NATIONAL CAPITAL OPERA SOCIETY • SOCIÉTÉ D'OPÉRA DE LA CAPITALE NATIONALE Newsletter • Bulletin Fall 2004 Automne P.O. Box 8347, Main Terminal, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3H8 • C.P. 8347, Succursale principale, Ottawa (Ontario) K1G 3H8 Exciting "OPERA ALLA PASTA" Season For the first time the people regularly attending the Sunday April 24, 2005 MACBETH by Verdi. Another re- Afternoon at the Opera showings were invited to cast votes cent production, this time from the Opernhaus Zürich. This on what operas they would like to see next season. Here are staging of Verdi’s version of Shakespeare’s great play the results: marked the debut in the title role of Thomas Hampson, a November 14, 2004 MANON by Massenet. This is a performance not to be missed. The Lady Macbeth of splendid production from the Opéra de Bastille, Paris star- Paoletta Marrocu rises to the great vocal and dramatic ring Renée Fleming in the title role with the sensational tenor heights demanded of her. The Chorus and Orchestra of the Marcelo Alvarez as Des Grieux. The Orchestra and Cho- Zurich Opera house are conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. rus of the Opéra National de Paris performs under the The Zurich Operas is noted for its unusual stagings of op- direction of Jesus Lopez-Cobos. Very effective lighting era and this one certainly fits into this category, emphasiz- effects rather than elaborate scenery is used in this tradi- ing the darkest impulses of the main characters. tional production. As usual all of our opera showings are followed by February 20, 2005 LUCREZIA BORGIA by Donizetti. a special meal prepred by the chefs at St. Anthony's Soc- This 1980 production from Covent Garden stars the incom- cer Club. Antipasto, salad, a special pasta dish, meat or parable Joan Sutherland at the peak of her career. Matching poultry, complementary vegetables, dessert and tea or cof- her command of the bel canto style is the elegant tenor Alfredo fee is our usual fare. Wine and other driunks can be pur- Kraus. At the podium conducting the Royal Opera Orchestra chased at the bar. All you have to do is make a reserva- and Chorus is Richard Bonynge, renowned for his champion- tion at least by the Wednesday preceding the perfor- ship of this type of opera. Extravagant costumes and sets comple- mance. Call 225-0124 and join us for three wonderful ment the florid singing and dramatic action. afternoons of opera. Fall 2004 NEWSLETTER • BULLETIN Automne 2004 President's message N.C.O.S. Board of I want to thank everyone, especially the Members of the Board, for their concern about my health after my accident Directors five months ago, followed by hospitalization and a long pe- riod of rehabilitation. President Bobbi Cain Hope to see you all soon at one of our events. Vice-President Murray Kitts Secretary Jean Saldana Treasurer Gordon Metcalfe Events Peggy Pflug Membership Jean Saldanha Newsletter Murray Kitts Attention All Singers Publicity Renate Chartrand Thanks to Renate Chartrand publicity has been sent to Members-at-Large all the local media. Many of you will have heard our Pat Adamo Ute Davis Dan Leeman good friend Rob Clipperton delivering the following message: Young singers preparing for professional careers are invited to enter the competition for the $2,000 Brian Opera Lyra Law Opera Scholarship sponsored by the National Capital Opera Society. The competition is held every two years and is open to singers aged 22 to 32 who Ottawa Guild are either natives of or living in the National Capital Russian Opera Highlights area or who have studied here. The deadline for applications is Nov.15. Sing- hosted by Murray Kitts ers are required to submit a tape or CD featuring three Part 1 November 2 & Part 2 November 30 operatic arias (one including a recitative) along with a résumé and a 200-word outline of career goals in the Definitely the Opera field of opera. ANNA BOLENA (Donizetti) January10, 2005 On November 27 the preliminary jurors Bar- LES CONTES D'HOFFMAN (Offenbach) February 7 bara Clark, Charlotte Stewart, Garth Hampson and SAMSON ET DALILA (Saint-Saens) March 7 Bobbi Cain will meet to choose up to six finalists, who ANDREA CHENIER (Giordano) May 16 will be announced in early December. They will com- pete at a public recital on January 29 at Ottawa’s First Opera Insights Unitarian Congregation. Jurors will be Roxolana Roslak, soprano, Darryl Edwards, baritone, both from Toronto LES CONTES D'HOFFMAN and Christiane Riel, soprano, from Montreal. With Joanne & Tyrone Patterson The scholarship was first awarded by the Na- March 22, 2005 tional Capital Opera Society in 1993 to honour Brian Law for his more than two decades on the Ottawa mu- All presentations takeMark place at the sic scene. National Library at 7:00 p.m. Past winners have been sopranos Shannon