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Learn more about the Opera Columbus experience, and everything you need to know about attending an opera performance
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RAPPACCINI’S DAUGHTER
September 19 + 21, 2025
Southern Theatre
Rappaccini’s Daughter (1992) was composed by Daniel Catán and adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s haunting short story, Rappaccini’s Daughter is set in the mysterious city of Padua. It follows Dr. Rappaccini, a brilliant but secretive botanist who raises his daughter, Beatrice, in a secluded garden teeming with toxic plants—rendering her own touch lethal. When Giovanni, a curious young student, encounters Beatrice, he is drawn into a perilous romance marked by obsession, forbidden knowledge, and the dangerous consequences of scientific ambition.
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
In a Co-Production with the Wexner Center for the Arts
October 10 + 12, 2025
Mershon Auditorium at the Wexner Center for the Arts
Based on the Ernest Hemingway 1952 novella, this innovative adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea is the result of a collaboration between illustrious composer Paola Prestini, librettist Royce Vavrek, and conductor and stage director Karmina Šilec. Breathtakingly staged with eight pools of water enhanced with dynamic lighting, costumes, and sound, the performance combines the Hemingway text with original portraits of everyday life to create a look at aging, legacy, and our relationship to the ocean.
Onstage you’ll hear music from longtime collaborators and muses of Prestini’s including Jeffrey Zeigler as the featured cellist, as well as percussionists and a 16-person chorus featuring students from Ohio State’s School of Music. The cast brings to life the book’s pivotal characters: Santiago, Manolin, and the wife, who’s rewritten as La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, a goddess in the Afro-Caribbean faith Santería found floating off the coast of Cuba in 1628. Themes of baseball, ecology, religion, and economy paint a conflict between progress, tradition, passion, and exploitation, ultimately shedding contemporary perspectives on this timeless tale.
THE ANONYMOUS LOVER
February 13 + 15, 2026
Palace Theatre
The Anonymous Lover (1780), known in French as L’Amant Anonyme, this charming two-act romantic comedy chamber opera by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges is adapted from a comedic play by Stéphanie Félicité de Genlis (Madame de Genlis). It centers on Léontine, a wealthy widow who begins receiving ardent letters and gifts from a secret admirer. Unbeknownst to her, the devoted suitor is actually her close friend Valcour, who conceals his identity out of fear of rejection. Through spirited misunderstandings and heartfelt revelations, Léontine learns the truth, culminating in a joyful resolution that celebrates the power of genuine devotion and trust. Will love win? Joseph Bologne’s stirring music is complemented by a fresh book adaptation from the pen of Obie Award-winning Boston playwright Kirsten Greenidge, mixing English dialogue with the original French singing. The third of Bologne’s six operas, The Anonymous Lover was his most successful opera, and the only one that has survived to this day. The work holds a significant place in the annals of music history, standing as one of the first known operas composed by a Black artist.
LA TRAVIATA
In a Co-Production with the Columbus Symphony
April 25 + 26, 2026
Ohio Theatre
In a co-production with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, CAPA and Opera Columbus. Composed by Giuseppe Verdi and inspired by Alexandre Dumas Fils’s play La Dame aux camélias, La Traviata unfolds as a poignant tragedy. Officially the most performed opera worldwide, La Traviata is Verdi’s twisting love story that explores class, reputation and devotion, with heartbreaking consequences. The story centers on Violetta Valéry, a celebrated courtesan who discovers true love in the arms of Alfredo Germont. However, social pressures and Alfredo’s disapproving father compel her to renounce their love for the sake of his family’s reputation. Overcome by heartbreak and illness, Violetta ultimately finds her way back to Alfredo, but their reconciliation comes too late—she dies in his arms, underscoring the opera’s powerful themes of love, sacrifice, and societal judgment.
THE COOPER-BING COMPETITION
May 17, 2026
Southern Theatre
The Cooper-Bing is an internationally recognized vocal competition that has celebrated and supported emerging young artists in opera. Dubbed “The Olympics of Opera”, this competition encourages talent, creates artistic opportunity, and helps welcome the next generation into the professional opera community. Five finalists compete for the grand prize of $10,000!
Hosted by WOSU’s Christopher Purdy
