By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
This article will be published tomorrow in the above papers.
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Celestial Opera: Dido and Aeneas by Purcell; The Impresario by Mozart
Sung in English with English supertitles
Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. Nov. 20 at 3 p.m. Lecture one hour before each performance.
The Women’s Club of South Pasadena; 1424 S. Fremont Ave., South Pasadena
Tickets: $25 adults; $20 students and seniors
Information: 626-628-3305; www.celestialopera.org
(Left) Christina Wagenet (Belinda) and on Danielle Marcelle Bond (Dido) will perform in Celestial Opera’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas beginning tomorrow at The Women’s Club in South Pasadena. Photo by Frances Chee.
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For many people, the word “opera” conjures massive productions with star-studded casts on a big stage (with equally big ticket prices). If you want that this month, Los Angeles Opera is reviving its production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. But opera doesn’t always have to be done that way.
For 14 years, Celestial Opera Company has offered innovatively staged productions that have offered young professional an opportunity for artistic growth while, at the same time, presenting enjoyable, cost-effective evenings for a loyal public. Celestial Opera demonstrates that good things can come in small packages, too.
Throughout its history, Celestial Opera has presented many of the genre’s most famous works (e.g., Tosca, La Traviata, The Magic Flute). However, this fall’s programs — which opens Saturday and Sunday at The Women’s Club of South Pasadena and continues next weekend — combines two lesser-known, one-act works: Dido and Aeneas, by English composer Henry Purcell, and Mozart’s The Impresario. Both works will be sung in English with English supertitles.
“Last spring I went to a recital by a former student of mine,” relates Judy Townsend, Celestial Opera’s founder, artistic director and producer. “One of the pieces on the program was from Dido, which I remembered from my own performing days, and I thought how great this would be for our company. However, it’s pretty short and as I thought about something to pair with it, The Impresario came to mind — Mozart always sells!”
Each of the two operas, directed by John Dennehy, Jr., is presented with sets and costumes that the company builds or resourcefully comes up with. “We work very hard to create appealing sets for pennies on the dollars,” says Townsend. “We've been extremely lucky to have incredibly resourceful stage and technical directors that make it all work somehow.”
Joshua Thomas Heaphey will conduct a string quartet with harpsichord (for Dido) and piano (for The Impresario). “These actually approximate the sort of musical forces that Purcell would have used in the Baroque period and Mozart in the Classical era,” notes Townsend.
Each production is double-cast. Danielle Marcelle Bond and Tamora Wood will sing the role of Dido, while Matthew Welch and Glenn Fernandez will portray Aeneas. Keiko Clark and Cynthia Leigh will alternate as Madame Goldentrill in The Impresario, while Reyna Zack and Amy Bonn Lee will portray Mademoiselle Silverpeal.
“When we began in 1998,” relates Townsend, “most of our singers were interns who were just starting out. Now they’re all professionals. Southern California has a plethora of great singers and many come from long distances to sing with our company. This year’s casts include people who live in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties and the Inland Empire.”
It all adds up to a potentially intriguing evening (or afternoon). “Although some of the music from Dido will be familiar,” says Townsend, “many people have never seen either of these productions staged. For them, and for others, we think this will be an evening of revelation.”
(L-R) John Dennehy, Jr., Reyna Zack, Carlos Samaniego, Keiko Clark and Joey von Buhler play in Mozart’s The Impresario in a production by Celestial Opera. Photo by Frances Chen.
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Hemidemisemiquavers:
• The back story to The Impresario (Der Schauspieldirektor) is worthy of an opera itself. Using a German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie, Mozart wrote The Impresario as an entry in a musical composition sponsored on Feb. 7, 1786 by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. The competition was to pit a German singspiel against an Italian opera. The competing Italian entry was the opera buffa Prima la musica, poi le parole (First the Music, then the Words) by Antonio Salieri. The concept was outlined in the motion picture Amadeus, although the work was not identified. The Impresario was written at the same time and premiered later the same year as Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and has a bit of Figaro’s flavor.
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.
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