A Janáček opera with Puccini inspiration

In February and March, 2017, Janáček's opera Katya Kabanova comes to Seattle Opera for the first time. While they may come from different composers and different places in the vast operatic universe, Katya and Cio-Cio San originate from a similar musical source. 

Did you know that composer Leoš Janáček was inspired by Puccini? In fact, his sixth opera, Katya Kabanova  is partially based on Puccini's Madam Butterfly (and a Mrs. Stosslova, 38 years younger than him and married.) He met her while on holiday with his wife in 1917. This was a one sided passionate relationship on his part which resulted in over 700 letters. She was the inspiration for additional operas as well. She never understood him or his work.

Katya, "one of my most tender works," the composer wrote,  premiered in Brno in November 1921. The score contrasts extreme beauty with fateful oppression to wonderful emotional and passionate effect. The tragic libretto portrays a woman driven to despair and a tragic fate by her husband and monstrous mother-in-law. The result is a deeply moving, intensely lyrical work, as engaging in the beauty of the vocal and orchestral writing as in its story – which also revealed the tragedy of Slavic provincial life, of which Janácek was only too well aware.

No wonder he was inspired by Butterfly. It has a similar effect.

Tickets & info: seattleopera.org/katya
#SOKatya

Gala funds vital community programs

Join Seattle Opera this April for a black-tie gala featuring Greer Grimsley, star of Seattle Opera’s famous Ring cycle and title character in the company’s upcoming Flying Dutchman. Gala attendees can share their experience on social media using the hashtag #SOCelebrate.

"Expect an elegant evening and lots of fun,” said Moya Vazquez, gala committee co-chair and Seattle Opera board member. “Most importantly, the festivities will support programs that create more equitable and accessible arts opportunities for everyone in our community.”

Seattle Opera continues to increase access to the arts by providing admission-free and subsidized programs throughout Washington State, sharing the power of music, theater, and storytelling. Over the past five years, the number of people Seattle Opera has served through its engagement programs has increased threefold. Funding from the gala will help the company continue on this path.

Seattle Opera's 2016 Frost Fest (offered admission-free for youth). Photo by Philip Newton 

"Seattle Opera should reflect our region; it should be the proverbial fire around which we share our stories,” said Director of Education & Community Engagement Barbara Lynne Jamison. “We must also be able to serve those in need, because we know that many people don’t have opportunities to make and experience art.”

Last season, with the help of incredible donors, the company served 74,689 students, adults and seniors with educational arts programming, up from 63,116 Washingtonians in the 2013/14 season. Just one of many examples includes “Artful Aging” programs designed for retirement and community centers, as well as residencies in schools where children can create their own operas. Last year, Seattle Opera served 15,352 students. More than a third of these students attend federally identified low-income schools. Due to generous donations and events like the Gala featuring Greer Grimsley, the company is able to provide performances, residencies, and other fun offerings to these underserved schools free of charge.

Seattle Opera offers admission-free and subsidized programs for people of all ages, from toddlers to seniors.
Photo by Philip Newton 

"We are so grateful for the support we receive at events such as the Gala, and from the generosity of donors all year long,” said Linda Kitchen, gala committee co-chair, opera singer, and wife of General Director Aidan Lang. “We hope the curious and generous minds of Seattle will join us on April 16, and help share this special art form that we love.”

Attendees will enjoy live music by the Dudley Manlove Quartet, in addition to Greer Grimsley and other special guests. Richard Hartlage of Land Morphology will create stunning towers of greenery, which will complement floral décor by Loves Me Flowers. A delicious feast provided by Kaspars Special Events & Catering will include a salad course, with three entrée options, and a warm banana cake with chocolate truffle and caramel sauce for dessert. Wine is generously donated by For a Song.

Seattle Opera prepares to perform Our Earth with a student chorus at Blackwell Elementary. Photo by  Brandon Patoc 

The live and silent auctions will feature exciting travel and exclusive experiences, including a $5,000 gift certificate to Seattle’s premier jeweler Turgeon Raine, as well as the chance to enjoy an opera from the wings while observing our stage manager in action. Fine dining experiences include a tour of six Tom Douglas Restaurants where delicious bites and drinks will be served at each stop. Attendees can also bid on exquisite wines, including a rare 2005 Imperial (6L) Château Suduiraut Sauternes (perfect for a 150-200 person wedding); a “The Lafite Spirit,” based on a rich tradition rooted in the Bordeaux soil; a 1982 Jeroboam of Château Lafite Rothschild, which has received a rating of 100 from Robert Parker, Jr; as well as a six-bottle vertical of Cabernet Sauvignon (2002-2007) from Quilceda Creek Vintners—representing some of the best wine that Washington has to offer. Michael Davis of Chicago-based Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. will serve as auctioneer. The silent auction will be available online to the general public on March 30. Anyone can bid, not just guests of the Gala.

