Why I'm Excited about Opera Vivente
September 11, 2007 - Today, while listening to me wax poetic about OV, someone asked me why I was so excited about OV in general, and in particular about our 10th season. I must say, the question completely threw me for a loop. Not because I don't think that OV is worthy of excitement, but because I couldn't imagine why someone wouldn't be excited about OV. So I thought about it and here, in no particular order, are the many things that excite me about OV.
First of all, and maybe most irrationally, I'm excited about OV because it's my love child, born out of the union of my absolute love for this music and my distaste for the reputation that opera has come to have with many people in the modern era. Contrary to popular opinion (and the sort of behind closed doors discussions heard at many companies), opera is not, and was never intended to be, proper, stuffy, elitist, obscure, boring, stupid or what have you. Opera has from the beginning set out to be entertaining, moving, relevant and revelatory, cathartic, and universal. OV has at its core the mission of returning those qualities to the genre and like any proud parent I love OV wildly, profligately, and unconditionally. I love it and am proud of it because it's reached 10 years in an environment that is hardly kind to the arts. But there are other things that excite me.
I'm excited about OV because an agnostic audience member who saw our very first production (Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia) told me that her concept of redemption had been irrevocably changed by the experience.
I'm excited about OV because of the 8 year old, who after having sat riveted through a 3+ hour production of a Mozart rarity called La finta giardiniera, decided to do a diorama of the second act for his school project and has sought every opportunity to see opera since that time.
I'm excited about OV because of the many singers who tell me that the experience of doing a role in their own language and in such an intimate space has changed and deepened their concept of that role forever.
I'm excited about OV because of Nick Pazdalski, a 14 year old singer who performed the role of Miles in our production of The Turn of the Screw and then presented me with a $50 donation (which represented a number of months' allowance) as a thank you for the opportunity.
I'm excited about OV because of the dozens and dozens of first-time operagoers who come up to me after the performance and say "Wow! I had no idea that this is what opera was like".
I'm excited about OV because of the audience member who wrote me a letter telling me that our production of Tamburlaine (an opera written almost 300 years ago) had made him seriously think about the morality of America's presence in Iraq.
I'm excited about OV because of the ever-growing number of supporters who tell me that they give because they know how much their money directly impacts what they see on stage, and that they want to make sure that this unique type of performance continues.
The list goes on, but I don't want this blog post to turn into some kind of country-western anthem. So, let me just say a few words about why I'm particularly excited about our 10th season.
Our season opens with a sublime Handelian masterpiece. Alcina is a brilliant examination of the nature of reality, the all too often tension between outward image and inner intention, all set to music of such profound beauty as to almost defy description. We've lined up an amazing cast featuring the return of several of our audience favorites (Ah Hong, Zachary Stains, Monica Reinagel - all of whom regularly perform with companies throughout the United States and Europe) as well as significant company debuts (Colleen Daly in the title role). Add to that the OV signature updating (this time to the hallucinogenic 1960s) that has proven so popular with our previous Handel operas (Agrippina in the 1980s a la Dynasty and Tamburlaine in present day Iraq), and I feel confident that we have an opening show worthy of the occasion.
We then proceed to a truly history-making production with the North America premier of Jonathan Dove's church opera, Tobias and the Angel. Dove is one of the leading contemporary composers of opera, whose works have been performed at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, The Almeida Music Festival, and Boston Lyric Opera to name just a few. This incandescently beautiful, spiritually probing work is further illuminated by the presence of world-renowned countertenor David Walker in the role of the Angel, providing a chance for Baltimore audiences to hear one of the truly great vocal artists of our time. The setting for this production is the exquisite and historically significant Nave of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, which features Tiffany and Lafarge stained-glass windows, wood-carving by Kirchmeyer, and a baptismal font by William Chester French. Truly a once in a lifetime cultural experience, and I'm excited that OV is the catalyst for bringing this to Baltimore.
And, just to show that we haven't lost sight of the aspect of opera as pure, unadulterated, and not necessarily edifying entertainment, we're closing our 10th season with Jacques Offenbach's hilarious romp through the foibles of image vs. desire Orpheus in the Underworld. I've often said when defending opera that opera was not only the TV of the 19th century but the FOXTV of the 19th century. And to bring that point home, our production is going to rampage through all the imagery currently flickering on millions of screens across America: celebreality TV (e.g. I Love New York, The Simple Life), soft-core titillation TV (e.g. The Girls Next Store, Girls Gone Wild - though for Orpheus perhaps Gods Gone Wild is more appropriate) and televangelism (come on, nobody needs examples of that) are all going to be there, so if you're just looking for an evening of hysterical, mindless entertainment but you're tired of always clicking the remote, you won't be disappointed with this one.
So there's a few reasons why I'm excited about OV. Hopefully they've excited you a little bit too. If they have, or even if they haven't, let me know. Send me a comment about the blog. It will certainly make it more enjoyable to write knowing what you're all thinking and wondering about, and hopefully that will ultimately make it even more interesting (and dare I say, exciting) to read. And having said that, I think I'm going to go watch some mindless TV. Hey! It's research for Orpheus!
