MAR 11 – 17 | ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY EPICENTER
ESTHER NELSON, STANFORD CALDERWOOD GENERAL & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | DAVID ANGUS, MUSIC DIRECTOR | JOHN CONKLIN, ARTISTIC ADVISOR
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Clockwise from left: Students from Jackson/Mann K-8 School in Allston perform their classroom opera based on the children’s book Nasreen’s Secret School, Liza Voll Photography; Artists perform in BLO’s collaborative concert series with Castle of our Skins, Todd McNeel Photography; James Myers delivers a pre-performance talk before Tosca, Liza Voll Photography.
WELCOME When programming BLO’s Spring 2019 part of our Season of Dissenters and Rebels, it was evident that presenting these titles side-by-side underscores how vibrant and topical opera can be; how it reflects the spirit of the times. The Rape of Lucretia and The Handmaid’s Tale are stories for the ages. The themes that pervade these two stories—abuse of power, politics, sex, oppression—never really go away. Instead they change, morph and resurface. But both are also works of profound hope, demonstrating the capacity of a single person to change the course of history. Lucretia’s story is a legend first recounted by the Roman historian Livy around 30 BC. Her tale has been retold, politicized, reviled and discussed anew for more than two thousand years. With the opera The Rape of Lucretia, composer Benjamin Britten and librettist Ronald Duncan have skillfully crafted a powerful 20th-century version, pulling us into a vivid and shimmering soundworld that evokes extraordinary empathy for Lucretia. We see a country at war. A political vendetta that becomes personal. An act of personal violence that becomes political, causing far-reaching reverberations. We witness a violated Lucretia seizing back her power by giving testimony to show the world what the violation cost her. Her deliberate actions ultimately launch a rebellion against the tyrannical government of which her rapist was a part. Still, the title character’s ravishment is actually not what’s theatrically central to the opera. It’s the impact on Lucretia, her family, the surrounding community and ultimately the social order that provides the cautionary center of the ancient story, and its dramatic heft. But we cannot deny that Lucretia’s rape has a personal and emotional impact on each of us. Sexual violence is a challenging topic, and the unfortunate reality is that many of us here tonight have directly or indirectly been touched by it in some way. Part of our journey with this production has been to work with partner colleagues at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and Casa Myrna, who have shared tremendous knowledge and resources with us. We invite you to learn more later in this program book, at our Talkback after today’s performance, and in the lobby. I am particularly proud of our incredibly talented and committed artists for this show and proud to welcome stage director Sarna Lapine to BLO. Her revelatory production brings us right into the story. We are on the battlefields—on the outskirts of Rome and in Lucretia’s private chamber—and unable to deny the abuses of power that abound. Sarna brings us here together as intimate witnesses. Film director Ava DuVernay recently stated: “ Art instigates engagements not steeped in fear and separation but in shared knowledge, recognition and contentment.” Thank you for sharing Lucretia’s journey with us today.
LIZA VOLL
PHOTOGRA
PROGRAM CONTENTS
Welcome 1
Support BLO 2
Board of Directors 3
The Rape of Lucretia Cast & Synopsis 4
Production Notes from Sarna Lapine, Stage Director 6
Musical Notes from David Angus, Conductor 8
Meet the Artists 9
The Legend of Lucretia 12
Spring 2019 Partnerships 14
BLO Chamber Ensemble, Production/Artistic Staff & Run Crew 16
BLO Staff, Volunteers & About 17
Donors 18
Acknowledgments 21
Opera Beyond the Stage Spring 2019 22
Information on Venue 24
Esther Nelson | Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director Above: Sarah Womble, Omar Ebrahim, and Jesse Darden in the World Premiere of Tod Machover's Schoenberg in Hollywood. COVER: LIZA VOLL PHOTOGRAPHY
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Baritone Vincent Turregano serenades BLO Board member and supporter Maria Krokidas during the 2018 Opera Gala. 2 | BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA
A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR Collaboration—both on stage and off—plays a critical part in how Boston Lyric Opera brings each BLO production to life. This Spring’s offerings, The Rape of Lucretia, with a plot that pivots on a horrific act of violence, and The Handmaid’s Tale, which tells a compelling story of systemic oppression, are vital works that bring themes of violence and power to the fore. In presenting these operas, we have worked closely with two organizations, with an aim to provide the best possible context and audience support for what we are presenting on stage. The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and Casa Myrna are leaders in Greater Boston’s non-profit community. Each provides critical services to those forced to deal with sexual, domestic and intimate partner violence. In giving artists, staff and audiences necessary information and context about issues raised in our Spring productions, BARCC and Casa Myrna are helping us make opera an accessible, resonant and meaningful part of the community. Representatives of those organizations are with us today and will take part in the post-show Talkback. We do hope you can stay for that discussion. Both BARCC and Casa Myrna will be offering information in our lobby area for you to take, all with a goal of making Greater Boston a safer and more just community. BLO thanks BARCC and Casa Myrna for their essential work.