To learn more about the Gala and to RSVP, visit our Gala Facebook event page or seattleopera.org/gala. You can also call Donor Services at 206.389.7669

"For many of my students and their families, money and food alone are tight, let alone opportunities to experience the arts with true artists. Seattle Opera's performance at our school presented these students with a world they had never known before. The brains and hearts of nearly 600 students were opened. Since then, we've been listening to a variety of literature and learning about the composers because the kids wanted more opera. This is huge." - Carri Rose, teacher

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Praise for Mary Stuart

Joyce El-Khoury (Mary Stuart) and Keri Alkema (Elizabeth). Photo by Philip Newton 

"Kevin Newbury’s canny staging had the two rival queens circling each other like sleek jungle cats, building the excitement to their ultimate confrontation."- The Seattle Times

"...superlative singing is most certainly delivered (in Seattle Opera's Mary Stuart), along with some of Donizetti’s very best music." - Heed the Hedonist 

"...highly enjoyable, a costume drama with lots of fiery energy from the opposing queens." - The Seattle Times

"Williams’ Elizabeth, who took center stage on opening night, was a memorable portrayal ...Feisty and mighty, Williams’ soprano was equally impressive when she lightened it in moments of highly effective refinement. She knows how to command the stage and how to establish the power of her personality through gesture and movement, as well as with her voice." - The Seattle Times 

Mary Elizabeth Williams (Elizabeth I). Photo by Philip Newton

"...tenor John Tessier gave a beautifully finished and vocally elegant performance of what must be one of the most hapless roles in opera."- The Seattle Times 

"Stuarda is a role requiring extraordinary breath control. El-Khoury took on the role’s challenges in stride. Throughout the evening, she exhibited flawless vocal technique, while displaying her character’s dramatic vulnerability through her vocal expressiveness, projecting pianissimi and demonstrating a seamless legato." - Opera Warhorses

"(Joyce El-Khoury as Mary Stuart) was responsible for some of the best moments of the show, performing a fascinating Mary Stuart, both vocally and dramatically. She was a proud yet human queen, able to love, hate and forgive with the same passion and elegance ... Do not miss this soprano, probably one of the finest of her generation." - Opera World Spain

"Singing alongside El-Khoury on Sunday was Keri Alkema as a stellar Elizabeth, who began the show with a fairly heavy vibrato but rose to wonderfully incisive, powerful singing as the show went on. Her Leicester, Andrew Owens, initially sounded a bit underpowered, but he brought a touching urgency to his scenes with El-Khoury’s Mary."- The Seattle Times

Joyce El-Khoury (Mary Stuart) and Renée Rapier (Hannah). Photo by Philip Newton 

"Weston Hurt created a wonderfully empathetic Talbot, whose pleas for mercy went by the wayside... Renée Rapier’s Hannah was a compassionate and loyal lady-in-waiting." - Northwest Reverb  

"The buoyant, vital conducting of Carlo Montanaro, always one of the most accomplished of opera conductors, underscored this production’s artistic values with careful attention to the singers and hefty doses of musical drama." - The Seattle Times

"D.M. Wood’s lighting created some brilliant effects, the most vivid of which was the eerily backlit, spectral appearance of Mary in the last act." - The Seattle Times

Michael Todd Simpson (Cecil) with members of the Seattle Opera chorus. Photo by Philip Newton 

"Lord Cecil, sung by sonorous lyric bass-baritone Michael Todd Simpson, is the role that represents the raison d’etat first for Mary’s two-decade imprisonment and then for her execution. The role was performed with chilling effectiveness by Simpson." - Opera Warhorses

"Mr. Owens was a young and passionate Leicester... He has got a consistent technique (based on the head resonance) and a big margin to become a greater artist." - Opera World Spain

"Newbury’s directions were spot on, including the two girls who pantomimed blissful times in the past when Mary and Elizabeth got along as cousins. Never mind that such times were totally fictitious. Hey, this is opera after all!" - Northwest Reverb

"The chorus, prepared by John Keene, was absolutely riveting." - The Seattle Times

The Seattle Opera Chorus in Mary Stuart. Photo by Philip Newton 

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How to Distinguish ROSSINI from BELLINI from DONIZETTI

Can you tell a Monet from a Renoir? Are you proud of your ability to differentiate Keats from Shelley? If you want to be a true Bel Canto aficionado, train your ears so you can hear the difference between the music written, in those strict Bel Canto forms, by the leading composers of the period: Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.