CELEBRATING 4O YEARS OF WORLD-CLASS OPERA IN THE HEART OF BOSTON. 2O16/17 SEASON
Jennifer Johnson Cano sings the title role in BLO’s Carmen. LIZA VOLL PHOTOGRAPHY
BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | A
4 EXTRAORDINARY OPERAS. 4 LANDMARK THEATERS. CARMEN
GREEK
THE RAKE’S PROGRESS
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
A co-production with Boston Lyric Opera and San Francisco Opera
Opera Annex and New England Premiere A new BLO production
A new BLO production
A new BLO production
Boston Opera House
Emerson/Paramount Center
Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
John Hancock Hall, Back Bay Events Center
SEPT. 23 - OCT. 2 | 2016
NOV. 16 - 20 | 2016
MAR. 12 - 19 | 2017
APR. 28 - MAY 7 | 2017
WE HAVE THE PERFECT SEATS FOR YOU Subscribers get the best deal for the best seats in all four venues. Discover the subscriber advantage on page 8.
4O YEARS IN THE HEART OF BOSTON. Happy 4Oth Anniversary to you! Our milestone 4Oth Anniversary Season is a celebration not only for Boston’s longest-running opera company, but also for you, and all our patrons and supporters who have made it possible for Boston Lyric Opera to thrive in this glorious city for four decades.
The upcoming Season unfolds as one of adventure, new artistic heights and expanded boundaries. We’re moving onto our next stage. More accurately, our next four stages. That’s right — for each of Boston Lyric Opera’s 2016/17 Season productions, we will be in a different historic Boston theater. We chose theaters where our artistic programming will shine best, and where you, our loyal audience, will have memorable, comfortable, and exciting experiences.
Four extraordinary operas in four landmark theaters. It’s a bold move and one that we are thrilled to undertake. Our commitment to being Boston’s hometown opera company has never been stronger — from producing opera that innovates and inspires, to providing programs and educational opportunities beyond the stage. Thank you for being part of the journey to our 4Oth year, and for joining us on our next great adventure.
Esther Nelson Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director
Jennifer Johnson Cano sings the title role in BLO’s Carmen. LIZA VOLL PHOTOGRAPHY
D | BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED, GROUNDBREAKING PRODUCTION BOSTON OPERA HOUSE SEPTEMBER 23 – OCTOBER 2 | 2016 A co-production with Boston Lyric Opera and San Francisco Opera Music Georges Bizet Libretto Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy Conductor David Angus Production Calixto Bieito with Revival Director Joan Anton Rechi Scenic Design Alfons Flores Costume Design Mercè Paloma Lighting Design Robert Wierzel Sung in French with English supertitles BLO’s 4Oth Anniversary Season launches with the bicoastal American premiere of Calixto Bieito’s Carmen in a co-production with San Francisco Opera — marking the director’s long-awaited U.S. opera debut. Set in the arid earthiness of post-Franco Spanish North Africa, this raw and cinematic vision is a powerful account of the defiantly freespirited woman and her obsessive lover, all to Bizet’s intoxicating score. Jennifer Johnson Cano, critically acclaimed for her star turn in BLO’s 2015 production of Don Giovanni, returns to Boston as the fiery, seductive gypsy who destroys the naïve soldier Don José, played by Roger Honeywell. Michael Mayes and Chelsea Basler return to BLO, and BLO Music Director David Angus conducts.
BOSTON OPERA HOUSE Originally constructed as a memorial and tribute to the great vaudeville impresario B.F. Keith in 1928, the Boston Opera House has been hailed as one of the finest examples of the vaudeville circuit palace at the pinnacle of its development. Address: 539 Washington St., Boston MA 02111 T-Stop: Downtown Crossing Parking: Lafayette Garage, located at the Hyatt Regency Boston Nearby Restaurants: Legal Crossing, Central Bistro, SIP, Salvatore’s, Blu Restaurant & Bar, Artisan Bistro at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston
San Francisco Opera production of Carmen. photos by alastair muir
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano (Carmen) on the steps of the Massachusetts State House. johnson cano
honeywell
mayes
basler
liza voll photography
PRE-PERFORMANCE TALKS Arrive one hour early to explore the world of this production with BLO’s pre-performance talks. Free to all ticket holders. SAVE THE DATE FOR BLO’S OPERA GALA: SEPTEMBER 23 | 2016
BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | 1
2 | BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
A BLAZING RETELLING OF THE OEDIPUS STORY EMERSON/PARAMOUNT CENTER NOVEMBER 16 – 20 | 2016 Opera Annex and New England Premiere | A New BLO Production Music Mark-Anthony Turnage Based on Steven Berkoff’s stage play of the same title Libretto adapted by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Jonathan Moore Conductor Andrew Bisantz Stage Director Sam Helfrich Set Designer John Conklin Costume Designer Nancy Leary Lighting Designer Chris Hudacs
EMERSON/PARAMOUNT CENTER
Sung in English with English supertitles BLO’s annual Opera Annex production transports audiences to London’s East End during the tumultuous 1980s. Hailed as a cult classic, Greek is a political and indelible retelling of Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King. Eddy explores London, murder, and sex before discovering the family ties that seal his fate. With music influences that ranges from jazz to daring percussion to sounds of the streets, Greek is a defiant, profane detonation of a story millennia old. Award-winning baritone Marcus Farnsworth makes his BLO debut as he reprises the role he sang in a critically-acclaimed production seen at the Edinburgh Festival. BLO favorites Caroline Worra and Christopher Burchett join Amanda Crider in her BLO debut to complete the cast of four singers who inhabit 11 characters at a breakneck pace. Directed by Sam Helfrich and conducted by Andrew Bisantz, Greek reunites the team that launched BLO’s acclaimed Opera Annex series.