Michael J. Puzo | Chair, Board of Directors
BOARD CHAIR Michael J. Puzo VICE-CHAIR Miguel de Bragança TREASURER Susan W. Jacobs CLERK Dr. Irving H. Plotkin STANFORD CALDERWOOD GENERAL & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Esther Nelson, Ex Officio Linda Cabot Black Willa Bodman Alicia Cooney
Wayne Davis Alan Dynner Robert Eastman Andrew Eisenberg Thomas D. Gill, Jr. Mimi Hewlett Amelia Welt Katzen Maria J. Krokidas Jeffrey E. Marshall Abigail B. Mason Anne M. Morgan A. Neil Pappalardo E. Lee Perry William Pounds David W. Scudder Susan R. Shapiro Ray Stata Christopher Tadgell Lady Juliet Tadgell
BOARD OF OVERSEERS CO-CHAIRS L. Joseph LoDato Samuel Y. Parkinson Lawrence St. Clair James Ackerman Sarah Ashby Kimberly Balfour Elizabeth Barker Edward Bell Richard M. Burnes, Jr. Ellie Cabot Carol Deane Amos Deinard JoAnne Walton Dickinson Jessica Donohue Timothy Fulham David Hoffman Kathleen Hull
Amy Hunter Ernest Jacob Louise Johnson Ellen Kaplan Stephen T. Kunian Pam Kunkemueller Louis Lévy Russell Lopez Anita Loscalzo M. Lynne Markus Jillian McGrath Jane Pisciottoli Papa Susanne Potts Carl Rosenberg Carol Rubin Allison Ryder Alex Senchak Wendy Shattuck Wynne Szeto Frank Tempesta
Richard Trant Amy Tsurumi Lydia Kenton Walsh Robert Walsh Peter J. Wender Tania Zouikin EMERITI Steven P. Akin J.P. Barger Horace H. Irvine II Sherif A. Nada
As of January 31, 2019
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA | 3
BRITTEN
MUSIC DIRECTOR DAVID ANGUS
2018/19 Season Sponsor, Linda Cabot Black
THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA Music by Benjamin Britten Libretto by Ronald Duncan After the play by André Obey A New BLO Production Sung in English with English surtitles By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
CREATIVE TEAM CONDUCTOR
DAVID ANGUS
STAGE DIRECTOR
SARNA LAPINE*
SET DESIGNER
MIKIKO SUZUKI MACADAMS*
COSTUME DESIGNER
ROBERT PERDZIOLA*
LIGHTING & PROJECTION DESIGNER
JOEY MORO*
DRAMATURG
JOHN CONKLIN
INTIMACY/MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
YURY YANOWSKY
WIG AND MAKEUP DESIGNER
JASON ALLEN
SURTITLE DESIGNER
SATRINA MASSEY
CHAMBER ENSEMBLE FROM THE BOSTON LYRIC OPERA ORCHESTRA
ANNIE RABBAT Concertmaster
REHEARSAL COACH/ACCOMPANIST
BRENDON SHAPIRO†
ASSISTANT STAGE DIRECTOR
KIRSTEN Z. CAIRNS
ASSISTANT STAGE DIRECTOR & COMPANY INTIMACY ADVOCATE
MELANIE BACALING†
STAGE MANAGER
WHITNEY MCANALLY*
Sponsored by Linda Cabot Black Sponsored by Maria Krokidas & Bruce Bullen
PERFORMANCES MONDAY, MARCH 11 | 7:30PM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 | 7:30PM FRIDAY, MARCH 15 | 7:30PM SATURDAY, MARCH 16 | 7:30PM SUNDAY, MARCH 17 | 5:00PM Performance running time is approximately 110 minutes, with no intermission. TALKBACKS will be held immediately following each performance. ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY EPICENTER 100 WEST 2ND STREET BOSTON, MA 02127
*Boston Lyric Opera Debut
† Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin
Emerging Artist
‡ B oston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin
Emerging Artist Alumnus
**Principal Artist-in-Residence
Sponsored by Susan A. Babson Opera Fund for Emerging Artists
CAST & SYNOPSIS CAST in order of vocal appearance MALE CHORUS
JESSE DARDEN‡**
FEMALE CHORUS
ANTONIA TAMER‡
COLLATINUS
BRANDON CEDEL
JUNIUS
DAVID MCFERRIN‡
TARQUINIUS
DUNCAN ROCK
LUCRETIA
KELLEY O’CONNOR
BIANCA
MARGARET LATTIMORE
LUCIA
SARA WOMBLE‡
Sponsored by Gerard & Sherryl Cohen Sponsored by William & Helen Pounds
Sponsored by Wayne Davis & Ann Merrifield Sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. E. Lee Perry Sponsored by Susan W. Jacobs
