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50 years of opera

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La bohème, 2007

The Resident Company of Opera Idaho

headed to The Winery at Eagle Knoll

during the summer of 2005 for the first

of the summer’s two performances of

Opera Under the Stars. The performance

featured previews of the upcoming

season with excerpts from La Traviata,

and Gilbert and Sullivan’s light opera

The Mikado. The company showed is

versatility by also performing hits from

Broadway. The second performance was

at the Idaho Botanical Garden.

Lucia di Lammermoor, 2008

In September the Resident Company

headed back to Eagle to Rembrandt’s

and Drop Leaf Gallery to present an Aria

Auction where a delectable selection

of arias mingled with fine dining and a

silent auction. In total over a thousand

people heard the Opera Resident

Company perform in these pre-season

events. But it was time step onto the

main stage with a cornerstone of Italian

Opera, Verdi’s poignant love story of

the courtesan Violetta and her lover,

South Pacific in Concert, 2010

8

Alfredo. Students from area schools were

invited to attend the dress rehearsal of

La Traviata and music teachers provided

study guides to help their students grasp

the story. Appreciation of opera was

spreading across the valley and across

age groups—all in accordance with

the Opera’s mission, to create wider

acceptance, appreciation and enjoyment

of this art form.

On opening night of La Traviata, cast

members were taking their position

on stage behind the curtain, while in

front, a special presentation was in

progress. The first Morrison Center Gold

Award was presented to Esther Simplot

because of her lifetime commitment

and contributions to the Arts. Opera

is a special love for Mrs. Simplot, who

formerly had been an opera singer and

who played a critical role during the

conception and development of Opera

Idaho.

The 2005-2006 season also included a

special event that featured the Resident

Company and the company’s children’s

chorus in the first of what would in

succeeding years would become a

popular holiday event called Opera Idaho

Sings Christmas. Then it was time to

switch gears and welcome spring with

a Gilbert and Sullivan confection, The

Mikado, written during the period when

the world was going crazy over all things

Japanese. Timeless yet specific, this

work pokes fun at British social mores

and culture using a Japanese lens. The

lead characters’ names give a clue to the

flippant nature of the show—Yum-Yum is

the soprano lead and her counterpart is

NankiPoo.

With Mardi Gras approaching, Opera

Idaho decided a celebration was in

order. It hosted a Mardi Gras Masked

Ball. Guests brought out the beads, the

masks and the costumes, and they did

the dancing. Then David Malis and Leslie

Mauldin, stars from La Traviata, provided

the entertainment. Proceeds from this

extravagant event went to support Opera

Idaho. And support would be needed

since ticket sales traditionally cover less

than 40% of the price of producing a

performance and the 2006-2007 season

would include two major presentations.

In November of ’06 Rossini’s The Barber

of Seville would grace the stage. Then

in early spring an unusual production,

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living

in Paris went into production. Not a

typical opera, this was a review featuring

the music of French songwriter and

musician, Jacques Brel.

Later in the spring and summer the

Opera held two special events, the

opera’s Most Romantic and, once again,

Opera Under the Stars. Fall brought

Puccini back to Idaho with a production

of his work, La bohème. This lyrically

beautiful and tragic opera has a story line

that tugs at the heart and brings people

back. It was the 4th time Boise Opera

Elixir of Love, 2008

had produced the work and it would not

be the last. Spring’s production was the

lighthearted and fanciful Elixir of Love by

Donizetti.

Donizetti, also capable of writing weighty

operas, penned Lucia di Lammermoor

with its story of politics, and revenge,

and the Boise audience was swept to the

hills of Scotland as the curtain opened

revealing a set borrowed from the Utah

Symphony and Opera. The company

La Cenerentola, 2010

could only present the opera once due to

the expense, but something was coming

that would resolve that problem.

In spring, in the beautifully restored

Egyptian Theatre, the company

presented Mozart’s comic opera Cosi fan

tutte. That title is often translated into

English as “women are like that” and it is

no surprise that the words were sung in

act two by a trio of men. Mark Junkert,

the company’s Executive Director who

arrived in May 2008, was less concerned

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