The Paramount Theatre opened its doors in 1932 as one of the premier art deco movie palaces built by Paramount Studios. Enchantingly restored, the Emerson/Paramount Center now serves as a mixed-use, state-of-the-art performance and production complex. Address: 559 Washington St., Boston MA 02111 T-Stop: Downtown Crossing Parking: Millennium Place Garage at The RitzCarlton, Boston Common (47 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02111) Nearby Restaurants: Legal Crossing, Central Bistro, SIP, Salvatore’s, Blu Restaurant & Bar, Artisan Bistro at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston
BLO Annex (Greek) at Boston’s Bell in Hand, America’s oldest tavern. liza voll photography
farnsworth
worra
burchett
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OPERA ANNEX TALKBACKS Join us after the show for informal Talkbacks: half-hour panels that include cast and creative team members in discussion. Talkbacks are available after each performance of Greek. Free to ticketholders. BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | 3
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STRAVINSKY’S SEDUCTIVE TALE OF DEVILISH TEMPTATION EMERSON/CUTLER MAJESTIC THEATRE MARCH 12 – 19 | 2017 A New BLO Production Music Igor Stravinsky Libretto W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman Conductor David Angus Stage Director Allegra Libonati Set Designer Julia Noulin-Mérat Costume Designer John Conklin Lighting Designer Mark Stanley
EMERSON/CUTLER MAJESTIC THEATRE
Sung in English with English supertitles In a surreal battle of temptation, Tom Rakewell abandons his suburban life to cavort in the pleasures of “sin city” with a devilish valet at his side. But can he find his way back to the virtuous Anne Trulove—and his sanity— before all is lost? With influences of Mozart and the Faust myth, Stravinsky’s opera blurs the lines between the 18th and 20th centuries with witty and wicked insight. A.R.T. Resident Director Allegra Libonati helms this quintessential cautionary tale with David Angus conducting. The Rake’s Progress features Ben Bliss, recipient of Lincoln Center’s 2016 Emerging Artist award, making his BLO debut in the lead role, Kevin Burdette (acclaimed as Leporello in 2015’s Don Giovanni), Anya Matanovic, Heather Johnson, Yury Yanowsky, and a star turn by soprano Jane Eaglen as Mother Goose.
Recognized as a Boston Historic Landmark, the Cutler Majestic combines state-of-theart theater facilities with old world charm with impeccable acoustics originally intended for opera performances. Address: 219 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02116 T-Stop: Boylston Parking: 200 Stuart Street Garage, 200 Stuart Street, Boston, MA 02116 Nearby Restaurants: Teatro, Rustic Kitchen, Abbey Lane, Genki Ya
Tenor Ben Bliss (The Rake’s Progress) in Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street, resting place of Elizabeth Foster Goose. liza voll photography
bliss
burdette
matanovic
johnson
eaglen
PRE-PERFORMANCE TALKS Arrive one hour early to explore the world of this production with BLO’s pre-performance talks. Free to all ticket holders.
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LOVE, LUST, AND LAUGHTER TIE THE KNOT IN MOZART’S GREATEST OPERA JOHN HANCOCK HALL AT THE BACK BAY EVENTS CENTER APRIL 28 – MAY 7 | 2017 A New BLO Production Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto Lorenzo Da Ponte Conductor David Angus Stage Director Rosetta Cucchi Set Designer John Conklin Lighting Designer DM Wood
JOHN HANCOCK HALL, BACK BAY EVENTS CENTER
Sung in Italian with English supertitles The passions and perils of love and marriage collide in one uproarious day as Figaro struggles to get his bride, Susanna, to the altar unscathed. Identities are concealed, manners upended, plots foiled … all to the glorious music of Mozart’s masterpiece. Evan Hughes, Nicole Heaston, David Pershall and Emily Fons make their BLO debuts, and Emily Birsan, who wowed audiences as Musetta in 2015’s La Bohème, is the bride-to-be, Susanna. The Marriage of Figaro reunites BLO’s La Bohème creative team, with Rosetta Cucchi directing, BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin designing, Lighting Design DM Wood, and David Angus conducting.
