To wrap up National Opera Week, we’d like to wish a late happy birthday to opera composer Vicenzo Bellini, who was born November 3, 1801.
Bellini was a musical prodigy, and it is claimed that he could sing an aria by 18 months, was studying music theory at age two, and the piano at age three. Whether it is true or not, he did grow up in a very musical household, and spent his rather short life studying and composing music. Bellini died at the age of just 33. He is known for very long, lyrical melodic lines, and he is one of the best examples of the bel canto style of opera. His operas, including La sonnambula, I puritani, and Norma, are still quite popular today.
This is probably his most famous aria, “Casta Diva” from Norma.
And from La sonnambula, “Ah! non credea mirarti”.
The first line of this is engraved on Bellini’s headstone – “Ah! non credea mirarti Sì presto estinto, o fior”, which translates roughly to “I did not believe you would fade so soon, oh flower”.
It’s National Opera Week! We have guest blogs this week from members of the Utah Opera family, explaining their love and relationship with opera. Are you also touched by the opera bug? Tell us about it on our Facebook page, or comment on any of the Opera Week blogs!
My First Role By Paula Fowler
My first opera experience was singing the role of Kate Pinkerton in Utah Opera’s 1993 Madama Butterfly. Kate sings only 6 lines and doesn’t appear til the final act, but I loved that the make-up artist told me that while I was sitting in his make-up chair, the name of the opera was Kate Pinkerton as far as he was concerned. The experience of rehearsing and performing with amazing singers in that production, as well as getting acquainted with backstage and onstage life in the theatre, really got me hooked on opera.
I signed on for the Utah Opera Chorus afterwards, and treasure memories of various productions for all kinds of reasons: my family knows I liked being chosen as a “sexy draper” in a production of Carmen, and I loved being part of the costume parades of gorgeous gowns in The Merry Widow and La Traviata (which, as far as the chorus goes, is one big party from beginning to end). I also got a hoot being in the mariachi band featured in our production of Don Pasquale, and enjoyed the challenge of learning the complicated square dance in The Grapes of Wrath. Another delightful highlight was when Propsmaster Kelly Nickle hid the infamous plastic alligator in the bustle of my gown during one of our summer Gilbert & Sullivan productions.
One of my favorite opera chorus recollections is of our production of Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice. The chorus was an important part of each of the 4 scenes in the opera, and in each scene we portrayed a different pure emotion: we were sad at Eurydice’s funeral, angry in red as demons in hell, then serene in white in heaven, and finally exuberant in a final celebration. It was a fantastic emotional and musical journey every performance, and I remember thinking what a fabulous thing it was to be able to pursue singing as a life hobby but get the opportunity to be part of the performances of a professional company. I don’t know any other art form where people can do that.
It’s National Opera Week! We have guest blogs this week from members of the Utah Opera family, explaining their love and relationship with opera. Are you also touched by the opera bug? Tell us about it on our Facebook page, or comment on any of the Opera Week blogs!
The Opera Bug by Julie McBeth
After getting bitten by the ‘opera bug’ at a music camp in high school, I pursued a career as a professional singer until I discovered I was not cut out for the lifestyle. Spending only a few weeks with each company before moving on to the next performances and not seeing my home for months at a time just didn’t seem like living to me. Luckily, I’ve always felt fulfilled by any sort of performance regardless of the size of role or theater. Singing in the Opera Chorus (or performing an acting role in an opera as a Supernumerary) satisfies my creative expression needs and has the added bonus of allowing me to more deeply engage with all of the artists involved in each production. I love the collaborative spirit of opera: how all of the art forms come together to create a sum greater than each of the parts and how the artists who participate support each other and work together.
My favorite Utah Opera experiences are numerous, but two particularly stand out. First was, acting one of the attendants of Cleopatra in Julius Caesar — wearing fantastic 1920s era costumes and doing a Busby Berkeley style production number during two of the arias. And the second was as a chorus member of The Grapes of Wrath — playing numerous characters and incorporating challenging choreography into our staging.
It’s National Opera Week! We have guest blogs this week from members of the Utah Opera family, explaining their love and relationship with opera. Are you also touched by the opera bug? Tell us about it on our Facebook page, or comment on any of the Opera Week blogs!
