Monthly Archives: August 2016

Tickets to Hawaii Opera Theatre’s 2016-17 Opera Season On Sale Now!

Honolulu, Hawaii – Single Tickets to the 2016-17 Opera Season – Opera with Passion will be available for purchase from Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT) on September 1, 2016. This season will highlight the extraordinary range of opera as an art-form, from the romantic beauty of Puccini to the modern-day relevance of Three Decembers world-class productions and internationally renowned stars.

Puccini’s La Bohème/ Blaisdell Concert Hall / Oct. 14, 16, & 18, 2016                                       

La Bohème is one of the most romantic love stories ever to grace the operatic stage, and is arguably Puccini’s most popular work, alongside his iconic Madama Butterfly. Set in Paris during the start of 1830s, La bohème tells the story of four young artists living in a garret and pursuing an idealistic “bohemian” lifestyle. When Rudolfo the poet meets Mimi they fall in love, but the poverty of their lifestyle affects her health and after a whirlwind romance she tragically dies. From the romance of their first meeting in Act One, to the joyous celebration of Café Momus on Christmas Eve with the delightful Musetta, the opera moves to the soulful quartet of Act Three, which leads to the tragedy of Act Four. Throughout the opera we hear some of Puccini’s best-loved melodies.

Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire / Blaisdell Concert Hall / Jan. 27, 29, & 31, 2017

Andre Previn’s transformation of Tennessee Williams classic play. Set in New Orleans in the 1940s, Blanche DuBois arrives at the home of her sister, Stella, and husband, Stanley Kowalski after suffering the loss of her ancestral home and job. Skeptical of the story, Stanley grows infuriated by Blanche losing his wife’s birthright, and sets out to reveal the truth behind the circumstance. The conflict between the two unfolds with tragic and violent consequence.

HOT’s production stars Jill Gardner (Tosca 2013) as Blanche and Ryan McKinny (The Dutchman 2015) as Stanley. Mark Morash conducts.

Heggie’s Three Decembers / Hawaii Theatre / March 24, 25, & 26, 2017

Composed by Jake Heggie (Moby Dick), Three Decembers is based on a play by Terrence McNally, about Broadway Star, Madeline Mitchell, as she enters the twilight of her career and life. The story unfolds with Madeline, estranged from her children, sharing a secret she has kept, and over three decades hidden truths are revealed as they struggle to find their identities as part of a family and in their lives. Madeline will be performed by Frederica von Stade in what the Houston Chronicle called “the role of a lifetime” for the opera legend when she created the role in 2008. HOT will present Three Decembers throughout the State of Hawaii, making its company debut on the Big Island (March 29) & Kauai (March 31), with a return to Maui (April 1).

Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann / Blaisdell Concert Hall / Apr. 21, 23, & 25, 2017

The Tales of Hoffmann, composed by Jacques Offenbach takes place over a series of flashbacks, as the famous German poet Hoffmann tells the story of his three great failed romances at a bar, ruining his fourth great romance in the process. Each woman represents a part of the whole that he is seeking: Olympia, the beautiful doll, Antonia, the singer and Giulietta, the courtesan. As his current love, the prima donna Stella, abandons him in despair, Hoffmann once more dedicates himself to his true love: poetry.

Single Ticket prices range from $29 – $130 (Blaisdell Concert Hall productions) and $30 – $90 (Hawaii Theatre). To purchase Single Tickets online visit HawaiiOpera.org or call the HOT Box Office at (808) 596-7858. New Subscriber Specials and Single Ticket Discounts (Group, Military, & Student) are available through the HOT Box Office.

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Since 1961, Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), formerly a division of the Honolulu Symphony Society and incorporated in 1980, has served to enhance the quality of life in Hawaii by presenting opera performances of the highest standards, while maintaining fiscal responsibility.  Through three productions annually in the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, HOT offers opera to almost 20,000 residents and visitors each season thereby increasing the public’s awareness and exposure to opera as a multi-media art form.

HOT’s educational programs for youth serve as both catalyst and active participant in the artistic education of Hawaii’s youth.  Opera for Everyone provides a special performance of each opera for a large and enthusiastic audience of students.  Opera Express takes operas specially adapted operas, into elementary and middle schools with special tours to all neighbor islands. HOT’s Opera Residency program takes our education and production staff members into an elementary school to work with students and teachers to compose an opera production centered around curriculum components.   Adult education is offered with Opera Highlights, a non-credit course at the University of Hawaii; Opera Previews, at the Honolulu Museum of Art; pre-performance Lanai Lectures on the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall lanai; and other presentations at stores or shopping centers.

