L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015 www.italoamericano.com 8 Inspiration and the Awaking of San Diego's Opera A l t h o u g h t h e S a n D i e g o Opera Board announced that the 2014 season would be its last, rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. The opera announces that its new season "celebrates the milestone" of its 50th anniversary" as well as a "new beginning that is full of promise." Further enticements for opera fans is offered by the opera's announcement of its u p c o m i n g 5 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y Celebration Concert, to be held on Saturday, April 18th, and an entirely new Mariachi opera, to be held the following Saturday evening. First up for the 2014-2015 season, on January 24, 27, 29 and February 1, is its presenta- tion of La Bohème; this produc- tion is by Giacomo Puccini, the famous Italian composer, and is a story of young love, possibly s e r v i n g a s a r e m i n d e r o f Puccini's own life as young man i n M i l a n w h e r e m u c h o f i t s d r a m a s e r v e d a s a s o u r c e o f inspiration for elements of the l i b r e t t o . T h e i r p a s s i o n i s s o intense that although it is impos- sible for them to be together, they find it unbearable to be apart. Puccini has been called "the g r e a t e s t c o m p o s e r o f I t a l i a n opera after Verdi," according to recent opera statistics, where m u c h o f h i s e a r l y w o r k w a s rooted in traditional late-19th- century romantic Italian opera. La Bohème, is a four-act opera premiered in Turin in 1896, con- d u c t e d b y A r t u r o T o s c a n i n i . Within a few years, it had been performed throughout many of t h e l e a d i n g o p e r a h o u s e s o f Europe, including Britain, as well as in the United States. It w a s a p o p u l a r s u c c e s s , a n d remains one of the most fre- quently performed operas ever written. T h e o p e r a ' s y o u n g c a s t includes debut artists Alyson C a m b r i d g e a s M i m ì , H a r o l d Meers as Rodolfo, Sara Gartland as Musetta, and returning after his brilliant Starbuck in Moby- Dick is Morgan Smith as the warm-hearted Marcello. All per- formances will be at the San Diego Civic Theatre with each running approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes with one inter- mission. The opera will be in Italian with projected English translations. Don Giovanni, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will be per- formed February 14th, 17th, 20th and 22th. The opera's web- site calls this opera "pompous, l u s t f u l a n d m a s o c h i s t i c . " According to its billboard, "Don Giovanni is the ultimate bad b o y , b u t i s h e m o r e ? T h i s intense opera stuns as Giovanni s t a l k s h i s l a t e s t c o n q u e s t , a beautiful young bride. But he cannot escape his past sins - the daughter of the nobleman who h e b r u t a l l y m u r d e r e d a n d a woman he carelessly left at the a l t a r - o r t h e o n e s w h o t r y valiantly to bring him to jus- tice." T h e v e r y - t a l e n t e d M o z a r t composed approximately 600 works, many were recognized as "pinnacles of symphonic, cham- ROBERT GALLO ber, operatic, and choral music. T h e c l a s s i c a l c o m p o s e r w a s known to be enduringly popu- lar, and in fact, it is believed that Beethoven composed many of his own earlier works shad- owing Mozart. Joseph Haydn once wrote "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years," referring to Mozart. The cast for Don Giovanni w i l l b e s t a r r i n g I l d e b r a n d o D'Arcangelo as Don Giovanni and Alex Esposito as Leporello in their San Diego Opera debuts They are joined by other first- time artists Myrtò Papatanasiu a s D o n n a E l v i r a a n d P a u l Appelby as Don Ottavio. In order to further accommo- date San Diego audiences, the operas will be utilizing "superti- tles." According to San Diego opera, "We want you to under- stand every word of the perfor- m a n c e . T h a t ' s w h y w e u s e S u p e r t i t l e s ! S u p e r t i t l e s a r e translated lyrics or dialogue projected above the stage, in easy-to-read English, and make it easy to understand and follow the opera. In addition to trans- lating foreign languages from their original Italian or French, we use supertitles even when the opera is sung in English." San Diego's Opera will cele- b r a t e i t s 5 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y C e l e b r a t i o n C o n c e r t a t t h e Jacobs Music Center- Copley Symphony Hall, at 750 B St, D o w n t o w n S a n D i e g o o n S a t u r d a y , A p r i l 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 a t 7:00pm and Sunday, April 19, 2 0 1 5 a t 2 : 0 0 p m . T h e o p e r a company will present favorite arias, duets, ensembles and cho- r u s e s w i t h t h e S a n D i e g o Symphony. It will also be fea- t u r i n g L i s e L i n d s t r o m , M a r i a n n e C o r n e t t i , S t e p h e n P o w e l l , R e n e B a r b e r a , S e a n Panikkar, Reinhard Hagen and Scott Sikon. "Come and enjoy a tribute to our 50–year history and celebrate our new begin- ning," reads their celebration invitation. Bass baritone Ildebrando D'Arcangelo is Don Giovanni in San Diego Opera's Don Giovanni Alyson Cambridge as Mimi in San Diego Opera's La Bohème Tenor Harold Meers is Rodolfo in San Diego Opera's La Bohème

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