THE DALLAS OPERA AND SAN DIEGO OPERA
ARE VERY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT
SAN DIEGO OPERA WILL
CO-PRODUCE
GREAT SCOTT
~~~~
THE FIRST OPERA BY COMPOSER JAKE HEGGIE AND LIBRETTIST TERRENCE MCNALLY SINCE THEIR ACCLAIMED
DEAD MAN WALKING (2000)
SAN FRANCISCO, JUNE 20, 2014 –
The Dallas Opera proudly welcomes a co-producer, San Diego Opera, to the first major project in fourteen years by critically acclaimed American composer
Jake Heggie (Moby-Dick) and Tony Award-winning playwright and librettist
Terrence McNally (Master Class).
GREAT SCOTT will star world-renowned mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato
in her eagerly anticipated Dallas Opera debut. The world premiere performances in Dallas, with support from
The Eugene McDermott Foundation, The Hoblitzelle Foundation and
The Carol Franc Buck Foundation, will be staged by Broadway legend Jack O’Brien
(former Artistic Director of San Diego’s Old Globe Theater) and
conducted by one of the fastest-rising young artists at the podium
today:
Maestro Evan Rogister.
GREAT SCOTT opens the Dallas Opera’s 2015-2016 Season with five performances scheduled from
October 30, 2015 through November 15, 2015 in the Margot and Bill
Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
Additional performances in San Diego will follow in the
2016-17 Season.
Composer Jake Heggie shared the big news today in San Francisco at the Opening Session of
OPERA America’s Opera Conference 2014.
“I’m very honored and touched,” said Mr. Heggie, “to be a part of this
magical, remarkable occasion.” Word of San
Diego Opera’s commitment to the piece was followed by the first public
performance of an aria from GREAT SCOTT by acclaimed American lyric
soprano
Heidi Stober, a principal artist at Deutsche Oper Berlin and a sought-after guest artist in opera houses around the world.
Previous co-commissions and co-productions by the two companies include the tremendously successful adaptation of
Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, brought to the opera stage in 2010
by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer and seen in Canada,
San Francisco, Australia and, most recently, in Washington, D.C.; as
well as an earlier world premiere production
of Thérèse Raquin by composer Tobias Picker and Mr. Scheer.
“For months now, the San Diego Opera saga has been the most closely watched story in the western opera world,” says
Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny. “It is
incredibly gratifying to be able to welcome the company as a partner in
this exhilarating project. San Diego Opera’s involvement sends a
powerful message to our industry—and the message is this:
San Diego Opera is here to stay and planning for an exciting future!
“We have tremendous confidence in the leadership exhibited by Carol
Lazier and the San Diego Opera Board, as well
as William Mason, the Company’s new artistic advisor, and we are
certain that San Diego Opera will play a vital and productive role in
bringing Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s original concept to life for
the enjoyment of audiences everywhere.”
“Jake Heggie is no stranger to San Diego Opera,” shares
San Diego Opera Board President Carol Lazier. “After his wildly successful
Moby-Dick in 2012, when we heard that Jake was working on a new opera we knew we had to be part of it. At its heart,
Great Scott asks ‘What is worth fighting for?’ a question that resonates with us here in the San Diego community.
“This
opera also gives us the opportunity to work again with The Dallas
Opera, who have been champions for our
continued survival since day one, offering advice and logistical
support during these transitional times. They are a great partner to
work with, having been co-producers on
Moby-Dick, co-commissioners on Thérèse Raquin, and partners on productions of
Madama Butterfly and Aida over the years. Our participation in Great Scott
is a show of support for Jake and The Dallas Opera, a commitment to the
future of great American opera, and a statement to let the world know
that San Diego Opera
is still here and we are not going anywhere.”
