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John Thomas Dodson: Manon Lescaut, a view from the podium

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by Daniel Hathaway

On Friday evening, November 22 and Sunday afternoon, November 24, The Cleveland Opera will raise the curtain on what it believes to be the first local productions of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut in living memory. Performances will take place in the Grand Ballroom of the Tudor Arms Hotel with the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra under the direction of John Thomas Dodson.

The cast includes Dorota Sobieska (as Manon Lescaut), Mikhail Urusov (Chevalier Renato des Grieux), Jonathan Stinson (Lescaut), Francisco Prado (Geronte di Revoir), Brian Skoog (Edmondo), Loren Reash-Henz (Innkeeper), Elizabeth Frey (Singer), Cory Svette (Dance Master), and Jeremy Gilpatric (Sergeant of the Royal Archers).

The story of Manon Lescaut originated from the pen of Antoine François Prévost d’Exiles (1697-1763), commonly known as the Abbé Prévost, a worldly character and prolific writer who began his career as a Jesuit, ended up as a Benedictine monk, and famously wrote the chronicle of the courtesan Manon Lescaut in the seventh volume of his Mémoires et aventures d’un homme de qualité.

The tale gained such currency that it became the subject for operas by Daniel Auber in 1856 and Jules Massenet in 1884. [Read more…]

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

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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…]

The Cleveland Opera: Moniuszko’s Straszny dwór at the Ohio Theater (June 16)

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by David Kulma

A rare operatic treat graced the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square on Saturday, June 16: a single performance of Stanisław Moniuszko’s 19th-century, Polish-language gem Straszny dwór. Designed to celebrate the centenary of Polish independence, this traditionally-staged production with Cleveland Ballet added up to an uneven evening. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Opera & Ballet to perform Moniuszko’s Straszny Dwór on June 16

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by Daniel Hathaway

CastTo mark the 100th anniversary of Polish independence, The Cleveland Opera and Cleveland Ballet will present Stanislaw Moniuszko’s 1865 opera, Straszny Dwór (“The Haunted Manor”), on Saturday, June 16 at 7:30 pm at the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square.

“It was popular at its debut in the mid-19th century, but Poland was under partition between Russia, Prussia, and Austria, so there’s a patriotic undercurrent,” soprano, executive artistic director — and native Pole — Dorota Sobieska said in a telephone conversation. “It’s a Polish opera. We sing and I cry. It’s sentimental. It’s where my heart is.”

“The music is wonderful,” conductor Grzegorz Nowak said in a separate phone call. “It was all composed by Moniuszko, but it has a folk quality to it. The Mazur [Mazurka] has even been texted so it can be sung by a choir.”

Nowak, also Polish, is principal associate conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as music director of The Grand National Opera (Teatr Wielki) in Warsaw. He studied at Tanglewood, earned his doctorate at Eastman, then served on the faculty of Bowling Green State University. He’s quite familiar with Moniuszko’s piece, having first conducted it in Warsaw in what he describes as “quite a scandalous production.” [Read more…]

The Cleveland Opera presents three performances of La traviata

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by Mike Telin

TraviataIn their upcoming production of Verdi’s masterpiece La traviata or “The Fallen Woman,” The Cleveland Opera celebrates the city’s Golden Age with sets and costuming inspired by Art Deco from the Great Gatsby Era of the Roaring Twenties. “Cleveland made such a big statement in the arts during that time period,” the company’s executive artistic director Dorota Sobieska said by telephone. “When you think about the momentum that the city had at that time, it’s phenomenal.”

Sobieska said that the venues they have selected also reflect Cleveland circa 1920s. Performances will take place on Wednesday, March 14 at 7:00 pm at the Polish-American Cultural Center, Friday, March 16 at 7:30 pm at First Baptist Church, and Sunday, March 18 at 3:30 pm at The Tudor Arms Hotel Grand Ballroom. The cast includes Dorota Sobieska as the courtesan Violetta Valéry, Timothy Culver as Alfredo Germont, and Brian Keith Johnson as Giorgio Germont. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Opera: “Two Portraits” in Youngstown

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by Robert Rollin

Sobieska-SkoogLast Saturday evening, November 25 at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Youngstown, The Cleveland Opera presented Two Portraits, a lightly staged, costumed performance of Robert Schumann’s song cycles, Dichterliebe, Op. 48 (Poet’s Love) and Frauenliebe und –leben, Op. 4 (Woman’s Love and Life). Artistic Director and soprano Dorota Sobieska, credited with the concept, staging, set design and costume co-design, gave the 50-minute performance of 23 songs theatrical continuity and visual interest. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Opera
to present Two Portraits

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by Mike Telin

Sobieska-SkoogIn the words of Dorota Sobieska, Schumann art song belongs to the handful of best artworks in the world. “I started singing them when I was at music school back in Poland. The more I sing those songs the more I want to sing them,” the soprano said during a telephone conversation. “And the more I sing them the more I discover about them.”

On Saturday, November 11 at 7:30 pm at the First United Church of Christ in New Philadelphia, The Cleveland Opera will present the first of ten area performances of Two Portraits. The new production features staged-and-costumed versions of Robert Schumann’s song cycles Dichterliebe and Frauenliebe und -leben, performed by soprano Dorota Sobieska, tenor Brian Skoog, and pianist Jacek Sobieski. Sung in German with projected English translation, the free, 50-minute concerts run through December 3. Click here for times and locations. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Opera: La bohème at the Ohio Theater (June 10)

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by Robert Rollin

TheCleOpBoheme1On Sunday evening, June 10, The Cleveland Opera presented an outstanding production of Puccini’s La bohème at the Ohio Theater in Playhouse Square. An exceptional cast and an exemplary orchestra made for a marvelous evening. Though tragic operas can often be overly melodramatic, Puccini’s sensitively beautiful music elevates the simple story of artists struggling to survive in a Paris to a higher plane. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Opera: conversations with La Bohème cast members

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by Mike Telin

Boheme-posterArguably one of the most popular operas ever written, Puccini’s La bohéme is third only to Verdi’s La traviata and Bizet’s Carmen in the most-performed-opera-of-all-time category. On Saturday, June 10 at 7:30 pm, The Cleveland Opera will bring the story of those beloved Parisian bohemians to the Ohio Theater in Playhouse Square. Grzegorz Nowak will conduct The Cleveland Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The production will be sung in Italian with English supertitles. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Opera: Don Giovanni at First Baptist Church (April 8)

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by Robert Rollin

TCOPERA-DonG3On Saturday night, April 8, The Cleveland Opera gave an outstanding performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights. Despite the venue’s awkward acoustics and lack of a pit for the sizeable orchestra, conductor Grzegorz Nowak led a well-balanced performance that allowed the singers to be heard clearly. The opera flowed beautifully through its many intricate arias, recitatives, and ensembles, and all eight leads were in fine voice. [Read more…]

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