Opera Boston
Encyclopedia
Opera Boston is an opera
company in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in innovative repertoire and rarely heard works, along with opera education and outreach programs designed to bring opera education to children, in schools and after-school programs throughout the Boston area.
Its home base is the Cutler Majestic Theatre
, a 1903 Beaux-Arts opera house designed by architect John Galen Howard
. Currently, its Artistic Director is Gil Rose.
In addition to its regular season the company has mounted an Opera Unlimited Festival which presents 20th- and 21st-century chamber opera in an outdoor setting and free of charge. The festival program also commissions new works.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
company in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in innovative repertoire and rarely heard works, along with opera education and outreach programs designed to bring opera education to children, in schools and after-school programs throughout the Boston area.
Its home base is the Cutler Majestic Theatre
Cutler Majestic Theatre
The Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, is a 1903 "Beaux Arts" style theater, designed by the architect John Galen Howard. Originally built for theatre, one of three theaters commissioned in Boston by Eben Dyer Jordan, son of the founder of Jordan Marsh, a...
, a 1903 Beaux-Arts opera house designed by architect John Galen Howard
John Galen Howard
John Galen Howard was an American architect.He is best known for his work as the supervising architect of the Master Plan for the University of California, Berkeley campus, and for founding the University of California's architecture program...
. Currently, its Artistic Director is Gil Rose.
In addition to its regular season the company has mounted an Opera Unlimited Festival which presents 20th- and 21st-century chamber opera in an outdoor setting and free of charge. The festival program also commissions new works.
Productions
Dates in parenthesis are the dates of the Opera Boston production.The list is limited to only those works which are rarely performed.- June 2003 Opera Unlimited
- Powder Her FacePowder Her FacePowder Her Face is a chamber opera in two acts, Op. 14 by the British composer Thomas Adès , with an English libretto by Philip Hensher. The opera is 2 hours 20 minutes long...
by Thomas Adès - Full Moon in March by John HarbisonJohn HarbisonJohn Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
- Touissaint Before the Spirits by Elena Ruehr
- The Cask of Amontillado by Daniel PinkhamDaniel PinkhamDaniel Rogers Pinkham, Jr. was an American composer, organist, and harpsichordist. Pinkham was one of America's most active composers during his lifetime...
- Garden Party by Daniel Pinkham
- Powder Her Face
- 2003–2004 Season
- CandideCandide (operetta)Candide is an operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein, based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. The operetta was first performed in 1956 with a libretto by Lillian Hellman; but since 1974 it has been generally performed with a book by Hugh Wheeler which is more faithful to...
by Leonard Bernstein (November 2003) - Nixon in ChinaNixon in China (opera)Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by the 1972 visit to China by US President Richard Nixon. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with...
by John Adams (March 2004) - Luisa MillerLuisa MillerLuisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
by Giuseppe Verdi (April–May 2004)
- Candide
- 2004–2005 Season
- La vie parisienneLa vie parisienneLa vie parisienne is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, composed by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.This work was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects...
by Jacques Offenbach (October 2004) - AlcesteAlceste (Gluck)Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck from 1767. The libretto was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides. The premiere took place in Vienna.-Preface and reforms:...
by Christoph Wilibald Gluck (January 2005) - The CrucibleThe Crucible (opera)The Crucible is an English language opera written by Robert Ward based on the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It won both the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Music Critics Circle Citation. The libretto was lightly adapted from Miller's text by Bernard Stambler.Ward received a...
by Robert Ward (April 2005)
- La vie parisienne
- 2005–2006 Season
- The ConsulThe ConsulThe Consul is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Its first performance was on March 1, 1950, at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as the lead heroine Magda Sorel, Gloria Lane as the secretary of the consulate,...
by Gian Carlo Menotti (October 2005) - L'étoile by Emmanuel Chabrier (March 2006)
- Lucrezia BorgiaLucrezia Borgia (opera)Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with...
by Gaetano Donizetti (April–May 2006)
- The Consul
- June 2006 Opera Unlimited
- Angels in America by Péter EötvösPeter EötvösPéter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and...
(North American premiere)
- Angels in America by Péter Eötvös
- 2006–2007 Season
- La clemenza di TitoLa clemenza di TitoLa 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...
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (October 2006) - The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill (February 2007)
- The Pearl Fishers by Georges Bizet (May 2007)
- La clemenza di Tito
- 2007–2008 Season
- AinadamarAinadamarAinadamar means "Fountain of Tears" in Arabic, and is the first opera by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The libretto is by American playwright David Henry Hwang. It premiered in Tanglewood on August 10, 2003. After major revisions, the new version premiered at the Santa Fe Opera on July 30,...
by Osvaldo Golijov (October 2007) - Semele by George Frideric Handel (February 2008)
- ErnaniErnaniErnani is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. The first production took place at La Fenice Theatre, Venice on 9 March 1844...
by Giuseppe Verdi (May 2008)
- Ainadamar
- 2008–2009 Season
- Der FreischützDer FreischützDer Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
by Carl Maria von Weber (October 2008) - The NoseThe Nose (opera)The Nose is a satirical opera composed by Dmitri Shostakovich. The libretto by Shostakovich, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Georgy Ionin, and Alexander Preis is based on the story The Nose by Nikolai Gogol. The plot concerns a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own...
by Dmitri Shostakovich (February 2009)
- Der Freischütz
- 2009–2010 Season
- TancrediTancrediTancredi is a melodramma eroico in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi, based on Voltaire's play Tancrède...
by Giocchino Rossini (October 2009) - Madame White Snake by Zhou LongZhou LongZhou Long is a Pulitzer-prize-winning Chinese American composer.-Biography:Born into an artistic family, Zhou Long began studying piano from an early age. Due to the artistic restrictions implemented during the Cultural Revolution, he was forced to delay his piano studies and live on a state-run...
(February 2010) (world premiere) - La Grande-Duchesse de GérolsteinLa Grande-Duchesse de GérolsteinLa Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is an opéra bouffe , in three acts and four tableaux by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
by Jacques Offenbach (April–May 2010)
- Tancredi