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