San Diego Opera 2018-2019 Season Opener: Le nozze di Figaro

This is a truncated press release from the San Diego Opera

San Diego Opera’s 2018-2019 Season Opens with Mozart’s Beloved The Marriage of Figaro

Bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee makes anticipated Company debut as Figaro

 

Mezzo-sopranos Emily Fons (Cherubino) and Susanne Mentzer (Marcellina) make welcome returns to the Company

 

New production to San Diego Opera audiences

 

These performances made possible by Lead Production Sponsor Darlene Marcos Shiley

 

San Diego, CA – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s boisterous romantic comedy The Marriage of Figaro opens San Diego Opera’s 2018-2019 season on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 7 PM for four performances at the Civic Theatre. Additional performances are October 23, 26, and 28 (matinee), 2018.  Assembled for the opening opera of the season is an exciting young cast including the house debut of American bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee as Figaro. He will be joined by baritone John Moore as Count Almaviva and soprano Caitlin Lynch as the Countess, both in exciting Company debuts. Soprano Sarah Shafer makes her welcomed San Diego Opera debut as Susanna. Returning mezzo-sopranos Emily Fons, last heard as Zerlina in 2015’s Don Giovanni, returns to sing Cherubino and Susanne Mentzer, last heard as Octavian in 1992’s Der Rosenkavalier returns to sing the role of Marcellina. Rounding out the cast is returning bass-baritone Ashraf Sewailam, last heard as Alidoro in 2016’s Cinderella, as Dr. Bartolo; returning tenor Joseph Hu, last heard as Goro in 2016’s Madama Butterfly, as Basilio and Don Curizo; returning bass-baritone Scott Sikon, last heard as Marquis D’Obigny in 2017’s La traviata; and soprano Lisa Frisque as Barbarina. John Nelson conducts the performances and Stephen Lawless stages the action in this production. The Marriage of Figaro is a co-production between San Diego Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Philadelphia, and Palm Beach Opera.

 

Performed in Italian with English translations above the stage, The Marriage of Figaro was last performed by San Diego Opera in 2007. This will be the sixth time the opera has been performed by the Company with additional performances in 1998, 1992, 1986, and 1973.

 

The scenery and costumes of The Marriage of Figaro are designed by Leslie Travers. The choreographer is Eric Sean Fogel. The Lighting Designer is Thomas C. Hase.

 

The Marriage of Figaro will have a radio broadcast on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at 8 PM on KPBS radio, 89.5 FM (97.7 FM Calexico) and online at www.kpbs.org

 

These performances of The Marriage of Figaro are made possible by the Lead Production Sponsor, Darlene Marcos Shiley.

 

Pre-production photos can be found online at: https://sandiegoopera.smugmug.com/San-Diego-Opera-2018-2019-PreProduction-Artwork/

 

Performance Schedule

Saturday           October 20, 2018          7 PM

Tuesday            October 23, 2018          7 PM

Friday               October 26, 2018          7 PM

Sunday             October 28, 2018          2 PM

 

Get Connected

 

Pre-Opera Lectures

These 30-minute informative lectures for the main stage operas take place in the Civic Theatre one hour prior to every performance and offer wonderful insights into the production audience members are about to see. These lectures are free to all ticket holders.

 

Post-Opera Talkbacks

Join the cast, crew, musicians and artists right after the performance of the main stage operas for an engaging, entertaining and informative Q&A session moderated by a San Diego Opera staff member. These lectures are held in the Civic Theatre and are free to all ticket holders. 

 

San Diego Opera Podcast Series

Get to know the artists and operas of the 2018-2019 Season. These insights into the singers and productions can be enjoyed by opera fans as well as those who are new to the art form. Casual and fun, this is a great way to learn about our artists and the operas they star in. Watch online at http://www.sdopera.org/Company/Education/Podcasts. These videos are also available on our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/SanDiegoOpera

 

San Diego Opera on Twitter

Get frequent updates about San Diego Opera and opera in general by following us on Twitter. Follow tweets from backstage during a performance and learn about special offers and contests before anyone else by following us @SDOpera.

