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Home , Ekaterina Semenchuk, Evelyn Herlitzius, Ildar Abdrazakov, Il pirata, Kwangchul Youn, Stephen Milling

April 2020 OPERAGRAM Volume 12, Number 7 A MESSAGE FROM OUR GENERAL DIRECTOR Dear Friends, It is difficult to predict how long the current situation will last. None of us could have predicted this three months ago. We, at the Santa Fe , remain cautious about predicting what the world will look like three months from now. For the time being, we remain optimistic and focused on preparing for our 2020 Season which is due to open on July 3. When the coronavirus pandemic is behind us, we will have a greater need than ever for the experience of live opera in our open-air theatre overlooking a vast expanse of unparalleled natural beauty. Please know that we are taking every precaution to keep our staff safe as we make those preparations for the 2020 Season and we are also working to ensure that our environment is safe for our patrons. We have implemented stringent sanitation measures throughout our campus and created health and wellness procedures to monitor the well-being of all staff and artists. We are also reviewing our ticket refund and exchange policies and will be prepared to address those with all ticket purchasers once we know more about the fate of the 2020 Season. Again, at present, we have every intention of moving forward with planning and preparations and we will keep you posted as things evolve. In the event of changes in the season, or a cancellation, we will be in touch with you immediately to share all options for your ticket purchase. Over the course of 64 years, the Santa Fe Opera has weathered many storms. I have every confidence that, together with your continued support and encouragement, we will weather this one too. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for sharing our optimism. With deepest gratitude,

Robert K. Meya General Director Please Note: Just prior to the publication of this issue of the Operagram, General Director, Robert K. Meyer sent a message to the opera community that included a link to the COVID-19 FAQ page where he addresses pertinent questions concerning the Santa Fe Opera and the coronavirus crises. Follow SFO’s daily posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. OPERAGRAM’S NEW LOOK

In October, 2019 the Santa Fe Opera adopted a brand that, as identified by Robert Meya, General Director, is more than a logo and will provide consistency, impact and integrity to the opera’s communication strategy. The logo is the most visible element of the Santa Fe Opera’s identity – a universal signature across all communications. It unites the opera’s diverse programs and activities. The new brand consists of two components: the wordmark, which identifies the Santa Fe Opera and the icon, designed as a reference to the Crosby Theatre’s roofline. While a separate corporation, the five-member guilds that make up the Guilds of the Santa Fe Opera, Inc. have partnered with the opera to link SFO’s brand with recognizable identifications for the five communities where guilds exist – Albuquerque, Española Valley, Los Alamos, Santa Fe and Taos. This collaboration should enhance not only the recognition of the Santa Fe Opera, but also our connection to the opera as we work to support the Community Engagement Department through volunteering, fundraising and community activities. Eileen Woodbury President The Guilds of the Santa Fe Opera, Inc.

ON HOLD…RESCHEDULED…POSTPONED…CANCELLED Dear Members, The Santa Fe Opera has asked that we put on hold the annual Santa Fe Opera Guild sponsored Meet the Apprentice Singers party in Dapples Pavilion. The SFO has also put on hold the Apprentice Reception (for Singing Apprentices and Technicians) that is held at the Opera Club and sponsored by their Development Department. The opera's leadership team will make the final decision on whether either or both of these events will go forward. It all depends on the trajectory of the novel coronavirus, which is impossible to predict at this time. If all goes well, the Meet the Apprentice Singers will take place on Saturday, June 13 in Dapples Pavilion.

We are thrilled to announce that the Desirée Mays lecture, Introduction to has been rescheduled for June 18 at The Santa Fe Woman’s Club at 5:30PM. The Spring Tour opera, Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun has been postponed to a date yet to be determined. The Spotlight Series featuring Oliver Prezant have been cancelled. Stay tuned to email messages and the May Operagram for the latest news. I would also suggest adding the Santa Fe Opera Guild website to your list of sources for updated information. Thank you for your patience and support, Martha Baker President Santa Fe Opera Guild RESERVE YOUR SEAT FOR OPENING NIGHT OPENING NIGHT DINNER FRIDAY, JULY 3, 5:30PM-7:30PM DAPPLES PAVILION, THE SANTA FE OPERA OPERA GUILD MEMBERS, $75.00

Join the Guilds of the Santa Fe Opera for our annual Opening Night Dinner on July 3, 2020, at Dapples Pavilion. We celebrate the new festival season of the Santa Fe Opera, with this year’s production of Rossini’s beloved opera . This fundraising event is hosted by all five member guilds from around the state. The Guilds of the Santa Fe Opera, Inc. pricing is $75 per guest ($40 tax deductible.) The Opening Night Dinner will feature a celebratory toast, and a sumptuous, themed buffet dinner with wine. The guest speaker is Mark Tiarks who is well known to many Santa Fe Opera attendees as a featured speaker. Mark has enjoyed a distinguished career in opera and theatre production spanning more than four decades. Please join us for this much anticipated event! You may purchase tickets here for the Opening Night Dinner. To pay by check, make your check payable to Guilds of The Santa Fe Opera, Inc. and mail to P. O. Box 2658, Santa Fe, NM, 87504. All guests are responsible for purchasing their own opera tickets for the July 3, 2020, performance at the Crosby Theatre. Purchase your opera tickets online directly from The Santa Fe Opera Box Office or call the Box Office at 800- 280-4654.

