WHAT'S UP!


San Diego Opera pres- ents Bizet’s “Carmen” in May. (Photo by Cory Weaver)


By Charlene Baldridge SDUN Theatre Critic


F


irst love, suicide, mid-life angst, crimes of passion and a few beheadings—just another edition of the daily news, right? Wrong. Those are the topics


Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier” premieres in April at San Diego’s Civic Theatre. (Photo by


Pablo Mason)


that inspired the librettists of operas set for performance in San Diego Opera’s (SDO) 2011 season Jan. 29-May 22. Opera librettists, though seldom celebrated, give words to passion—and operatic passions are immense. That’s why it’s called grand opera. This season’s librettists are Ital- ians Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni (Giacomo Puccini’s “Turan- dot”), Austrian Hugo von Hof- mannsthal (Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier”), and Frenchmen Jules Barbier and Michel Carré (Charles Gounod’s “Faust”) and Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy (Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”). One might ask why hang out with a bunch of dead guys? The most recent of these operas premiered 85 years ago. What relevance does opera have in a Mos Def era?


The answer is that in all its labor-intense glory, grand opera imparts thrills like absolutely no other musical art form. “People’s lives are suspended as they go into this remarkable world in the darkness,” Ian Campbell, SDO’s general artistic director, said. “You can be any character, from a fuddy-duddy to romantic hero.”


San Diego Opera presents Puccini’s “Turandot” premier- ing Jan. 29. (Photo by Ken Howard)


Imagine a court in ancient China, bustling with acrobats, an immense chorus of Mandarins, comic yet sinister court flunkies named Ping, Pang and Pong. Add in an icy virgin princess, Turandot, who beheads failed suitors, and the one man in the universe who can melt the ice, a fellow from the provinces named Calaf, who risks his life solving three riddles to win her love. That’s the plot enacted upon David Hockney’s spectacular fairy tale set. Puccini’s magnifi- cent arias include Calaf’s “Nessun Dorma” (“No one shall sleep”) and Turandot’s “In Questa Reggia” (“In this palace”). Yep. The opera is sung in Italian. As with all four operas, English translations are projected above the proscenium of the Civic Theatre.


In her SDO debut as Turandot, a role for which she is internation-


San Diego Uptown News | January 7–20, 2011


13


San Diego’s latest opera season ripe with tradition and passion


ally acclaimed and in which she made her Metropolitan Opera debut last season, is American soprano Lise Lindstrom. Opposite Lindstrom is Uruguayan tenor Carlo Ventre, who has endeared himself to local audiences as Ra- dames in “Aida” and Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly.”


The voluptuous opening scene


of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenka- valier” plops audiences down in the boudoir of a Viennese noblewoman known as the Marschallin (German soprano Anja Harteros in her role


debut). She and her much younger lover, Octavian (German mezzo soprano Anke Vondung), have spent the night making love. The Marschallin realizes it is time for Octavian to move on with his life. She appoints him “Rosenkavalier,” sending him to deliver Baron Ochs’ (Italian bass Ferrucio Furlanetto in his role debut) silver rose to Sophie to seal Ochs’ and Sophie’s engagement. Octavian and Sophie (Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi) fall


see Opera, page 15


set your eyes on new sites


The Uptown District Center 1010 University Ave.


Ste. C109, San Diego in San Diego, only at the UnOptical


619.955.LENZ (5369)


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