Fun in the Utah Opera Chorus by Ashley Magnus
I hadn’t really been exposed to opera much until I was an undergraduate student, studying voice. I was always far more interested in working behind the scenes on our operas, specifically enjoying stage managing and directing, but as a voice student had to sing my share of required performances as well. I remember thinking that I couldn’t wait to graduate and get out into the “real world”, where nobody makes you sing the role of “Grandma” in Little Red Riding Hood for a bunch of rowdy kids at the library, and you don’t have to spend all your spare time studying a role that you are singing for no actual class credit. I was positive I would not miss singing onstage at all.
Less than a year later, I had started working for Utah Opera, and got to be around all of the buzz and excitement of working on an opera production again. The first performance at Capitol Theatre that I actually got to see the Utah Opera Chorus featured in was Madame Butterfly - and I, much to my surprise, missed being onstage! I wanted to participate, too! The costumes(kimonos!) and the wigs and the sets were so cool, how could someone not want to be a part of that? Since then, I’ve gotten to participate in a few operas with the company: Gilbert & Sullivan Highlights at Deer Valley, Don Pasquale, Carmen, and Falstaff so far. My favorite part about singing in the Utah Opera Chorus is the camaraderie that comes from working on a show together, and the sense of fulfillment you get when you’ve put on a good performance. I have learned so much about opera since I’ve started working at Utah Opera and participating with the Utah Opera Chorus, and I love continually learning about this wonderful art form!
It’s National Opera Week! We have guest blogs this week from members of the Utah Opera family, explaining their love and relationship with opera. Are you also touched by the opera bug? Tell us about it on our Facebook page, or comment on any of the Opera Week blogs!
On Being A Super By Gunter Radinger
In 1998, Michelle Peterson called me to ask if I could help out with a performance of Turandot since one of the supers had to have an emergency kidney operation. It was in the middle of the run and I had not had the benefit of any rehearsals. It was very frightening, but the chorus and cast were very helpful and supportive and I lived through it. Of course, I was hooked from then on.
I asked Michelle that I was to be signed up whenever she needed a super. I’m now in my 24th opera as a super, and I cannot think of anything that I would rather do. It is very addictive, and offers a chance to perform in operas without having to sing. We get to wear the great costumes and sometimes do really crazy things on stage, such as fight scenes, romantic encounters, and also play both “good guys” and “bad guys”. I think my two favorite roles were very small ones, but the most fun. First, I played the notary in the Barber of Seville. This was a cameo role and I was even named in the cast of characters ( a large ego boost ); the second was the devil in Orpheus and Eurydice. It entailed wearing a very elaborate costume with six inch platform shoes and a red Cardinal’s robe with Kiss makeup. There are many other parts to name, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed doing. In addition, one gets to meet the finest artists, directors, conductors, and performers in the chorus, which is, perhaps, the most rewarding aspect of all. The people who perform in the chorus are like a family and one feels very much a part of that family over the years.
Someone asked me once if supers received a salary. My answer is that I could not be paid enough to be a super. I mean that sincerely- there is nothing that I would rather do, and I could never allow anyone to pay me for it! Thank you, Utah Opera for allowing me to be a part of your history for the last thirteen years.
This week, our Resident Artists are just visiting three schools: Holbrook Elem (Davis), Western Hills Elem. (Granite), and Indian Hills Middle (Canyons).
If you follow us on facebook, you’ll know that National Opera week is Oct 28 – Nov 6! Watch our blog, facebook, and twitter for all sorts of fun things as we celebrate opera.
Other upcoming education events:
Tuesday, October 25 | 7 PM | Our annual favorite: Spooky Symphonies! | Come join Utah’s favorite Halloween tradition! Grab your costume and compete in one of the state’s largest costume contests with categories for groups, adults, children & orchestra members. Plus, hear the Utah Symphony perform your favorite spooky symphonies. | Click here for info and tickets
Friday, November 4 | 2 PM | Utah Opera Production Studios | Opera masterclass observation opportunity with Stanford Olsen. Our Resident Artists will be singing.
Saturday, November 5 | 1 PM | Abravanel Hall Stage | Open masterclass obvservation opportunity featuring young violinists. This event is sponsored by the Utah Symphony Youth Guild
Monday, November 21 | 7 PM | Abravanel Hall | The Late Piano Sonatas | A Lecture/Demonstration of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas with Jason Hardink, Principal Keyboard. Sit on the Abravanel Hall Stage and learn about Beethoven’s solo keyboard compositions. Part of our Beethoven Festival.
