...OPERA!
After a few weeks of one dance treat after another - MORPHOSES, OtherShore, San Francisco Ballet and the opening night of ABT - I slip back into operatic mode this weekend: LUCIA at the Met on Saturday afternoon and the Richard Tucker Gala on Sunday evening.
On Wednesday I spent some time with one of my favorite people in the whole universe: Lisette Oropesa. Lisette has just returned from Arizona where she sang Gilda in Arizona Opera's production of RIGOLETTO. In the photo above, she appears as Gilda with her father (baritone Philip Joll) in the scene immediately following Gilda's rape by the Duke of Mantua. This is one of my favorite photos of Lisette, but then I say that about almost every photo I see of her.
Anyway, it is great to have her back in Gotham and to have the immediate and unexpected opportunity to hear her since she has just joined the list of singers who will participate in the Tucker Gala. At the moment she is announced to sing the RIGOLETTO Quartet with Piotr Beczala, Renee Tatum and Bryn Terfel; but these galas have a tendency to alter both in terms of participants and repertoire. I have this notion she may end up singing more than one selection.
Piotr Beczala, whose Met debut in RIGOLETTO was an exciting evening, is the main reason I'm going to hear LUCIA. And I say hear because I have a score desk which offers no view of the stage. I don't really need to see this production again but I feel sure I can find a seat/standing spot after the first act. So far I have not been thrilled by Diana Damrau but she has gotten some nice notices for her Lucia (these are her first appearances in the role) so we'll see what she comes up with. It's a favorite opera of mine.
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