Dell'arte Opera Ensemble
Encyclopedia
dell'Arte Opera Ensemble is an opera company in New York City whose dual mission is to nurture emerging singers through rehearsal and performance opportunities, coachings, seminars, and master classes, and to attract new audiences by offering them high-quality opera presentations at affordable prices.
to those pursuing regional careers and even covering major roles at the Metropolitan Opera
. Among dell'Arte's noteworthy recent projects is a 2010 performance of Engelbert Humperdinck
's little-known "other opera," Königskinder
, celebrating the centennial of its premiere at the Met. Each summer, dell'Arte engages up to 60 young artists in its Standard Repertoire Project, preparing them to sing debut roles in frequently performed operas on the professional stage. Presentations have included Die Zauberflöte, Ariadne auf Naxos
, Don Giovanni
, Le nozze di Figaro, Lucia di Lammermoor
, Il trittico
, and La bohème
. Performances during the past three seasons have taken place in the East Village
at ttp://www.theatre80.net/ Theatre 80] and The East 13th Street Theatre, both intimate spaces where the audience's attention is focused on the artists and their dramatic interpretations.
Participation in dell'Arte Opera Ensemble is completely free for the singers selected in open auditions, and is supported by individual and institutional donors. Current and former singers have performed at the Metropolitan Opera
, New York City Opera
, Glimmerglass Opera
, Leipzig Opera, and English National Opera
, among many others.
, DiCapo Opera
, Opera Illinois, Harrisburg Opera, Opera Theatre of Philadelphia, Opera Company of Brooklyn
, Brooklyn Repertory Opera, Amore Opera, Amato Opera
, Skylight Opera Company, and Opera in the Heights
. He counts over 50 operas in his repertoire, including several world and regional premieres. In 2000 he founded dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, dedicated to providing quality experiences for young singers. dell'Arte has produced over 35 workshop and mainstage presentations of mainly standard repertoire, including full New York City productions of Ariadne auf Naxos
, Der Rosenkavalier
, I Capuleti e i Montecchi
, La clemenza di Tito
, Don Giovanni
, Manon
, La bohème
, Anna Bolena
, Le nozze di Figaro, Il trittico
, Lucia di Lammermoor
, and Königskinder
(in a production commemorating the 100th anniversary of the work’s debut at the Metropolitan Opera
).
Fecteau’s special interest is re-examining orchestral and operatic works for their possibilities in chamber settings, making these works accessible to companies with modest resources. He was commissioned by Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee to create a new version of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette
, adapting the original music and Shakespeare's text and story line into one another in a compelling two-act format which the Milwaukee Sentinel called "a miracle." Other arranging projects have included chamber music
reductions of Ariadne auf Naxos, La clemenza di Tito, and Anna Bolena for dell'Arte and I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Corleone Opera’s tour of the Czech Republic
. Two new arrangements, for Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Zauberflöte will be featured in Berkeley/West Edge Opera productions next season, and the Ariadne auf Naxos reduction will also be featured at Winter Opera St. Louis. Fecteau has created arrangements for "Fünf Lieder" by Alma Mahler
as well as for the album Sleep is Behind the Door by soprano
Courtenay Budd. Notable recital appearances at the piano include a salon-style program with Sherrill Milnes
for Orlando Opera
, and the world premiere of Valerie Saalbach's song cycle Catarina to Camoens at the 2003 International Festival of Women Composers in Florida.
Opera Today Blog review of Ariadne auf Naxos http://www.operatoday.com/content/2011/08/ariadne_auf_nax.php
Associated Press review of Ariadne auf Naxos http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=14301743
ABC News review of Königskinder, 2010
Participants
Singers performing with dell’Arte range from those who have just finished music schoolMusic school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
to those pursuing regional careers and even covering major roles at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
. Among dell'Arte's noteworthy recent projects is a 2010 performance of Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province; at the age of 67 he died in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.-Life:After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition...
's little-known "other opera," Königskinder
Königskinder
Königskinder is a stage work by Engelbert Humperdinck that exists in two versions: as a melodrama and as an opera or more precisely a Märchenoper...
, celebrating the centennial of its premiere at the Met. Each summer, dell'Arte engages up to 60 young artists in its Standard Repertoire Project, preparing them to sing debut roles in frequently performed operas on the professional stage. Presentations have included Die Zauberflöte, Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Le nozze di Figaro, Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, Il trittico
Il trittico
Il trittico is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, by Giacomo Puccini...
