It's a provocative theme: desire for love, freedom, passion and life. Those yearnings are the central scenarios of four production presented by San Diego Opera for its season of 2010 beginning Jan. 30.
Two of the operas tell the tragic plight of young, obsessive love that cannot survive outside obstacles. The gregarious Parisian bohemians in Giacomo Puccini's classic tale resist hunger and cold to keep the fire of love burning against the odds of illness. Two young nobles of Verona secretly marry in spite of family feuds, but their passion provokes unintended suicide, all sung to the romantic French music of Charles Gounod.
"La bohème" is SDO's signature opera. This 10th production in the company's 45-year history has its roots as the premiere opera staged in 1965 at the brand new Civic Theatre. There was some historical precedent to launch the fledgling company with "La bohème," as this was the very first opera presented here in 1952 by the San Diego Opera Guild with a stellar cast from San Francisco Opera starring opera icons Dorothy Kirsten and Jan Peerce.
The 2010 production stars German soprano Anja Harteros returning to SDO as the frail Mimi in love with the zealous writer, Rodolfo, sung by the Polish tenor Piotr Beczala. Audiences love the reckless bohemians frolicking in their Latin Quarter garret and colorful Café Momus where flirtations flourish among the bohemian artists and ladies of easy virtue.
"Romeo and Juliet" is less flamboyant in telling the story of the passionate affair between two teenage youths in the first flush of discovering love. Fate would interfere because their families were divided by hate. Real-life lovers, husband and wife Stephen Costello and Ailyn Pérez in their SDO debuts, act out their romance leading to dual suicide.
Resident conductor Karen Keltner leads both ensembles. Of "La bohème," she comments that the young lovers come across as real people in real emotional situations. Her impression of "Romeo and Juliet" is pure elegant music, a "ballet of color," in the rich lyrical orchestration.
The second production filling the gap between "La bohème" and "Romeo and Juliet" is "Nabucco," last seen here in 1981. The epic music by Giuseppe Verdi projects the desire for freedom with a powerful chorus that rates as a second national anthem for Italian patriots.
In its 1842 premiere, "Nabucco" identified with the unpopular Austrian rule of Italy by comparison to the opera's story of Hebrews held in bondage by the Babylonians. The censors quibbled with Verdi over the overtones of rebellion but gave in as they usually did in dealing with the popular composer with republican beliefs. After all, the libretto is based on a biblical event even if it has hidden political themes.
The convoluted story is the usual conflict between rulers and those who want to rule complicated by forbidden love affairs and the pressure of captive slaves who want to return to their homeland. The international cast is conducted by Edoardo Müller, a Verdi expert, and Lotfi Mansouri, veteran stage director. Both have worked here as a team for many productions of past seasons.
The closing production for the season is Verdi's ever-popular romance, "La traviata," meaning a fallen woman who must choose between real love or the security of a patron.
Violetta is a beautiful courtesan with real-life credentials. The literary source of the opera libretto adapted by Verdi for his 19th opera was a novel written by Alexander Dumas who based his work on his youthful torrid love affair with a Parisian celebrity.
The later play, "Lady of the Camellias," by Dumas had problems with the French censors due its immoral content. Verdi had little difficulty applying the subject to the opera stage as many operas of his day dealt with women led astray. A 1936 film starring Greta Garbo called "Camille" likewise passed the new moral cinema code.
However, audiences are not often troubled by the plight of Violetta's life as a kept woman. Sympathy is focused on her love for the handsome and devoted Alfredo who eventually scorns her wrongly for giving him up for the sake of his family.
From Violetta's opening flirtation until her tragic death scene, the audience is captivated by the plight of the beautiful courtesan who sacrifices her livelihood for the love of a young gallant. This heartbreaker role has been the benchmark for many famous sopranos since the Venice premiere in 1853.
"Not every soprano can meet the demands of Verdi's score," observes General Director Ian Campbell. "The role seems to require three different voices -- coloratura in act one, dramatic in act two and lyric in act three," he noted. Elizabeth Futral returns to SDO to take the challenge paired with her fervent lover sung by tenor Marius Brenciu.
Tickets for all performances at the Civic Theatre are now available at 619-533 7000 or online at sdopera.com.
[I]Ford is a past president of San Diego Opera and supports the archive for the San Diego Opera Collection at San Diego State University.[/I]
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