Emerging artists take centre stage in Burnaby Lyric Opera's Le Nozze di Figaro
Music director Richard Epp dives into details on Mozart’s score in the comedic opera coming to the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Baritone Henry Chen, who plays Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro.
Soprano Tamar Simon, who plays Susanna.
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents Burnaby Lyric Opera’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) from February 22 to March 1
AS ONE OF B.C.’s only semi-professional opera companies, Burnaby Lyric Opera serves a vital role in the local arts community.
From its founding in the 1980s to today, the organization has offered a platform for emerging professional and semi-professional opera singers to perform leading roles in fully staged productions. Since 1997, Burnaby Lyric Opera has operated out of the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, providing the artists with a regular theatre space to sing in.
Vancouver-based vocal coach, pianist, and conductor Richard Epp says that it’s crucial for young artists to have these sorts of performance opportunities, because it brings learning out of the studio and onto the stage. He also notes that Burnaby Lyric Opera serves as a springboard for artists who have completed training at universities or music institutions to further expand their knowledge.
“If you finish your student years and want to learn some new roles to add to your CV, you need a place to try them out,” Epp says. “That’s really important for young professionals, because it’s hard to find places to actually perform.”
Epp first collaborated with Burnaby Lyric Opera as a pianist for the company’s Christmas shows more than 30 years ago. In 2023, he returned to working with the organization as a pianist and also assumed the role of music director for La Bohème last spring. Now, he’s back as music director for an upcoming production of Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts from February 22 to March 1.
Composed by Mozart in 1786, Le Nozze di Figaro follows Figaro, who is a servant to the lecherous Count Almaviva. When the Count sets his wandering eyes on Figaro’s fiancée, Susanna (who happens to be Countess Almaviva’s maid), Susanna and the Countess hatch a plan to outsmart the Count and serve him justice for his betrayal. Sung in Italian with English surtitles, the comedic opera is packed with scenes of the foursome running about in disguise; hiding behind bushes, closet doors, and curtains; and interacting with a whole host of other eclectic characters.
Led by Epp and established stage director Richard Berg, the show will feature a cast of young B.C.-based opera artists, including baritone Henry Chen as Figaro, soprano Tamar Simon as Susanna, baritone Geoffrey Schellenberg as the Count, and soprano Gina McLellan Morel as the Countess.
Richard Epp.
Epp has a long history with Le Nozze di Figaro as both a pianist and music director; perhaps most notably, he conducted a UBC Opera Ensemble take on the production which toured to the Czech Republic. The artist says it’s one of his favourite operas, in large part due to Mozart’s classical score.
“I find his music to be very emotional in an organized sort of way,” Epp says. “Some people find Mozart a bit cold, but I don’t. I think having structure to things actually makes me feel it more strongly.”
Mozart employs a variety of musical styles for the opera’s different characters, says the music director. The Count and Countess, for instance, sing in a manner that was traditionally associated with upper-class individuals.
“When opera first started, some of the higher-born characters had more regal-sounding music and more formally arranged music, whereas the lower characters had freer, more folk-like music,” Epp explains. “And that continues in this opera a little bit, but there’s a great variety of music. The finale of Act Two is probably the most famous part of this piece—it’s like 25 minutes long. It starts with two people on stage, and then it’s three people, then it’s four people, then it’s five, then six, then seven, and then almost the whole cast is on stage at the end, singing very fast. It’s very exciting.”
In the past, Burnaby Lyric Opera has presented its full-scale productions in the Shadbolt Centre’s 285-seat James Cowan Theatre; but since construction is now underway for a complete rebuild of that space, Le Nozze di Figaro will be staged in the complex’s black-box Studio Theatre instead. It seats just 172 guests, plus an extra 22 in the mezzanine, so the audience will be in a more intimate environment with the cast.
That kind of stripped-down setting will help the complexities of Le Nozze di Figaro shine. As the plot unravels over the better part of three hours, viewers will see how the show’s characters work to overcome their problems.
“The music is fantastic—and even though parts of the story are unbelievable, the characters really have a great humanity about them,” Epp says. “They have difficult situations that you see them dealing with on stage, you know? It seems less static than many operas are. I think that’s very appealing to audiences.” 
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