SANTA FE OPERA ANNOUNCES YOUTH NIGHTS

Dating back to 1959, the Youth Nights program has introduced over 100,000 children to opera. Today, working with the Guilds of the Santa Fe Opera, Inc., the Pueblo Opera Program, and other community partner organizations, we continue to provide an introduction to the world of opera. Youth Nights serve youth groups and local organizations who provide learning opportunities to local youth. These groups attend the dress rehearsals of three out of the five main stage performed during the 2020 season. Youth Nights are scheduled for: Monday, June 29, The Barber of Seville Tuesday, June 30, Tuesday, July 21, Rusalka

The deadline for making reservations is May 1, 2019. Please contact Volunteer Liaison, Rebecca Jensen, for more information at (505) 946-2407. We kindly ask that you maintain a ratio of one (1) adult to every five (5) youth so as many youth as possible can attend with adults serving as chaperones for each group. If you are looking for performances suitable for a greater number of adults to attend with youth, we are pleased to direct you to our Family Nights program.

BACKSTAGE PREVIEW. SAME TIME. NEW FORMAT BACKSTAGE PREVIEW SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 11:00AM – 1:00PM

The Santa Fe Opera Guild presents its annual Backstage Preview on Saturday, April 18 at 11:00AM. The event will be transmitted remotely because Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has requested New Mexicans take a number of precautions to avoid the transmission of the coronovirus. If you've purchased a ticket for the event, you'll receive a link and instructions on how to connect to the video presentation featuring Missy West Randy Lutz (Props), Missy West (Costumes), and Scott Schrek (Scenery) discussing how the magic happens behind the scenes. Stay tuned to the Santa Fe Opera Guild's website and your inbox for any changes in scheduling. We know you'll Scott Schrek enjoy the insights about this festival season's productions.

Randy Lutz VIVACE BOOK GROUP MONDAY, MAY 11, 6:15PM - 7:30PM PRE-DISCUSSION SOCIAL 5:45PM COLLECTED WORKS 202 GALISTEO STREET, SANTA FE COMPLIMENTARY FOR GUILD MEMBERS, NON-MEMBERS $5 Monday, May 11: The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes, is a fictionalized biography of Dimitri Shostakovich. It is 1936 and , just thirty years old, reckons with the first of three conversations with power that will irrevocably shape his life. Stalin, hitherto a distant figure, has suddenly denounced the young composer’s latest opera. Certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or, more likely, shot dead on the spot), Shostakovich reflects on his predicament, his personal history, his parents, his daughter—all of those hanging in the balance of his fate. And though a stroke of luck prevents him from becoming yet another casualty of the Great Terror, he will twice more be swept up by the forces of despotism: coerced into praising the Soviet state at a cultural conference in New York in 1948, and finally bullied into joining the Party in 1960. All the while, he is compelled to constantly weigh the specter of power against the integrity of his music. An extraordinary portrait of a relentlessly fascinating man, The Noise of Time is a stunning meditation on the meaning of art and its place in society. Julian Barnes is the author of twenty-three previous books, for which he has been awarded the Man Booker Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the David Cohen Prize for Literature, and the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; the French Prix Médicis and Prix Femina; the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. In 2017 he was awarded the Légion d’honneur. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. Julian lives in London, England. We suggest that you read the Penguin edition, pictured here and available at Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse. 0PERA IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS Two feature articles are missing from the April Operagram and will also not appear in the May Operagram: The Met: Live in HD and Breakfast Lectures. As artistic venues such as the opera, ballet, symphony and theater were forced to suspend operations by postponing and/or cancelling live performances, The made the difficult decision in mid-March to cancel the remainder of its season, including its cinema operas. Consequently, the Santa Fe screening of Der Fliegende Holländer (The ) was cancelled at The Lensic, and the breakfast lecture with Desirée Mays at Collected Works Bookstore was also cancelled. Due to the termination of the remainder of the Met season, Tosca and will not be aired, cancelling Tom Franks (Tosca) and Desirée Mays (Maria Stuarda) Breakfast Lectures. While the novel coronavirus has made life difficult and uncertain, we can count ourselves fortunate to be living in a digital era. We are not deprived of opera, ballet, symphonies, theater or any other live performance art because of technology and the unwavering commitment of organizations such as The Metropolitan Opera and other opera companies around the globe. OperaWire has published a complete list of all European and North and South American opera venues that are streaming operas for free, some through May. Please check the individual opera houses’ websites for the dates, times and duration of time that the operas are being aired. Given the difference in time zones, it was difficult to be comprehensive in the Operagram as dates, operas and times may change after publication, so check the website listings often. Enjoy the Opera! OperaWire website; The Metropolitan Opera website; Metropolitan Opera Radio website.

