{"id":245714,"date":"2013-01-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/san-diego-operas-winning-hand\/"},"modified":"2013-01-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-04T08:00:00","slug":"san-diego-operas-winning-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/san-diego-operas-winning-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Opera\u2019s winning hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

International season opens with \u2018The Daughter of the Regiment\u2019<\/p>\n

Por Charlene Baldridge | Reportero SDUN<\/p>\n

It may come as news to some that San Diego Opera (SDO) General and Artistic Director Ian Campbell knows how to play his cards. Throughout his long career in grand opera \u2013 30 years of it devoted to the City\u2019s well-run 48-year-old institution \u2013 Campbell has kept cards on each singer he\u2019s heard on stages in the U.S. and abroad.<\/p>\n

\"San
\u2018The Daughter of the Regiment\u2019 opens San Diego Opera\u2019s 2013 season on Jan. 26 with a stunning production set at the end of WWII. (Courtesy Washington National Opera)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Campbell\u2019s frequent European sojourns to discover new talent and his penchant for introducing new singers on their way up are legendary: sopranos Sondra Radvanovsky and Latonia Moore, this season\u2019s Aida, are but two examples. When he hears someone with extraordinary talent, Campbell has been known to rush backstage after the performance and offer a contract on the spot.<\/p>\n

Occasionally, the director plays a card that is trumped by circumstance, but that does not happen often. The opera network, comprising singers, managers, conductors and artisans, tells enquiring potential debutants that San Diego is a lovely city, SDO treats its artists well, the music-making is of high quality, and the audiences enthusiastic and informed.<\/p>\n

The 2013 season, including four performances each of four operas plus two performances of another (Jan. 26 \u2013 April 28), is especially pleasing to Campbell. He is staging the West Coast premiere of an opera he much admires (Idelbrando Pizzetti\u2019s \u201cMurder in the Cathedral,\u201d March 30 \u2013 April 7), and championing a special engagement of the first Mariachi opera (Jos\u00e9 \u201cPepe\u201d Martinez and Leonard Foglia\u2019s \u201cCruzar la Cara de la Luna,<\/em>\u201d March 13). Other operas in the repertory are Gaetano Donizetti\u2019s \u201cThe Daughter of the Regiment\u201d (Jan. 26 \u2013 Feb. 3), Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 \u00a0\u201cSamson and Delilah\u201d (Feb. 16 \u2013 24) and Giuseppe Verdi\u2019s \u201cAida\u201d (April 20 \u2013 28).<\/p>\n

All are performed in their original languages with English supertitles. The bilingual \u201cCruzar\u201d has both English and Spanish supertitles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Daughter of the Regiment\u201d features the return of two extraordinary singers, soprano L\u2019ubica Vargicov\u00e1 as the regiment\u2019s tomboy darling, Marie, and tenor Stephen Costello as Tonio, the peasant who loves her. Kevin Burdette portrays Sergeant Sulpice, Tonio\u2019s rival, and divas Ewa Podle? and Carol Vaness make cameo performances as the Marquise de Birkenfeld and the Duchess of Krakenthorp respectively.<\/p>\n

Campbell wanted to go beyond the Tyrol and lederhosen, so he went with this production from Italy\u2019s Teatro Comunale di Bologna, which moves the time and setting to France in the waning days of World War II. French-Canadian conductor Yves Abel makes his SDO debut.<\/p>\n

Based on the biblical story and blessed with Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 voluptuous score, \u201cSamson and Delilah\u201d features Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Nadia Krasteva in her company debut as Delilah. She is paired with renowned tenor Clifton Forbes as the heroic Samson, dependent upon his unshorn locks for his strength. The production is known for its dance, costumes and of course, the collapse of the temple.<\/p>\n

Campbell said he has been fascinated by \u201cMurder in the Cathedral\u201d (based on T.S. Eliot\u2019s verse drama) since the 1970s, when he laid hands on a pirated reel-to-reel tape of the opera\u2019s 1958 La Scala debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of information about Sir Thomas Becket, even though he was assassinated at Canterbury Cathedral in 1170,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cI also wanted a vehicle for Ferruccio [Furlanetto, a renowned Italian bass who sings here frequently], who loves the role and has performed it twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because there is no production in the U.S., where it has never been performed in a fully staged professional production, SDO created its own, with production design by the renowned Ralph Funicello. La Scala\u2019s Donato Renzetti makes his SDO debut as conductor.<\/p>\n

\"San
General and Artistic Director Ian D. Campbell will direct \u2018Murder in the Cathedral.\u2019 (Courtesy San Diego Opera)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most popular, spectacular and aria-laden operas in the repertoire, \u201cAida,\u201d concerns an Ethiopian slave (Moore) in the ancient Egyptian court who is in love with the battle hero Radames (tenor Walter Fraccaro). Radames is betrothed to Aida\u2019s mistress, Amneris (mezzo Jill Grove). As part of his battle spoils, Radames has captured Aida\u2019s father, Amonasro (Mark S. Doss), and brings him to court along with other enslaved Ethiopians (the famous Triumphal March). Having been discovered in an attempt to escape, Aida and Radames die together, proclaiming their love in one of grand opera\u2019s unforgettable scenes. Italian conductor Daniele Callegari makes his SDO debut in the pit. Renowned designer Zandra Rhodes, who began her opera career at SDO, creates sets and costumes.<\/p>\n

Featuring Mariachi Vargas de Tecaliti\u00e1n, the semi-staged \u201cCruzar la Cara de la Luna\u201d (To Cross the Face of the Moon) concerns the Mexican-American Mark Velasquez (Brian Shircliffe) who questions his place in a bicultural world that sweeps him from Michoac\u00e1n to Texas. Broadway director Leonard Foglia (\u201cMoby-Dick\u201d) stages the Mariachi opera, which has been acclaimed in Houston, Texas and Paris.<\/p>\n

Jeff Nevin, well-known Southwestern College Mariachi teacher, said that Mariachi Vargas de Tecaliti\u00e1n is the most important ensemble in the history of mariachi music, and is considered the best mariachi in the world. \u201cPepe Martinez has been their onstage music director, [and] the face of Mariachi Vargas for about 40 years,\u201d Nevin said. \u201cHe\u2019s a legend as a performer and composer.\u201d Campbell said he expects the two performances to sell out.<\/p>\n

In addition to three conductor debuts this season, Campbell\u2019s deck also includes eye-catching opera posters created by artist R. Black, a San Diego native who got his start 12 years ago with flyers and posters for local underground clubs. Now an artist in residence at Shotgun Players in the San Francisco Bay Area, Black created the poster for actor-playwright Woody Harrelson\u2019s recent off-Broadway play, \u201cA Bullet for Adolf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for SDO\u2019s 2013 season are available now. There is no rise in prices this year, and some tickets are being sold at substantial discounts. Three- and four-opera season tickets are still available. Not part of the subscription packages, tickets for \u201cCruzar\u201d are individually priced. For specific dates and times, further information, and tickets, visit sdopera.com or call 619-533-7000.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International season opens with \u2018The Daughter of the Regiment\u2019 By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Reporter It may come as news to some that San Diego Opera (SDO) General and Artistic Director Ian Campbell knows how to play his cards. Throughout his long career in grand opera \u2013 30 years of it devoted to the City\u2019s […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"San Diego Opera\u2019s winning hand","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}