SYNOPSIS As the title indicates, The Rape of Lucretia contains scenes of violence, misogyny, and sexual assault. In order to help you best prepare for the opera, please note that this synopsis contains plot details and events. A Male and Female Chorus explain the situation in Rome: the city has been seized by a foreign power and is ruled by fear and terror. Tarquinius, the debauched new prince, is leading its forces against a Greek invasion. The Male and Female Chorus describe themselves as observers from a later, Christian era. The story begins in a military encampment. It is evening, and Tarquinius, Junius, and Collatinus are drinking. The previous night, as a test, a group of generals rode home to Rome and found their wives engaged in infidelity—all except the faithful Lucretia, wife of Collatinus. Calling all women whores, the jealous and bitter Junius goads Tarquinius into testing Lucretia’s virtue. Tarquinius calls for his horse and, foreshadowing the night’s events, mounts it and rides to Rome. At home, Lucretia is at her spinning wheel with her servants Bianca and Lucia, longing for Collatinus. Tarquinius arrives; despite her uneasiness, hospitality compels Lucretia to offer the prince a room for the night. That night, Tarquinius steals into Lucretia’s room and watches her sleep. Certain that she desires him, he wakes her with a kiss. Lucretia realizes what is happening and begs him to stop. She struggles, but Tarquinius brutally rapes her. Day breaks; Lucretia comes downstairs to meet Lucia and Bianca, withdrawn and distraught. She sends a messenger for Collatinus. Too late, Bianca realizes what has happened. Collatinus arrives with Junius, and Lucretia tells him what Tarquinius has done. Collatinus tries to comfort his wife, but she rejects his words and stabs herself. As Collatinus sinks beside his dying wife, Junius uses the dying Lucretia as a symbol to incite the public to rebellion against Tarquinius. The Female Chorus weeps and searches for meaning in all this suffering and pain. The Male Chorus answers her with a message of Christian hope.
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA | 5
WHO WAS LUCRETIA AND WHY DOES HER STORY STILL MATTER TO US?
T
Sarna Lapine | Stage Director
he rape of Lucretia is a narrative rooted in historical fact: the tale of a Roman matron’s rape and subsequent suicide has lived on in the Western imagination for 2,500 years. This story has taken many forms in literature and in art, most of which have come from a male perspective. What developed is a mythology of Lucretia, an object of desire whose destruction gave rise to many interpretations. When she was used as a symbol of courageous resistance to the oppression of a Roman tyrant, her story inspired the historical revolt against the last Roman monarchy. What did the story mean to Benjamin Britten, when he created it in the 1940s? And what does it mean to us today as we view it? In Britten’s opera, we can see Lucretia has some agency as a human being, as a woman. The bedroom scene between Tarquinius and Lucretia begins as a negotiation between the oppressor and the oppressed. Knowing he could take what he wants from her, why all the effort and conversation? Because he ultimately wants Lucretia to desire him, to prove her husband’s assertion of her chastity wrong, and then to acquiesce and submit to his will. At first, he attempts to seduce her—not rape her—but her rejection of him is unequivocal. She is resolute and clear in her stance, as well as in her language. She says no, over and over again which humiliates him. Enraged by her steadfast will, he chooses to threaten and then to overpower her.
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The next morning, Lucretia calls her husband back to Rome. When her husband, Collatinus, arrives accompanied by Junius (whose goading of Tarquinius led to the rape) Lucretia tells them what Tarquinius has done to her. Where she could have remained silent she chose to speak up and give critical testimony. Britten makes this moment the climax of the opera. Junius observes Collatinus’ goodness; Lucretia’s husband absolves her of her shame and lovingly comforts her. In spite of this, and in their presence, she chooses to take her own life. Over the centuries there have been various interpretations of Lucretia’s suicide. Did she believe it would free her husband and her family from the inevitable stigma of their shame? Was it an attempt to restore her purity? Could it have been a means to avoid a pregnancy engendered by violence? Was it denial of an uncertain future? Or was it a defiant act of violence to combat the violence done to her? Perhaps she kills herself not because of shame, but because she believes she will be more powerful in death; her body has been corrupted, but not her will. She chooses to have the final say in her narrative, perhaps believing that her sacrifice might change the future. She demands that the men not let her self-chosen death be in vain and offers her violated body as a metaphor for Rome. Junius will use Tarquinius’ crime and Lucretia’s sacrifice to incite a rebellion against the monarchy. Lucretia’s testimony provided the justification for a revolution,
LIZA VOLL PHOTOGRAPHY
but her suicide was the weapon. Would the men in her family and her inner circle have been successful in overthrowing the monarchy without her act of resistance? How does Britten view Lucretia’s death? Britten wrote this opera in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, not long after he had given two concerts in the recently liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Britten may have been considering the rebirth of the human spirit following this horror. He may have been searching for narratives that do not lead inexorably to more violence, more war and more corruption of the human will. He frames the rape of Lucretia in a Christian context. While the Christian coda may have been an attempt to offer comfort it is still cast in a male dominant perspective. The Male Chorus asserts faith in human redemption through Christ’s suffering and claims to see the larger truth; he assumes the Female Chorus will follow. However, she stands planted in grief. She questions the possibility of human redemption. Or perhaps she questions the human capacity to end cycles of violence and destruction.
ERNESTO GALAN
As Ian Donaldson points out in The Rapes of Lucretia: A Myth and its Transformations, there are examples of other ancient stories “in which the steadfastness of a woman serves as a moral example to an oppressed people, inciting them to revolt.” In this particular story, however, a “fundamental feature” is “that of a tyrant” who is “overthrown because of a sexual transgression.” This, to me, may be the most relevant and timely aspect of the story. The Rape of Lucretia is more than a tragedy of ancient Rome, more than an artifact of the past. On the contrary, it confronts us with its current resonance.
Left: Artemisia Gentileschi, Lucretia (detail); in 2018, the painting sold for more than $2 million to a private collection. Above, top: Sarna Lapine (center) in rehearsal with Brandon Cedel (right) as Collatinus and Duncan Rock as Tarquinius. Above, lower: Kelley O'Connor (center) in rehearsal as Lucretia, with Margaret Lattimore as Bianca (left) looking on. BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA | 7
MUSICAL NOTES: THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA David Angus | Conductor and BLO Music Director
With this opera, Britten established a completely new way of writing and producing opera in the UK, with his “English Opera Group”. After the huge success of Peter Grimes, Britten realised that we needed a much more economical way of performing opera, and he made a great virtue of the greater directness of more intimate theatre. He created the perfect small ensemble—a wind quintet, a string quintet, piano, percussion and harp—which he somehow manages to make sound like a symphony orchestra! They toured smaller venues and brought vivid modern opera to people who would normally not hear it at all. Following on from Lucretia, he wrote Albert Herring and The Turn of the Screw for exactly the same forces, while A Midsummer Night’s Dream was on a similar scale. These constitute four of my favourite operas, and were the forerunners of a whole generation of smaller scale and more intense operas (such as Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse) that matched the resources and needs of a new world, born of the Second World War.
