This Month in Opera

Get your fix.
A lot of fundraisers this month.


February 3 @ 6:30 PM
Georges Bizet's Carmen
Metropolitan Opera, live in HD.
At select movie theatres, prices vary
Directed by Richard Eyre.
Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Staring Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna.


February 6 @ 1:00 PM
February 24 @ 6:30 PM
Giuseppe Verdi's Simon Boccanegra
Metropolitan Opera, live in HD.
At select movie theatres, prices vary
Directed by Giancarlo del Monaco.
Conducted by James Levine.
Staring Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, Plácido Domingo, and James Morris.


February 10 @ 8:00 PM
Recital: Baritone Darnell Ishmel
At Kerrytown Concert House
Tickets $10-$20
Byron Sean on the piano.
There will also be an art showcase concerning black baritones in honor of Black History Month. Proceeds will go to the Pascal J. Hall Memorial Scholarship Fund.


February 12 @ 7:30 PM
February 13 @ 7:30 PM
Leoncavallo's Pagliacci
Opera Grand Rapids
At DeVoss Hall of Grand Rapids
Tickets $20-$94.
Conducted by Robert Lyall
Starring John Horton Murray, Georgia Jarman, Mark Rucker, Jonathan Beyer, and Dean Kokanos.


February 13 @ 7:30 PM
April in Paris Opera Gala
Toledo Opera
At The Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle.
Tickets $35 - $80.
An evening of French Opera supporting Toledo Opera.

February 13 @ 8:00 PM
Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado
Opera a la Carte
At the Whiting of Flint.
Tickets $12-$46.

February 13 @ 8:00 PM
February 14 @ 3:00 PM
We're in the Money Cabaret
Arbor Opera Theatre
At the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor.
Tickets $25, $35 for VIP.
Support the Arbor Opera Company. Silent Auction on Sunday.


February 18 @ 6:00 PM
February 20 @ 1:00 PM
Georges Bizet's Carmen
Teatro alla Scala, World Opera in Cinema
At the Detroit Film Theatre at the DIA.
$20, $18 for seniors, students, and DIA members.
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
Staring Jonas Kaufmann, Erwin Schrott, Adriana Damata, and Anita Rachvelishvili.


February 20 @ 3:00 PM.
Henry Purcell's Dido and Æneas
Western Michigan University School of Music
At the Dalton Center Recital Hall.
There is a charge. I don't know what it is. The website has no information.


February 21 @ 4:00 PM
Concert: Swedish Radio Choir
University Music Society
At the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor.
Tickets $10-$50.
Conducted by Ragnar Bohlin.

Dido and Bluebeard

There are two exciting events in opera this week and the diva will be at both.

On Wednesday, the University Musical Society is presenting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez. The program will include Maurice Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin(1917), Marc-André Dalbavie's Flute Concerto (2006), and a concert preformance of Béla Bartók’s one-act opera, Bluebeard’s Castle. The part of Judith will be sung by Michelle DeYoung, and Bluebeard will be sung by Falk Struckmann. The preformance is part of a month-long celebration of the conductors 85th birthday.

The preformance will take place at 8:00PM at the Hill Auditorium of Ann Arbor. There are still tickets left in the $48-$100 price range, and student rush tickets will be available on the day of the performance at the Michigan League box office for $10 between 9:00AM and 5:00PM, and at the door for $15 at 7:30.


This Saturday and Sunday, Arbor Opera Theatre will be presenting Henry Purcell's Dido and Æneas. Local talant Kara Alfano will be singing the role of Dido, and University of Michigan graduate student Jesse Enderle will be singing the part of Æneas.

The preformances will take place at 8:00 Saturday evening and 3:00 Sunday afternoon at the First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor. Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors, and $30 for prime seating, which includes a libretto. Credit cards will not be accepted at the door. There are no assigned seats, so arrive early to get a good spot.

Canadian Opera Company 10/11 Season

This past week, Canadian Opera Company announced a 2010-2011 season that seems well worth travelling to Toronto for.


Verdi's Aida
A new production, running October 2 through November 5, with Sondra Radvanovsky and Michele Capalbo sharing the title role.


Britton's Death in Venice
Running October 16 through November 6 with Steuart Bedford at the podium.


Mozart's The Magic Flute
A new production, running January 29 through February 25.


Adams' Nixon in China
Running February 5-26 .


Rossini's La Cenerentola
Running April 23 through May 25.


Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos
Running April 30 through May 29, with Sir Andrew Davis at the podium, starring Adrianne Pieczonka, Richard Margison, Jane Archibald, and Alice Coote.


Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice
Running May 8-28, starring Lawrence Zazzo and Isabel Bayrakdarian.


I might try to recruit friends to see Orfeo and Ariadne. I'll be heading over to Toronto this May to see The Flying Dutchman. Have you heard of the Opera for a New Age program that they have? Individuals age 29 and younger can buy tickets for $20. Low prices for big companies is a phenomina that makes this broke college girl very happy.

This Month in Opera

Letting you know where to get your opera fix this month.

January 6 @ 6:00 PM

Jacques Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Metropolitan Opera, live in HD.
At select movie theatres, prices vary

Directed by Bartlett Sher.

Conducted by James Levine.

Starring Joseph Calleja, Anna Netrebko, and Alan Held.

January 9 @ 1:00 PM
January 27 @ 6:30 PM
Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier
Metropolitan Opera, live in HD.
At select movie theatres, prices vary
Directed by Nathaniel Merrill.
Conducted by Edo de Waart.
Staring Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Kristinn Sigmundsson, and Thomas Allen.



January 16 @ 1:00 PM
Georges Bizet's Carmen
Metropolitan Opera, live in HD.
At select movie theatres, prices vary
Directed by Richard Eyre.
Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Staring Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna.



January 27 @ 8:00 PM
Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle
University Music Society, Opera in Concert
At the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor.
Tickets $10-$100.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez.
Staring Michelle DeYoung and Falk Struckmann.



January 28 @ 6:00 PM
January 30 @ 1:00 PM
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto
Teatro Regio, World Opera in Cinema
At the Detroit Film Theatre at the DIA.
$20, $18 for seniors, students, and DIA members.
Directed by Stefano Vizioli.
Conducted by Massimo Zanetti.
Staring Leo Nucci, Nino Machaidze, and Francesco Demuro.



January 30 @ 8:00 PM.
January 31 @ 3:00 PM.
Henry Purcell's Dido and Æneas
Arbor Opera Theatre
At the First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor.
$25, $15 for students and seniors, $30 includes a libretto.
Directed by Shawn McDonald.
Conducted by Waren Puffer Jones.
Staring Kara Alfano, Jesse Enderle, Kristen Eder, and Tanya Roberts.