 

San Diego Opera on Facebook

San Diego Opera’s Facebook page offers a place for fellow opera fans to discuss performances, opera news, connect with other fans and get up-to-date information on upcoming events. Look for “San Diego Opera” at https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoOpera/

 

San Diego Opera on YouTube

Now viewers can watch a large portion of San Diego Opera’s programming at their convenience on YouTube. Archived versions of OperaTalk!, Stars in the Salon, Opera Spotlight, our video podcast series and much more can be found on the San Diego Opera channel at: http://www.youtube.com/SanDiegoOpera

 

San Diego Opera on Instagram

A picture is worth a thousand words! Take a look at what happens backstage and in the office on San Diego Opera’s Instagram page. http://instagram.com/sandiegoopera

 

Purchasing Tickets

Subscriptions to the 2018-2019 season are now on sale. Single tickets are on sale in the summer.

 

Single tickets start at $49 for all mainstage performances. Single tickets start at $35 for all dētour Series operas. Children prices exist, please visit www.sdopera.org or call 619.533.7000 for more information.

 

Senior citizen discounts of 15% are available to the Main Stage series on Tuesday and Friday subscription packages. Senior citizen discounts of 15% are available to the dētour Series on Saturday subscription packages.

 

Military discounts (active and retired) of 50% are available to the Main Stage series on Tuesday and Friday subscription packages. Military discounts of 50% are available to the dētour Series on Saturday subscription packages. 

 

For information about tickets please visit www.sdopera.org or call 619.533.7000

 

San Diego Opera 2018-2019 Season

The Marriage of Figaro                                      Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart                 October 20, 23, 26, and 28 (mat), 2018

All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914          Peter Rothstein                                     December 7, 8, and 9 (mat), 2018

Rigoletto                                              Giuseppe Verdi                                    February 2, 5, 8, and 10 (mat), 2019

Three Decembers                                                Jake Heggie                                         March 8, 9, 10 (mat), 2019

Carmen                                                               Georges Bizet                                      March 30, April 2, 5, and 7 (mat) 2019

One Amazing Night –Stephen Powell and Stephen Costello                                           May 15, 2019

Enjoying a day off and a lovely new Youtube clip of Alcina from Paris Opera 2004

Finally a day off! It's been a brutal week with me catching the 4th flu of the year (I really have got to get out of Riverside, CA before too long. I had gone 3 yrs without a flu before I moved up here last December. This place is really bad for me!), but still having to go back to work the first day after the fever finally broke. It seemed the whole town of Redlands knew the Thai resto I've been working at finally had a bartender in residence again after 4 days, and we were absolutely swamped for 3 straight days. I'm telling you, people start drinking martinis and other hard core cocktails at lunch time here!

Anyhow, I somehow survived, but was quite something of a post-halloween zombie this morning until I stumbled onto this awesome audio upload of the Alcina broadcast from the Paris Opera in 2004. It stars Luba Orgonasova (Alcina), Vesselina Kasarova (Ruggiero), Vivica Genaux (Bradamante), Patrizia Ciofi (Morgana), Toby Spence (Oronto), and Luca Pisaroni (Melisso)!

That was VK's first foray into the Handelian repertoire, I think, and a marvelous treat to start a day off with!

Bel Canto für Alle

*This article is a reprint from the original that I posted on the now defunct Associated Content website back around 2007. I'm afraid all the articles posted there are now lost except for a few saved in my aging hard-drive. So... there are some dated stuff in the post that have since been updated, like the definition of 'bel canto' in the Wikipedia article (that had really gotten a lot less narrow and 'conventional' in the last few years). A lot of the sentiments still apply, though.

Music is for everyone, and there is no accounting for taste. I listen mostly to classical music and opera these days... As you all may have noticed, we opera fans are a bunch of obnoxious nose-in-the-air snobs who screech like banshees when any attempt is made to popularize the genre or to make the opera more easily appreciated by people who can't read music or fluently speak at least three different languages - and the screeching only gets more hysterical if those unwashed folks dare to like any singer that we don't! From what I've seen of many of my fellow opera fans on sites like Youtube and other forums, that is an image that sticks worse than a hot wad of wet chewing gum on a road bike tire.

