Michael Dellaira has become one of America’s leading opera composers, receiving acclaim and awards for compelling stage works including The Leopard (Naxos 866905253). Based on Elisha Kent Kane’s expedition to find the Northwest Passage in the mid-19th century, Arctic Explorations is a study on the human desire to discover what lies beyond the boundaries of our experience. The effects of global warming and the plight of the Inuit in one of the most beautiful but endangered places on earth also form part of the narrative.

Naxos American Opera Classics has previously released Michael Dellaira’s The Leopard (866905253), an opera admired in the American Record Guide: ‘I encourage anybody interested in the current state of opera to get to know The Leopard’, and also considered ‘a feather in the cap of the Frost School of Music, and also for Dellaira’ in Fanfare.

The strong cast of soloists for Arctic Explorations includes baritone Colin Levin, who made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2018 and who has an extensive history of collaborating with composers, and soprano Nicole Haslett, who has been hailed by The New York Times for both her ‘technically accomplished coloratura’ and her ‘floating lyricism’.

Cast:
- Siarnaq: Nuka Alice (vocal soloist)
- Maggie Fox: Nicole Haslett (soprano)
- President Zachary Turner: Michael Celentano (tenor)
- Lady Jane Franklin: Erin Brittain (soprano)
- Elisha Kent Kane: Colin Levin (baritone)