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Baldwin Wallace Opera presents Midwest premiere of Glory Denied

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by Mike Telin

After serving their country, many veterans are faced with multiple challenges as they re-adjust to civilian life. At the top of that list is reconnecting with and re-establishing a role in the family. These issues will be addressed this weekend as Baldwin Wallace Opera presents the Midwest premiere of Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied.

Based on the book by Tom Philpott, the two-act, 77-minute chamber opera tells the true story of Jim Thompson, the longest-held prisoner of war in U.S. military history, as he tries to re-assimilate into American life after spending nine years behind enemy lines in Vietnam.

Guest baritone Gregory Gerbrandt (above) sings the title role and Brian Onderdonk conducts a nine-piece chamber orchestra on Friday, October 19 at 7:00 pm at Red Space in Cleveland, and on Sunday, October 21 at 3:00 pm in BW’s Gamble Auditorium in Berea. A talk-back will follow each performance. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theatre’s The Barber of Seville (Oct. 6)

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by Jarrett Hoffman

It’s hard to say whether the main character in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is the scheming barber himself, or a member of the love triangle that drives the plot. It’s even more difficult when the four central roles are portrayed as memorably as they were on Saturday, October 6 in the performance by Cleveland Opera Theatre at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater opens season with The Barber of Seville

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by Mike Telin

It’s difficult to say whether Mozart’s or Rossini’s opera based on Pierre Beaumarchais’ tale of the resourceful character of Figaro is more popular. In April of 2017, Cleveland Opera Theater staged a brilliant production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and this weekend, the company will take on Rossini’s hilarious prequel, The Barber of Seville. Dr. Bartolo plans to marry the young Rosina, although Count Almaviva has other plans and enlists the help of the enterprising barber to win her for himself. The two-act comic opera is filled with forbidden love and amusing disguises, as well as a gossipy music teacher, and a crafty bride-to-be.

You can hear Rossini’s Barber at the Maltz Performing Arts Center this Saturday, October 6 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, October 7 at 3:00 pm. The cast includes Young Kwang Yoo in the title role of Figaro, Corrie Stallings as love interest Rosina, David Margulis as the conniving Count Almaviva, Jason Budd as Rosina’s guardian Dr. Bartolo, Frank Ward as the music teacher Don Basilio, and Gillian Hollis as the governess Berta. Stage direction is by Scott Skiba, and Domenico Boyagian conducts the Cleveland Opera Theater orchestra. The production is sung in Italian, with English supertitles. A Pre-Show, Opera-101 lecture will be held 60 minutes prior to each performance. Tickets are available online.

“Barber is a wonderful first opera for people to see,” Boyagian said by telephone this past weekend. “It’s clean humor and the music does a wonderful job of explaining what is going on. It’s light and bubbly, which is what the bel canto style is all about.”  

[Read more…]

Opera tailgating at Dunham Tavern Museum

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by Mike Telin

Whether you’re an opera aficionado, a casual listener, or opera-curious, Cleveland Opera Theater’s Free Summer Concert Series is the way to experience all that the art form has to offer. On Sunday, August 26, gather your friends and family, pack up your blankets and lawn chairs, and head to Cleveland’s MidTown area for an evening of opera favorites at the Dunham Tavern Museum.

The grounds will open at 5:00 pm, and while picnics are welcome, Scott’s Fire and Ice Food Truck will be on hand with wood-fired pizzas and gelato available for purchase. Cleveland Opera Theater will be selling wine, the proceeds of which will benefit the free summer concerts. “It’s opera tailgating at its best,” Scott Skiba, the company’s executive artistic director (no relation to the food truck), said during a recent telephone conversation. “These concerts provide a family-friendly gateway to discover and experience opera. We see that people who have come will often return for a main stage production or our Opera UpClose series.”

At 6:30 pm you can settle in for a program of arias and duets performed by soprano Marian Vogel, tenor Benjamin Werley, baritone Young Kwang Yoo, and pianist Tatiana Loisha. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater to present Madama Butterfly: a conversation with soprano Dina Kuznetsova

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by Mike Telin

dina-kuznetsovaBased on John Luther Long’s short story from 1898, Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly recounts the story of the young U.S. naval officer B.F. Pinkerton and his arranged marriage with the 15-year-old Japanese geisha Cio-Cio San. Although the premiere in February of 1904 was poorly received, Puccini’s fifth version of the opera, premiered in 1907, has become a mainstay of opera repertoire.

On Friday, April 27 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, April 29 at 3:00 pm at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, Cleveland Opera Theater will present a fully-staged production of Puccini’s heartbreaking opera. Tickets are available online.

