Opening Weekend a Great Success!

September 29, 2008 - So Lord Giovanni opened to an enthusiastic crowd on Friday that greeted the singers at the end of the night with a standing ovation. Sunday also received vociferous applause and cheers. One of Friday night's patrons sent me the following email: "I encourage everyone to go to this English version of Don Giovanni. They did a terrific job - and hearing it in English brought some surprises to me - and I thought I knew the text pretty well. The acting is superb - Zerlina is one of the best roles Mozart ever wrote and this one was the best I've ever seen. So - if you have the time, suppor this local company! You won't regret it!" Couldn't have said it better myself. To get tickets to either Thursday's or Saturday's performances click here. See you at the opera! - John Bowen

Lord Giovanni Preview Pics

September 25, 2008 - So here are some pics from Tuesday's piano dress rehearsal to whet your appetite for Lord Giovanni (opening tomorrow night at 7:30pm. The show is in the words of Paris Hilton "like totally hot". There are still some good seats available but they're going fast so get your tickets now. (Click here to be purchase.)

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All Hell Breaks Loose

September 18, 2008 - both onstage and off. Tomorrow we stage the very end of the opera where Giovanni meets his demise in a truly operatic way. But tomorrow also marks the beginning of production week when all the separate components (costumes, set, lighting, singers, supers, etc.) that have been working somewhat independently over the past month all start coming together to create what Richard Wagner called the "gesamtkunstwerk" or "total artwork". No matter how many times I go through this stage it is still the most exciting and terrifying part of the process. Deep breath and . . .plunge!

Staging is almost done!

September 15, 2008 - So we're almost done staging Lord Giovanni - just the graveyard encounter, the Act II finale, and a tiny bit at the end of Act I to go. Yesterday we staged what are arguably two of the greatest aria Mozart ever composed: Mi tradi and Non mi dir (of course in our version they are "He's the man who cruelly betrayed me" and "Say no more, my good beloved"). Anyway, these astonishing pieces present two incredible portraits of two women (Lady Elvira and Lady Anna) who in spite of age difference, experiential difference and a whole lot more still end up yearning for the something they can't quite define, questioning their own hearts, and ultimately trying to seize control of their own destinies. Amazing stuff. If you don't already have tickets to Lord Giovanni, get 'em soon, cuz they're going fast.

Opera Vivente Masterclass Series

September 10, 2008 - Here's some more info about Opera Vivente's Masterclass Series the inaugural event of which is coming up on Tuesday, October 7th from 2-4pm. Ruth Drucker, internationally renowned singer and teacher, will give a masterclass entitled "Polishing Your Mozart Aria". Fee is $25 for participants (limit of 6) and $10 for auditors (unlimited number). Singers interested in being a participant should email a letter of interest and current resume to jbowen@operavivente.org. If selected to participate they will be contacted regarding finalizing their time slot, etc. If not selected, they will be contacted to see if they would like to audit the masterclass instead. This is a wonderful opportunity to receive insight into Mozartian style and to see a true "meistersangerin" at work (sorry, purists, I can't figure out how to umlaut in Blogger). If you would like more info, please feel free to contact me at 410.547.7997 or via email at the address listed above.

Looking ahead, we are also thrilled to say that John Shirley-Quirk, widely regarded as a definitive interpreter of many Britten baritone roles, will be giving a masterclass on Britten on May 13, 2009.

Dramma giocoso: The Question of Tone in Lord Giovanni

September 8, 2008 - So it's begun. This weekend contained 12.5 hours of rehearsal for Lord Giovanni and that only represents the tip of the iceberg. I have to say that this is one of the most difficult shows I have ever worked on. Good thing it's a masterpiece, because otherwise I would seriously be questioning the amount of work involved. LOL! But seriously, one of the things that makes this show so difficult is the bizarre mixture of comedy and tragedy that is one of its most salient features. Even the overture embraces this dual (a modern psychiatrist might even say bipolar) nature. Brooding, ominous chords and scales are followed by frenetic, scurrying strings and intricate counterpoint. Right after the murder of the Commander, Leporello attempts to make a joke. Violence jostles fun jostles sex jostles death jostles tenderness etc. etc. etc. Most of the productions I've seen tend to sweep the lighter moments under the proverbial carpet but I feel this does an injustice to the work and to the aesthetic in which it was conceived. So, we'll keep slogging away, and rehearsing, and rehearsing, and discussing, and rehearsing some more, and arguing a bit, and trying things a different way, and polishing until we get it exactly right. The work and our discerning audience deserve no less than our total commitment. See you at this (truly unique) opera!

Status Report and Thoughts on Lord Giovanni

September 2, 2008 - So design concepts are crystallized and construction has been started on the set (see model above) and costumes. This week marks the beginning of staging rehearsals and consequently the schedule will just intensify more and more the closer we get to opening night (September 26). So I thought I'd take just a few moments to mention some of the things that have been kicking around in my head about this show, which to be perfectly honest was until about a year ago quite a difficult nut for me to crack.

1) Sex - well actually this is normally kicking around in my head somewhere all the time anyway but as it pertains to Giovanni, the main aspect is sex as addiction and sex as a breaker of accepted societal boundaries. Giovanni is driven to pursue sex because it has become more essential to him than food or air and this is born out by the fact that he has no physical or emotional preferences in his conquests. Interestingly enough, one of the things that makes Giovanni most "dangerous" to the rest of the characters is not just the intensity of his sexual appetite but the non-discriminating aspect of it. Zerlina is on exactly the same footing as Lady Anna for Giovanni's purpose and that's subversive.

2) Disease - this is very much in the modern post-AIDs consciousness but it was just as much an aspect of 18th century life and every era in between has had its STD of choice to contend with. Given Giovanni's vast number of partners, he would clearly be infected with something no matter what the era. And if that's the case, is he not just as much a victim of his addiction as his "victims" are?

3) Misogyny - in this opera it's clearly a "man's world". Even Lady Elvira, the one whose life has been ruined by Giovanni, is expected to be quiet and well-behaved rather than to exact her own vengeance. Unfortunately, this attitude seems to have persisted at least up until the 1960s (the setting for our production) and probably really still exists very much today.

Would love to hear comments about the above or questions that have been provoked by the above so let's get some dialogue going.

On a purely business note, tickets for Giovanni (particularly the Sunday matinee and the Saturday closing performance) are going rapidly so if you're planning on attending, don't wait. But now!

See you at the opera!