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Call for Volunteers

Enjoy meeting others in Rochester's opera community and contributing to the availability of opera activities by volunteering for the Opera Guild!  Learning a small job or part of a larger one will pay off in numerous ways for anyone who wants to participate.  Currently there are several jobs posted: Assistant Publisher, Publicity Manager, Mail & Database Maintenance Assistant, Document Designer, and Audio/Visual Technician.

If you would like to volunteer in some other way, just let us know what your interest is and we will certainly find a place to accommodate it.  Contact Carol Crocca, Director of Development, at operaguildofrochester@gmail.com.

Contents
IN THIS ISSUE

Edition Viva Voce, October 2015
 
The Opera Guild of Rochester, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a mission to support opera and opera education in the greater Rochester area.

The Guild presents free opera lectures at local libraries, tours to productions of local opera companies and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and our popular Beat-the-Blahs, Haskell Rosenberg Memorial Series, at Temple B'rith Kodesh in Brighton.

Our Website serves as a clearinghouse for local and regional opera, concert, and recital information, with links to other music organizations on our area. Please visit us at operaguildofrochester.org.   

This newsletter is sent via eMail each month, currently to over 3,000 subscribers.  For a free subscription send your contact details, including your eMail address, to operaguildofrochester@gmail.com.

The Opera Guild of Rochester is also on facebook. For up-to-date information on opera-related news and events, please visit us on facebook.com/OperaGuildofRochester.


Reader Article submission deadline for the next issue is the 15th of the previous month.





scenes
Rochester Lyric Opera
Local Vocal
Scenes from Opera and Broadway


Sunday, October 4, at 3 p.m. 
Lyric Theater
440 East Ave, Rochester, NY 14607

Allyn Van Dusen and Susanna Adams will direct twenty talented area singers, who will perform scenes from Jane Eyre, Cosi fan tutte, Die Fledermaus, Street Scene, The Secret Garden, and Der Rosenkavalier. Kevin Nitsch will accompany them on the piano.

$15.00 general admission / $10.00 students and Seniors

Click Here for more details.


OGRLectures
Opera Guild of Rochester
Free Library Lecture season begins 

Rochester Public Library
Bausch and Lomb Branch
115 South Ave. , Rochester NY 14604
(585 428-7300
 
"Bad Girls in Opera," Wednesday, Oct 28, 12-1 P.M.
(Carol Crocca) 

Anna Caterina Antonacci as Medea
 
Come see and hear these operatic bad girls, from the truly evil Medea to the merely naughty Natasha, and all the scheming, seductive and manipulating women in between.  We will also ponder the most important question of the nineteenth century: Was Carmen actually a bad girl? 
 

eastmanEastman Opera Theater Season


Hydrogen Jukebox by Philip Glass
Nov 5, 6, 7 at 7:30 PM, Nov 8 at 2 PM  
Kilbourn Hall
 
Suor Angelica by Puccini
Mese mariano by Giordano
Jan 28, 29, 30 at 7:30 PM, Jan 30 at 2 PM
804 Annex 
 
Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart
Apr 7, 8, 9 at 7:30 PM, Apr 10 at 2 PM
Eastman Theater 
 
More information can be obtained at  www.esm.rochester.edu/voice/eastman-opera-theatre/ 
 



festivalGlimmerglass Festival Season 2016

La Boheme
Puccini / Illica & Giacosa

July 8 - August 26, 2016
 
Sweeney Todd
Sondheim / Wheeler
July 9 - August 27, 2016
 
The Thieving Magpie (La gazza ladra) 
Rossini / Gherardini
July 16 - August 25, 2016
 
The Crucible
Ward / Stambler
July 23 - August 27, 2016
 
More information can be obtained at  www.glimmerglass.org
or by calling (607) 547-2255

Single tickets from $26.00 on sale January 25, 2016
 

Syracuse
Syracuse Opera Season

2015-2016 Season

Glory Denied 

Nov. 6, 2015 at 8 p.m. 

La Boheme

Feb. 5, 2016 at 8 p.m.

West Side Story

Apr. 8, 2016 at 8 p.m

For season tickets call the box office (315) 476 7372

Click Here for more details

TriCity
Tri- Cities Opera Season

Barber of Seville
Iolanta   
Sweeney Todd
Oct. 23 & 25, 2015
Nov. 12-15, 2015
April 29 & May 1, 2016


The Telephone / Trouble in Tahiti

Feb. 18-21, 2016

 

For season tickets call the box office ( 607) 797-6344

  

For more information click here.

  

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CanadaCanadian Opera Company
2015-2016 Season

Verdi's La Traviata
October 8, 13, 16, 17, 21, 24, 29, 30 and
November 1, 4, 6, 2015

Barbara Monk Feldman

  • Pyramus and Thisbe

Claudio Monteverdi

  • IL Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
  • Lamento d'Arianna
October 20, 23, 25, 28 and
November 5, 7, 2015

Wagner's Siegfried
January 23, 27, 30 and
February 2, 5, 11, 14, 2016

Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
February 4, 7, 9, 13, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27,  2016
Bizet's Carmen April 12, 17, 20, 23, 28, 30 and
May 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 2016

Rossini's Maometto II
April 29, and
May 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 14,  2016


Subscribe by phone: 

(416) 363-8231

1 800-250-4653

by mail:

Ticket Services Canadian Opera Company

227 Front St. E.

Toronto, ON M5A 1E8


Click Here for more information.


