Emerging Pictures Opera and Ballet Series

OPERA AND BALLET UPCOMING SCHEDULE, PRODUCTION AND CAST INFORMATION

THE ABDUCTION OF SERAGLIO

Event time:
APRIL 21, 2010, 2pm, Admission $25, LIVE SIMULCAST

(the abduction from the sair-AH-lee-oh)
Mozart (MOAT-zart)
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 200 min, 2 intermissions
German

Comic, Turkish-themed

Film tie-ins: Films about harems, insensitive depictions of other cultures, Mozart, the Enlightenment, one culture being obsessed with another culture

About the opera: The Abduction from the Seraglio is a middle-weight Mozart opera; it isn’t one of his greatest hits, but it isn’t a forgotten or dismissed work either. The average opera fan is familiar with this work, (as it is performed frequently all over the world,) but it’s unlikely that a novice opera-goer or “non-opera person” would recognize any of the melodies. However, it’s still an accessible and “friendly” opera – upbeat songs, impressive singing, simple plot and a happy ending.

The style of this production falls somewhere between traditional and contemporary – the singers are dressed as if they’re from the early 20th century (not the 17th century as Mozart intended), giving the impression that the action takes place in some vague, unspecified past. The pared-down scenery adds to this “timeless” effect. The locale is also muted. Mozart wrote this at a time when all things Turkish were very poplar. There is still Turkish influence evidenced in the music, but this production lacks the caricaturized Turkish costumes and sets that would indicate an “exotic” setting.

Official program note: Mozart premiered The Abduction from the Seraglio in 1782, while a craze for all things Turkish, especially Turkish-style music, swept Western Europe. (Following Abduction, Mozart composed Piano Sonata no. 11 in A major, featuring the famous “rondo alla Turca.”) The characterizations of Turkish characters in the libretto (written by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner and adapted by Gottlieb Stephanie) seem like insensitive caricatures to modern eyes. The cruel and boorish actions of the jailer Osmin are reflected in the “Turkish” percussion, which plays just when his behavior is the most repulsive. On the other hand, the European heroes of the opera are accompanied by music of classic Mozartean elegance. In many productions today, the entire Turkey vs. Western Europe premise is scrapped in favor of focusing on the true strengths of the opera (which transcend 18th century prejudices): beautiful melodies, inventive musical forms, fully developed characters, and a comedic plot, which is easily divorced from time and place.

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SIMON BOCCANEGRA (Verdi)

Event time:
THURSDAY APRIL 29th @ 2pm LIVE SIMULCAST

Cast:
Plácido Domingo (Simon Boccanegra)
Ferruccio Furlanetto (Jacopo Fiesco)
Anja Harteros, Adriana Damato (Amelia)
Fabio Sartori (Gabriele Adorno)
Massimo Cavalletti (Paolo Albiani)
Ernesto Panariello (Pietro)

Production Team:
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Arrigo Boito
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Staging: Federico Tiezzi
Sets: Maurizio Balò
Costumes: Giovanna Buzzi
Lights: AJ Weissbard

The Production
Performed at Teatro all Scala, in co-production with Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin

Simon Boccanegra is a story about politics and love—a deadly combination. Simon Boccanegra is the Doge of Genoa, but twenty-five years earlier he fathered a child with Marie, the daughter of his then-political rival Fiesco. Marie died while still young, and their daughter disappeared. Ever since Boccanegra came to power, Fiesco has lived under an assumed name out in the country with his adopted daughter Amelia. Amelia is actually Boccanegra’s daughter, and thus Fiesco’s granddaughter, but at first neither man knows it. Fiesco attempts to give her in marriage to man she doesn’t love, but once Boccanegra find out her true identity, he lobbies to have her wed to her true love, Gabriele, even though Gabriele has been secretly plotting against the Doge with the exiled Fiesco. Gabriele and Fiesco still do not know Amelia’s true identity, so they continue with their plans to kill the Doge. Boccanegra is tricked into drinking poison by one of Fiesco’s friends, but shortly before he dies, Amelia’s identity is revealed to Gabriele, who begs the Doge for forgiveness. The benevolent Boccanegra forgives him and blesses the marriage of Gabriele and Amelia. Soon, Fiesco also finds out Amelia’s lineage, and when the Doge dies, everyone—even his former rivals—mourn the passing of the great man.