Led by Artistic Director, Henry Akina, and General Director Simon Crookall, HOT employs local musicians.  Auditions are held, generally in NY, to cast principal roles from mainland, European, Asian and local singers.  The Opera Chorus is a local volunteer organization.

 

The HOT Take From The Santa Fe Opera Festival – Capriccio

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For the final opera of this year’s “pentology”, Santa Fe Opera performed Richard Strauss’ Capriccio.  There has been a long history of performing the operas of Strauss at Santa Fe, since the company’s founding in 1957 by John Crosby.  In fact, Capriccio received its US debut at Santa Fe in 1958, only 16 years after its world premiere in Munich in 1942.  Richard Strauss’ final opera is a celebration of art, specifically poetry and music, at a time when the world was riven with war and terror.  The basic premise for the opera is a debate between a poet and a composer about which of their artforms is supreme:  and specifically in the operatic context, are the words more important than the music, or vice versa?  The struggle is personified by the poet Olivier and the composer Flamand, each of whom is competing for the love of the opera’s central figure, the Countess Madeline.

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Santa Fe’s production, shared with Garsington Opera in England, is set at the time of the opera’s composition, in the mid-twentieth century.  Set designer Topbias Hoheisel has placed two modern rooms either side of a large Georgian central room, where the principal action takes place.  British Director Tim Albery keeps the action on an intimate level, with strong performances by the whole cast.  Amanda Majeski grew into the role of the Countess as the opera progressed.  Her final soliloquy, some of the opera’s best music, was beautifully sung.  In support, Ben Bliss as the composer Flamand, Joshua Hopkins as the poet Olivier, and David Govertsen as the theatre director La Roche, were a convincing ensemble, with a cameo appearance by the great American mezzo-soprano, Susan Graham, as Clairon, the actress. But the night went to the magnificent playing of the Sata Fe Opera Orchestra, led by Leo Hussain, a young British conductor who is rapidly making his name in the opera houses of Europe.  From the opening string sextet to the lush finale, Strauss’ opulent score was performed in glorious technicolor.

The HOT Take From The Santa Fe Opera Festival – Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet

Director Stephen Lawless sets his production of Romeo and Juliet “in the time of Gounod” rather than Shakespeare’s time.  The red shirts of the Montagues and the blue shirts of the Capulets were easy to distinguish!  Ashley Martin-Davis’ set is a forbidding mausoleum-like structure which foreshadows the story’s tragic end.

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This production of Romeo and Juliet included parts of the opera that are often omitted in performance.  The ballet sequences in Act, which were obligatory for the Paris Opera of the time, were reinstated here, as well as the Wedding Scene in Act 2, where Juliet is to marry Paris, but collapses from the poison she has consumed.

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Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez were perfectly matched in the title roles, effortlessly gliding through the challenges of the music.  Solomon Howard was an imposing Duke, and Raymond Aceto brought gravitas to the role of Friar Lawrence, although it was unclear why his cell had been transformed into a hospital ward.

Many of the smaller comprimario roles were taken by members of the Santa Fe Opera apprentices program.  Santa Fe’s young artist program is the oldest in the country and is celebrating its sixtieth year.  44 young singers are in residence throughout the season, singing in the chorus, filling the smaller roles and covering the principal roles.  During the first week in August, the members of the Apprentice perform a showcase, each singing an aria in quasi audition format. This year, representatives from 38 opera companies, as well as artist managers and other music presenting organizations, were present for the showcase.

The HOT Take From The Santa Fe Opera Festival – Vanessa

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Barber & Menotti

Samuel Barber’s Vanessa premiered at the Met Opera in 1958 after a long gestation period, with Barber’s partner, Giancarlo Menotti, writing the libretto.  (“I don’t know how severely Verdi harassed poor Boito, but I can assure you that Sam haunted me in my dreams until the very last words of the opera were written,” said Menotti.).   As you would expect from the composer of the famous Adagio and the popular Violin Concerto, the score is ravishingly beautiful, with evocative orchestral interludes, and soaring vocal lines. The story is based on one of Isak Dinesen’s Seven Gothic Tales, and the opera has a surreal atmosphere throughout.  Vanessa has been waiting for twenty years for the return of her lover, Anatol.  While she waits, along with her mother, the Baroness, and her niece, Erika, she has all of the mirrors in the house covered up so that she will not see her aging face.  A stranger arrives, and he turns out to be Anatol’s son, also called Anatol, by the wife he met after he left Vanessa.  After a brief affair with Erika, Anatol starts to court Vanessa, and they decide to marry.  During the grand ball to announce the engagement, Erika runs away, and we learn that she was pregnant with Anatol’s baby. She loses the baby, and keeps it a secret from Vanessa and Anatol, who leave to live in Paris.  As the opera ends, Erika settles down to await their return, having covered up the mirrors again.

