Toledo Opera Gala, April in Paris – Saturday, Feb. 13
Toledo Opera presents its annual Opera Gala at the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle on Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm. This year’s theme is April in Paris – a delicious offering of favorite French operatic delights – perhaps the only thing French that can rival those tasty chocolate bonbons! This Valentine’s Day gala presents music of love in all its aspects: happy and sad, glorious and tragic, doomed and triumphant.
Three world-renowned stars of grand opera will join the Toledo Opera Chorus and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Thomas Conlin to celebrate Valentine’s Day with music of great beauty, drama and romance! Highlights include the final acts of the two most popular French operas: Faust and Carmen.
Soprano Kerri Marcinko will be heard in the roles of Marguerite in Faust and the title role in Carmen, along with the aria “Depuis le jour” (“Ever since the day we met”) from Louise by the Parisian composer Gustave Charpentier. In this lovely song, Louise, who has run away with her artist-lover to live with him in his Montmartre apartment because of her parents’ opposition to his proposal, declares herself blissfully happy. Ms. Marcinko, a native of Cleveland, was the star of Toledo Opera’s recent production of Il Trovatore.
Mark McCrory, bass, and Gaston Rivero, tenor, will sing one of the most familiar duets in the operatic repertoire, “Au fond du temple saint” (“We met at the holy temple”) from The Pearl Fishers. In this duet, two young pearl divers recall their former rivalry for the hand of the beautiful priestess Leila, and both swear never to see her again in order to preserve their friendship. (Don’t ask!) Mr. McCrory has appeared with numerous opera companies from Hawaii to Maine. Mr. Rivero was cast by Australian film director Baz Luhrmann in his Broadway production of La bohème. Both singers have won numerous prizes and awards in recognition of their vocal athleticism and the beauty of their voices.
Charles Gounod’s Faust was so popular when it first arrived in the United States that at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera it opened the season every year for several decades in the late nineteenth century. In it, Faust despairs of advancing old age and longs for joy and youth, calling upon Satan to aid him. His wish is granted, but there is a price to pay!
At the Opera Gala you will hear the famous trio which concludes this opera. Marguerite is awaiting her punishment for having committed a terrible crime. There is little time to rescue her before the gallows claims her. Faust visits her in prison. At first happy to see her lover, she sinks into a daze, recoiling violently when she spots the Devil in the shadows. As she calls on the angels for help, the grand trio begins, the voices mounting higher and higher – Faust despairing, Méphistophélès impatient to claim Faust’s soul, Marguerite pleading for mercy. Accompanied by the Opera chorus and the magnificent Peristyle pipe organ, the heavens open to receive Marguerite. Faust's fate is left uncertain; presumably he keeps his bargain with the Devil for his soul.
It is said that every day, somewhere in the world, Carmen is being performed, so incredibly popular is Georges Bizet’s masterpiece. The crowd sings and cheers as the curtain rises on Act 4. A magnificent procession of toreadors, matadors, picadors and dignitaries arrives for the grand superbowl of bull-fighting. The reigning champion of the ring, Escamillo, shows up with the gypsy Carmen on his arm. They’re greeted enthusiastically by the crowd. In a brief moment aside, they express their love for each other, Carmen adding that she had never loved anyone so completely.
After Escamillo has gone into the bullring, Carmen’s friends warn her that Don José, her former lover, is in the crowd, but Carmen scorns their fears. Before she can enter the arena she is confronted by the desperate José who wants her to return to him. He begs her to start a new life with him far away. She calmly replies that she loves him no longer and will not abandon Escamillo — free she was born and free she will die. (Carmen was one of the first feminists.)
Cheers are heard from the bull-ring and Carmen tries to enter, but José bars her way. He asks her one last time to come back to him, but she scornfully throws down the ring that he had given her. He stabs her, as Escamillo is acclaimed in the arena. To the strains of the Toreador Song she dies. Don José kneels in despair beside her. The spectators emerge from the arena and find José confessing his guilt over her dead body.
The orchestra will be featured in the Prelude to Act 2 of Hector Berlioz’s epic Benvenuto Cellini, whose sub-plot follows the great sculptor’s infatuation with his beautiful muse, Teresa. A brilliant musical depiction of dancing and carousing at an Italian street festival, this prelude is sometimes known as Roman Carnival Overture. Contrast comes in the form of the lyrical Meditation from Thais by Jules Massenet. From Samson and Delilah we’ll hear Camille Saint-Saens’s exotic and erotic Bacchanale, which begins sensuously and builds to a climax of frenzied revelry.
“Exotic,” “erotic,” “sensuous,” “bliss” – what could be a better combination on Valentine’s Day? This Toledo Opera Gala, April in Paris, is a collection of the world’s most passionate music and a perfect celebration for lovers.
Press Release Contact Name: Renay Conlin
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Press Release Contact Phone: 419-255-SING
Organization Name: Toledo Opera
Website or Link: www.toledoopera.org
Organization Address: 425 Jefferson Ave., Suite 601, Toledo, OH, 43604