Glittery gala inaugurates new opera house

Canadian celebrities from the worlds of business, politics and the arts hit the red carpet in Toronto on Wednesday night to help inaugurate the Canadian Opera Company's new home.

Governor General Michalle Jean, Margaret Atwood, Steven Page and Conrad Black were among the glittering guests who attended the gala opening concert of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

About 2,000 people attended the opening concert and they helped bring the venue to life, said architect Jack Diamond.

"It's like somebody having breathed life into a corpse. It's now alive," he told CBC News.

About 500 of the donors and patrons also attended a $2,000-a-plate dinner onstage at the Four Seasons Centre's R. Fraser Elliott Hall later in the night.

'Stellar for Toronto': Atwood

Atwood was among those who raved about the fact that Canada now has a venue built specifically to highlight opera performances.

"This is just going to be stellar for Toronto," Atwood said of the new opera house. "It's going to be wonderful because you'll be able to hear and see. It won't be a muppet show."

Wednesday's inaugural lineup included a performance by Canadian opera superstar Ben Heppner, othersoloists including Gerald Finley and Adrianne Pieczonka, and performances by the COC chorus.

Two more celebratory concerts are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

Opera to debut with Ring Cycle

The National Ballet of Canada, which will share the opera house as a tenant, will stage its inaugural performance in the new venue on June 22.

The COC will then open the doors of the Four Seasons Centre again for a public open house on June 24 and 25.

The opera company's debut season in its new home opens unofficially with Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle in September the first time the company has attempted to stage the epic four-opera opus as a consecutive series.

The regular season opens in mid-October with Mozart's Cos fan tutte.