Home of the John Hancock Hall and Dorothy Quincy Suite, this history-rich facility has been newly restored in art deco fashion accompanied with fine art from the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park. Address: 180 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116 T-Stop: Arlington, Copley or Back Bay Parking: Garage @ 100 Clarendon, 110 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116 Nearby Restaurants: Post 390, Oak Long Bar & Kitchen, Back Bay Harry’s
Soprano Emily Birsan (The Marriage of Figaro) in front of the Greenway Carousel on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. hughes
heaston
pershall
fons
birsan
liza voll photography
PRE-PERFORMANCE TALKS Arrive one hour early to explore the world of this production with BLO’s pre-performance talks. Free to all ticket holders.
BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | 7
BOSTON OPERA HOUSE
OPERA ANNEX: EMERSON/PARAMOUNT CENTER
BEST SEATS. BEST SERVICE. BEST VALUE. IT’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BE A BLO SUBSCRIBER
QUARTET (4 operas): Celebrate your passion for opera and enjoy the full package of benefits in BLO’s 4Oth Anniversary Season. TRIO (3 operas): Create a custom package with any three of BLO’s world-class operas along with a host of privileges and benefits. ANNEX TRIO (2 operas + Opera Annex): Break the mold with two of BLO’s operas and the groundbreaking Opera Annex production with the same Trio package benefits. 2016/17 SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS
World-class opera in BLO’s 4Oth Anniversary Season Excellent, personal customer service Access to pre-performance discussions Access to the best seats in advance of general public No handling fees Complimentary exchanges Subscription to BLO’s bi-annual magazine, CODA Invitations to special insider events Free lost ticket replacement Discounts to neighborhood partners and restaurants Flexible payment plan Seating priority for following year renewals No fees on additional tickets Discounts on additional tickets at package rate NEW! Access to BLO On-Site Concierge NEW! Missed performance exchange option NEW! Free seat upgrade NEW! BLO Guest Pass—Bring a friend for FREE NEW! End-of-Season thank you gift 8 | BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
QUARTET
starts at
$124
a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a
TRIO
ANNEX TRIO
a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a
a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a
starts at
$101
starts at
$111
KEY OPERAS n n n n n
AA A B C D
OPERA ANNEX
EMERSON/CUTLER MAJESTIC THEATRE
JOHN HANCOCK HALL, BACK BAY EVENTS CENTER
n ZONE 1 n ZONE 2 n ZONE 3
PRICING & PRIVILEGES
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BUILD YOUR 2016/17 OPERA-GOING EXPERIENCE All package prices include ticket costs, any venue-related fees and all benefits customized to your package selection.
Opening AA
A
B
C
D
QUARTET
$554
$749
$464
$344
$239
$124
TRIO
$506
$701
$416
$296
$191
$101
ANNEX TRIO
$406 $536 $346 $266 $196 $111
YOUR NIGHT AT THE OPERA RESTAURANTS Visit our website for a full list of our 2016/17 participating restaurant partners to enjoy dinner or drinks before or after the performance. SAVE ON ADDITIONAL TICKETS Subscribers have priority access to purchase additional tickets at a special rate before they go on sale publicly. Call BLO Audience Services to purchase tickets without additional service fees. Our Audience Services team will do its best to seat additional tickets in close proximity to your subscription seats. E-OPERA Sign up for BLO’s e-newsletter to learn about special offers, upcoming events, along with articles and interviews from our blog, “In the Wings,” to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into BLO. GET SOCIAL We want to hear from you! Join us in conversations online and enjoy impromptu photos, videos and the latest happenings in the opera world. Facebook “f ” Logo
CMYK / .eps
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CMYK / .eps
BLO.ORG Be sure to check out our website for the most up-to-date information on our Season, along with program notes and plot synopses. Listen to opera playlists and watch behind-the-scene videos.
