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    From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, California Part II

    Yesterday afternoon I heard all the singers in the Los Angeles Opera’s young artist program.  Unlike many of the other similar programs around the country, the Los Angles program really draws on singers from around the world rather focusing just on Americans, and this group had representatives from Russia, Korea and Mexico, as well as from the United States.

    I was delighted that the most polished singer yesterday was Amanda Woodbury, a soprano who has twice placed second in the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, and who was invited to join the LA Opera ensemble by Joshua Winograde, who oversees the program, after hearing her as a judge for the Dallas competition.  Her residency in Los Angeles comes to an end soon, but she has grown tremendously under the program, and is being rewarded with a performance of “Micaëla” in their current production of CARMEN later this week.  She is certainly someone to keep an “ear” on.

    Last night’s performance of CARMEN starred Brandon Jovanovich as “Don Jose”, who leaves the run in Los Angeles on Sunday to begin rehearsals on Monday in Dallas for the same role.  It will be interesting to see how he approaches this role in what will be a very different production in Dallas. Read more →

    From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell – California – Part 1

    San Francisco-20130924-00110

    I am in Los Angeles this morning after two days in San Francisco where I attended back to back performances of Boito’s rarely performed opera MEFISTOFELE and the third performance in the world premiere run of Tobias Picker’s new opera DOLORES CLAIBORNE, both starring Patricia Racette.

    It was an astonishing feat when Ms. Racette agreed just three weeks before opening night to take on the demanding title role of the Picker premiere after the originally scheduled artist, Dolora Zajick, withdrew from the project after rehearsing the opera for several weeks.

    Pat Racette was in San Francisco rehearsing MEFISTOFELE, which opened the San Francisco Opera season, and bravely agreed to learn the part and save the day.  It was a daring thing to do (particularly considering that there were several performances in the schedule where the productions were on consecutive nights) and from the audience’s reaction last night, also a very smart move on her part.  It is a real “tour de force” and she certainly deserved the ovation that greeted her at the curtain call. Read more →

    Dallas Opera Perspectives at the Meadows Museum

    Count me in! Coming to the Meadows Museum, a conversation not to be missed between Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny and the company’s esteemed new music director, Emmanuel Villaume. Details to follow:

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
    Friday, September 6, 2013
    Contact: Suzanne Calvin 214.443.1014 Or Megan Meister 214.443.1071
    suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org megan.meister@dallasopera.org

    THE DALLAS OPERA PRESENTS

    “DALLAS OPERA PERSPECTIVES”

    With Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny
    And Dallas Opera Music Director Emmanuel Villaume
    In Partnership with the Meadows Museum of Art
    ~~~~
    Discussion of Spanish Art and Bizet’s Carmen
    Followed by Special Free Gallery Tour
    ~~~~
    Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.
    The Meadows Museum at SMU
    ~~~~
    Free Covered Parking Available On-Site

    DALLAS, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 – The Dallas Opera, in partnership with the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University, is delighted to introduce the first in a series of new programs hosted by Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny and designed to present informed personal perspectives on the arts.
    Our first edition of “Dallas Opera Perspectives” taking place on Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. in the Meadows Museum, will introduce Dallas to TDO’s acclaimed new music director, Maestro Emmanuel Villaume, who will apply his keen interest in the visual arts to works in the Spanish collection that “speak to him” in a special way as he prepares to conduct our season-opening production of Georges Bizet’s CARMEN.
    “I look forward to October 25th with a sense of anticipation and excitement tempered by a comfortable sense of the familiar,” explains Maestro Villaume.
    “The pressure will be on in my first podium appearance as Music Director of the Dallas Opera. However, Carmen, as a mainstay of the French repertoire, is a work I have conducted throughout my career. Over the years, familiarity with Bizet’s masterpiece has generated within me an even greater respect for his musical vision, and I always seek something fresh and revelatory in my approach to the score to bring to every performance.
    “One of the great privileges of this career is the ability to travel and discover new cities—in particular, their museums. Dallas, fortunately, is endowed with several world class collections and I am eager to explore them all.
    “Studying visual arts is a stimulating activity for me, as it touches on some of the same fundamental artistic and spiritual issues as music, although from a totally different angle. It’s a pastime I find to be as refreshing as it is enlightening.” Read more →

    Surprise Visit from a Journalist

    A compliment always means so much more when you didn’t see it coming. Such is the case with this thoughtful essay by David A. Smith, who covers the arts for “The Waco Tribune” but who recently paid us a call.

    Suzanne Calvin, Director Media and PR

    From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, Santa Fe – Part VII

    Yesterday afternoon at 4:00 under the auspices of the Santa Fe Concert Association composer Jake Heggie played a recital of some of his songs, accompanying tenor William Burden, soprano Heidi Stober and mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, all of whom are singing with the Santa Fe Opera this summer.

    The only set of songs that I had heard before was a cycle set to some texts written by Sister Helen Prejean, the inspiration for Heggie’s first opera DEAD MAN WALKING, beautifully sung at the end of the program by Miss Mentzer.

    The rest of the material was new to me (including one song performed by a surprise guest, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is a great friend of the composer, and for whom he is writing GREAT SCOTT, commissioned by the Dallas Opera, and scheduled to open the season in the fall of 2015.) Read more →

    From the Desk of Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, Santa Fe – Part VI

    This posting must be prefaced by confessing that if someone held a gun to my head and demanded to know what my favorite opera was, after much waffling back and forth, I would probably have to confess that it would be Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA.  It was music from this opera that first captivated me as a child of six and was the first recording I ever owned (with Albanese, Peerce and Merrill, conducted by Toscanini.)

    That having been said, tonight’s performance of Verdi’s 1853 masterpiece puzzled me.  There was so much about it that was wonderful, not the least of which were the stunning vocal performances and committed acting of soprano Brenda Rae and Michael Fabiano as “Violetta” and “Alfredo.” Read more →