30.11.2023 Views

50 years of opera

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Pagliacci, 2013

Rigoletto, 2014

outstanding arts leader, chooses instead

to generously give gifts. With regard

to Opera Idaho, she was there in the

beginning as a leader, a performer and

sustainer, and her support continues.

Without her vision and generosity, such

cultural gems as Opera Idaho, Ballet

Idaho, and the Boise Philharmonic might

not exist.

The 2014-15 season also saw Opera

Idaho’s Resident Company presenting an

abridged version of The Barber of Seville

to elementary schools in the Treasure

Valley.

During the 2015-2016 season Opera

Idaho’s Operatini series found a home

in the Sapphire Room of the Riverside

Hotel. There, patrons gathered to dine

and to enjoy a program presented by

cast members of upcoming mainstage

productions, and a martini created to

honor the current show.

Papageno and Tamino set off on their

journey with magic bells and a magic

Gianni Schicchi, 2014

flute in the fall of 2015. In December,

Amahl and his mother hosted

unexpected guests in Menotti’s Amahl

and the Night Visitors. The performance

was so popular it became a holiday

staple for several seasons. In January

of 2016, the company produced Verdi’s

La traviata in Boise’s Egyptian Theatre

and in a semi-staged version in Ketchum,

Idaho. Pirates stalked the stage that

spring in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The

Pirates of Penzance, presented by The

New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players.

And who could have imagined an opera

performed in an airplane hangar? That

is exactly where Tom Cipullo’s Glory

Denied took place. It is the true story of

the longest held prisoner of the Vietnam

War.

The season also saw innovations of

another sort. An educational program

called Rising Stars was designed to assist

aspiring high school vocalists as they

prepared for college auditions. Students

received solo coaching, auditions

preparation, and training in stage

movement. Engaged students were

able to mingle and learn from opera

professionals and perform opera scenes.

By fall of 2016 board president Andrew

Owczarek stated that the company

had achieved 40,000 exposures across

the length and breadth of Idaho.

The repertoire of Opera Idaho now

included a range of both classic and

contemporary operas. The 2016-17

selections included Schubert’s The

Winterreise Project that featured only

a soloist and a pianist. Next came an

opera with a full chorus -- Puccini’s

Tosca. Before the Boise performances,

the opera was performed in Ketchum.

The season also included J. Strauss’s Die

Fledermaus and Massenet’s Werther.

10

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!