Opera in the Summer 2005

This is a quick look at the opera performances in Washington this summer, with a survey of the most interesting summer opera productions around the world. As with all Ionarts previews, there is no attempt to be comprehensive, just to list those things that interest us. There is a comprehensive list of opera festivals from Operabase and another from the Fédération Française des Festivals Internationaux de Musique.

JUNE
Ottorino Respighi, La bella dormente nel bosco (Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, 1922)
June 1 to 10
Spoleto Festival (Charleston, S.C.)
July 12 to 16
Lincoln Center Festival
See reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 11)

Walter Braunfels, Die Vögel (The Birds, 1920)
June 2 to 11
Spoleto Festival (Charleston, S.C.)
See reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 12)

Sergei Prokofiev, Love of Three Oranges
June 2 to 29
De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 19)

Verdi, Luisa Miller (Washington Concert Opera)
Sunday, June 5, 6 pm
Lisner Auditorium
See the reviews by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 9) and Jens F. Laurson (Ionarts, June 10)

Grétry, Zémire et Azor
June 5 to 24
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 12)

Richard Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten
June 8 to 29
Théâtre de la Monnaie (Brussels)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 21)

William Banfield, Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On, libretto by Karren L. Alenier [WORLD PREMIERE]
On a program with Ned Rorem's Three Sisters Who Are Not Sisters and Virgil Thomson's Capital Capitals
June 15 to 18
Symphony Space (Leonard Nimoy Thalia, NYC)
See the review by Anthony Tommasini (New York Times, June 17)

Massenet, Cendrillon
June 15 to 19
Summer Opera Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.)
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 16)

Britten, Gloriana, with Christine Brewer, directed by Colin Graham
June 15 to 25
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 28)

Richard Strauss, Elektra (conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi and directed by Matthias Hartmann )
June 18 to July 12
Opéra National de Paris, Opéra Bastille
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, June 22)

Donizetti, Mary Stuart (Maria Stuarda, sung in English)
June 19 and 26
Debra Lawrence, soprano (Mary Stuart); John Day, tenor (Earl of Leicester)
Opera Bel Canto (Mount Vernon Place, 900 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.)

J. C. Bach, Temistocle (1772), with Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset
June 22 to 26
Théâtre du Capitole (Toulouse)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 13)

Hans Werner Henze, L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (premiered at the Salzburg Festival, 2003)
June 24 to July 2
Opéra de Lyon
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 22)

Mattheson, Boris Goudenow (1710)
June 24 and 25
Boston Early Music Festival production, Tanglewood Festival
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 5)

Shostakovich, The Noise of Time (not really an opera, special mise en scène of Shostakovich's final string quartet, directed by Simon McBurney)
With the Emerson String Quartet, based on an idea of Philip Setzer, with the London troup Complicite (actors Liam Steel and Tam Ward)
Opéra National de Paris, Palais Garnier
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 14)

Puccini, Turandot (blockbuster production first staged in the Forbidden City, in Beijing in 1998)
June 25 (Olympic Stadium in Munich)
July 6 (Gelsenkirchen)
See my post on the first of these performance, on May 28, in the Stade de France in Paris

Luigi Cherubini, Medea, new production by the Théâtre du Capitole (Toulouse)
June 30 to July 8
Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 5)

JULY
Barber, Vanessa
July 2 to August 7
Central City Opera (Colorado)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 3)

Jean-Baptiste Lully, Isis
Concert performance on July 6 (to be reprised on November 22, in the Opéra royal de Versailles), with La Simphonie du Marais and their conductor, Hugo Reyne
Musique Baroque en Vendée festival
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 25)

Philippe Boesmans, Julie (libretto based on Strindberg)
July 8 to 22
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 26)

Aulis Sallinen, Ratsumies (The Horseman, 1975)
July 8 to 27
Savonlinna Opera Festival (Finland)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 27)

Opera International, Opera Gala concert (with mezzo-soprano Guang Yang and many others)
Sunday, July 10, 4 pm
Strathmore Hall (North Bethesda, Md.)