APPRENTICE WATCH

Bravo Eric Ferring! Eric, a former Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer in 2017, is returning this summer to debut in the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute. A , Eric was recently awarded third prize in The Glyndebourne Opera Cup. This international competition for opera singers is designed to discover and spotlight the best young singers from around the world. The Glyndebourne jury features representatives from the world’s most respected international opera houses, as well as leading vocal artists. Each competition focuses on selected composers or strands of the repertoire. In 2020, singers were invited to perform operatic arias by Mozart, Rossini and a selection of 19th-century French composers. Stephen Langridge, Artistic Director of Glyndebourne, said, “By celebrating and supporting excellent young artists, we aim to show that opera is available for everyone and hope to inspire young singers of all backgrounds to see their future in this fabulous art form.” This season, Eric finished in the Ensemble of the Ryan Center at the . Performances during the season included Older Brother in Dead Man Walking and Tchaplitsky in Queen of Spades, while also covering Count Almaviva in Il Barbière di Siviglia, Don Ottavio in , and Major Domo in Queen of Spades. In addition to his anticipated debut as Tamino with the Santa Fe Opera, Eric will make company debuts in the same role with the New Orleans and Pittsburgh Opera companies. In concert, Ferring will join the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra for Händel’s Messiah. To hear Eric Ferring sing Una furtiva lagrima at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence please click here. Treat yourself to Eric’s performance of Here I Stand by clicking here.ive in HD season will commence October 10 with a new

Verdi’s , star

METROPOLITAN OPERA ANNOUNCES 2020-2021 HD SEASON The Metropolitan Opera recently announced its 2020-2021 schedule for The Met: Live in HD. For your convenience the complete list of cinema operas is listed below. For further detail about the individual productions and casts, please visit the Met’s website here. Aida (Oct. 10, 2020): Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s new production of Verdi’s classic starring in the title role. She is joined by Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczala, and Ludovic Tezier. (Nov. 7, 2020): headlines a cast that includes Ekaterina Semenchuk, Roberto Aronica, Quinn Kelsey, and Kwangchul Youn. Michele Mariotti conducts. Fidelio (Dec. 12, 2020): Lise Davidsen and Brandon Jovanovich light up the screen in Beethoven’s only opera with Lise Davidsen, Golda Schultz, Alek Shrader, Tomasz Konieczny, Franz-Josef Selig, and Christian Van Horn. Yannick Nézet- Séguin conducts. Die Zauberflöte (Jan. 16, 2021): Gustavo Dudamel makes his HD debut conducting a cast that includes Christiane Karg, Kathryn Lewek, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Thomas Oliemans, Christian Van Horn, and Stephen Milling. Roméo et Juliette (Jan. 30, 2021): Nadine Sierra and Stephen Costello sing the title roles in Gounod’s masterpiece. They are joined by maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Julie Boulianne, Joshua Hopkins, Ildar Abdrazakov, David Portillo, and Laurent Naouri. Don Giovanni (March 27, 2021): Ivo Van Hove’s new production goes to cinemas with a cast that includes Ailyn Pérez, Isabel Leonard, Hera Hyesang Park, Peter Mattei, Ben Bliss, Gerald Finley, and Ryan Speedo Green. Dead Man Walking (April 17, 2021): Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s masterpiece in a new production by Ivo Van Hove. The production broadcast to cinemas will feature Joyce DiDonato, Latonia Moore, Susan Graham, and Étienne Dupuis. (April 24, 2021): Elza van den Heever, Nina Stemme, Evelyn Herlitzius, Klaus Florian Vogt, Michael Volle, and Ryan Speedo Green lead an all-star cast conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. (May 8, 2021): Anna Netrebko sings her first Abigaille alongside George Gagnidze in the title role. Marco Armiliato conducts the production, which also stars Varduhi Abrahamyan, Morris Robinson, and Najmiddin Mavlynov. Il Pirata (May 22, 2021): Javier Camarena and Diana Damrau join forces for the Bellini melodrama, which will be conducted by Maurizio Benini. Additionally, the company will transmit the 2006 presentation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” on December 5. Moreover, there will an additional encore of Lehár’s “The Merry Widow” which will also be featured as part of the HD Live in Schools program on Feb. 27, 2021.

