Celebrated opera collaborators John Estacio and John Murrell are set to raise the curtain on their latest full-length work, Frobisher, in Calgary this weekend.

The new opera, which the Banff Centre and the Calgary Opera commissioned from composer Estacio and librettist Murrell, will have its debut at Jubilee Auditorium Saturday evening.

Frobisher is composer John Estacio's second full-length opera collaboration with librettist John Murrell. Frobisher is composer John Estacio's second full-length opera collaboration with librettist John Murrell.
(CBC)

The historical and contemporary opera weaves two tales: one about Martin Frobisher and his 16th-century expeditions to Canada's Far North and another about a modern-day pair attempting to make a film about the British explorer.

"We started with the story of Martin Frobisher," Estacio told CBC News Friday afternoon.

While the explorer proved "an interesting historical fellow," Estacio said, "I didn't want to spend 2½ hours with him."

Murrell came up with the idea of adding a contemporary, parallel story about two filmmakers researching and trying to pitch a film about the famed explorer.

"We go back and forth in time between the present day and Elizabethan England," Estacio explained of the final work.

"We found similarities in trying to make a motion picture, trying to get that off the ground … and making this voyage to the North."

The new work is highly anticipated, after the success of Estacio and Murrell's last full-length opera collaboration, Filumena, which told the 1920s-era tale of the last woman hanged in Canada.

According to Estacio, the two creators continue to make a great team because of their mutual respect.

"We enjoy each other's company," he said.

"One of the things we do best is we listen to each other and we respect one another. We are always curious to hear what the other person has to say and we take that into account when we start writing an opera."

CBC Radio Two will record Saturday's premiere of Frobisher for broadcast on Feb. 1. A version of the opera will also be performed in Iqaluit in February, with the production to take the Banff Centre stage in August.