“It’s traditional to say that Butterfly is about a clash of cultures, and of course it is — but not only that. It’s about a clash of various kinds of love and expectations,” soprano Dina Kuznetsova, who will perform the role of Cio-Cio San, said during a telephone conversation. The cast includes tenor Timothy Culver as B.F. Pinkerton, mezzo-soprano Sandra Ross as Cio-Cio San’s maid Suzuki, baritone Young Kyang Yoo as United States counsel Sharpless, tenor Mark Eldred as the matchmaker Goro, and bass Jason Budd as Cio-Cio San’s uncle Il Bonzo. Domenico Boyagian conducts the Cleveland Opera Theater Orchestra with stage direction by Scott Skiba. The production will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.

[Read more…]

BW’s The Secret Marriage: questions for Covent Garden guest director Noa Naamat

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by Daniel Hathaway

Noa NaamatBaldwin Wallace Conservatory will present four performances of Domenico Cimarosa’s late-18th-century opera, Il matrimonio segreto (“The Secret Marriage”) this week at the John Patrick Theater on the school’s campus in Berea. The performances, from Thursday, March 22 through Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 25 at 2:00 pm, will be guest directed by Noa Naamat of London’s Royal Opera at Covent Garden. Tiffany Chang will conduct the BW Symphony Orchestra.

Although Cimarosa wrote over 80 operas, Il matrimonio is the only title to have won a permanent place in the canon, where it is favorably compared to the comic operas of Mozart. It became a hit at its first performance in Vienna in 1792, when Emperor Leopold II commanded the entire piece to be encored — after thoughtfully treating the performers to supper.

A native of Israel, Noa Naamat joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at Covent Garden in the fall of 2017 after studying in Florence and Scotland and directing theater and opera productions in Israel, Germany, Italy, Austria, the UK, and Ireland. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater to present {NOW} Festival

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by Mike Telin

Verlorene HeimatMore often than not, the creation of a new opera is a lengthy process. While composers such as Mozart and Rossini were able to dash off operas in record time, new titles can go through a long gestation period.

Beginning later this week, Cleveland Opera Theater will present its second annual {NOW} Festival featuring performances of new opera works at various stages of development, including readings, workshops, and staged productions. {NOW} is presented in collaboration with The Cleveland Composers’ Guild, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Maltz Center for the Performing Arts. All events are free and open to the public (some require registration). Following each performance audiences will have the opportunity to engage with the creative teams and performers during talk-back sessions.

{NOW} begins on Friday the 26th at 7:30 pm at the Maltz Center with a reading of Obie award winner and Garcia Lorca scholar Caridad Svich’s new libretto based on Lorca’s last play, Bernarda Alba. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater & Baldwin Wallace: Threepenny Opera at the Maltz (Oct. 29)

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by Daniel Hathaway

TPO-Set-and-CastCleveland Opera Theater got top billing, but students from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory covered most of the singing and acting duties in Brecht & Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, which received its second and final performance at the Maltz Performing Arts Center in University Circle on Sunday afternoon, October 29. Directed by Scott Skiba, the joint production was supported by a seven-piece instrumental ensemble conducted by Domenico Boyagian. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater and
BW Conservatory present
The Threepenny Opera

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Dreigroschenoper“There’s a very raw, visceral style to the language and the drama in Threepenny,” said Cleveland Opera Theater director Scott Skiba in a recent conversation. “Nothing is whitewashed, nothing is varnished.”

On Friday, October 27 at 7:30 pm at Maltz Performing Arts Center, Cleveland Opera Theater opens its season with The Threepenny Opera, co-produced by Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. Presented in English, the work brings together Kurt Weill’s genre-fusing music and Elisabeth Hauptmann’s and Bertolt Brecht’s famously provocative text, adapted from John Gay’s 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera. A second performance will be given on Sunday, October 29 at 3:00 pm.

“It’s a relevant, exciting piece that hasn’t been done here for a long time, and this is going to be a special version,” said Skiba, who also serves as director of opera studies at BW. “Sometimes the word ‘opera’ scares people, but this will feel more like musical theater. It’s outrageous and vibrant.” [Read more…]

Overnight review —
Cleveland Opera Theater:
The Marriage of Figaro (April 28)

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by Mike Telin

COT-FIgaroLast night, Friday, April 28 at Masonic Auditorium, Cleveland Opera Theater scored a win with its latest mainstage production, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Directed by Scott Skiba, the exceptionally strong cast performed with solid vocal prowess and comedic flair, making for an enjoyable musical as well as theatrical experience. [Read more…]

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