Britten, The Turn of the Screw (1954)
July 10 to 24
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence

Jaakko Kuusisto, The Canine Kalevala (2004, mentioned here)
July 11 to 15
Savonlinna Opera Festival (Finland)

Verdi, Rigoletto
July 13 to 17
Summer Opera Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.)
See the review by Joseph McLellan (Washington Post, July 12)

Tuesday, July 12
Richard Danielpour, Margaret Garner, with libretto by Toni Morrison
July 14, 16, and 22
Cincinnati Opera Summer Festival
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 28)

The Ring Saga: Rhinegold and The Valkyrie (Wagner's operas, adapted in English by Jonathan Dove)
July 15 to 17 (parts 3 and 4 in Summer 2006)
Opera Theater of Pittsburgh
See the reviews (Rhinegold and The Valkyrie) by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 16 and 19)

Mozart, Lucio Silla, with Celena Shafer and Susan Graham
July 16 to August 10
Santa Fe Opera
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 21)

Massenet, Le Portrait de Manon, and Poulenc, La Voix Humaine
July 16 to August 20
Glimmerglass Opera

Britten, Paul Bunyan
July 16 to August 6
Central City Opera (Colorado)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 12)

Brian Ferneyhough, Shadowtime (U.S. premiere of this "thought opera" on the life of Walter Benjamin)
July 21 and 22
Lincoln Center Festival
See the review by Jens F. Laurson (Ionarts, July 29)

Mozart, Don Giovanni
July 22 to 31
Wolf Trap, Filene Center (Vienna, Va.)
See the review by Joseph McLellan (Washington Post, July 25)

Britten, Peter Grimes, with Christine Brewer as Ellen Orford
July 23 to August 17
Santa Fe Opera
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, July 24)

Britten, Death in Venice
July 23 to August 21
Glimmerglass Opera
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 11)

Franz Schreker, Die Gezeichneten (1918)
July 26 to August 7
Salzburg Festival
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 8)

Marc Blitzstein, Regina
Sets by Judy Pfaff, Leon Botstein conducts the American Symphony Orchestra
July 29 to August 6
Bard SummerScape
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 18)

Osvaldo Golijov, Ainadamar (The Fountain of Tears), with Dawn Upshaw, directed by Peter Sellars
July 30 to August 26
Santa Fe Opera
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 2)


AUGUST
Jean-Philippe Rameau, Zoroastre
August 2 to 16
Drottningholms Slottsteater (near Stockholm)
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 17)

Aaron Copland, The Tender Land
August 4 to 12
Bard SummerScape
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 22)

Wagner, Ring Cycle, with Jane Eaglen, soprano
August 7 to 28
Seattle Opera
See the reviews compiled by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 15)

Gluck, Alceste (1776), concert performance with Anna Caterina Antonacci, conducted by Ivor Bolton
August 10 and 12
Salzburg Festival

François-André Danican, dit Philidor, Les Femmes vengées (comic opera)
August 11 and 12, with La Simphonie du Marais
Musique Baroque en Vendée festival (in the Logis de la Chabotterie)
See Lully en vedette en Vendée (France 2 Cultural News, August 5)

Hans Krása, Brundibár
August 13, 14, and 16
Opera Camp for Kids, Washington National Opera
See the review by Charles T. Downey and Mini-Critic (Ionarts, August 14)

Rossini, Adelaide di Borgogna
August 19
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Giuliano Carella
Edinburgh Festival
See the review by Raymond Monelle (The Independent, August 31) and the review by Rupert Christiansen (The Telegraph, August 23), who wrote, "Jennifer Larmore sang firmly and confidently as Ottone [...] but I never want to hear a note of this opera again."

Rossini, La Cenerentola
August 20
Wolf Trap, Filene Center (Vienna, Va.)
See the review by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, August 21)

John Adams, The Death of Klinghoffer [British premiere]
August 23 to 29
Scottish Opera, directed by Anthony Neilson
Edinburgh Festival