OPERAWISE: BEL CANTO MELODRAMA

In this series of podcasts, Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean gives listeners a taste of nine different types of traditional opera. Bel Canto Melodrama refers to for serious Italian opera from the first part of the nineteenth century, when opera singing was about dazzling trapeze acts and opera plots tended toward the wild, far-fetched, and grotesque. Inspired by their newfound obsession with Shakespeare, Europe’s Romantic generation created some of opera’s most enduringly popular works, including Verdi’s Rigoletto and Bellini’s Norma.

OPERAWISE: Grand Opera

In this series of podcasts, Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean gives listeners a taste of nine different types of traditional opera. Grand opera developed in the mid-19th century and centered on performances at the Opéra in Paris. The roots of the genre stretch back to the opulent court of France’s Sun King, Louis XIV, and continue to influence how opera is presented to this day. Verdi’s Aida (1871) is probably the world’s favorite grand opera (although it’s not necessarily a textbook example of the genre, since it wasn’t written for the Opéra, is sung in Italian, and is briefer and more straightforward than most grand operas). Another beloved masterpiece is Wagner’s Tannhäuser (1845), a work retro-fitted in 1861 for performance at the Opéra.

Listen now to the podcast: 'Rigoletto 101'

Various productions of Rigoletto, including center: Rigoletto, Opera Queensland, 2014 © Stephanie Do Rozario. Top, left: Dalibor Jenis as Rigoletto at the Sydney Opera House; Image by Prudence Upton. Bottom, left: Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto. Regia di John Turturro. Teatro Regio, Torino 2019. Top right: Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto) and Nino Machaidze (Gilda) © Cory Weaver, San Francisco Opera. Bottom right: Fikile Mvinjelwa as Rigoletto and Noluvuyiso Mpofu as Gilda, photo Courtesy of Capetown Opera.

Curious to learn more about Verdi's masterpiece, Rigoletto? Here's an excerpt of a recent Seattle Opera podcast hosted by Dramaturg Jonathan Dean:

"Rigoletto is one of the greatest operas ever written. As a composition it's perfect. And it's so accessible that even little kids can find something compelling and meaningful in this opera. I'm living proof of that, because I first became completely obsessed with Rigoletto when I was 8 or 9. What first attracted me were the melodies...when I was a little kid, I was just socially sophisticated enough to understand that there was something dangerous, illicit and excruciatingly awkward and painful—but also real and therefore, really important—about the drama, the tragedy, at the center of Rigoletto.

A conversation with stage director Lindy Hume

Seattle Opera sits down with stage director Lindy Hume to learn more abut her interpretation of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto coming to McCaw Hall this August. Hume's production begins on Election Night at the Presidential Palace and the Duke of Mantua is holding court. Contrasting the bawdy ostentation of the privileged and powerful with the gritty squalor of Rigoletto’s working class struggles, Hume pulls no punches drawing comparisons to newsmakers of today.

Why did you update Rigoletto? 
"The problem with NOT updating Rigoletto is that a Renaissance-era codpiece-cloak-and-hose setting in a fictional court of Mantua lets the licentious Duke of Mantua off the hook for his appalling treatment of women. Verdi turned a famous philanderer into a rock-star by giving him some of the best music to the most misogynistic lines ever written (Act 1 it’s 'this girl or that girl, they’re all the same to me …' and in Act 3 'women are unreliable …'). These are two of the most-jaunty, charming, popular tunes in the entire operatic repertoire, with a bravado that’s guaranteed to win the audience over. Even contemporary audiences in a post #metoo world, who can’t help but gasp at his shameless audacity and brazenness, adore those arias – which is what makes them so brilliant!

I created this production for New Zealand Opera in 2012. I found inspiration for the spirit of this bad boy Duke of Mantua in Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian Prime Minister, who at that time was breezing through his 'bunga bunga sex trial with his signature blend of political incorrectness, immaculate tailoring and dazzling—if cosmetically enhanced—smile. Where better to set the debauched action of Rigoletto than the colorful, charismatic, spectacularly excessive 'Berlusconi Court?' Even now that Silvio has retreated from public life his reputation is the stuff of legend."

