Elixir teaser

Victor Ryan Robertson will play the coutnry bumpkin, Nemorino, in Kentucky Opera's upcoming production of The Elixir of Love. Some lucky listeners heard him sing "Una furtiva lagrima" at Lunch & Listen on Wednesday, October 6 either live at the WUOL performance studio or on Classical 90.5FM. Others will get to see (a much better video of) the entire program on MetroTV in the coming weeks.




During the Q&A portion of the program, we learned that Robinson hasn't performed Nemorino since his studio artist days. You would never know that he hasn't been singing this piece for years.

A Review of Reviews

We had such rave reviews for Cavalleria Rusticana & I Pagliacci:

"The principal glory was soprano Kara Shay Thomson's explosive, altogether astonishing Santuzza. As a young woman disgraced in her village, bearing the anguish of excommunication, Thomson acted with honest, unaffected intent. She sang powerfully, wrapping every phrase in sumptuous tone retaining its core focus no matter how far above the staff."

Andrew Adler, Courier Journal

"...as the magnificent productions of these two outstanding operas were not only beautifully sung, but staged with elegant grace and acted with depth of emotion that resulted in characters that were fully realized."    J. Barrett Cooper, TheArtsLouisville.com

"Caballero and Mayes make an attractive and believable pair as they sing their lovely duet of yearning and promise. And when MacMaster sings the centerpiece aria, he makes you feel the wounded pride and pain that the betrayed feel, even as you have just left off identifying with the star-crossed lovers who caused it. When you manage to pull off that duality, you have gone a long way toward successfully performing I Pagliacci."

Selena Frye, Louisville.com.

Cavalleria Rusticana photo by J. David Levy: Lester Lynch as Alfio and Cara Shay Thomson as Santuzza.

I Pagliacci photo by J. David Levy: John Mac Master as Canio.

Nedda & Silvio duet

This past Wednesday, Kentucky Opera had their Lunch & Listen at Classical 90.5 FM WUOL. The hour-long program is hosted by David Roth who explores the stories of upcomming operas, introduces the cast with musical excerpts to whet the appitite of the studio audience and radio listeners.

This is one of my very favorite enrichment programs offered by KYO. This particular program featured the cast of I Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana, all of whom showed heir vocal prowress.

In this excerpt Pagliacci's beautiful love duet is performed by Michael Mayes as Silvio and Elizabeth Caballero as Nedda.



If you want to hear the entire program, WUOL will be rebroadcasting on Wednesday, September 15 at 12pm on Classical 90.5FM or you can stream it live at www.woul.org. Metro TV (insight channel 25) will air the entire program many times through the rest of the month, and trust me, their video quality is much better than this. Be sure to check out their schedule here.

If you haven't gotten your opera tickets yet, you had better do so soon. Opening night is selling very well! WWW.KYOPERA.ORG

A lesson from Silvio

Bill Doolittle wrote a nifty piece about the Opera for the LEO's Arts & Entertainment guide.  He elaborated on the amount of time and effort Kentucky Opera puts in to educating our patrons and the public at large.  You can read it here.

Another educational element not discussed in Doolittle's story involve our artists.  Each of them, before they arrive for reharsals, must know their parts.  Some artists go too far to learn their roles, like Michael Mayes who will portray "the other man" in I PAGLIACCI.

Daron Hagen: father - composer - blogger.

The season is upon us.

The Studio Artists have arrived and are often heard warming up in the various rooms in the building - which makes for lovely adventures in music while wandering the second floor of ArtSpace. You can meet them here.  You will see them on stage for each of the Opera peformances, they may take the mic at the Lunch & Listen on September 9 at the WUOL performance studio, and they will perform ecerpts at the Sights & Sounds at the Speed Museum on September 12. 

One of the more significant projects these young singers will enjoy while in Louisville is an intimate, week-long intensive workshop with Daron Hagen. They will learn and perform his work and develop very important connections with a living composer.

In his most recent blog post, Hagen exposes his truest and deepest self when he premiered Ameila with Seattle Opera. If his music is as sober and honest as his blogs, we are in for a magnificent opportunity.

"I had come to Seattle to attend rehearsals, revise as necessary, to learn as I always did, by observing the process of discovery, and staging. Wife and son in New York, I had returned to a quasi-feral state during the past six weeks: the debilitating insomnia, the depression, the dizzying mood swings—all had roared back. I had felt lost, alone, and agonizingly overexposed."

The Studio Artists will share the results of the Daron Hagen Composer Workshop at the Final Concert on October 31 at 3pm at Comstock Hall. The concert is free but reservations are required by calling 502-584-4500.

Musings from the Music Director (Act. I sc.2)

I am writing this entry from my home in Gulfport, Florida as Tropical Storm Bonnie swirls to the south. She is a welcomed guest as she will provide refreshing breezes and much needed rain. But still what echoes in my head are the tunes and text from a very successful run of Susannah at Des Moines Metro Opera.


At every performance the cast, chorus, orchestra and stage crew were fully committed to sharing this story with the audience providing wonderful music making and spectacular theater. Carlisle Floyd attended a performance, just like he did for Kentucky Opera’s amazing Of Mice and Men at the Brown Theater, and he reported to me that he was most happy with what he heard and saw. What was curious was the fact that many people asked me if I was “anxious” or “nervous” that the composer was in attendance. I must say that I found it reassuring that he was there. To walk up to a composer and ask questions or solicit feedback is a cherish opportunity. One certainly can’t ask Herr Mozart, Maestro Verdi or Monsieur Massenet what they intended.

“’Susannah’ clicks into place as a pitch-perfect production…The music weaves hymns and folk tunes with a layer of dissonant 20th century harmonies, punctuated by menacing snarls from the low brass, and conductor Joseph Mechavich delivers the whole thing with both precision and dramatic heft…” Michael Moran, Des Moines Register 7/7/10

I have a few weeks off to grill and go to the beach then on August 6th I will be on the faculty of “Sherrill Milnes and Friends” for a few weeks. Looking forward to Kentucky Opera’s Fall Season at the Brown and enjoy your summer!

Posted for Joseph Mechavich

Musings from the Music Director

Greetings from the rolling hills and green fields of south central Iowa where I am currently rehearsing Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah for Des Moines Metro Opera. We began rehearsing this amazing American opera on June 4 and have our opening on July 3 (Le nozze di Figaro and Macbeth are also featured this summer). Personally, I am humbled in the fact that in less than one year I was fortunate to be a part of Kentucky Opera’s acclaimed production of Floyd’s Of Mice and Men and now the opportunity to pace Floyd’s earlier composition Susannah. Floyd has the supreme gift of capturing the dramatic pulse and underscoring it with such innovative orchestrations- much like Puccini. The cast here at Des Moines Metro Opera is superb and is headlined by the gifted singer-actor Beverley O’Regan Thiele. If you happen to be around the performances are July 3, 7, 11 (Floyd will be in attendance) and 16.

Having grown up just west of Minneapolis, being in Iowa is like coming home. The people, the pace and more importantly the butcher shop filled with Iowan-feed beef and pork. I broke down and bought a Weber grill!  YUM!!! Once we open I will drop another note. Otherwise happy summer to all!

Joseph Mechavich

Kentucky Opera’s Principal Conductor and Music Director