SNEAK PREVIEW OF COSTUMES AND MUSIC OF RUFUS WAINWRIGHT'S HADRIAN OPERA

HERE's a sneak preview of the costumes ... and the music ... from long-awaited opera about Antinous and Hadrian by Rufus Wainwright which will have its world premiere 13 October 2018 with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.

A little Versace beach wear, some Klimt-inspired gold, and the bursting colours of Minoan frescoes ... and royal purple from Tyre snails ... these are the costumes.

"They're definitely Roman-inspired," says award-winning Canadian designer Gillian Gallow of the costumes she has conceived. "But there is also an extremely theatrical and modern perspective to it."

Guided by a strong belief that the opera stage requires a heightened sense of reality ... a visual language of grand gesture that communicates as effectively to the audience in the fifth balcony as it does to those in the front row .. Gillian has designed costumes she calls "dramatically Roman."

The garments are rooted in historical detail, pattern, and colour, but they’re also scaled to the opera stage, carefully tailored to meet the dramatic and emotional demands of the world’s biggest performing art form.

"Versace did a runway show in 2015 that was very Greek-inspired and Hadrian himself was known for his love of Greek culture, for referencing Greek art and customs, and for championing a Hellenic revival in Rome. So when it came time to imagine Antinous, we were inspired by Versace’s melding of this contemporary aesthetic with the period look."

The opera by Wainright and Daniel McIvor, entitled "HADRIAN," which explores the relationship between Roman Emperor Hadrian and the young Antinous, will run October 13–27 at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre.

Peter Hinton will direct a cast that includes Thomas Hampson as Hadrian and renowned tenor Isaiah Bell as Antinous, with Karita Mattila as Plotina.

The opera tells the story of the Roman emperor and his young lover Antinous, who was deified after his mysterious and premature death. Wainwright has offered the promise of something provocative:

"I think in our modern world," he says, "among younger audiences especially, there's a hunger for a sort of spectacle that the opera world thinks is no longer relevant."
What attracted him to Hadrian was the power of the story Wainwright wanted to tell.

Certainly the story of the Emperor Hadrian has plenty to offer contemporary audiences. Quixotic, domineering and visionary, Hadrian represented the end of the Classical era in Roman history, a fascinating period when the influence of Greek ideas began to predominate in Roman society, changing its political landscape in significant ways.

Wainwright adds, "And then there's Antinous, essentially the male equivalent to Helen of Troy ... though we know he actually existed and exactly what he looked like. At one point he was neck and neck with Christ in terms of cult status after disappearing in the Nile. Imagine what a different world that would have been if he had lived!"

Here is an exclusive sneak preview of the musical score:

And here are more costume designs: