The Weddings were a Great Success!

We had sold out audiences for the Marriage of Figaro!

 

 Check out the review from Arts-Louisville.com - where reviewer J. Barret Cooper says, "All are strong in voice, showing that Kentucky Opera does not scrimp on getting the best available talent in Opera today."

Selena Frye of Louisville.com stated "All in all, I think the night was a success -- and something of an experiment for both artists and audience." You can read her full review here. 

We were overwhelmed with the great support from the community and our loyal subscribers who let us know they understand our situation by showing up! We received a lot of anecdotal feedback about the lack of an orchestra in the pit. Most of the patrons who spoke to Opera staff acknowledged the difficult decisions that had to be made. We heard multiple times, "I expected to not enjoy this performance, but by the beginning of the second half I was won over." Or “at a certain point I forgot the orchestra wasn’t there.”

We gave the opportunity for people put pen to paper to tell us how they felt. While only a small number actually wrote out their comments, the written responses were varied and honest for the most part. 

"A wonderful effort! It would have been superlative with an orchestra."

"A Mozart Opera without an orchestra despite the stellar performances of the cast, is simply an incomplete opera."

A surprising number of people seemed to think that Kentucky Opera has 
influence over the contract between the Louisville Orchestra and it's musicians with statements like:

“The LO is entitled to a contract”

“Pay the musicians and orchestra their due. Give them their unemployment benefits.”

"I wonder where are the 'benefactors' for our orchestra like Louisville has for its sports programs."

But the majority of our patrons made statements like:

"We were comforted by the beauty of the music, our laughter and the strength of the performances today."

“Mozart is probably somewhere applauding wildly! What a masterpiece - masterfully sung, staged, acted.”

“The piano & harpsichord seemed appropriate accompaniment for this particular opera.”

“We appreciate the hard decisions that must be made. - You have our full support.”

Did you see Marriage of Figaro?  What did you think?  Leave a comment here or email us at info@kyopera.org.

Aggreement with the Union for CARMEN!

Kentucky Opera announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Louisville Federation of Musicians Local 11-637 (Local 11-637) to play for the Brown-Forman 2011/12 Season opening performances of Carmen. The agreement, signed September 9, 2011 is pending ratification by the musicians of the union and approval by the board of directors of Kentucky Opera.

While the opening night performance of Carmen, Friday, September 23 is sold out, the additional performances scheduled on Sunday, September 25 at 2pm and the following Friday, September 30 at 8pm still have tickets available.

David Roth says, “Live orchestral music is a critical element to our performances and as we have said, we make it a priority to provide the best Kentucky Opera experience possible for our patrons. We are pleased to work with officials from the Local 11-637 and the Louisville Orchestra Musicians Association (LOMA) as it is a familiar partnership for both the musicians and the Opera. 

Rehearsals for Carmen, initially scheduled to begin Monday, September 12, have been rescheduled to start Wednesday, September 14.  The current agreement includes the rehearsals and three performances of Carmen only.  While Kentucky Opera is already planning for its next production, The Marriage of Figaro on November 18 and 20, Roth says, “We will continue discussions with the Local 11-637 in regards to our next performance once we finish Carmen. Again, it is our intent to use live music for all of our performances.”

LOMA official, Kim Tichenor says, “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement and to have gone through such smooth negotiations. It’s exciting to be back and performing the great music of Carmen.”

Tickets are still available for the September 25 at 2pm and September 30 at 8pm performances of Carmen and can be obtained by calling 502.584.7777. More information is available at KyOpera.org

A Message From David Roth

With the announcement of the Louisville Orchesta’s cancelation of their September and October concerts, Kentucky Opera has been notified as well by management that the organization is not able to perform services for Kentucky Opera during those months. In spite of this setback in the negotiations between management and musicians of the Louisville Orchestra, Kentucky Opera would like to assure all patrons that there will be a live orchestra for the upcoming performances of Carmen, which opens the Brown-Forman 2011/12 Season on September 23 & 25.

General Director David Roth says. “Kentucky Opera is reaching out directly to officials of the American Federation of Musicians Local 11-637. We hope to quickly secure an agreement with them for contracting local members of the union to perform Carmen in September. While we regret the very difficult situation with the Louisville Orchestra, we have an absolute commitment to our patrons who passionately believe in the power of the live performance.” To fulfill the promise Kentucky Opera has made to these patrons during this period, it will work with the AFM Local 11-637 to secure the necessary musicians for each opera until a resolution is found and the Louisville Orchestra can resume its season.

***

Entering its 59th season of production, Kentucky Opera was founded in 1952 and designated the State Opera of Kentucky in 1982. The mission of Kentucky Opera is to entertain and educate a broad, diverse audience by producing opera of the highest quality.

The Brown-Forman 2011/12 Kentucky Opera Season
CARMEN
September 23, 25 & 30, 2011
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
November 18 & 20, 2011
THE MERRY WIDOW
February 17 & 19, 2012

Sitz what? Whosit Probe??

It's a pretty scary word, Sitzprobe. It sounds like an extremly invasive uncomfortable medical proceedure. The german word translates as "Seated test." In our case, it's a seated rehearsal.

Actually its a very special moment in the opera world. It is the moment when all the pieces come together for the first time. Singers and chorus will sing through the entire opera on stage for the first time with the Louisville Orchestra in the pit of the Brown Theatre. The singers will generally sit down or just stand rather than go through the stage blocking.

This special moment is happening for Kentucky Opera tonight. Up until now, the main stage singers have been rehearsing during the day in the 2nd floor rehearsal room, the chorus rehearses in the evening in the same space, and the orchestra has rehearsed on stage rather than in the orchestra pit.

Tonight we will hear how the voices blend with the orchestra. Most of the guest artists have only SEEN the stage. Tonight they will hear how their voices resonate in the hall. The conductor, Joe Mechavich, will be in the pit with the musicians. The director, our very own David Roth, will sit in the middle of the house with a note taker. Stage management will be back stage, making sure artists are ready, preparing cues and ready to halt the action if something needs tweeking.

Customarily, the rehearsal following the Sitz, is the wandleprobe. I bet you can guess what that means. It means singers may not sing full voice or "mark" but they will add the blocking and maybe there will be more props and they might try costume changes. Lighting cues will be refined. All of this requires the strict coordination of the stage management team. More on them next time.

Loving the Elixir

If you haven't heard that Kentucky Opera is doing the Elixir of Love, you must be living under a rock.  Tickets are still available by calling 502.584.7777 or click here.

Emily Albrink as Adina and Victor Ryan Robertson as Nemorino in Elixir of Love. Photo by J. David Levy.

Jeffery Lee Pucket takes a stab at writing on opera for the Courier Journal.

Bill Doolittle chatted with Louisville native Emily Albrink in this weeks LEO Weekly

Selena Frye talked to University of Louisville School of Music Graduate on Louisville.com.

You can still catch the Lunch & Listen we recorded at WUOL on MetroTV this week. 
10/20 at 8pm; 10/21 at 1am & 10am; 10/22 at 1am; 1023 at 4:30pm and 8pm; 10/24 at 1am.
See the entire MetroTV schedule here.

Maestro Joe Mechavich sat down with us last week to talk about The Elixir of Love, the Louisville Orchestra and the wonderful cast perfroming this weekend. 

Dear Opera Lovers,

Ahead of me stands tall once more the most impossible of all tasks…expression of a divine performance through the limitations of written word. I have spent hours and hours contemplating if such a feat can be accomplished and hour after hour I have come to the same conclusion…simply impossible!! Yes indeed, many literary scholars, critics, poets and writers will captivate you, enchant you or illuminate your imagination with their abilities to transform your surroundings and provide you with images that transcend your human limitations. If I will be allowed to say, however, (to the point of being dragged out in the city square and be stoned to death as a blasphemer) none has been or ever will be able to come even close to describe as grand of a production as the premiere of LA TRAVIATA by Kentucky Opera.

What a phenomenal spectacle, a performance so absolutely captivating and deeply rooted in the depths of our own human existence that it is impossible to conceivably describe if one failed to be present inside the Brown Theatre. I will declare this for years to come that this performance was a feat of determination, perseverance and hard work by the dedicated staff and board of directors of this amazing Kentucky Opera company (major congratulations should be given to David Roth and his illustrious staff for their impeccable ability to be visionaries and get the JOB DONE!!). The principal artists that Kentucky Opera was able to attract for this performance left no room for doubters. A cast that could deliver with such force and grace, not only in their operatic vocal crescendos, but also with their abilities to act out beyond a static, paperback, cliché reproduction of what Verdi intended. Elizabeth Futral is a star that needs no introduction but inside the Brown Theater proved in all her grandeur why she is one of the most notable Violetta’s in the operatic scene today. Her voice soared in the theater and her acting captivated even the most hard to move patrons. We felt her passion reach out to the audience as she gasped for air and begged for another day to see the ray of light alongside her beloved. Her singing can move even a siren!! She is truly a performer who “lives” her role to the fullest. Sebastien Gueze is a real find and has a brilliant career ahead of him. He could deliver his singing with incredible force and gusto while mesmerizing the audience with his very convincing acting… when he was happy, one could feel happiness, when he was angry, anger and when sorrowful, sorrow. Donnie R. Albert was once more a baritone who knows how to deliver to his audience with considerable technical ability, just like he delivered in last year’s production of OTELLO. KY Opera could challenge any other company with such cast and definitely WIN!

The congratulations, however, do not end here. Just pick up the program and you will realize the entire bill is indeed worthy of major Bravo and Brava!! Our Kentucky Opera Studio Artists were brilliant and I have to admit this year the Studio Artist Program has some of the strongest residents I have ever experienced. They deserve our warmest applause and support since their hard work colors in such an elegant way every performance. Conductor Kelly Kuo did great justice to Verdi’s score and provided a full bodied and nostalgic performance with the Louisville Orchestra. Everything, from the costumes, to the set, to the lighting design was impeccable, imaginable, and lush which provided a time capsule where the audience could travel from the comfort of its seat back to 1850’s Paris. And to make things even better, the Brown Theatre proved the perfect venue for Kentucky Opera with its beautiful renovations, expanded pit, close, intimate setting and formidable acoustics. The new motto seems to be “there is not a bad seat at the BROWN”. So, with $78 for a season subscription I am stunned you are still reading the rumblings of an insanely emotional operagoer and you have not reached for the phone to call for your seats for the next 15 seasons to come…I am still not able to hold back my tears as I weep uncontrollably listening to my recording of LA TRAVIATA and remembering the night at the BROWN. I am sure Giuseppe was looking down upon us from his throne in operatic heaven, also weeping from deep exuberance knowing this production was exactly what he had in mind when he first conceived his brilliant masterpiece.

Christos “The Wagnerian” Dimitriadis

Iolanta Review by the Wagnerian

Dearest Opera Lovers,

Greetings from the humble pen of the Wagnerian!

Those of you that have followed my previous critiques know that I usually begin my writings by describing the performance while offering my opinion as to which parts where the strongest and which parts needed some form of improvement. It would be futile for me to go into detail concerning this Saturday’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s last opera “Iolanta” which he finished composing barely ten months before he passed away from this earth and into the pantheon of the greatest composers ever lived. Only by attending the performance on Saturday, March 21 at Kentucky Center's Whitney Hall, one could understand the full effect this offering had for the Louisville audience.

I have to admit, I love Opera more than life itself; I live, I breathe, I inhale into the deepest parts of my existence pulsating, invigorating, seductive opera…just like the finest perfume draped gracefully on the silky skin of a lovely lady. However, I always thought that opera concerts were not to my full liking and taste. How can one take away the theatrics, the costumes and stage grandeur of opera and expect the same pleasing effect? Thus, I entered Saturday’s performance with the same mindset…only to be absolutely transformed for life. I will never, EVER again feel that opera concerts are the red headed step child of this performing medium. On the contrary, Kentucky Opera presented an amazingly tight cast of talented performers with a brilliant collaboration between their own studio artists, visiting distinguished soprano from Canada (Anna Shafajinskaia) and distinguished cast from the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and the United States. The Louisville Orchestra performed in top notch fashion (Bravo Maestro Mester – he possessed such grace, control and power), the Louisville Chorus charmed with its presence (Bravo to David Roth for those of you who were paying attention!!) and the Louisville audience showed its appreciation with cheers and loud applause. I personally acquired quite a hoarse throat at the end from the continuous bravo’s that were rolling out of my mouth. I do not need to go into detail concerning each one of the performers individually; I am sure you will read about it in the Courier Journal. I would like to urge you that if the review is excellent please believe it fully; but if not take it with a grain of salt (with no ill will towards our distinguished critic Mr. Adler who most of the time I do not see eye to eye with).

The applause was deafening and continued over and over again; at the end of each aria, at the end of the concert and during the reception. I am thirsty for more and I hope that Kentucky Opera will present another brilliant opera concert this coming year (make sure you keep this coming David). The people of Louisville have spoken louder than I can ever print with this pen (or should I say keyboard?). BRAVO, BRAVO and BRAVO again!! Thank you to Kentucky Opera executive director David Roth and its staff for having the vision to bring such brilliant performances to our city. Bravo to our studio artists for their tenacity and brilliant talent (we shall miss the ones who are departing-best of luck to your new endeavors and come back to visit your friends). Bravo to those of you who continue to support great art such as our Kentucky Opera company and push it to thrive towards new horizons…together we can and shall overcome obstacles presented by this economic crisis and continue to make our society better through art, through my greatest love – OPERA!!

Remember to buy season tickets for the coming sensational performances and I shall see you where voice meets theater, where theater meets music, where music meets the soul. VIVA VOCE! Thank you Kentucky Opera for a season that I will never forget and for tears that have been forged on my cheeks and in my heart forever!!

Christos “The Wagnerian” Dimitriadis