Seattle Opera future seasons
Every once in awhile, I comb the web for clues about what Seattle Opera will be attempting in upcoming seasons. Usually SO itself keeps its cards hidden, apart from occasional cryptic comments from Speight Jenkins--however, artists engaged by the company tend to be much more loose-lipped, and post their future performances on their personal websites.
The world of opera being what it is, even though plans may be made years in advance, they can be changed on quite short notice: for instance, the company's most recent Der Rosenkavalier was originally intended to be a revival of Die Meistersinger (does that mean that Peter Rose was supposed to be Hans Sachs? Holy crap, that would have been awesome), and Der Freischutz of a few years back was supposed to be Die Frau ohne Schatten (Deborah Voigt moving from the Empress to Agathe).
At this point, we know only one thing for sure after the already-announced 2008-09 season: The Ring cycle will be revived in the summers of 2009 and 2013 (and quite possibly 2017 as well).
Soon-to-be former Seattleite Nick Scholl blogged about Seattle Opera's future seasons a few months back, and he ran across some information I was already aware of, and quite a bit I wasn't. However, he apparently assumed that everything he read about was going to happen for sure--a big mistake (otherwise we would have already seen Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Dialogues of the Carmelites and Il tabarro in the past few seasons). One thing that he lets pass without comment: the possibility that the company would present three Verdi operas in 2009-10. I really don't think so: normally Mr. Jenkins presents far more balanced repertory than that (not to mention that Verdi operas aren't automatically big box-office draws--the Rigoletto of a few years back was a box-office flop that actually put the company in the red for the first time in years).
So anyway, let's look at what we've got:
La traviata, Fall 2009: Too bad for me, as Traviata is my least favorite Verdi opera.
Falstaff, 2009-2010: I doubt it--the young artists produced this work fairly recently, and it's never been a popular Verdi hit.
Il trovatore, January 2010: I think this one is likely to happen, based on the number of sources. Oh please, oh please let Stephanie Blythe be Azucena.
Otello, may have originally been planned for 2008-09. Unlikely to happen.
Amelia, May 2010: A world premiere of an opera by Daron Hagen. This one is almost certain to be performed when scheduled, although new operas have been known to not be ready precisely on time.
Tristan und Isolde, August 2010: It's been 12 years since the famous first Eaglen-Heppner Tristan, but it's almost certain that neither will be on hand for this go-round. I'm assuming that Ascher Fisch will conduct (the late Armin Jordan conducted the original production).
Lucia di Lammermoor, October 2010: On the radio, Speight Jenkins mentioned that Norah Amsellem would be returning, but didn't mention in what. This may be it.
Barbiere di Siviglia, January 2011
The Magic Flute, 2010/2011.
I would assume that we'll see Wagner in the summers of 2011 and 2012: Tannhauser, Die Meistersinger, and Parsifal would be the candidates for revival.
Mr. Jenkins plans on retiring after the 2013 Ring, which will also be the 50th anniversary of the company. I'm guessing that there will be some sort of gala to mark his retirement around that point. He wants his successor to be named by January 2012, so she or he will have a long in-training period.
The world of opera being what it is, even though plans may be made years in advance, they can be changed on quite short notice: for instance, the company's most recent Der Rosenkavalier was originally intended to be a revival of Die Meistersinger (does that mean that Peter Rose was supposed to be Hans Sachs? Holy crap, that would have been awesome), and Der Freischutz of a few years back was supposed to be Die Frau ohne Schatten (Deborah Voigt moving from the Empress to Agathe).
At this point, we know only one thing for sure after the already-announced 2008-09 season: The Ring cycle will be revived in the summers of 2009 and 2013 (and quite possibly 2017 as well).
Soon-to-be former Seattleite Nick Scholl blogged about Seattle Opera's future seasons a few months back, and he ran across some information I was already aware of, and quite a bit I wasn't. However, he apparently assumed that everything he read about was going to happen for sure--a big mistake (otherwise we would have already seen Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Dialogues of the Carmelites and Il tabarro in the past few seasons). One thing that he lets pass without comment: the possibility that the company would present three Verdi operas in 2009-10. I really don't think so: normally Mr. Jenkins presents far more balanced repertory than that (not to mention that Verdi operas aren't automatically big box-office draws--the Rigoletto of a few years back was a box-office flop that actually put the company in the red for the first time in years).
So anyway, let's look at what we've got:
La traviata, Fall 2009: Too bad for me, as Traviata is my least favorite Verdi opera.
Falstaff, 2009-2010: I doubt it--the young artists produced this work fairly recently, and it's never been a popular Verdi hit.
Il trovatore, January 2010: I think this one is likely to happen, based on the number of sources. Oh please, oh please let Stephanie Blythe be Azucena.
Otello, may have originally been planned for 2008-09. Unlikely to happen.
Amelia, May 2010: A world premiere of an opera by Daron Hagen. This one is almost certain to be performed when scheduled, although new operas have been known to not be ready precisely on time.
Tristan und Isolde, August 2010: It's been 12 years since the famous first Eaglen-Heppner Tristan, but it's almost certain that neither will be on hand for this go-round. I'm assuming that Ascher Fisch will conduct (the late Armin Jordan conducted the original production).
Lucia di Lammermoor, October 2010: On the radio, Speight Jenkins mentioned that Norah Amsellem would be returning, but didn't mention in what. This may be it.
Barbiere di Siviglia, January 2011
The Magic Flute, 2010/2011.
I would assume that we'll see Wagner in the summers of 2011 and 2012: Tannhauser, Die Meistersinger, and Parsifal would be the candidates for revival.
Mr. Jenkins plans on retiring after the 2013 Ring, which will also be the 50th anniversary of the company. I'm guessing that there will be some sort of gala to mark his retirement around that point. He wants his successor to be named by January 2012, so she or he will have a long in-training period.