I don't know why many opera fans (at least the very loud ones) are so intolerant of the likes and dislikes of others. The genre is already over-saddled with centuries worth of baggage. (Most of the operas being performed at the theater near you are more than 100 yrs old). Even the most difficult of the arias found in them have, by now, been sung death many times over by various great and not so great singers ever since they were published. And the 'convention', the preconception that many accept as the standard way of performing a piece of music, has been taken for granted so much it's starting to resemble the smell of bodily discharge on the sidewalks of Downtown. After a while you come to expect it to always be there... and the 'whether it should be there or not' has became a forgotten question.

But why should new generations of artists be stuck with the ideas of past ones in the first place? Why shouldn't they explore new ground rather than just sticking to the same old singing style that pleases only the loudest (though probably not that heavily populated) segment of the audience while leaving the rest of us in the cold? And what if the 'convention' isn't even accurate and/or as long-lasting as they would claim it to be in the first place?

Take the characterization of what bel canto singing is from the wikipedia article;

"Bel canto singing characteristically focuses on perfect evenness throughout the voice, skillful legato, a light upper register, tremendous agility and flexibility, and a certain lyric, "sweet" timbre. Operas of the style feature extensive and florid ornamentation, requiring much in the way of fast scales and cadenzas. Bel canto emphasizes technique rather than volume: an exercise said to demonstrate its epitome involves a singer holding a lit candle to her mouth and singing without causing the flame to flicker."

Now... Bel canto music is the music of the early 19th century Italian opera... mainly those composed by Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti (and, arguably, the early Verdi operas), and the era when some of the greatest singers to ever lived (Giuditta Pasta, Maria Malibran-Garcia, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Isabella Colbran, Wilhelmina Schroeder-Devrient, et.al) were the superstars those great composers fell all over themselves to write opera roles for. The description given above pretty much accurately states the modern popular convention of how the music of this period is to be sung; in a voice that is perfectly even through out its range (same timbre on all notes), with easy fluidity and heavy emphasis on flawless technique and tonal beauty (hence bel canto... beautiful singing). And so, one of my favorite opera singers, one Vesselina Kasarova, is often the target of criticism that point to her register breaks and her aggressively drama-oriented style of singing with explicit aim of conveying the pathos of her operatic character rather than just singing the character's music beautifully (or tastefully... if we are to allow the critics their say).


(here she is, singing the utterly dashing Romeo in a performance of Bellini's The Capulets and the Montagues)

How should I defend her? She does have the register breaks (the voice is not even, having many different colors in different regions of its vast range), and she is utterly aggressively dramatically inclined - willing to sound downright ugly rather than beautiful when the prevailing drama requires venom... even as she sings one of the most difficult bel canto virtuoso mezzo-soprano roles in the repertoire.

Well... listen to the clip above... and then read these:

1. "The characteristics of X's head-notes are almost diametrically opposed to the characteristics of her chest-notes; her falsetto is brilliant, rapid, pure, fluent and enchantingly light. As she approaches the lower part of this falsetto register, she can smorzare il canto (diminish her tone) to a point where the very fact of the existence of sound becomes uncertain. Without such a palette of breath-taking colour deep within her own being, and without such an extraordinary and compelling natural gift, X could never have achieved the over-mastering force of natural expression which we have learnt to associate with her - a miracle of emotional revelation, which is always true to nature and, although tempered by the intrinsic laws of ideal Beauty, always alive with that unmistakable, burning energy, that extraordinary dynamism which can electrify an entire theatre. But think how much pure artistry, and how much discipline and training has been necessary before this enthralling singer learned to harness the restive secrets of weaving such divine enchantments out of two different and utterly contrasting voices."

2. "It was not a creamy voice but had a distinct tang, rather like the bitter sweet taste of Seville oranges. What struck her audience most forcibly, however, was the intensity with which she sang. --- Alfred de Musset described her voice as 'a mixture of soprano and tenor, the lower part reminiscent of a cello, the higher that of a piano.' X's voice was resonant and clear, at once both bitter and sweet, but it was more than a voice, it was a soul singing." ...

3. "Her principal characteristic, however, was expression; and expression in all its features, shades, and varieties. From its loftiest epic flights, embracing the sublime of anger and the profoundly pathetic, down to the winning and playful. It is needless to recur to her expression in the most prominent parts of the Sonnambula and the Fidelio. But they who remember her in the Romeo, how piercing her tones of anguish! How intense the agony of her features! Or her look, attitude, and tones in the last scene of Gli orazzii e curiazzii, will store the reminiscence of them among the treasures of high art."

