MARCH 2020 VOLUME 14 ISSUE 6 DESIRÉE MAYS: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE INTRODUCTION TO TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, PART I THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 5:30PM SANTA FE WOMAN’S CLUB 1616 OLD PECOS TRAIL FREE FOR GUILD MEMBERS; $10 FOR NON-MEMBERS In the words of a medieval troubadour: "If you would hear a tale of love and death, here is that of Tristan and Queen Iseult, how to their full joy, but to their sorrow also, they loved each other, and how at last they died of that love together upon one day." The back story to this tale, how Tristan and Isolde met in Ireland and how he came to bring her by sea to Cornwall, not for himself, but for his uncle King Marke, will be discussed as the introduction to Richard Wagner's great tribute to Love - and Death. Wagner wrote in 1854: "As I have never in my life tasted the true joy of love, I will raise a monument to this loveliest of all dreams." This statement from the heart of Wagner and Romanticism itself informs the soul of the work in music that is unsurpassed in terms of love and longing. Desirée will discuss the story, in her own inimitable style, and play music excerpts. “What is the phenomenon of Wagner and his transformative music?" Desirée’s lecture will provide some thought-provoking answers to this very complex question. Please register for Tristan und Isolde, Part I by clicking here or call 888-666-3430x503. This lecture is sponsored by the Santa Fe Opera Guild on Thursday, March 26th, 5:30PM at the Santa Fe Woman’s Club. The Tristan Chord: Digging Deeper, Part II is being held at Collected Works Bookstore, 202 Galisteo on Wednesday, April 29 at 6:00PM. There is No Charge for this event and all are welcome. Desirée will discuss different philosophical approaches quoting from Bryan Magee's book The Tristan Chord, along with exploring Wagner's chaotic domestic circumstances during composition. Personal comments from Johanna Meier, Bayreuth's 1981 Isolde, will be shared. Desirée Mays continues to lecture states-wide on opera, currently at The Metropolitan Opera in New York, and to Wagner Societies in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She also gives talks at Collected Works before The Met: Live in HD screenings at The Lensic. BACKSTAGE PREVIEW: REGISTRATION OPEN BACKSTAGE PREVIEW SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 11:00AM – 1:00PM CHECK-IN, 10:30AM STIEREN HALL, THE SANTA FE OPERA MEMBERS OF THE SANTA FE CHAPTER OF THE OPERA GUILD ONLY The Santa Fe Opera Guild presents its annual Backstage Preview on Saturday, April 18, featuring stage, costume, and prop designs for The Santa Fe Opera Festival season. This much anticipated, engaging and entertaining event takes place at Stieren Hall from 11:00AM to 1:00PM. Check-in begins at 10:30AM. Light refreshments will be served. The talented Santa Fe Opera production team department heads take center stage; Scott Schreck, Scenery, Missy West, Costumes and Randy Lutz, Props provide an exclusive first-look at the artistic elements that will make The Santa Opera Festival 2020 season magical. Discussions about the techniques of stagecraft, colorful costumes and innovative props, are interspersed with anecdotes about what can occur in the production of an opera before it reaches the stage. A must see event! Due to its enormous popularity and limited seating, it is wise to register NOW. To register click here or call Ken Hunt at 888-666- 3430x503. You will receive an email confirming your registration. Cost is $20.00. This event is only open to members of the Santa Fe chapter of the Opera Guild. Members at the $60.00+ level may bring a co-member or one guest. VIVACE BOOK GROUP MONDAY, MARCH 9, 6:15PM - 7:30PM PRE-DISCUSSION SOCIAL 5:45PM COLLECTED WORKS 202 GALISTEO STREET, SANTA FE COMPLIMENTARY FOR GUILD MEMBERS, NON-MEMBERS $5 Monday, March 9: Manon Lescaut is a devastating depiction of obsessive love and a haunting portrait of a captivating but dangerous woman! When the young Chevalier des Grieux first sets eyes on the exquisitely beautiful and charming Manon they fall passionately in love. But his happiness turns to bitter despair when he discovers that Manon is mercenary and immoral, and has taken a rich lover to pay for their life of pleasure. A broken man, he swears to stay away from her, but cannot. Just as the Chevalier is helpless to end their relationship, so Manon is incapable of giving up the source of her income, and the lovers enter a destructive cycle that can only end in tragedy. The 2019-2020 Metropolitan Opera season includes two operas based on Prévost’s novel - Massenet's Manon and Puccini's Manon Lescaut. The novel is also the subject of two lesser- known operas – Manon Lescaut by Daniel Auber and Boulevard Solitude by Hans Werner Henze. And it’s even the subject of a film, Manon 70, starring Catherine Deneuve. We