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West Bay Opera’s 53rd Season, 2008–2009
Carmen |
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| Never having set foot in Spain, in 1875 the 36-year-old Bizet composed a thoroughly French opera on Spanish themes. Carmen, a sensuous Gypsy in 1870s Seville, lives in the moment, and her zest for life makes men flock to her. Don José, a soldier, is no exception. Falling madly in love with Carmen, he abandons his first love, neglects his mother, becomes a deserter and joins Carmen and the Gypsy smugglers. But Carmen soon loses interest in him, and rejects him in favor of Escamillo, the bullfighter. Desperately jealous, Don José kills her. New original WBO staging of this most popular of operas. | |
Orfeo ed Euridice February 20, 22, 28, March 1, 2009 music by Christoph Willibald Gluck libretto by Ranieri de’Calzabigi (in Italian with English titles) Conductor: José Luis Moscovich Director: José Maria Condemi |
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| According to legend, when Euridice died a young woman, her husband Orfeo sang and played the lyre so mournfully that the gods wept. The muses encouraged him to go and search for her in the netherworld. His lyre softened the heart of Persephone, who allowed Euridice to return with him, on the condition that he walk ahead of her and not look back until they were back among mortals. Desperate to reassure a doubtful Euridice of his love, Orfeo looked back, and lost her forever. This is the first of Gluck’s reform operas, focused on powerful drama. His most famous work, Orfeo ed Euridice has been an audience favorite for over 200 years. | |
Madama Butterfly May 22, 24, 30, 31, 2009 music by Giacomo Puccini libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (in Italian with English titles) Conductor: Sara Jobin Director: David Ostwald |
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| In the 1890s, as Japan opens up to the Western world, an American naval officer marries a 15-year old Japanese girl on the hills overlooking Nagasaki. In her devotion to her husband, she converts to Christianity and is ostracized by her own family at the wedding. After a blissful time, he leaves her. Three years later, he returns, full of remorse, with an American wife. Heartbroken, Butterfly entrusts her 3-year old son to the American woman, and kills herself. An enduring masterpiece from the master of the verismo style, based on a true story, Madama Butterfly is presented in an all-new WBO production. | |