The Opera Gala 2015 photography by pierce harman
BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | 9
PARTY WITH BLO
GIVE YOURSELF AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT OUT IN THE CITY THE OPERA GALA This kind of party only happens once every 4O years! BLO celebrates Opening Night of Carmen with The Opera Gala, a sparkling event that serves the Company’s primary mission to build curiosity, enthusiasm and support for opera. Don’t miss a truly unforgettable evening and celebrate the art form with Boston’s premier artists and most dedicated patrons. Save the Date: September 23, 2016. ORFEO LOUNGES For members of our Orfeo Society, donors of $3,000 and above, BLO hosts a hospitality lounge prior to performances and in some cases, at intermission! For more information on the Orfeo Society, contact Erin Coffey at ecoffey@ blo.org or 617.542.4912 x227. OPENING NIGHTS BLO celebrates the opening of each production with an evening of thrilling festivities, including a post-opera reception with the cast and creative team — join us we raise a glass and say, “Bravi tutti!”
4O DAYS OF OPERA
AUGUST 24 - OCTOBER 2, 2016 — CELEBRATING 4O YEARS OF WORLD-CLASS OPERA IN THE HEART OF BOSTON Our milestone 4Oth Anniversary Season is a celebration not only for us, but also for the entire community of Boston—our fellow opera producers, large and small, all you loyal patrons and supporters, and the friends, neighbors, co-workers, and acquaintances we haven’t met—yet! Join us this summer as we kick off the Season with 4O Days of Opera, a multi-media celebration of opera in Boston. Immerse yourself in the art form through live events presented by BLO and by partner organizations, check out online articles, original video, and more. We are honored to collaborate with many of Boston’s leading opera producers during the 4O Days of Opera and beyond, so that opera lovers and opera-curious alike can enjoy the best that Boston has to offer. Then, continue the celebration all year long! Throughout the 4Oth Anniversary Season, BLO is throwing open our doors, giving Boston unprecedented access to the Company, the artists, the designers, and the our community—all for free. Boston’s opera scene is thriving, and it has never been a better time to join the music. The Opera Gala 2014 photography by pierce harman
10 | BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
Stay tuned at BLO.org for details!
WHAT YOU MAKE POSSIBLE
YOUR SUPPORT MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR OPERA LOVERS OF ALL AGES TO EXPERIENCE WORLD-CLASS OPERA OPERA IN THE COMMUNITY From our Signature Series that explores the intersection of opera and other art forms, to Opera Nights at the Boston Public Library that inform and inspire, to other Community Events with partner organizations, BLO’s opera experience goes far beyond the curtain into a variety of settings throughout Boston. OPERA IN THE CLASSROOM BLO is committed to keeping the arts in schools, offering professional development for educators in the Music! Words! Opera! curriculum, and year-long Create Your Own Opera Partnership program in classrooms throughout Greater Boston. FREE DRESS REHEARSALS FOR STUDENTS BLO invites high school and college students to attend final dress rehearsals for free and provides study materials specific to each production. Often this is students’ first experience with opera. ARTIST PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT BLO recognizes that the next generation of opera professionals needs to be nurtured in order to flourish, and that the future of the art form depends on their success. Through its BLO Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist initiative, the Company trains and develops promising artists through coaching; the opportunity to understudy, principal and comprimario roles in BLO productions; and professional mentorship with BLO staff.
SUPPORT THE WORLD OF OPERA AS A DONOR FRIENDS OF BLO Friends of BLO is the largest community of supporters at Boston Lyric Opera. Benefits begin at $100, and all patrons donating $250 or more will be recognized in our program books. THE ORFEO SOCIETY Patrons donating $3,000 or more to BLO’s Annual Fund are welcomed into the Orfeo Society. Benefits include behind-the-scenes access to productions, artists, music and opera; the best seats in the house; invitation to exclusive Orfeo Lounges and annual events; access to concierge ticketing and more. For more information on giving levels and benefits to support these vital programs, contact Robin Whitney at rwhitney@blo.org or 617.542.4912 x254.
BLO’s Emerging Artist and Resident Teaching Artist Heather Gallagher. ben gebo photography
BLO’S 4OTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | 11
11 Avenue de Lafayette Boston, MA 02111-1736
SUBSCRIBE NOW! HOW TO ORDER
• SELECT YOUR PACKAGE AND SEATING Review Subscriptions & Prices on page 9, then purchase online at BLO.org or call BLO Audience Services. • SUPPORT VITAL PROGRAMS See what you make possible when you make a gift on page 11. • CONTACT AUDIENCE SERVICES WITH ANY QUESTIONS We’re here to help make your opera-going experience as easy and comfortable as possible! • ENJOY THE ADVENTURE OF THE 2016/17 SEASON PHONE: 617.542.6772 | EMAIL: BOXOFFICE@BLO.ORG | ONLINE: BLO.ORG MAIL: PO BOX 847897, BOSTON, MA 02284-7897 AUDIENCE SERVICES HOURS: MONDAY - FRIDAY, 10AM - 5PM
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