Our Utah Opera Resident Artists are again visiting a lot of schools! This week they’re performing at Mount Ogden Junior High (Ogden), Horizon Elementary (Murray), Robert Frost Elementary (Granite), West Jordan Middle School (Jordan), Trailside Elementary (Park City), and Monroe Elementary (Granite).
Utah Symphony is visiting schools as well this week! Piute High School (Piute) and Bryce Valley High School (Garfield).
Other events happening this week: the Resident Artists will get to attend a forum on “Time Management and Other Wisdom,” our Symphony Guild is hosting a luncheon at Cottonwood Country Club, and we’re hosting a High Tea at Grand America:
Beethoven to his Immortal Beloved: High tea at the Grand America
Utah Opera Ensemble Artists and Utah Symphony musicians perform Beethoven songs and chamber music, interspersed with readings from Beethoven’s writings, Saturday, October 15 | 1 PM. $32 and $16 tickets available through Grand America Tea reservations: 801-258-6707.
Seating is limited; reserve early.
The post below was written by Jennie Litster, who is one of Utah Opera’s Resident Artists.
The Resident Artists consist of 5 young professionals, who perform in schools all over Utah almost daily.
Recently, we returned from our first touring adventure! It was only the second week that we have been together, so it was a new and interesting experience for most of us (our baritone is returning from last year). We were still getting to know one another and getting comfortable with the programs “Who Wants to be an Opera Star?” and “Opera 101” which we are presenting to schools all over the state.
During our school shows, we perform arias, a couple of duets, a trio, and two quartets. We have prepared a few of each kind of piece, so we can pick and choose to make every show different. During our first couple of performances we stuck to the lineup we had rehearsed, but this week we became adventurous and debuted several different duets and trios to add variety and cater to our audiences.
It’s always interesting to see how the children behave and react. Sometimes they are very attentive and ask great questions, while other times they can be rambunctious and noisy. We never know how much the children know about opera and working the crowd to keep their attention is always a challenge. During this week, we had a couple of interesting requests that we accommodated. John sang a snippet of “Figaro” to demonstrate the baritone voice, and to show the vocal range of a soprano, I sang in my upper upper register at 9am.
In addition to performing and representing Utah Opera in Carbon County, we also tried to take advantage of the beautiful scenery of the area.
We visited a museum, toured a few sites, and hiked. In one such instance, we drove to the Left Fork of Huntington Canyon and, after picnicking at the trail head, hiked a beautiful horse trail beside a river until the ominous clouds threatened to open upon us- we turned back. On our return trip to town, we took the long way through the loop and were able to travel a very scenic and breathtaking route along many vistas.
We had an adventure off-roading in the15-passenger opera van on our tour of the unpaved Nine Mile Canyon which is known as “the world’s longest art gallery” because of the extensive rock art.
On our way back to Salt Lake City, we stopped at a school that delighted us with a special treat as we were packing up: a group of girls from kindergarten wanted to sing a song to thank us – so we learned all about the color red.
Also this week, our Resident Artist Sishel Claverie did a Random Act of Opera at the City Library today at noon. Did you catch it? Sishel is from Guadalajara and her performance was in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. On Saturday, October 8 you can watch the family-friendly movie “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” at the City Library at 11am.
Many consider the ensemble pieces the most successful examples of vocal writing in Fidelio. The Act 1 quartet (discussed in Lesson 2), the “Prisoners’ Chorus,” the final trio, the concluding rejoicing—these are precisely the places where Beethoven can treat the voices symphonically, and that is his métier.
Caption: Image of the Prisoner’s Chorus from Utah Opera’s 1999 production of Fidelio
Next, the famous “Prisoners’ Chorus:”
(Music starts at 0:57)
There is no question this is gorgeous music—a terrific 7-minute chorus in the style of a German Männerchor. But how does it propel the drama? It doesn’t. Absolutely nothing happens on stage during the chorus, and the theme of its text is only incidental to the opera. For all the lofty philosophizing about freedom and liberty in this chorus, the opera itself is about the love of a woman for her husband, and her bravery. A brave wife’s love is what the final chorus celebrates, and what the original subtitle of the opera underscored. This is another example where Beethoven’s remarkable music is far more important than the dramatic pacing or the story at this point.