I replaced the names with X, but do you know which singer the quotes above apply to? What if I tell you that No. 1 is the description of the voice of Giuditta Pasta by Stendhal, her contemporary critic in his The Life of Rossini? And that No. 2 is the description of Pauline Viardot-Garcia in Barbara Kendall Davies' The Life and Works of Pauline Viardot-Garcia? And that No. 3 refers to the voice of Maria Malibran-Garcia, as recounted in the Countess of Merlin's collection of Malibran's memoirs and letters?

What do you think of the modern convention of what bel canto singing should be now? None of these most acclaimed of singers of the bel canto era had a voice with seamlessly integrated registers (and does anyone remember that three-voices-in-one-throat and utterly divine stage-animal named Maria Callas?). They were known for their many vocal colors, their florid agility, and, most of all, for their drama-oriented style of singing and acting. While much of the modern critics and audience value seamless voice and technically perfect and musically beautiful singing that is easy on the ears, those who actually lived in the bel canto era were more keen on something else entirely. Stendhal devotes an entire chapter of his biography of Rossini to describe Pasta's voice, asserting that; "No voice whose timbre is completely incapable of variation can ever produce that kind of opaque, or as it were, suffocated tones, which is at once so moving and so natural in the portrayal of certain instants of violent emotion or passionate anguish. Mme. Pasta may indeed sing the same note in two different scenes; but, if the spiritual context is different it will not be the same sound."

More quote from Kendall-Davies' book: "The critic and writer, Julien Budden, observes that: the real explanation lies in the nineteen century attitude to vocal registers, a subject that has not so far received the attention it deserves. Musicologists who are eager at all cost to revive the performing traditions of a past age would do well to remember that some of them might prove unacceptable today, as for instance, the alternative method of portamento that Niccola Vaccai advocates for fast movements in his singing method of 1833 and which now exists only in pop and folk music. The ideal of an even quality from top to bottom of a singer's compass was unknown to Verdi's contemporaries. A sharp break, like a change of gear, between registers, so objectionable today, was tolerated then and indeed this yodeling effect can still be heard in certain pre-electric recordings, such as those made by the contralto Clara Butt."

So much for the notion of any long-lasting time-tested 'convention' of how a piece of music is supposed to be sung! While Julien Budden would caution that the accepted technique of the bel canto period wouldn't go over well with today's audience, I am compelled to add that it is utterly unreasonable to expect the singers to cope with the music that was composed for the real bel canto voices (with all that register breaks and falsetto and yodeling) while complying to the today's notion of bel canto singing. The expectation is not practical! Why do you think the roles written for people like Rubini or Davide are nearly never sung in their original key anymore?



Now... Not to knock on those who actually enjoy music just for music's sake. As I said before, there is no accounting for taste. What I am objecting to is the practice of applying one's own personal preference/taste as if it is the universal standard that others are obligated to adhere to. If you are looking for a beautifully sung Ariodante or Ruggiero or Sesto or Romeo or Charlotte or Carmen or Rosina, there are many wonderful lyric mezzo-soprani out there with a beautiful voice and technique that will please you. I'm sure they would very much enjoy your accolade (though perhaps not any vitriol you might feel like spewing toward their friends and colleague). Turning up to complain about singers you don't enjoy on the video clips that you supposedly don't care about, however, says a lot more about you than about them. The operatic stage is big enough to accommodate more than just one type of singers.

As for me, there are enough singers around these days who sound and sing so alike that their identity isn't readily distinguishable even after the entire radio broadcast. I want someone who not only has a personality, but is also able to portray it, in all its shades, with a voice that I can identify within the first two notes I hear. I don't care if she isn't the prettiest or the vocally heftiest or the most adept at virtuoso vocal pyrotechnic around. I do care that when she opens her mouth and sings, I hear the utmost inner thoughts of a mythical character that has miraculously been restored to life even though he isn't called Lazarus, rather than just someone with a beautiful voice singing prettily about something somebody else should be feeling. If that isn't something that floats your boat, who is forcing you to watch or listen to them? Just leave them alone and go find the others that you like instead!

Juliette Galstian: Artist Portrait

Well, well, my Christmas season sure started on a good note this year. Look what I've got in my stereo already!