The cast in Santa Fe was extremely strong, with Erin Wall in the title role and Virginie Verrez as Erika.  Erika’s aria “Why must the winter come so soon” was particularly beautiful, as was the famous Act 3 quintet, “To leave, to break, to find, to keep”.  Also memorable was the offstage chorus “In morning light let us rejoice”.  The audience was delighted to hear the veteran Wagnerian baritone, James Morris, in the role of the Doctor.  Conductor Leonard Slatkin gave a masterful reading of the work, especially in the third act, beginning with a breathtaking orchestral interlude.

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Director James Robinson created a stunningly pristine backdrop to the work, with an ingenious set designed by Allen Moyer.

The HOT Take from the Santa Fe Opera Festival – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

The Girl of the Golden West is not the most successful of Puccini’s operas. The “big tunes” are few and far between, and one recurring theme was heavily plagiarized by Andrew Llyod Webber for his Phantom of the Opera. (Try getting that tune out of your head after you hear it!). Set in a mining town in California during the gold rush, the cast is predominantly male, which gives Puccini less opportunity for the beautiful melodies for which his other operas are so famous.

The Polka Saloon

The Polka Saloon

The Santa Fe production, directed by Richard Jones, with sets by Miriam Buether, takes place in small rooms – the Polka Saloon and Minnie’s cabin – leaving the action feeling a little cramped.  This has the effect of focusing the attention on the very human aspects of the drama, notably the budding relationship between Minnie and Dick.

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Minnie’s Cabin

Minnie’s obsessive love for Dick Johnson, aka the bandit Leader Ramirrez, was strongly portrayed by Patricia Racette.  Hers is a bold and confident Minnie, who is determined to get her man in the end.  As Dick Johnson, Gwyn Hughes Jones brought passionate lyricism to the role, especially his third act aria “Ch’ella mi creda” where he pleads to his would-be lynchers not to tell Minnie that he has died.  The large supporting cast of miners were led by Mark Delavan (Jack Rance), Raymond Aceto (Ashby) and Craig Verm (Sonora).  Emmanuel Villaume, Music Director of Dallas Opera, conducted at a flowing pace.

The HOT Take from the Santa Fe Opera Festival – Don Giovanni

HOT General Director Simon Crookall continues The HOT Take series from the Santa Fe Opera Festival where opera fans and company representatives from around the world have gathered for one of the most popular opera festivals today.

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Santa Fe Opera House is a beautiful venue, overlooking the Sierra, with a roof but no walls, even at the back of the stage.  The thunderstorm which accompanied Don Giovanni this week could not have been a better background to the action.  Lightening flashed across the sky throughout the performance, and a massive clap of thunder heralded the entrance of the Commendatore at the dramatic denouement.

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The set, designed by Riccardo Hernandez, consisted of one large amorphous structure that was reminiscent of the Anish Kapoor sculptures I saw in English National Opera’s Tristan and Isolde.  Here, the structure had the impression of a human head, reminding us of the constant presence of the Commendatore.  It was beautifully lit, especially as the flames of hell engulfed the Don at the end of the performance.

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Daniel Okulitch, who sang the title role for HOT in (2007) was a commanding Don – his sensual portrayal made it easy to see why no woman could resist him.  The cast was uniformly strong, with notable performances from Kyle Ketelson (Leporello), Leah Crocetto (Donna Anna) and Keri Alkema (Donna Elvira).  Crocetto managed to portray her character’s struggle between grief for her father and attraction to the mysterious stranger who tried to seduce her, and she easily rebuffed Don Ottavio’s feeble advances, played by Edgaras Montvidas.  Alkema’s confident singing made Elvira the stronger of the two women in this production, helplessly in love with Giovanni, but determined to “do the right thing”.

Veteran conductor, John Noble, led with distinction. It was good to see his friend and former student, HOT regular, Hal France, in the audience.

The HOT Take Abroad Pt. 4 – Buxton Festival

Buxton is a lovely Georgian spa town in the north of England, surrounded by the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District.   The Opera House is a beautiful 900 seat Victorian jewel box.  It was built in 1903 and designed by the renowned theatre architect Frank Matchem, who also designed the London Coliseum, home of English National Opera.

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Each summer the Buxton Festival presents a series of lesser known operas ranging from the baroque to contemporary.  We saw Beethoven’s Leonore – the first version of what would later be known as Fidelio; and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi.  We also caught a beautiful concert of music by J S Bach, CPE Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann (Father, Son and Godfather) given by the English Concert at St John’s Church.

