By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Theatre Critic

First love, suicide, mid-life angst, crimes of passion and a few beheadings—just another edition of the daily news, right?

Wrong. Those are the topics that inspired the librettists of operas set for performance in San Diego Opera’s (SDO) 2011 season Jan. 29-May 22. Opera librettists, though seldom celebrated, give words to passion—and operatic passions are immense. That’s why it’s called grand opera.

This season’s librettists are Italians Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni (Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot”), Austrian Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier”), and Frenchmen Jules Barbier and Michel Carré (Charles Gounod’s “Faust”) and Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy (Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”).

One might ask why hang out with a bunch of dead guys? The most recent of these operas premiered 85 years ago. What relevance does opera have in a Mos Def era?

The answer is that in all its labor-intense glory, grand opera imparts thrills like absolutely no other musical art form.

“People’s lives are suspended as they go into this remarkable world in the darkness,” Ian Campbell, SDO’s general artistic director, said. “You can be any character, from a fuddy-duddy to romantic hero.”

Imagine a court in ancient China, bustling with acrobats, an immense chorus of Mandarins, comic yet sinister court flunkies named Ping, Pang and Pong. Add in an icy virgin princess, Turandot, who beheads failed suitors, and the one man in the universe who can melt the ice, a fellow from the provinces named Calaf, who risks his life solving three riddles to win her love. That’s the plot enacted upon David Hockney’s spectacular fairy tale set. Puccini’s magnificent arias include Calaf’s “Nessun Dorma” (“No one shall sleep”) and Turandot’s “In Questa Reggia” (“In this palace”). Yep. The opera is sung in Italian. As with all four operas, English translations are projected above the proscenium of the Civic Theatre.

In her SDO debut as Turandot, a role for which she is internationally acclaimed and in which she made her Metropolitan Opera debut last season, is American soprano Lise Lindstrom. Opposite Lindstrom is Uruguayan tenor Carlo Ventre, who has endeared himself to local audiences as Radames in “Aida” and Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly.”

The voluptuous opening scene of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” plops audiences down in the boudoir of a Viennese noblewoman known as the Marschallin (German soprano Anja Harteros in her role debut). She and her much younger lover, Octavian (German mezzo soprano Anke Vondung), have spent the night making love. The Marschallin realizes it is time for Octavian to move on with his life. She appoints him “Rosenkavalier,” sending him to deliver Baron Ochs’ (Italian bass Ferrucio Furlanetto in his role debut) silver rose to Sophie to seal Ochs’ and Sophie’s engagement. Octavian and Sophie (Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi) fall in love at first sight, and the rest of the opera’s plot involves machinations to prevent Baron Ochs from marrying the girl. With its grand harmonic sweep, Strauss’ lush music matches the humor, sensuality, and poignancy of the plot.

Seasoned opera lovers relish the idea of seeing “Turandot” and “Rosenkavalier” again. Admittedly, the more frequently performed “Faust” and “Carmen” will be the crowd pleasers as well. “Faust” concerns the elderly Faust’s (American tenor Stephen Costello) deal with the devil, Mephistopheles (American bass-baritone Greer Grimsley) to exchange his soul for the restoration of his lusty youth. Faust woos and despoils the virginal Marguerite (American soprano Ailyn Peréz) putting her immortal soul in peril (she goes mad and kills their baby) until she is saved by a miracle. Faust and the Devil get their due. In real life Costello and Peréz are a married couple who relish the opportunity to be on the same stage portraying overs again (they performed the title roles in “Romeo and Juliet” here last season). A great favorite wherever he goes, the graceful Grimsley is, quite simply, a hunk. See him on the cover of the June 2010 “Opera News.” All are fine actors, so the opera should play like gangbusters.

Does anyone not know the plot of “Carmen”? It’s been made into numerous films and pounded into other guises. The hit tunes are everywhere. Carmen, a gypsy temptress (Georgian mezzo soprano Nino Surgurladze in her SDO debut) seduces a country bumpkin soldier, Don Jose (sensational Italian tenor Salavatore Licitra in his SDO debut), who goes AWOL after releasing her when she is arrested for murder. When he gets out of prison, Jose joins Carmen and a band of cutthroat smugglers. Jose is beloved of hometown girl Micaela (SDO debutante Talise Trevigne, who created the role of Pip in “Moby-Dick”), who comes to the gypsies’ encampment to plead with him to come home. So intense and obsessive is his passion that he cannot leave Carmen even though she treats him like dirt. Meanwhile, Carmen falls in love with a toreador named Escamillo (American baritone Wayne Tigges) and gives Don Jose the heave-ho. Jose follows her to the bull ring and stabs her to death. Hit tunes include the famous “Toreador Song” and Carmen’s “Habanera.” Bizet’s “fate” theme dominates the opera. One can’t help humming it in the car bound for home.

To further discover the grandness of opera and decide whether it’s for you, SDO offers a new series of “Community Conversations,” which address musical, dramatic, religious and psychological matters. For instance, on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego Symphony music director Jahja Ling and SDO education director Nicolas Reveles explore the authentic Chinese melodies in Puccini’s “Turandot.” These events are scheduled at convenient community locations, and will feature noted experts in various fields, but best of all are free and open to the public. For more information or to reserve a seat, visit sdopera.com/communityconversations.

Tickets for individual performances at the Civic Theatre, located at 3rd and B Street in downtown San Diego, start at $35. Three- or four-opera subscription packages range upwards from $108, depending upon performance night and location. Senior discounts are available for the full Tuesday evening series. For more information, visit sdopera.com or call 533-7000. Music may be sampled on the website as well as individual singers’ voices.