Spring 2020 Listings
March 5
Jules Massenet: Don Quichotte
Mitch Leigh: Man of La Mancha
Aging knight Quichotte (Ghiaurov) and his squire Sancho (Bacquier) woo the lovely Dulcinée (Crespin) in Massenet’s 1895 opera. The 1965 Broadway version of Cervantes’s classic novel features Domingo, Patinkin, and Migenes.
March 12
Marc Blitzstein: Regina
A bleak picture of upper-class American life at the turn of the last century in a small Southern town, Regina exposes how greed can destroy a family. Ciesinski, Ramey, Rieux, and Greenawald sing principal roles.
March 19
Charles Gounod: Faust
Faust (Domingo) sells his soul to the devilish Méphistophélès (Ghiaurov) in return for a love affair with Marguerite (Freni). (From the Ruocchio Archives.)
March 26
Spring Membership Drive
Bob Chapman and Rob Kennedy play arias, ensembles, and choruses as you pledge your support for Opera House.
April 2
Léo Delibes’s Lakmé
Indian Brahmin priest Nilakantha (Van Dam) kills British officer Gérald (Kunde), who’s been having an affair with the priest’s daughter Lakmé (Dessay).
April 9
Richard Wagner: Parsifal
A foolish young man, Parsifal (Hofmann), gains wisdom through compassion and brings healing to Amfortas (Van Dam), leader of the Grail Knights.
April 16
Giochino Rossini: Semiramide
Assur (Rouleau), who helps Semiramide (Sutherland) murder her husband, wants to marry the queen, but she’s attracted to Arsace (Horne)—who turns out to be her own son. (From the Ruocchio Archives.)
April 23
Francis Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
An emotionally unstable Blanche de la Force (Dubosc) enters a Carmelite convent seeking peace. Against the background of the French Revolution, she and other nuns willingly go to the guillotine.
April 30
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Belmonte (Schreier) rescues Konstanze (Auger), Blondchen (Grist), and Pedrillo (Neukirch) from a Turkish harem despite roadblocks of Osmin (Moll).
May 7
Umberto Giordano: Andrea Chénier
During the French Revolution, the poet Chénier (Del Monaco) rebukes Maddalena (Tebaldi) for scorning love. Later, they fall in love, but her former boyfriend Gérard (Bastianini) denounces Chénier.
May 14
Giacomo Puccini: Il Trittico
Scotto, Domingo, and Wixell star in Il Tabarro; Scotto is Suor Angelica; and Gobbi, Cotrubaș, and Domingo head the cast in Gianni Schicchi.
May 21
Gaetano Donizetti: Don Pasquale
Pasquale (Bruscantini) wants to marry to prevent nephew Ernesto (Winbergh) from inheriting his estate. Malatesta (Nucci) suggests his sister Norina (Freni), who’s in love with Ernesto. (From the Ruocchio Archives.)
May 28
Kurt Weill: Street Scene
A story of everyday life in a New York City tenement, culminating in murder and the decision of the heroine (Barstow) to seek a better life elsewhere.