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Beethoven’s Leonora was the great composer’s first attempt at an opera score. The tale of the falsely imprisoned nobleman who was rescued by his daring wife, disguised as a young man, has suffered somewhat in the opera house for being perceived as too heavy and overblown.  This early version of the score is lighter and fresher, with an almost baroque sense of pacing and style. Director Stephen Medcalf set the work in Napoleonic times, and Stephen Barlow, the Artistic Director of the Festival (and also husband of Joanna Lumley!) conducted at a brisk pace. Kirstin Sharpin was powerful in the title role, and David Danholt was a full-throated Florestan.  The America Bass, Scott Wilde, was also impressive as Rocco, the Gaoler.  Buxton’s Young Artists Program supplies the chorus, and they sing superbly well. In a nice twist, as Leonore stripped off her male apparel at the end of the opera to reveal herself to Florestan, the female chorus members also changed from soldiers into lovely maidens!

I Capuleti e i Montecchi - Vincenzo Bellini - Buxton Festival - Saturday 9th July 2016Conductor - Justin DoyleDirector - Harry FehrDesigner - Yannis ThavorisLighting - Simon CorderTebaldo - Luis GomesRomeo - Stephanie MarshallGiulietta - Sarah-Ja

I Capuletti e i Montecchi is Bellini’s take on the Romeo and Juliet story.  But far from the romantic tragedy of Shakespeare and Gounod, this is a tale of war and conquest.  The plot twists are frequent, with the Capulets ultimately triumphing over the Montagues, but the tragic ending cannot be avoided.  Bellini sets Romeo as a mezzo-soprano, which gives ample opportunity for his signature Soprano/mezzo duets, known to many of us from the incredible recordings of Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne.  Here the young duo of Stephanie Marshall (Romeo) and Sarah-Jane Brandon (Juliet) did great justice to Bellini’s florid coloratura, and the lovers’ sad demise was sung with touching beauty.  Tebaldo, here sung by the Portuguese tenor, Luis Gomez, is the rival for Juliet’s hand.  With only Juliet’s father, Capellio, and Lorenzo, the Friar Lawrence equivalent, to complete the cast, this action-packed drama deserves more regular exposure. Harry Fehr updated the setting to modern day warfare, with beret-wearing soldiers toting machine guns, brought the story to life.

#HOTspeaks – Acting like an Opera Singer

Hawaii Opera Theatre Production Coordinator Jordan Sasaki typically works behind the scenes to make sure productions flow smoothly. But she will soon be on the other side of the curtain.

Sasaki will act the role of Lysander in the Hawaii Shakes Festival mid-August production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her involvement with opera through HOT has helped her prepare for the role, she said.

“I think to myself that I want to act with the same finesse that opera singers sing with,” Sasaki said. “As actors, we’re kind of obsessive about our voices, but being a singer is this whole other level of discipline.”

The role will challenge her, she said, as the play will be presented in two invented languages, forcing the actors to rely entirely on physicality, tone, and delivery to tell the story. Sasaki prepared by watching a previous HOT season’s Italian opera, II Trovatore, without paying attention to the English supertitles, and found that she could still follow the story without reading along.

“My hope is that A Midsummer Night’s Dream can achieve that, because we won’t have supertitles,” she said.

In rehearsal on Monday, Sasaki looked over her script and reminded herself of a line she sometimes had trouble remembering. With her heavy sword clanking against her hip, she prepared to take the stage.

Sasaki, 26, has found that she gravitates toward classical art forms. Her affinity for Shakespeare began at Florida International University, where she earned a bachelor’s of fine arts in theatre performance.

“There’s so much to benefit from – especially in these older art forms,” Sasaki said. “There’s a reason they’ve stuck around all these years.”

When Sasaki was younger, she said, some of her friends and family encouraged her to pursue traditional academics instead of the arts. They were concerned about her career opportunities if she only focused on theatre, she said.

But it’s clear now to see that Sasaki’s degree has been far from limiting. On top of her work with HOT and the Hawaii Shakes Festival, she is also writing two plays, and she hopes to submit one to a local play writing competition this year.

“The skills you learn doing performance I think you can apply almost anywhere, which I don’t think everyone realizes,” Sasaki said. “It isn’t stuck in a little box.”

Back in rehearsal for a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sasaki took deep breaths from her diaphragm to project Lysander’s emphatic lines.

Without any amplification or English translations, her voice carried across the room – much like that of an opera singer.

By Allison Kronberg