That's right, Juliette Galstian has released a a solo recital CD! Many opera fans will have known Juliette Galstian as the dark-voiced title character of Gluck's Iphigenie in Tauride and as Susanna in Paisiello's Nina (that features Cecilia Bartoli) DVDs from Zurich Opera. She was also a convincing Rinaldo at the same house a few years ago before seemingly fell off the face of the earth, or at least from the operatic stages.

I was tempted to report her a missing person since it ought to be a crime for someone that talented to go into hiding at the prime of her career. As it turns out, though, she has been having some fun with a proper teaching job at the Conservatoire de Geneve... and recording a lovely disc in her spare time.

The disc contains 23 very diverse art songs in 7 different languages and styles ranging from Bellini to Strauss, Wolf, Tchaikovsky, Donaudy, Rubinstein, Gounod and even some intriguing Armenian folksong arranged by Vardapet. Heck, she even does a Britten in English!

Her voice has darkened some more (don't ask me how that was possible) with so rich a lower register now that I can't help wishing I could see her on stage as Carmen or even Marina in Boris Godunov... She goes so well singing the Russian songs!



Galstian is accompanied on the piano by Claude Lavoix, and it is a nice partnership of two very musical musicians. I'm afraid the beautiful booklet that comes with the disc doesn't have libretto, but her diction is clear enough to not need one if you understand Italian, French or English. CD is available for purchase through Galstian's website. A good Christmas present for your opera fan friends, if you ask me.

Just another viewing of Der Rosenkavalier with Kasarova

I'm over-indulging in the Zurich Der Rosenkavalier DVD again. :D You know how uncannily Vesselina Kasarova (Octavian) dominates the stage during opera performances? Have a look just at the final duet here (starting at around 5:06 in). She has the entire auditorium so naturally covered with eye contact without even breaking character... I mean, contrast this with the gorgeous Malin Hartelius (Sophie).



The latter is a most exquisite Sophie (so poised, so amazingly sung, so still, I can't love her enough), but she theatrically disenfranchises just about all the audience on the right side of the house since she only ever looks/faces the left side of the auditorium). VK, on the other hand, has the whole hall scanned by the end of the first section of final duet, and she even does a final sweep (08:30-40) before turning up-stage and walking off with Sophie. It's so cool how she does that without breaking character. Sophie may be oblivious to your presence, but Octavian knows you're there and he isn't just singing for Sophie, but for you also ... no matter where you are in the house!

What can I say? The gal is a genius! 

Christmas arrived early: Vienna State Opera is now live streaming!

December is still a week away but I'm getting so many goodies that the air is already smelling like Christmas! Here's a start, the Vienna State Opera is now in the video streaming business, offering opera and ballet performances in HD and sometimes even UHD.


There isn't a lot of videos on the Videotheque yet, but the selections are quite inviting (there's a Carmen with Nadia Krasteva and Anna Netrebko... and the Forza del Destino with Nina Stemme!). The live shows line up looks quite good especially for next February (Martina Serafin is doing Tosca, then the Edita Gruberova concert!!). They are letting you try it out for free when you register (use the VSO#4ONLINE promotional code). Don't know how long that's going to last, so you've better hurry, I gather.

The website: http://www.staatsoperlive.com/en/

Also... got a few new CDs for early Christmas. Too happy listening to review them yet (but will get to 'em in a bit).

La Belle Kasarova

Vesselina Kasarova, demonstrating how to sing a PG13 rated operetta with a full blown x-rated voice... This is from the 2nd act of Jacques Offenbach's La Belle Helene (The Beautiful Helen) from Zurich Opera.



Apologies for harbor blockage upon playing the clip, the lass does have a reputation for causing spontaneous ship launches!

Guest Announcement: San Diego Opera Tickets Now Selling!

San Diego Opera Single Tickets Are Now On Sale

 

Board President Carol Lazier Shares Update on Company

 

Genovese Vanderhoof & Associates Have Been Engaged to Secure Long-Term Artistic Leadership for the Company

 

San Diego, CA – San Diego Opera is delighted to announce single tickets are now on sale to all performances of the San Diego Opera 2014-2015 season including La bohème, Don Giovanni, Nixon in China, the new mariachi opera El Pasado Nunca se Termina (The Past is Never Finished), the Company’s 50^th Anniversary Celebration Concert at Copley Symphony Hall, and Stephanie Blythe and Craig Terry’s recital, We’ll Meet Again – The Songs of Kate Smith. Single tickets start at $30. A full listing of performances date and times can be found at the bottom of this release.