The Genius of French Opera

La Marseillaise (Jean Béraud, 1880)

In honor of Seattle Opera's upcoming premiere of Beatrice and Benedict, today we celebrate French opera! (We're singing B&B in English, since our production kicks off Seattle Celebrates Shakespeare; but it's a very French opera.)

Ever since opera first came to France from Italy in the seventeenth century, the French have had their own wonderful way of blending the arts to create the hybrid which is opera. French opera has always been a balancing act: balancing poetry with music, musical delights with visual spectacle, dance with stasis, public with private, sorrow with high spirits, and above all balancing—and sometimes encouraging the tug-of-war between—passion and reason.

The following survey of French opera history features moments from some of our favorite French operas as performed at Seattle Opera. CLICK HERE to listen to a full playlist without interruption.

GLUCK TAKES REFORM OPERA TO FRANCE

Orphée Leads Eurydice from the Underworld (Corot, 1861)

Opera is fundamentally a fusion of music and drama, words and notes.

Top 10 most recognizable opera pieces used in film

You probably know more opera music than you think you do. If you like to watch TV or go to the movies, you’ve undoubtedly heard music from operas used in ways the original composers could never have even imagined. We’ve raided the Seattle Opera archives to put together a playlist featuring some of opera’s greatest hits—tunes you may already know because you’ve heard them in the cinema.

#1: From Apocalypse Now: Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walküre)

Francis Ford Coppola used the “Ride of the Valkyries,” famous music from the second opera of the Ring cycle, not for Wagner’s Norse goddesses of death but for American helicopters dealing out death from above in Vietnam in Apocalypse Now. It made for a brilliant, chilling moment—opera music used not just for emotional effect but as part of a film’s story.

Sung by Wendy Bryn Harmer, Jessica Klein, Suzanne Hendrix, Luretta Bybee, Tamara Mancini, Sarah Heltzel, Renée Tatum, and Cecelia Hall, with the Seattle Opera Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch.

Celebrating Shakespeare in Opera!

This month commemorates 400 years since the death of Shakespeare, and people around the world are honoring one of the greatest forces in the history of theater. Perhaps you’re heading down to Seattle’s Central Library to check out the FIRST FOLIO that’s on exhibit there. Maybe you’re sharing a personal Shakespeare story on the Shakespeare Theatre Association’s DIGITAL QUILT. If you’re in LONDON, you’ll have a hard time avoiding the Bardolatry.

Praise for Nabucco

Mary Elizabeth Williams as Abigaille in Seattle Opera's Nabucco. Philip Newton photo

THE DIVA:

"Mary Elizabeth Williams emerged as the star of the evening, delivering a theatrically vivid and thrillingly sung performance of the power-hungry, jilted Abigaille. With her untiring and excitingly huge voice, Williams showed remarkably even strength in the registral extremes on which the part notoriously relies. Her dynamic control was similarly admirable. Phrasing with imagination throughout, in her solo in Part Two she hinted at a dimension of inner turmoil, mitigating Abigaille's imperious demeanour with moments that suggested self-doubt." - Bachtrack 

Gordon Hawkins as Nabucco. Philip Newton photo

PRODUCTION AS A WHOLE: 

"But few people attend opera for the plot; it’s the music and the musicians that make the difference. Here is where Seattle Opera’s “Nabucco” shines, with Carlos Montanaro presiding over an orchestra and cast that are almost uniformly excellent...Since 'Nabucco' apparently comes around only slightly more often than Halley’s comet, Seattle-area opera lovers should seize this chance to check out some early Verdi — and some remarkable voices." - The Seattle Times 

THE TITLE CHARACTER: 

"Hawkins gave a marvelous performance as Nabucco, a boisterous man initially all puffed up with his victories until he addled by a force beyond his comprehension. To heighten the sense of someone brought to his knees, Hawkins lowered his voice to a shudder and convincingly found the emotion of a man who was on the brink of destruction." - Northwest Reverb 

HAWKINS, BARTON & THOMAS: 

".... (Hawkins) gave a memorable performance, particularly as a weakened fuzzy-minded old man. Young mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Fenena, new here, has a truly beautiful voice with depth and nuance. She will surely be back, while tenor Russell Thomas, another Young Artist graduate, singing Ismaele, is another it will be a pleasure to hear again. In short, every voice was a joy to hear." 

