MN Opera 55th Anniversary Celebration at The Ordway

On Oct 1st (a cold, wet, and generally gross day outside), I had the pleasure of attending the Minnesota Opera's 55th Anniversary Celebration at The Ordway. It was nice to grab a slice of cake, meet some new friends, run into old-ones, and have a nice relaxing time taking in some fantastic singing.

The doors opened and we found some seats. The stage was set for the season opener - Don Pasquale by Donizetti. The afternoon was a preview of the 2017-2018 season, as well as a celebration of the 55 years of opera here in the Twin Cities. It opened with a short video showing an abbreviated history of the company, and a celebration of Dominick Argento. He was there in a box and had recently celebrated his 90th birthday. The afternoon commenced with two songs from his 1998 song cycle "Miss Manners on Music." Both songs were sung in English and were delightful. The first was "Manners at a Concert" sung by Nadia Fayad, then "Manners at the Opera" by Mary Evelyn Hangley. Following this was "Irgendwo, irgendwann in dieser welt" from "Silent Night" by Kevin Puts. This opera had its world premiere at the Ordway as part of the MN Opera season in 2011. The aria was sung by Karen Wolverton, who also happened to sing it on opening night of the premiere. It was a gorgeous work from an opera that I do not know much about. After hearing this piece though, I want to hear more.

After three songs by some amazing women singers, it was time to get some lower notes in...and start the Season Preview. A duet "Cheti, cheti immantinente" from Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" was up - featuring Wm. Clay Thompson and Christian Thurston. Following this was "Ella mi fu rapita! ...Parmi veder le lagrime" from Verdi's "Rigoletto" sung by Andres Acosta. It was a good reminder that I need to make more time in my life for MN Opera. While I missed seeing "Don Pasquale" (due to my own performance/rehearsal schedule), I hope to see the remainder of the season. After Verdi's tenor aria, we had the great treat of seeing Project Opera. This is something MN Opera does to get kids involved in Opera. They have a group of kids (mainly teens) work together and put on an opera every season. It typically is performed at The Lab, and the last one I saw was very good. This year they are working on "Odyssey" by Ben Moore. It was a great group number (Sing we the song) that has me looking forward to Feb when it gets performed.

Next came two arias, both in English, and both from newer works - one was actually a world premiere! First up was a beautiful aria from Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking." Based on the book (which the film was also based on), with a libretto by Terrence McNally, this aria "Don't Say a Word" sung by Nadia Fayad was wonderful. The perfect work to get people excited to see this opera - at least it worked for me. Following that was a world premiere - "Hold On" from "The Shining" by Paul Moravec. I hear you saying - world premiere? but it already played at MN Opera? Yes - Paul Moravec thought that the lead character needed an aria and so this was written for the opera, and this was the first time it had been sung in public. It was perfect for the character and another great piece of music sung by Christian Thurston.

This lead us into the three final numbers of the afternoon. A gorgeous aria, "Ah! Je suis seule ...dis-moi que je suis belle," from Massenet's "Thais" got me hooked to hear more of this work and to see an opera that MN Opera is producing for the very first time! Then another new work called "Fellow Travelers" (which will be performed at the Cowles Center in Mpls). While the aria "Last night, how many" was beautifully performed by Andres Acosta, musically it wasn't what I expected at all. It was a bit minimal but romantic which just drives me to be really curious about this new work. Add to that the subject matter - a forbidden love affair in Washington DC during the McCarthy Era and I will be there for sure!!

Sending us out into the cold after warming our hearts was the finale from Act 2 of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro." I believe most of you have seen the film Amadeus. In it the character of Amadeus in talking about this opera mentions writing a finale that starts as a duet, then becomes a trio, then a quartet, and keeps adding singers till there are seven singers, all singing at the same time. This was that piece and it was stunning. Overall it was a great way to spend an afternoon, and it made me really excited about this season at the MN Opera. I hope I will see you there!