Finally, the “stand-off” in Act II, “Er sterbe”:
The music in this scene is amazingly vivid—impassioned, emotional, moving—and yet Pizzaro, Leonore, Florestan, and Rocco stand there virtually stock-still for a full five minutes, with daggers and pistols drawn, making sure to reveal their true identities to all before the drama can continue. Then everyone freezes when the trumpet signals the arrival of the Minister, and they sing at length again about Leonore’s love and courage. The most exciting scene of the story, and the most musically animated, is actually one of the most visually static parts of the opera.
There is no issue at all with Beethoven’s musical instincts. He develops themes, varies the melodies, sustains the musical interest with masterly perfection. That is Fidelio’s greatest strength, and undoubtedly the reason for its continued success. But dramatically, in terms of the action on stage, these scenes are weak. (I personally find them almost farcical, for opposite reasons. The Act I quartet is a comic scene, but is treated as a very serious theme and variations. “Er sterbe,” on the other hand is a serious scene, the most intense of the opera, but the dramatic pacing so attenuated as to make it almost ludicrous on stage.)
Caption: Fidelio, Act II, Scene 3 (“Er sterbe”), an engraving from 1815
What carries the day is Beethoven’s music. It is proof, if it were needed, that opera is essentially a musical genre, not a dramatic genre. Otherwise (as a critic once claimed) Meryl Streep would be hired to sing every mad scene, and Sigourney Weaver would do everything else. We forgive opera for not being totally realistic because there is compensation in the music itself. And with Beethoven’s Fidelio, there is more than enough compensation for the weaknesses in dramatic pacing and libretto. Wilhelm Fürtwangler, the great German conductor, once observed, “Fidelio is not an opera in the sense we are used to, nor is Beethoven a musician for the theater, or a dramaturgist. He is quite a bit more, a whole musician, and beyond that, a saint and a visionary.” So the struggle Beethoven experienced in producing Fidelio wasn’t so much a struggle to write a good opera. It was the struggle to write an opera on his own terms, a symphonic opera that breaks all the “rules” of staged drama and allows the music itself to be the lead character. It is what he excelled at in his symphonies, and in that struggle to symphonize the opera genre with Fidelio, he succeeded beautifully.
The below post was written by Eric Einhorn, who is the director for Utah Opera’s production of Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven running Oct 8 – 16.
Director Eric Einhorn gives instructions to Brenda Harris (Leonore/Fidelio) and Corey Bix (Florestan)
When I first began studying Fidelio, I couldn’t help but have the feeling that it was not like other operas. The plot — though just as implausible as most opera plots — seemed rougher. The characters seemed less defined and three-dimensional, when compared with characters from Mozart’s operas. I struggled with how to bring this story to life in a way that would speak to audiences and support Beethoven’s grand score.
After going through the score several times, I realized that the elements of the opera which had been giving me trouble were pointing me away from my usual aesthetic of hyper-realism toward the grander world of myth. Using Joseph Campbell’s landmark book The Hero With A Thousand Faces as a guide [the same book used by George Lucas to craft Star Wars], Fidelio became a perfect example of the hero’s journey found in universal mythology. Campbell’s step-by-step breakdown of the hero’s journey lined up almost number-by-number with Beethoven’s score. The characters and events in the opera create a story that is meant to be seen on an archetypal level, rather than a hyper-real level.
Myths require a delicate balance between detail and generality in order to fully deliver its message. It is that balance that drove the visual world of this production. The set, from Virginia Opera, is extremely industrial and cold, consisting of walls, a steel bridge, and a pile of rubble. It suggests the world of a prison in its coldness and distress, without the need of barred cells.
Fidelio set (from Virginia Opera)
Florestan languishes in his cell.
The costumes, designed specifically for this production by Susan Allred, further the mythic idea by creating an archetypal costume language: the good guys are clearly good and the bad guys are clearly bad. The costumes are rooted in the mid-20th century, but the silhouettes have been changed slightly to obscure an exact period in order to highlight the universality of opera’s message.
Pants for the male prisoners' chorus. Each pair has been individually hand-painted. The amount of distressing and number of bricks is intended to reflect how long each prisoner has been held captive by Don Pizarro.
Don Fernando's coat
Soilder coat
By exploring the epic qualities of the opera, it is my aim to work hand in hand with the score to deliver Beethoven’s grand message of love and redemption in the face of tyranny to the audience.
Mark Schnaible (Don Pizarro) lears over his prisoners.
Leonore-as-Fidelio stops Don Pizarro from murdering her husband Florestan.
Leonore and Florestan profess their love for each other.
