Wolf Trap Opera

As we did research for this season’s Tales of Hoffmann for this season, I was repeatedly amazed and inspired by the real-life hero of Offenbach’s opera. I kicked the challenge over to WTOC coach/pianist Jeremy Frank and a quartet of singers, and tonight they’ll present a free talk and concert that includes vocal music written by Hoffmann (including an excerpt from his opera Undine), music inspired by Hoffmann’s short stories (an excerpt from Schumann’s Kreisleriana), viewing of his own sketches and caricatures, and a two-degrees-of-separation finale involving Hoffmann, Edgar Allan Poe and Philip Glass.

The Tale(nt)s of Hoffmann

A free concert at the Center for Education (1645 Trap Road, Vienna VA)
Friday, August 12 at 7:3opm

Jeremy Frank, pianist and host

Ashlyn Rust, soprano
Lindsay Ammann, contralto
Eric Barry, tenor
Michael Anthony McGee, baritone

with Jason Lee, tenor
and Grant Loehnig at the Yamaha Zauberklavier

Finally put them on Flickr. Enjoy!

I’ve been remiss in not shouting from the Blogging Rooftops how thrilled we are to be working from Schott’s Kaye/Keck edition for our Tales of Hoffmann. Producing this opera is like being presented with a wealth of confusing riches, not all of which can (or should) be piled into one evening at the theatre. Musicologists like Michael Kaye (with whom we collaborated in navigating this maze) have a strong, clear grasp on what a production of Hoffmann should contain, but we mere mortals are easily confused*. (Especially those of us who are crazy enough to wait until January to choose an opera that opens that very same summer…)

It wasn’t easy, but in an exhausting series of emails, phone calls, and meetings this spring, we somehow found a formula that is holding the stage beautifully. We had to make a few cuts (notably in the finale to the Giulietta act and the Epilogue), but our patrons are enjoying the pacing and clear storytelling that’s made possible by this version. (Critics haven’t spoken quite yet, but I won’t hold my breath on that:))

*I’ve been explaining Hoffmann‘s twisted and complicated history during my preshow talks, and I’d love to get my presentation online, either in the form of an audio podcast or a Youtube clip. Wish me luck.

Photo courtesy of Carol Pratt: Craig Irvin as Coppelius, Nathaniel Peake as Hoffmann and Catherine Martin as Nicklausse

Such empty promises. In spite of such good intentions.

I would have loved nothing more than to take you along with me on the ride that is Hoffmann at The Barns. But, as too often happens, it came down to managing the week or writing about it. I chose to try to keep the train on the track, and you were left out.

Last night’s opening was a revelation, the right kind of perfect storm. Very little about putting this piece on stage was easy. Of course, I never had a death wish for it, but had it fallen short of expectations, it would’ve been pretty tempting to acknowledge that we had stretched too far and to vow to play it safer in the future.  But rather than falling short, last night exceeded my fondest desires for this project, leaving me pretty conflicted about the advisability of trying anything this crazy again in the future…

First look at this beautiful production. Early images from Monday evening’s piano tech.  More tomorrow.

We’ve wrestled this fantastical, sprawling opera into 3 beautifully tight hours. But you’d never know it from the look of our directing intern’s score. :)

SitzWandelProbe tonight. Some standing, little sitting, a fair amount of wandering, and some jaw-dropping singing. Welcome to The Barns, E.T.A. Hoffmann.

Tonight’s task: final editing of supertitles for the Antonia Act of The Tales of Hoffmann.

In short, the heroine of this act is a sensitive artiste, a former singer who has become so weak that she may not survive the physical exertion required to sing again. The villain is determined to make her sing, and she resists.

Of course, all I can think of while I translate Antonia’s words in my own weakened, exhausted, enervated state is Kristen Wiig.

The Tales of Hoffmann enjoyed an exhilarating final run-through in the rehearsal room. Full set of photos on Flickr.

At left, our hero (sung by Nathaniel Peake) tries to resist the allure of the three ladies who moved through his life:

The eerily perfect Olympia (Jamie-Rose Guarrine)…

The sensitive Antonia (Marcy Stonikas)…

And the earthy and sexy Giulietta (Eve Gigliotti).

This weekend, we move into the theatre for a series of technical rehearsals that will reveal the secrets of our Joseph Cornell-inspired set.

Wolf-Ferrari

Le donne curiose

June 17, 19 & 25 at The Barns
Including a fabulous preshow chat by yours truly one hour before curtain

Written near the beginning of Wolf-Ferrari’s career, The Curious Women is a charming chamber opera. We discovered it a few years ago, and I’ve been carrying around a score for a while. During last fall’s auditions we realized that we’d have a dynamite cast for it this year. There are 9 principal roles – a great things for a resident company like Wolf Trap’s. The characters include 2 married couples, one engaged couple, one confirmed bachelor, and two servants who are (of course) smarter than the folks around them.

I find the music of Le donne curiose to be an entertaining and somewhat surprising mix of the lyricism and lushness of the late 19th-century, injected with adventurous harmonic shifts that give it a fresh yet familiar modern feel.  The story is a domestic comedy in which the ladies scheme to figure out what’s going on behind closed doors in the men-only club that their husbands frequent.

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Sondheim

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

July 22 at the Filene Center

We rolled out our first Operascape production with Boheme in 2009. A perfect fit for the Filene Center Stage, Operascape features a complete production with images designed for Wolf Trap (projected on a 60-foot screen) and the National Symphony Orchestra onstage. The Filene Center has never been host to The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and this promises to be a memorable night of musical and dramatic thrills.

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Offenbach

Les contes d’Hoffmann

August 5, 7, 11 & 13 at The Barns
Including an amazingly awesome and informative preshow chat by yours truly one hour before curtain

Hoffmann emerged during last fall’s audition tour as a prime possibility for 2011, but we were concerned that its orchestration is too large for our pit at The Barns. Said orchestration, however, was not done by the composer, as Offenbach died four months before the premiere. With that knowledge, we felt emboldened to produce Hoffmann in our small theatre with a slightly reduced orchestration, featuring the original dialogues instead of the additional recitative music that was added to the opera after its premiere. It promises to be an intimate and engaging night of music and theatre! (Check the calendar later this spring for an exciting companion series, The Trails of Hoffmann, two evenings that explore the many other talents of Offenbach’s hero – Hoffmann’s own compositions, his stories and other writings, and other works of art based on his output.)

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Couples:
From Getting Hitched
to Getting Ditched

July 10

Steven Blier is back for one fabulous concert this summer! He’ll take the stage with five of our artists to explore the ups and downs of relationships, with songs from Fauré, Sondheim and Chausson to Cole Porter, Joni Mitchell, and more.

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Not Enough for You?

Meet the people behind the productions in Backstage Buzz. Explore music and visual art in Vocal Colors.  Buy tickets to two operas and receive an invitation to our exclusive Aria Jukebox performance on June 26.

Check back later for complete information on our family events for summer 2011, including Behind the Curtain (click here to read about last summer’s event) and Instant Opera! (dates and times TBD; click here to read more).

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But Before All This….

There’s some inspecting to be done.