Thanks for reading and - See you at the opera!
John Bowen
First of all, and maybe most irrationally, I'm excited about OV because it's my love child, born out of the union of my absolute love for this music and my distaste for the reputation that opera has come to have with many people in the modern era. Contrary to popular opinion (and the sort of behind closed doors discussions heard at many companies), opera is not, and was never intended to be, proper, stuffy, elitist, obscure, boring, stupid or what have you. Opera has from the beginning set out to be entertaining, moving, relevant and revelatory, cathartic, and universal. OV has at its core the mission of returning those qualities to the genre and like any proud parent I love OV wildly, profligately, and unconditionally. I love it and am proud of it because it's reached 10 years in an environment that is hardly kind to the arts. But there are other things that excite me.
I'm excited about OV because an agnostic audience member who saw our very first production (Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia) told me that her concept of redemption had been irrevocably changed by the experience.
I'm excited about OV because of the 8 year old, who after having sat riveted through a 3+ hour production of a Mozart rarity called La finta giardiniera, decided to do a diorama of the second act for his school project and has sought every opportunity to see opera since that time.
I'm excited about OV because of the many singers who tell me that the experience of doing a role in their own language and in such an intimate space has changed and deepened their concept of that role forever.
I'm excited about OV because of Nick Pazdalski, a 14 year old singer who performed the role of Miles in our production of The Turn of the Screw and then presented me with a $50 donation (which represented a number of months' allowance) as a thank you for the opportunity.
I'm excited about OV because of the dozens and dozens of first-time operagoers who come up to me after the performance and say "Wow! I had no idea that this is what opera was like".
I'm excited about OV because of the audience member who wrote me a letter telling me that our production of Tamburlaine (an opera written almost 300 years ago) had made him seriously think about the morality of America's presence in Iraq.
I'm excited about OV because of the ever-growing number of supporters who tell me that they give because they know how much their money directly impacts what they see on stage, and that they want to make sure that this unique type of performance continues.
The list goes on, but I don't want this blog post to turn into some kind of country-western anthem. So, let me just say a few words about why I'm particularly excited about our 10th season.
Our season opens with a sublime Handelian masterpiece. Alcina is a brilliant examination of the nature of reality, the all too often tension between outward image and inner intention, all set to music of such profound beauty as to almost defy description. We've lined up an amazing cast featuring the return of several of our audience favorites (Ah Hong, Zachary Stains, Monica Reinagel - all of whom regularly perform with companies throughout the United States and Europe) as well as significant company debuts (Colleen Daly in the title role). Add to that the OV signature updating (this time to the hallucinogenic 1960s) that has proven so popular with our previous Handel operas (Agrippina in the 1980s a la Dynasty and Tamburlaine in present day Iraq), and I feel confident that we have an opening show worthy of the occasion.
We then proceed to a truly history-making production with the North America premier of Jonathan Dove's church opera, Tobias and the Angel. Dove is one of the leading contemporary composers of opera, whose works have been performed at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, The Almeida Music Festival, and Boston Lyric Opera to name just a few. This incandescently beautiful, spiritually probing work is further illuminated by the presence of world-renowned countertenor David Walker in the role of the Angel, providing a chance for Baltimore audiences to hear one of the truly great vocal artists of our time. The setting for this production is the exquisite and historically significant Nave of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, which features Tiffany and Lafarge stained-glass windows, wood-carving by Kirchmeyer, and a baptismal font by William Chester French. Truly a once in a lifetime cultural experience, and I'm excited that OV is the catalyst for bringing this to Baltimore.
And, just to show that we haven't lost sight of the aspect of opera as pure, unadulterated, and not necessarily edifying entertainment, we're closing our 10th season with Jacques Offenbach's hilarious romp through the foibles of image vs. desire Orpheus in the Underworld. I've often said when defending opera that opera was not only the TV of the 19th century but the FOXTV of the 19th century. And to bring that point home, our production is going to rampage through all the imagery currently flickering on millions of screens across America: celebreality TV (e.g. I Love New York, The Simple Life), soft-core titillation TV (e.g. The Girls Next Store, Girls Gone Wild - though for Orpheus perhaps Gods Gone Wild is more appropriate) and televangelism (come on, nobody needs examples of that) are all going to be there, so if you're just looking for an evening of hysterical, mindless entertainment but you're tired of always clicking the remote, you won't be disappointed with this one.
So there's a few reasons why I'm excited about OV. Hopefully they've excited you a little bit too. If they have, or even if they haven't, let me know. Send me a comment about the blog. It will certainly make it more enjoyable to write knowing what you're all thinking and wondering about, and hopefully that will ultimately make it even more interesting (and dare I say, exciting) to read. And having said that, I think I'm going to go watch some mindless TV. Hey! It's research for Orpheus!
Thanks for reading and - See you at the opera!
John Bowen
Labels: audience, child, Davd Walker, diorama, donation, entertainment, excitement, iraq, jonathan dove, love, redemption, singers, TV
posted by Opera Vivente at
6:03 PM
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