, and La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
. Performances during the past three seasons have taken place in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
at ttp://www.theatre80.net/ Theatre 80] and The East 13th Street Theatre, both intimate spaces where the audience's attention is focused on the artists and their dramatic interpretations.
Participation in dell'Arte Opera Ensemble is completely free for the singers selected in open auditions, and is supported by individual and institutional donors. Current and former singers have performed at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...
, Leipzig Opera, and English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
, among many others.
Founder
dell'Arte founder, Christopher Fecteau, has been an opera coach and conductor for over 20 years, working with companies such as Bronx OperaBronx Opera
The Bronx Opera is a Bronx, New York opera company founded in 1967 by artistic director and music director Michael Spierman.The company performs two operas a year, both with full orchestra, one lesser known opera in the fall, and an opera from the Standard repertoire in the spring.Performances are...
, DiCapo Opera
Dicapo Opera
Dicapo Opera Theatre was co-founded in 1981 by General Director Michael Capasso and Artistic Director Diane Martindale. Aside from the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera, it is the only professional non-profit opera company in New York City presenting an annual season of opera productions,...
, Opera Illinois, Harrisburg Opera, Opera Theatre of Philadelphia, Opera Company of Brooklyn
Opera Company of Brooklyn
The Opera Company of Brooklyn is an opera company founded in 2000 which performs in a variety of venues in New York City. It is a non-profit organization operating under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code.-The company:...
, Brooklyn Repertory Opera, Amore Opera, Amato Opera
Amato Opera
The Amato Opera was an opera company located in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. The company was produced by the husband and wife team of Anthony and Sally Amato and presented opera on a small scale with a reduced orchestra at low prices...
, Skylight Opera Company, and Opera in the Heights
Opera in the Heights
Opera in the Heights is a non-profit, regional opera company, which is housed in the historic Lambert Hall at 1703 Heights Boulevard in Houston, Texas.-History:...
. He counts over 50 operas in his repertoire, including several world and regional premieres. In 2000 he founded dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, dedicated to providing quality experiences for young singers. dell'Arte has produced over 35 workshop and mainstage presentations of mainly standard repertoire, including full New York City productions of Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
, Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
, I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare...
, La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
, La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
, Le nozze di Figaro, Il trittico
Il trittico
Il trittico is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, by Giacomo Puccini...
, Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, and Königskinder
Königskinder
Königskinder is a stage work by Engelbert Humperdinck that exists in two versions: as a melodrama and as an opera or more precisely a Märchenoper...
(in a production commemorating the 100th anniversary of the work’s debut at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
).
Fecteau’s special interest is re-examining orchestral and operatic works for their possibilities in chamber settings, making these works accessible to companies with modest resources. He was commissioned by Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee to create a new version of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette
Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
, adapting the original music and Shakespeare's text and story line into one another in a compelling two-act format which the Milwaukee Sentinel called "a miracle." Other arranging projects have included chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
reductions of Ariadne auf Naxos, La clemenza di Tito, and Anna Bolena for dell'Arte and I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Corleone Opera’s tour of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. Two new arrangements, for Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Zauberflöte will be featured in Berkeley/West Edge Opera productions next season, and the Ariadne auf Naxos reduction will also be featured at Winter Opera St. Louis. Fecteau has created arrangements for "Fünf Lieder" by Alma Mahler
Alma Mahler
Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel was a Viennese-born socialite well known in her youth for her beauty and vivacity. She became the wife, successively, of composer Gustav Mahler, architect Walter Gropius, and novelist Franz Werfel, as well as the consort of several other prominent men...
as well as for the album Sleep is Behind the Door by soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Courtenay Budd. Notable recital appearances at the piano include a salon-style program with Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....
for Orlando Opera
Orlando Opera
The Orlando Opera was Orlando, Florida's professional opera company. Based in the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, the Orlando Opera performed multiple times a year in the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and other venues in the central Florida region....
, and the world premiere of Valerie Saalbach's song cycle Catarina to Camoens at the 2003 International Festival of Women Composers in Florida.
Reviews
Superconductor Blog review of Anna Bolena (2010) http://super-conductor.blogspot.com/2010/02/opera-review-anna-bolena-at-dellarte.htmlOpera Today Blog review of Ariadne auf Naxos http://www.operatoday.com/content/2011/08/ariadne_auf_nax.php
Associated Press review of Ariadne auf Naxos http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=14301743
ABC News review of Königskinder, 2010