“It is extremely gratifying to learn about this co-production of Jake and Terrence’s next opera,” wrote
Marc A. Scorca, President and CEO of OPERA America. “The
collaboration of these artists promises to add another important work to
the American opera repertoire. It is equally exciting that The Dallas
Opera and San Diego Opera will work together
as co-producers of the piece, demonstrating that bold artistic plans
that include new American operas can and should be part of a an opera
company’s strategy for long-term success.”
“What a triumph on every level,” said Jake Heggie. “I couldn’t be more grateful to all parties involved.”
“At the heart of GREAT SCOTT are big questions about artistic and
personal sacrifice, picking our battles and the
kind of cultural legacy we want to leave for the future, as well as our
personal responsibility in that legacy. How appropriate that the
Dallas Opera and San Diego Opera—two companies that have recently
triumphed over adversity—have now become two of the
standard bearers in this challenging dialogue! Loyal audiences, staffs
and highly motivated leadership are embracing artistic collaborations
to keep these companies vital—eyes on the horizon—as they construct a
future based on fresh ideas, new works and
different perspectives.”
~~~~
Terrence
McNally and Jake Heggie have set GREAT SCOTT in "an important American
city" that boasts a respected
but struggling opera company and a thriving football team. Arden
Scott, the hometown girl who has become an international opera star, has
returned to her roots to help save the company. She has chosen not a
standard classic or a new work, but a long-lost
bel canto opera she recently discovered: Vittorio Bazzetti's Rosa Dolorosa, Figlia di Pompeii,
which has been gathering dust ever since its composition in 1835.
By
chance, the opera company is set to give the world premiere the same
night the local football team, the Grizzlies,
will play in their first Super Bowl across town—an event that will be
telecast to 100 million viewers. The owner of the team is married to
the opera company's founder, Winnie Flato. Success on the field is no
less important than Arden's and Maestro Bazzetti's
in the opera house. No wonder Arden finds herself is in a state
of personal crisis over the career and life she has chosen as every
conceivable disaster seems to await the company.
With
a large cast and chorus, two mad scenes, an erupting volcano and a
difficult unknown score, will mere human
resources be equal to the opera's inhuman demands? And a defeat at the
Super Bowl could be end of Winnie's opera company as well.
Heggie also remarked, “What an incredibly fun challenge for a composer! To create the sounds of an American
opera company as they rehearse a never-heard Italian bel canto opera—and to throw in a fight song for the local football team, as well. I think this is a story we can all relate to!”
~~~~
Joyce DiDonato, “probably the most in-demand lyric coloratura mezzo in the world” (Opera News),
will sing the title role of opera singer Arden Scott for the world
premiere performances in Dallas. Miss DiDonato triumphed in recent
seasons in the
Metropolitan Opera’s production of Maria Stuarda, as well as in the Met’s 2011 world premiere of
The Enchanted Island, prompting Anthony Tomassini of The New York Times
to write, “She commanded the stage from her first showcase
scene…singing with cool control, then bursting into fearless flights of
passagework.”
Last spring, she dazzled audiences in London as Elena in
La Donna del Lago at the Royal Opera House. Michael Church of The Independent
raved: “…words fail. No other singer could match what this blonde
bombshell from Kansas does, marrying coloratura with the serene
liquidity of birdsong to an expressiveness
of heart-stopping beauty. Go, listen, and marvel.”
Just weeks ago, Ms. Di Donato received an Honorary Doctorate from
Juilliard where she also delivered the commencement
address at the 109th Commencement Ceremony. Additionally,
Ms. DiDonato was instrumental in the early stages of the “Save San Diego
Opera” campaign, encouraging her fans through social media to support
the Company’s fight for survival.
For additional information or to arrange interviews, please contact
San Diego Opera Director of Public Relations Edward Wilensky at 619-384-7636
or Dallas Opera Director of Media and Public Relations Suzanne Calvin
at 817-995-1687 on site in San Francisco.
