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West Bay Opera’s 53rd Season,
2008–2009
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October 17, 19, 25, 26, 2008
music by George Bizet
libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
after the novella by Prosper Mérimée
(in French with English
titles)
Conductor: Michel Singher
Director: David Cox
Preview: October
9, 2008
Post Show Discussion: October
19, 2008
Tickets available from the Box
Office or online through Acteva.
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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. |
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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
Preview:
February 12, 2009
Post Show Discussion: February
22, 2009
Tickets available from
the Box Office or from Acteva. |
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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. |
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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
Preview:
May 14, 2009
Post Show Discussion: May
24, 2009
Tickets available from
the Box Office or from Acteva. |
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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. |
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Lucinda Surber & Stan Ulrich |
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