Shaw Festival. Tickets are now available on the ROM website under events for September 25, 2010.

Costumes on Stage continued

Having had the privilege of photographing the costumes designed by Martha Mann for Opera Atelier's production of The Marriage of Figaro, I can attest to their exquisite beauty. The details of the gown for the Countess are simply breathtaking. I offer you my proof below in these photos. 

If you'd like to hear Martha Mann speak about the process of translating the director's vision into a design sketch, come to the ROM's panel discussion called Costumes on Stage on September 25, 2010. Tickets are available now.