Here are some of the changes and accomplishments in only five months since the Board of Directors announced the continuation of San Diego Opera:

 

• An executive search committee has been formed to secure long-term artistic leadership for the Company. Arts consultants Genovese Vanderhoof & Associates have been engaged to lead the committee.  

 

• The Company has moved its administrative offices next door from its old location to the Center City Building at 233 A St., Suite 500. The reduction in office space from 15,000 square feet to just over 7,000 square feet results in an annual savings of $400,000. The Company was also able to open a store front box office at 237 A St. that is open for walk-ins from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM Monday through Friday.

 

• The newly reconstituted board of directors currently stands at 26 members. The board just completed a two-day board retreat that focused on issues of governance, board legacy, and future long-term planning.

 

• The current fundraising goal for the 2014-2015 season, which was $6.5 million of the Company’s approved $11 million budget, now stands at $1.2 million needed to be raised by June 30, 2015 with $5.3 million already raised.

 

• Subscription sales continue to trend upward with 89% of all households renewing. The Company has also seen a 377% increase in new subscribers and a 286% increase in lapsed subscribers (former subscribers that did not attend the 2014 season).

 

• The Company opened the season last month with a sold-out recital presented by Stephen Costello and Ailyn Pérez at the Balboa Theatre.

 

• The Company continues to explore new venues and partnerships, with performances at The Balboa Theatre and Copley Symphony Hall.

 

• San Diego Opera’s Education department has announced Opera Exposed a new touring ensemble comprised of the top vocal students from the Company’s University Partnership Program (USD, SDSU, and Point Loma Nazarene University) that will present free concerts around the community, as well as provide the students with professional training.

 

• The Company’s Education department has developed an in-classroom residency based on the Common Core State Standards. It involves visits to the classroom by singers, designers, costumers, wig & make-up specialists and technical theatre artisans who will give students a close-up view of opera from the inside. The number of school residencies for the 2014-2015 have more than doubled from previous seasons.

 

• Students attending the Student Night at the Opera final dress rehearsal can now watch the entire performance. Previously they were required to leave at the first intermission. San Diego Opera will continue to pay for transportation to these performances. Included in this year’s lineup, in addition to La bohème, Don Giovanni and Nixon in China, is the mariachi opera El Pasado Nunca se Termina.

 

• The Company has hired John Gabriel as the Director of School Programs to oversee and further develop the Company’s education efforts.

 

• The Company has planned and casted the 2016 season and is currently finalizing repertory and contracts for the 2017 season.

 

“San Diego Opera’s 50^h Anniversary Season is off to a tremendous start!  Our new direction of programming innovative as well as traditional works, and presenting exciting exceptional performances accessible to diverse audiences, is our future,” shares San Diego Opera Board President, Carol Lazier.

 

Purchasing Tickets

Single tickets for all operas are on sale. Single ticket prices start at $30 and can be purchased by calling (619) 533-7000 or online at www.sdopera.com.

 

Subscriptions range from $105 for a three-opera series to $1405 for a full season package (Orchestra level subscription and the 50^th 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.

 

The 2014-2015 International Season

Stephen Costello and Ailyn Pérez in recital                                      September 5, 2014

Stephanie Blythe and Craig Terry: The songs of Kate Smith            December 11, 2014

La bohème                                           Giacomo Puccini                  January 24, 27, 29 and Feb. 1(mat), 2015

Don Giovanni                                      Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  February 14, 17, 20 and 22 (mat), 2015

Nixon in China                                    John Adams                          March 14, 17, 20 and 22 (mat), 2015

50^th Anniversary Celebration Concert                                              April 18 and 19, 2015

El Pasado Nunca se Termina               José “Pepe” Martinez            April 25 at 2 pm and 7 pm, 2015                       

 

General Information

San Diego Opera announced its 2014-2015 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 in May and has begun a search for permanent leadership to lead the Company as it reinvents itself to better serve the diverse San Diego community.