suggest that you read the Penguin edition, pictured here and available at Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse. Monday, May 11: The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes, a fictionalized biography of Dimitri Shostakovich is the May book selection. Further details in the April Operagram. LECTURES ON SANTA FE OPERA 2020 SEASON MARK TIARKS: THE SANTA FE OPERA 2020 SEASON THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 19, 26; APRIL 2, 9, 10:00AM-NOON RENESAN INSTITUTE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING ST. JOHN’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 1200 OLD PECOS TRAIL RENESAN is offering a five-session class on The Santa Fe Opera’s 2020 season repertory. The class will be taught by Mark Tiarks and it meets from 10:00AM – 12:00 noon on five consecutive Thursdays – March 12, 19 & 26, and April 2 & 9. Each session includes extensive video and audio excerpts, as well as wide-ranging visual imagery. Class members receive a special handout about each opera as well as a pdf of each class presentation Mark Tiarks was The Santa Fe Opera’s Director of Planning and Marketing for 11 seasons. His most recent RENESAN course was “The Music of Kurt Weill: From ‘Mack the Knife’ to ‘September Song’ ” in Fall, 2019. For more information or to register for this class, click here or call 505-982-9274. SAVE THE DATE: SANTA FE OPERA SPRING TOUR The Spring Tour opera will be Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun, by composer Augusta Read Thomas and librettist Leslie Dunton-Downer. The opera follows the galactic mishaps caused by the title character, Sweet Potato, and a journey to set things back on course. Featuring a cast that includes beatbox artist Nicole Paris, this work explores opera’s ability to intersect with other art forms, while also offering contemporary storytelling for today’s audiences. Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun, a project of Opera for All Voices, was commissioned by a consortium of opera companies led by The Santa Fe Opera, in association with San Francisco Opera; the consortium includes Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Sarasota Opera and Seattle Opera. The Spring Tour public performances will be on May 3 in Santa Fe at The Lensic Performing Arts Center, and May 8 in Albuquerque at the African American Performing Arts Center. Further details in the April Operagram. Photo Credit Tira Howard NEWS FROM THE SANTA FE OPERA Opera Storytellers Camp for Kids: Opera Storytellers create original opera by activating their voices, bodies and imaginations, expanding their individual potential through creative exploration and discovery. Opera Storytellers is for children entering 3rd through 8th grades. Camps will be held in Santa Fe at The Santa Fe Opera, and in Albuquerque at the UNM Music Prep School. Registration is open now and space is limited. Santa Fe | The Santa Fe Opera June 1-12, 2020 / Monday through Friday, 9am-4pm For information and to register for the Opera Storytellers camp in Santa Fe, go to The Santa Fe Opera website. Albuquerque Location | UNM Music Prep School July 20-31, 2020 / Monday through Friday, 9am-4pm For information regarding the UNM summer camp, tuition assistance and to register, please visit the UNM Music Prep School website. LOS ALAMOS OPERA GUILD PRESENTS YOUNG VOICES CONCERT Join the Los Alamos Opera Guild for a membership social and concert by Young Voices of The Santa Fe Opera on Sunday, March 2, at 3:00PM at the Los Alamos United Church. The church is located at 2525 Canyon Road, Los Alamos and doors will open at 2:30PM for a reception with punch and cookies. The reception will continue after the concert. Vocalists Eleanor Henderson, Alexander Waters, and Maya Rogers, and pianist Paul Roth will present operatic works. While The Santa Fe Opera is moving in new directions, so are The Guilds of The Santa Fe Opera — providing novel events, forging new partnerships, and bringing new energy and ideas into the Opera's endeavors. Guild members make things happen for the Opera. Since 1957, the Guilds’ year-round volunteer services and financial support have launched and expanded some of the Opera's most successful activities. POJOAQUE VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR Congratulations to the Pojoaque Valley High School Choir for earning the honor to participate in the National Memorial Concert: Remembering 9/11 at Carnegie Hall in New York City on October 11, 2020. The choir competed with other schools nationally and this is the first time New Mexico is being represented. First responders from 9/11 will speak during the program about the significance of this devastating day in American history. The thirty-eight member choir is led by choral director Isabel Becker- Hudson who taught at PVHS for almost twenty years and has been a choral director for forty years.