MAD SCENES

“If I have to stay cooped up for another day, I will go mad” is the mantra of millions of people who have been sequestered for weeks because of the coronavirus. However, opera lovers are well acquainted with what “mad” actually looks like and how it sounds. The March issue of Opera News takes a look at mad scenes in opera in the recurring column, “Operapedia”, written by Henry Stewart who takes a historical look at mental instability in the opera repertoire. Stewart states that “Mad scenes entered opera in 1641 with Guilio Strozzi and Francisco Sacrati’s, Finta Pazza, when Deidamia feigns insanity to prevent her lover, Achilles from joining the Trojan War.” Stewart contends that mad scenes flourished in the era, where characters in opera moved from being depressed to deranged. Women go mad with much more regularity than men do in opera. Lucia, the tormented soul in Donizetti’s, , is oft cited as the penultimate example of madness in opera; Stewart refers to Lucia as the “The Queen of Mad.” By the time the final curtain falls, Lucia is completely insane, and the audience is completely enthralled. Some critics posit that mad scenes began to dwindle with Wagner, who repositioned madness as romantic enlightenment. However, does contemporary opera bear out that opinion? Has madness been redefined in a new era? You decide. Stewart’s column is available on the Opera News website. Enjoy the read! THE YOUNG TECHNICIANS OF THE SANTA FE OPERA PROGRAM

Imagine if you had the opportunity as a teenager to work with the magic makers in the Santa Fe Opera’s production department. Imagine if you could have a behind the scenes look at how to create the stunning visual elements of opera storytelling. Fortunately, every school year a group of high school students in theater and visual arts are invited to join the Young Technicians of the Santa Fe Opera Program and attend free workshops taught by the SFO’s talented technical theater staff. Students are introduced to the techniques and processes essential to mounting a world-class production through a series of hands-on experiences. This free program offers after-school workshops, weekend intensives, and summer opportunities to acquaint students with the many facets of production from scenic construction and painting, to lighting and projections, properties, costuming, and stage management. For the past five years, students from high schools in Santa Fe, Espanola, Los Alamos and Albuquerque have participated in pre-career training programs. An Introduction to the Scene Shop had students building the stairs used by performers to mount the raked opera stages; they also welded components that were assembled by staff to support the stage deck for Jenůfa. Student participants also assisted in pulling props and costumes for the 3,2,1 Opera Program presented on Youth Nights. Students met with some of the design teams to learn about the conceptual process for staging productions, shadowed the stage managers witnessing first-hand what goes into calling a performance, and observed technical apprentice teams set lights for a performance. Several of the participants have gone on to study technical theater at colleges around the country. As one student in Espanola’s YouthBuild vocational training program said, “Dude, this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.” Applications to attend the program are available on the SFO’s website. Completed forms can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to: Young Technicians Program of the Santa Fe Opera PO Box 2408 Santa Fe, NM 87504-2408

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS With the greatest pleasure, we welcome Barbara Roush to the Santa Fe Opera Guild. We look forward to meeting you at our programs and events and we thank you for joining us.

APRIL MEMBERS: IT’S TIME TO RENEW When your renewal comes due, you will receive an email alert. Renew by clicking RENEW NOW! We accept four major credit cards and PayPal, or mail a check to The Santa Fe Opera Guild, Membership, P.O. Box 2371, Santa Fe, NM, 87504 -2371. You can renew at any of our upcoming events. Send membership questions via email to Leslie Veditz at [email protected], or telephone her at (888)666-3430 ext. 502. The Membership Committee will send your membership tax receipts and membership cards to you by email. Those of you without email will continue to receive these communications by US mail. If you do not have a printer at home or if you still prefer a hardcopy tax letter and membership card, you can get these at any of our education events. DIVERSIONS The nationwide restriction to “shelter in place” has resulted in the cancellation of any activity that has more than five people gathering in one venue. Consequently, the performance listings that make up Diversions have been postponed or cancelled as of the publication of the April Operagram. Please visit the websites, or call the box offices of the performances you have tickets for to get accurate updates. Information is changing daily, so visit the sites often. For your convenience we have listed websites and phone numbers for the most frequented venues and/or ticket box offices. It is not possible to list all of the venues. Note: If a performance is at The Lensic, call (505)988-1234 for tickets; for more information go to The Lensic’s website. Taos Opera Institute Festival – launches its 13th season of musical performances in Taos, NM beginning June 3 and ending with a gala Showcase on June 27th at the Taos Center for the Arts. For more information about TOI go to www.TaosOI.org or call (575)740-6431. Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra website or call (505)9880-4640. Performance Santa Fe website or call (505)984-8759. Also check The Lensic’s website or call box office (505)988-1234. Santa Fe Symphony website or call (505) 983-1414. Opera Southwest website or call (505)243-0591. The Russian Film Society email [email protected] for updates. Rasputin will be shown when restrictions are lifted. Los Alamos Concert Association website. Theatre Santa Fe website. Violet Crown Theater website.