 

www.sdopera.com

Guest announcement: San Diego Opera & Dallas Opera Co-Producing Heggie's Great Scott

Below is a guest announcement from the San Diego Opera:

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.”

 

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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 109^th 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.

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About San Diego Opera:

San Diego Opera announced its 2015 season and 50^th 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 19^th 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.

 

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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

 

50^th 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 50^th 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

Don Quichotte (Don Quixote) at the San Diego Opera (8 Apr 2014)

My friend M and I went to San Diego Opera at the Civic Theater on Tuesday night to see a performance of Jules Massenet's Don Quichotte (Don Quixote), and were quite thrilled to see the place completely packed. There was hardly any seat left open even up on the balcony.

The staging is the same from the 2009 run and the title role is still spectacularly sung and acted by Italian basso Ferrucio Furlanetto, who brings just the sort of gravitas the character needs to draw sympathy rather than exasperation from the audience. If you can pick one artist to carry the show and make people want the opera company to survive the current abysmal mess that it is in, Furlanetto would be it. He is so at home with this role that he plays with it now rather than just coping.

Anke Vondung is quite a different Dulcinea than Denise Graves was in 2009. Not as much presence, perhaps, but quite fresher and more lyrical voice (at times a bit too 'lyrical' in the huge hall that is the Civic Theater, as she was easily overpowered by the orchestra). Eduardo Chama is a crowd pleaser as Sancho Panza and got the most (complimentary) whistles at the curtain call for keeping the show fun even to its tragic ending. I should say... I don't know why Simeon Esper is still singing a minor role like Juan. The dude has got a gorgeous voice (and quite a good look to boot)!

The chorus was a bit out of sync at the start but gelled up nicely thereafter.

I'm afraid I'm being a bit boring writing this up... It wasn't a care-free night at the opera like it used to be. People were taking photos and videos before and after the curtain and making jokes about how this could be the last opera they'd get to attend here in "America's Finest City"... and I got a bit depressed and also a bit conflicted about it. I'd like the opera to survive, of course, and for the many people I admire in the organization to get to keep their job. At the same time, I wouldn't like for it to survive with Ian and Ann Campbells heading it (and a real opera board shake up would be nice, too, starting with Karen Cohn, whose histrionics in print has really poisoned the pool of anyone that cares even a little bit about the San Diego Opera).

Typical staging at the SDO; traditional with period costume. This is from Tosca a few years back.

Mr Campbell had done a lot for the company, but his vision for it hasn't been jiving with what the popular audience wants for some time now. It's odd to read how him and Ms Cohn keep saying that 'grand opera' is the what people here wants, and yet at the same time they are both claiming that the chief reason for their attempt to shut down operation is 'declining audience attendance'. First off, the only works that could be confused with a 'grand opera' the SDO has staged since 2006 are Bizet's Carmen and Verdi' Aida. So, I suspect that when they say 'grand opera' here, what they really mean is ultra-traditional staging of staple opera as if they are museum pieces rather than living arts.

Just about the only minimalist staging of an opera at the SDO. Salome.

I know that I, for one, haven't been going to the opera much the last couple of years because the 'traditional staging all the time' thingy got pretty stuffy for me. The most entertaining show I had gone to there in recent years was Strauss' Salome... and that was due to the minimalist clutter-free staging as much as the stellar performance of the cast. And I was always dreaming of getting to, one day, see a low-coast minimalist conceptual Regietheater production like they do in Central Europe that makes people think about the story being told from the stage. A story that they can relate to despite of the opera's original setting. But there was no hope of that ever happening here while the likes of Mr Campbell and Ms Cohn are in charge. They want their 'grand opera' (bad use of the term notwithstanding) and they fault the audience for not liking their taste enough to pay to come to performances. For all they have done for the opera, the sudden manipulation of the opera board to force a shut down just because they couldn't make it work to their liking is selfish beyond belief, especially considering all the hard working loyal company staff and associated musicians who will soon be out of a job if the rest of the opera board can't come up with a way of saving the company.

And so, their dark cloud hang over the opera house and weighed down even Tuesday's good performance of Don Quixote... which I'll cite as the excuse for my lackluster not-much-of-a-review 'review'.. with apologies to the artists, who showed way more spunk than I do even though they are even more affected by this whole stinky thing!