~~~~
About San Diego Opera:
San Diego Opera announced its 2015 season and 50th
Anniversary on May 19, 2014, after nearly two months of careful
deliberations and analysis since
the Company announced it was going to close at the end of the 2014
season. During this time, the Company launched a crowd funding campaign
that resulted in an unprecedented $2.2 million in public donations, of
which 48% were first time donors from 6 countries
and 36 States. The outpouring of public support, the unified vision
expressed by the company’s management, staff, partners and contractors,
and the expert advice of Opera America and the many General Directors of
U.S. opera companies who weighed in with encouragement,
logistical assistance and statements of solidarity, led the Board of
Directors, headed by Carol Lazier, to confidently rescind the original
vote to close. The Company appointed former Lyric Opera of Chicago
General Director, William Mason, as Artistic Advisor
last month and has begun a search for permanent leadership to lead the
Company as it reinvents itself to better serve the diverse San Diego
community.
About the Dallas Opera:
More
than half-a-century of artistic excellence, technical innovation and
community engagement have enabled The Dallas Opera to make a major
contribution to the international
cultural reputation of Dallas and add significantly to the economic
impact of the performing arts across North Texas. The Dallas Opera has
presented a host of international stars in their American debuts,
including Dame Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé,
Jon Vickers, and Plácido Domingo, as well as designer-director Franco
Zeffirelli. A champion of new work, The Dallas Opera has presented the
American premieres of five operas and additional world premieres. Most
recently, the company commissioned composer
Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer to create a tremendously
successful new opera based on Herman Melville’s 19th century
novel “Moby-Dick,” as well as forthcoming new operas by British composer
Joby Talbot (“Everest”), Heggie and Terrence McNally
(“Great Scott”), and American composer Mark Adamo (“Young Santa
Claus”), all slated to take centerstage in 2015. The Dallas Opera has
pioneered classical music simulcasts in North Texas at locations ranging
from Klyde Warren Park to AT&T (formerly Cowboys)
Stadium and continues to seek new ways to engage the entire community
and bring the thrill of opera to people of all ages, educational levels
and backgrounds.
~~~~
San Diego Opera 2014-2015 International Season Performance Schedule
Ailyn Pérez and Stephen Costello in Recital
Balboa Theatre
Friday September 5, 2014 7:00pm
Stephanie Blythe and Craig Terry Presents We’ll Meet Again: The Songs of Kate Smith
Balboa Theatre
Thursday December 11, 2014 7:00pm
La bohème
Giacomo Puccini
San Diego Civic Theatre
Saturday January 24, 2015 7:00pm
Tuesday January 27, 2015 7:00pm
Thursday January 29, 2015 7:00pm
Sunday February 1, 2015 2:00pm
Don Giovanni
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
San Diego Civic Theatre
Saturday February 14, 2015 7:00pm
Tuesday February 17, 2015 7:00pm
Friday February 20, 2015 7:00pm
Sunday February 22, 2015 2:00pm
Nixon in China
John Adams
San Diego Civic Theatre
Saturday March 14, 2015 7:00pm
Tuesday March 17, 2015 7:00pm
Friday March 20, 2015 7:00pm
Sunday March 22, 2015 2:00pm
50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Jacobs Music Center - Copley Symphony Hall
Saturday April 18, 2015 7:00pm
Sunday April 19, 2015 2:00pm
El Pasado Nunca se Termina (The Past is Never Finished)
Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán / Leonard Foglia / José “Pepe” Martinez
San Diego Civic Theatre
Saturday April 25, 2015 2:00pm
Saturday April 25, 2015 7:00pm
Purchasing Tickets
Subscriptions
range from $105 for a three-opera series to $1405 for a full season
package (Orchestra level subscription and the 50th Gala
Anniversary Concert
at the Jacobs Music Center - Copley Symphony Hall, the two recitals,
and the mariachi opera). Some Saturday and Sunday subscriptions are
slightly higher. Subscriptions can be purchased by calling (619)
533-7000 or online at
www.sdopera.com.
For information about single tickets please visit
www.sdopera.com. Single
ticket prices will be announced in the winter.
www.sdopera.com
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