Mer- cer, Sandra Stringer and Laura Dzuibaniuk, mezzos Julie JanuaryJoy of Opera 29, 2005 Nesrallah and Mary Anne Swerdfeger and at the last Luncheon and Concert competition in 2003 baritone Joshua Hopkins. on your calendar For more information and application forms call with Jill LaForty 225-0124 or visit the National Capital Opera Society’s November 28 at 12:30 p.m. at the R.A. Centre web site at http://members.rogers.com/ncos. 2 Fall 2004 NEWSLETTER • BULLETIN Automne 2004 Opera Lyra's BUTTERFLY by Murray Kitts Pinkerton Pinkerton Addio fiorito asil… Farewell, flowery refuge Di letizia e d’amor… Of happiness and love… Sempre il mite suo sembiante Her sweet face will haunt me ever, Con strazio atroce vedrò. Torturing me agonizingly. Addio fiorito asil… Farewell, flowery refuge… Non reggio al tuo squallor… I can’t bear your desolation… Fuggo, fuggo…son vil! I must fly! I’m beneath contempt! I must admit that I was astonished and displeased Liping Zhang as the heroine, surely that was not necessary. when the aria given above was not included in the The fact is that by deleting the aria the tradi- OLO production of Butterfly. Yes, it can be ar- tional meaning of the opera is changed – Pinkerton’s gued that Puccini added it to the opera when he made remorse is not heard – “son vil” is a damning character- revisions after the first performance. But it was ization of oneself. It’s all very well for a Stage Director performed just three months later and has al- to be innovative; but not to the extent that a major aria ways been included in any selection called is omitted and some essential part of the traditional plot Highlights from Madame Butterfly. On CD is missing. I’m not even sure that the action on stage complete opera recordings it is cued so that matched the music very well in the final scene. The idea the listener can go to it easily. of turning the screen movers into Butterfly’s ancestors Was it deleted because it made the opera doesn’t work at all if the audience doesn’t know what too long? Even with the interpolations by Sharpless is going on until a review appears in the newspaper. At it lasts less than two minutes in the recording with least we were spared the explosion of the atomic bomb Bergonzi that I own. If a cut had to be made (the which ended one production of BUTTERFLY that I un- opera is not of Wagnerian length) why wasn’t the fortunately witnessed. long orchestral interlude (the whole thing lasts about I was not enchanted with the set from L’Opéra ten minutes) separating the two parts of Act II cut? de Montréal. The house was the largest I’ve seen for Puccini obviously did not follow Verdi’s advice as this opera and I’ve never before seen a Japanese house follows: “Opera is opera, symphony is symphony; with a hardwood floor. Because the house occupied and I don’t think it is a good idea to insert a sym- the entire width of the stage all major entrances had to phonic piece into an opera just for the pleasure of be made from the rear. letting the orchestra loose once in a while.” The orchestra called the Opera Lyra Ottawa Was it deleted because the tenor couldn’t Orchestra played well under the direction of Mladen sing it? While Marc Heller does not have as beauti- Tarbuk.But in spite of all I’ve said I was swept away ful a voice as earlier by the truly unforgettable performance of Liping Zhang, Pinkertons such as Caruso ably assisted by tenor Marc Heller, Allyson McHardy or Gigli he sang his part as Suzuki, and especially Gregory Dahl as Sharpless. very well and would have All the minor roles were well done. I must mention that done quite an excellent job Luc Lalonde, one of the contestants for the Brian Law with this aria. Scholarship in 2001, did a creditable job as the Impe- Was it deleted to rial Commissioner. Luc is part of the Opera Lyra Young give more prominence to the Artists Programme which is financially supported by the role of Butterfly? With an National Capital Opera Society. artist as accomplished as Liping Zhang All in all, a memorable evening. 3 Fall 2004 NEWSLETTER • BULLETIN Automne 2004 Glimmerglass Musings by Shelagh Williams Our pilgrimage to the 30th season of Glimmerglass Opera in The evening’s opera was Puccini’s LA Cooperstown in upstate New York yielded four offerings of FANCIULLA DEL WEST — the first Spaghetti West- excellent quality, sufficient to warm the cockles of an opera ern?! The setting was Assistant Artistic Director lover’s heart and offset the freezing unsummery tempera- John Conklin’s attractive evocation of the Old West tures outside (and inside) the Opera Theatre! The overall of the California Gold Rush, with a mine head on theme seemed to be houses, both as the opera settings and the left and a beautiful backdrop of mountains on also as almost an additional character in several of the op- the right.