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DAS RHEINGOLD (Wagner)

Event Time:
WEDNESDAY MAY 26th @ 2pm LIVE SIMULCAST

Cast:
René Pape (Wotan)
Stephan Rügamer (Loge)
Johannes Martin Kraenzle (Alberich)
Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperracke (Mime)
Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Fasolt)
Timo Riihonen (Fafner)
Katharina Kammerloher (Fricka)
Anna Samuil (Freia)
Anna Larsson (Erda)

Production Team:
Music and Libretto: Richard Wagner
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Staging and Sets: Guy Cassiers
Sets and Lights: Enrico Bagnoli
Costumes: Tim Van Steenbergen
Video: Arjen Clerckx and Kurt d'Haeseleer

The Production
Performed at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy

Das Rheingold begins Wagner’s four-opera epic, Der Ring, or “The Ring Cycle,” as it commonly called in the United States. The Nibelung dwarf Alberich attempts to woo the lovely Rheinmaidens, but they only mock him. Out of bitterness, he steals their magical Rheingold and forges the Ring out of it. He enlists his brother, Mime, to forge a magical helmet out of the gold as well. Wotan, the king of the Gods, along with Loge, the god of fire, descend upon the underground realm of the Nibelungs and trick the dwarves into capitivity. Wotan ransoms Alberich in exchange for his gold. Wotan uses the gold, including the ring and magic helmet, to pay the ransom on his sister-in-law, Freia, whom the giants Fasolt and Fafner seized as payment upon the completion of Wotan’s new castle in the sky. The angry and humiliated Alberich curses the ring, saying that whoever does not possess will desire it, and whoever possess it will only find unhappiness and death. Soon after, Fafner and Fasolt right over the ring, and Fafner kills his brother in order to keep it—the Ring’s curse has already begun to manifest.

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THE QUEEN OF SPADES (Tchaikovsky)

Event Time:
THURSDAY JULY 1st @ 2pm LIVE SIMULCAST

Cast:
Emily Magee (Lisa)
Ben Heppner (Gherman)
Lado Ataneli (Tomsky/Zlatogor)
Ludovic Tézier (Prince Yeletsky)
Ewa Podlés (The Countess)
Elena Zaremba (Pauline)
Francisco Vas (Chekalinsky)
Alberto Feria (Tsurin)
Mihail Vekua (Chaplitsky)
Kurt Gysen (Narumov)
Stefania Toczyska (The Governess)
Claudia Schneider (Masha)
Jon Plazaola (The Master of Ceremonies)
Michelle Marie Cook (Prilepa)

Production Team:
Music: Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Michael Boder
Stage Director: Gilbert Deflo
Sets and Costume Design: William Orlandi
Lighting Design: Albert Faura
Choreography: Nadejda Loujine

The Production
Performed at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain

Gherman, a soldier, falls in love with the wealthy Lisa, who is already engaged to Prince Yeletsky. Lisa confesses to Gherman that she is actually in love with him and not her betrothed. Gherman’s friends tell him that Lisa’s grandmother knows a card trick that makes her win every time, thus her nickname, “The Queen of Spades.” Gherman becomes obsessed with learning the secret, convinced that once he discovered it, it would solve all his problems. When Gherman tries to intimidate the old woman into revealing her secret, she dies of fright. Lisa sends Gherman away, distraught.

Alone in a wintery cabin, the ghost of Lisa’s grandmother appears to Gherman and reveals the card trick. Gherman rushes to meet Lisa by the banks of a frozen river, but it soon becomes apparent that he has gone mad. After he abandons her, Lisa realizes that all hope is lost, and throws herself into the icy river. Gherman goes to the army barracks and joins a game of cards, using the secret that the apparition of the Queen of Spades taught him. It was a trick, however, and Gherman ends up losing everything—all his money, and the love of his life. He kills himself, asking for forgiveness.

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