This is unfortunate, but it isn't a shock. For example, single-ticket sales have increased while subscription sales have decreased, and multi-year commitments from major donors are less common in a volatile economic environment. A number of factors combined to cause this season’s budget shortfall, including the enormous cost and advance planning required to produce the highest level of opera, and behavioral trends in the opera-going public away from commitment.
Census, since 2008 the number of opera performances nationwide has been reduced by 11%. Seattle Opera is not alone in facing significant economic challenges. The program trims down this season-staging recitals and concerts instead of large-scale productions-though it's satisfying to see a number of Young Artists and alums getting time on the big stage this year.This afternoon, Seattle Opera sent out a press release detailing its financial troubles, after "operating without a deficit for 18 of the past 19 seasons." The Ring cycle of 2013 will go on as planned, but they're looking at trimming future seasons from five operas to four. More importantly, part of the proceeds supports the opera's Young Artists Program, which was a casualty of cutbacks. The black-tie event features a preview of next month's La Bohème, sung by young second-night stars Michael Fabiano and Jennifer Black, who make their local debut. Seattle Opera's annual fundraising gala is this Saturday, February 2, at the Four Seasons, and last we heard, a few tickets were still available. The 50th anniversary concert and Speight Jenkins celebration will cap off the season on August 9, 2014. The previously scheduled Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg-Wagner’s grand four-hours-plus performance that’s one of the most expensive operas in the repertory, and was originally intended to cap off Jenkins’s 30th and final season-will be replaced by the International Wagner Competition (Aug 7, 2014). Tenor William Burden takes his first stab at the titular storyteller, who holds court in a local pub with his tales of three women he romanced, all played on opening night by French soprano Norah Amsellem. Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann)ĭirector Chris Alexander reprises his popular 2005 production of Offenbach’s Hoffmann, for which he won Seattle Opera’s Artist of the Year Award. Soprano Marcy Stonikas, who recently starred in both Turandot and Fidelio, returns as mother Magda Sorel. The opera makes its Seattle debut, with music and lyrics by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti oft compared to Puccini. When this Pulitzer-winning drama debuted in 1950, America was in the throes of a Cold War-yet the story of a woman trying to secure a visa so her family can flee a police state still resonates today.
Tenor Francesco Demuro-who sings Rodolfo in next month’s La Bohème-is the Duke on opening night, with soprano Davinia Rodríguez (Lucia in 2010's Lucia di Lammermoor) as Gilda and Italian baritone Marco Vratogna in the title role.
Last seen at McCaw Hall in 2004, Verdi’s tragedy pits a vengeful court jester against the world when his daughter Gilda falls prey to the womanizing Duke of Mantua. These two homegrown stars, former SO Young Artists, perform against a backdrop originally designed for the Teatro Comunale di Bologna that sets the comedy in the 1940s. Both return this year, with p rincipal guest conductor Asher Fisch-who led the orchestra in this season's Turandot and Fidelio-making his American Ring debut with Seattle Opera.ĭonizetti's comic opera, about an orphaned girl raised by French soldiers, brings soprano Sarah Coburn and tenor Lawrence Brownlee together for the first time since their turn as young lovers in 2011's The Barber of Seville.
Much has been said of the Northwest-inspired "green" set by Tom Lynch, all towering trees and rocky mountains high in the distance, and the traditional vision of director Stephen Wadsworth. Seattle Opera has presented 35 cycles of the Ring since the days of its founding director, Glynn Ross, and the latest incarnation (seen in 2001, 2005, and 2009) consistently soars.