ReaderArticlesReader Articles

This section brings you articles written by anyone involved in opera, from impresarios, to singers, to fans.  If you have seen a performance that you want to review, or have attended a class or workshop that you want to write about, or have a story or a review that would interest others, we encourage you to submit it to us and we will schedule it for inclusion.  Please send your submissions to operaguildofrochester@gmail.com and please limit them to 500 words.  All submissions are subject to editorial review.

Reader Article #1

MozartArticleMozart's The Impresario  
Art Axelrod

On the evening of Friday, August 28, a satisfyingly large number of Rochester's opera-loving community gathered to celebrate Rochester Lyric Opera's tenth anniversary and the first formal presentation at the new Lyric Theater.
The principle work was Mozart's The Impresario (Der Schauspieldirektor), composed in 1786 to a libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie (who was himself an actual Schauspieldirektor in Vienna.) At the age of 30, Mozart was at the height of his powers and the opera is contemporary with Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. It was written specifically for the amusement of the Emperor Joseph II and a small gathering at court. A short work, Mozart labeled it a "comedy with music" rather than a "comic opera."
It is a typical Singspiel (German comic opera) and includes a speaking role (Frank, the Impresario.) The Singspiel is a lineal ancestor of the American Broadway musical and ordinarily contains a considerable amount of spoken dialog. As is common, here the dialog was translated into English in a remarkably witty adaptation, much to the delight of the audience. The arias were sung in the original German.
The plot is set in the office of an operatic impresario, and relates the conflict between two competing prima donnas. Frank, the Impresario, was admirably played by Matt Ames, who has acted for several regional companies and is Associate Professor of Theater and Dance at Nazareth College. The two competing sopranos, Madame Herz ("Heart") and Mlle. Silberklang ("Silvertone") were sung delightfully by Susan Delly Cotroneo and Brittany Mruczek, respectively. The two male roles, Buff and Vogelsang ("Birdsong,") were deftly portrayed by Mitchell Hutchings, buffo baritone, and tenor Grant W. Knox.
The first half of the program consisted of several scenes from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan tutte in semi-staged settings presented by Cotroneo, Hutchings, and Knox, along with mezzo-soprano Allyn Van Dusen.   Of particular note was "Voi che sapete" from Figaro, sung splendidly by Ms. Van Dusen as Cherubino, horny teenage page to Figaro's master, the Duke. The first half ended dramatically with "Soave sia il vento" that closes Act I, scene 2 of Cosi fan tutte. Mss. Cotroneo and Van Dusen and Mr. Hutchings did justice to this beautiful and powerful trio, one of Mozart's finest ensembles.
The small but proficient orchestra was ably directed by Eric Townell, playing the overtures and providing the accompaniment to the vocal scenes.
An appreciative audience of almost 800 enjoyed this premiere of the Rochester Lyric Theater. The building was previously a church and is an architectural marvel with superb acoustics. However, this venue is not yet a proper theater. There is now no orchestra pit; Maestro Townell and his orchestra were set up between the audience and the stage and frequently the orchestra drowned out the vocalists. The stage is not completely visible to all the audience. The lack of adequate dressing rooms prevented the singers from properly changing their costumes and they were inappropriately attired in some of the scenes. But the scheduled renovations will soon begin and, when completed, Rochester will boast one of the finest opera houses in the region. We are all looking forward to that day!
 


MNOCorrectionCORRECTION

Last month, in her review of Midsummer's Night Opera debut performance of Cosi fan tutte, Carol Crocca inadvertently mis-identified one of the singers. It was Madeline Caine who sang Fiordiligi so well at the performance on Wed, Aug 19.   
 
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recitalFrom your Opera Guild 
 
Impresario Attendees
Left to right: Carol Crocca, Mort Bittker, Agneta Borgstedt, Maxine Bittker, Art Axelrod 

Opera Guild officers Carol Crocca, Agneta Borgstedt, and Art Axelrod, together with friends and supporters Mort and Maxine Bittker, attended the Anniversary Gala for Rochester Lyric Opera (formerly Empire Lyric Opera) at the new Lyric Theater (440 East Ave.).   The delicious wine, appetizer, and pasta buffet was followed by the evening's musical performance (see review.)    

 

 

  


Please consider the Opera Guild of Rochester among your charitable organizations for 2015. Donations to the Opera Guild of Rochester are fully tax deductible and donors will receive an invitation to a free Annual Recital in May 2016, which is our gift to our donors, followed by dessert reception with the artists.

Enjoy our free Lecture/Listening series, which you can download from the web site at operaguildofrochester.org by clicking on Reading Room. While at our Website you can also learn about our opera program at Temple B'rith Kodesh, our opera trips to regional opera companies including the Glimmerglass Festival, and our Metropolitan Opera trips.

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Submission deadline for the next issue is the 15th of the previous month