- The SunBreak

Christian Van Horn as Zaccaria with the Seattle Opera Chorus. Philip Newton photo

VAN HORN AS ZACCARIA:
"As the Jews’ High Priest, Christian Van Horn lived up to his reputation as a noteworthy young bass. He had a reassuringly imposing resonance, edged with warmth that made us want to follow his Zaccaria anywhere." 

- The Queen Anne News

"IF YOU LIKE YOUR OPERA CRAZY & BIBLICAL, YOU'LL LOVE NABUCCO":

"The (Nabucco) plot fits together like a blooper reel. Over the course of the four head-spinningly fast 'parts' (such weirdly shaped chunks of drama they’re not even referred to as “acts”) the following events occur:

• Jerusalem is sacked.
• The Temple of Solomon is trashed
• The throne is usurped
• A pair of princesses fall for the same guy (who happens to be the enemy).
• One princess finds out she’s actually a slave.
• Two people are killed—but not really because it’s just a rumor so they come back to life.
• Somebody offs herself with poison.
• An idol crumbles literally.
• The terrarium-like Hanging Gardens of Babylondescend to earth.

• Guys march around with antler-headed Gandalf staffs and debate whose god is better than whose and somebody badmouths god and—BOOM!—he’s struck by lightning, which doesn’t kill him but turns him for a while into a madman." 

- The Stranger 

Weston Hurt, Nabucco and Jamie Barton, Fenena. Elise Bakketun photo

INNOVATIVE, NEW PRODUCTION:

"I enthusiastically recommend this production of “Nabucco” for its brilliant staging and musicality. Seattle Opera succeeds in giving this early and rarely performed Verdi piece the stylistic edge it needs to draw a wide audience and infuse a sense of freshness into this classic Italian opera, while maintaining its political grit and the religious, metaphysical themes present throughout." -  The UW Daily

MAESTRO & KEY ORCHESTRA: 

"Conductor Carlo Montanaro paced the orchestra expertly and brought out textures that worked well with the singers. Superb playing by principal cellist Eric Han and principal flutist Alexander Lipay added marvelously to the production, and the offstage banda (chamber ensemble) also contributed splendidly." - Northwest Reverb 

Raffaella Angeletti as Abigaille. Elise Bakketun photo

ANGELETTI & HURT: 
"Abigaille­ is a hugely demanding role vocally and emotionally, and Raffaella Angeletti sang a gorgeous Abigaille on Sunday, fire and rage in her soaring high notes, determination and fury in her chesty, low passages. Weston Hurt delivered an authoritative, thundering Nabucco, and the chorus sounded phenomenal, luscious and full of longing, on "Va' pensiero" (The chorus of the Hebrew slaves), the opera's most famous melody." - City Arts 

Nabucco plays now through Saturday, August 22 at McCaw Hall. For tickets and information, go to seattleopera.org/nabucco and join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with #SONabucco. 

Verdi’s Career: A Musical Tour

Giuseppe Verdi is to opera what Shakespeare is to drama. It’s hard to imagine the art form of opera without the work of this fantastic composer. In this playlist, we’ll give you a quick overview of Verdi’s career, which began in 1842 when he took Italy by storm with Nabucco, and concluded, fifty years later, with his phenomenal Falstaff. During those years, Verdi was the undisputed king of Italian opera, and it was his relentless theatrical genius which transformed the genre from the singer-focused bel canto shows of the early nineteenth century into the almost cinematic kind of opera popular at the turn of the century.