ClevelandClassical.com Header
Ad
Ad
Ad

The Cleveland Opera’s Porgy and Bess: a conversation with conductor Darwin Aquino

by

by Daniel Hathaway

The Cleveland Opera (formerly Opera Circle) will conclude its season with a single performance of George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at the Ohio Theater in Playhouse Square on Saturday, June 1 at 7:30 pm.

Adapted from Dorothy and DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel and later play, Porgy, the piece debuted in Boston in September of 1935, then moved on to Broadway. The character of subsequent productions veered back and forth between opera and musical theater until a 1976 Houston Grand Opera version solidly re-established the work as what the composer himself called a “folk opera.”

The Cleveland performance, featuring Jonathan Stuckey as Porgy, and Karen Clark Green as Bess, will be led by Dominican-born conductor Darwin Aquino. He’s now based in St. Louis, where he works with several opera companies, a symphony orchestra, and two university orchestras. I reached him by telephone in Cleveland to chat about the Gershwins’ famous opera, which he’ll be conducting for the first time. [Read more…]

Opera Circle Cleveland goes al fresco in the Italian Cultural Garden July 31

by

by Neil McCalmont

OCCItalianGardens2015If you were to travel to Italy in the summer and jaunt through their Renaissance gardens, you would hear the Italian people speaking their lovely language, water rushing through fountains, and concerts of gorgeous music. That delightful atmosphere will waft through Cleveland’s Italian Cultural Garden during a special opera concert of operatic arias and ensemble numbers on Sunday, July 31 at 6 pm.

“Opera in the Italian Garden” will be presented by Opera Circle Cleveland and the Cleveland Ballet, carrying on the tradition that originally began in the 1930s, and was revived in 2008. “We thought that nobody was going to show up,” said Joyce Mariani, Executive Director of the Italian Cultural Garden Foundation, over a recent telephone call. “But over 200 people came. The next year it more than doubled to 500, and last year we had an audience of 2,000. The audience makes the event what it is. We just present it.” [Read more…]

Opera Circle Cleveland: Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Westlake PAC (March 13)

by

by Mike Telin

BrianandDorotaIs there a more fun-filled, accessible opera than Mozart’s The Magic Flute? Its classic fairy tale plot — good versus evil combined with a search for enlightenment and love — is timeless. Its characters are sympathetic, and it’s filled with beautiful arias and catchy tunes that are certain to cause earworms long after you have left the theater [Read more…]

Opera Circle Cleveland’s Magic Flute: perspectives from Tamino and Papageno

by

by Mike Telin

zauberflote-compositeHere’s a story: a young prince named Tamino finds himself lost in a far-off land being pursued by a snake, and he faints. Three ladies, attendants of the Queen of the Night, appear and kill the snake. After arguing about which of them should stay with the handsome Tamino, they leave. Tamino wakes up just as Papageno, a birdcatcher who dresses like a bird, enters and complains that he has no wife — he also takes credit for killing the snake.

The three ladies reappear and put a padlock over his mouth to remind him that it is not good to tell lies. Before leaving they give Tamino a portrait of Pamina, the daughter of the Queen of the Night. In an instant, he falls in love. Thus the stage is set for one of the most beloved operas of all time: The Magic Flute. [Read more…]

Opera Circle Cleveland, Voices of Canton, Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, and Sokol Greater Cleveland present Bartered Bride at Bohemian National Hall (Oct. 25)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

BRIDE-LongThere was no need for Opera Circle Cleveland’s collaborative production of The Bartered Bride to try to break down the “fourth wall” between performers and audience at Cleveland’s Bohemian National Hall on Sunday afternoon, October 25: the wall never went up in the first place. As the audience arrived, cast members were already milling about in the auditorium and its corridors, brightly attired in Czech folk costumes, and greeting friends and family. Carrying their instrument cases, members of the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra threaded their way through the throng, and the young acrobats who would appear in the third act were enjoying pastries in the snack bar. It felt like a big family reunion. [Read more…]

Opera Circle: Madama Butterfly at Ohio Theater (June 13)

by

by J.D. Goddard

Pinkerton-ButterflySince 1997, with its first production of I Pagliacci, Opera Circle has produced an impressive record of more than 50 opera productions in churches and other venues throughout Northeast Ohio. On June 13, Opera Circle brought to the Ohio Theater stage in PlayhouseSquare a somewhat subtle production of one of the most revered titles of all time, Giacomo Puccini’s three act opera, Madama Butterfly, with libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Like other works staged in the past two years, Opera Circle’s Butterfly courageously moved the company forward, enhancing its presence as an operatic staple in Cleveland’s classical music scene. This marked the company’s third performance in the Ohio Theater. [Read more…]

Opera Circle Cleveland: Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at Westlake Performing Arts Center (February 22)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

Bows

Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale centers around the title character’s cynical marriage scheme, designed to disinherit his nephew, Ernesto, who wants to tie the knot with a widow the Don doesn’t like. It doesn’t go well for Don Pasquale, who ends up playing the fool. Although Opera Circle Cleveland’s production on Sunday at the Westlake Schools Performing Arts Center took a while to get funny, strong singing and acting added up to an engaging afternoon of comic opera. [Read more…]

Review: Opera Circle’s Die tote Stadt at the Ohio Theatre (June 14)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

Bruges-Die-tote-TtadtOpera Circle staged an enticing production of Erich Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (“The Dead City”) on Saturday, June 14 at the Ohio Theatre in PlayHouseSquare. The opera is something of a rarity, probably because of the challenges of dealing with the eerie subtleties of its plot, its demand for a Heldentenor to sing the role of Paul, and its opulent 1920s orchestration. Die tote Stadt is a major undertaking for any small company, but Opera Circle admirably rose to the task.

Though not flawless, the production succeeded in the most important operatic category: the music. A strong and dedicated cast of singers and generally fine playing from a 65-piece orchestra expertly led by Grigor Palikarov brought Korngold’s colorful and sometimes creepy music vividly to life.

The opera, based on Georges Rodenbach’s 1892 novel, Bruges-la-Morte, and set in that Belgian canal town, explores the obsession of a widower (Paul) after the death of his wife (Marie). [Read more…]

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us