HANS WILD
On a personal note, Britten was planning Lucretia for the new theatre at Dartington Hall, but when Glyndebourne invited him to transfer it to them, he realised that he would have much greater exposure and success at the worldfamous opera house, where I began my career. I had the pleasure of returning the piece to its original destination, and conducted the first performances back at Dartington Hall. In addition, while Britten was working at Glyndebourne, he stayed in the small coastal town of Seaford where I now live, and he lived in the very house where my own manager lived! Britten builds wonderful dramatic soundworlds with his very limited forces. He always demonstrates an amazing depth of understanding of each orchestral instrument and writes very challenging but also rewarding music for each player. His early experience of writing film scores taught him to create dramatic effects and sounds with very limited resources. Writing roles for his life partner, Peter Pears, for whom the role of Male Chorus was created, also taught Britten a huge amount about writing for the human voice, and the final element that lifts these operas above all others is his reverence for, and understanding of, the text. In rehearsal we discuss and weigh all the subtleties of the text, only to find that Britten’s music shows that he has already got there before us. His timing and pacing, the inflections of each phrase, the expression of the different parts of the voice—in every way Britten enhances and delivers the meaning of the text with wonderful understanding and precision. This was just innate genius; there was no such tradition in England on which he could build.
Above: Costume sketch for Lucretia by Robert Perdziola. Inset: Publicity photograph of Benjamin Britten (1968), High Fidelity magazine.
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Finally, I have to say that this opera contains some of the most beautiful music that Britten ever wrote, particularly Tarquinius’ aria early in Act II, and the agonised funereal entrance of Lucretia as she meets her husband again at the end. If any music can communicate heartbreak, this is it.
ARTISTS DAVID ANGUS | Conductor David Angus is Music Director of Boston Lyric Opera, following a very successful period as Music Director of Glimmerglass Opera. He conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra every Season and is also Honorary Conductor of the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, where he was Chief Conductor for many years and built the orchestra into one of the most exciting young orchestras in Northern Europe. Maestro Angus now conducts all over Europe and North America. He began his career working at Glyndebourne, where he conducted a wide range of operas, and he went on to work in Italy and then across Europe. In the concert hall, he performs particularly in the U.K. and Scandinavia, and this Season, apart from conducting all productions at BLO, includes further work in the recording studio with the London Philharmonic, and performing with the orchestra of Opera North (U.K.) where he began his career. SARNA LAPINE | Stage Director Sarna Lapine is a New York-based director and developer of new work. Ms. Lapine’s recent works include Noises Off! (Two River Theater), Into the Woods (Juilliard), Frost/Nixon (Bay Street Theater), You Are Here, a new musical (Goodspeed Musicals); Photograph 51, Japan premiere (Umeda Arts Theater); Sondheim on Sondheim with the Boston Pops and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and the Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford. Ms. Lapine directed the second national tour of Lincoln Center Theater’s South Pacific and was Associate Director of The National Theatre’s War Horse (North American Tour and Japan production). Ms. Lapine began at Lincoln Center Theater as Bartlett Sher’s assistant director on The Light in the Piazza and worked with him on the Tony-award winning revival of South Pacific, as well as the new musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing! Upcoming work includes Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Little Women (Primary Stages). MIKIKO SUZUKI MACADAMS | Set Designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams’ design work has been seen Off-Broadway at Working Theater, Epic Theater Ensemble, INTAR Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the National Asian American Theatre Company. Her work within U.S. regional theater includes Guthrie Theatre, Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Long Wharf Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Playmakers Repertory Company, ACT Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Cornerstone Theater Company, among others. In Japan, Ms. MacAdams’ work has been seen at the Umeda Arts Theatre, Nissay Theatre, Nissay Opera, Nikikai Opera, Suntory Hall, Aichi Triennale in Nagoya, Kanagawa Prefectural Hall, and Biwako Hall. Ms. MacAdams also designed the recent U.S. national tour of Dirty Dancing. As an
associate scenic designer, Broadway and national tour credits include My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, The Bridges of Madison County, Golden Boy, That Championship Season, Lincoln Center Theater’s South Pacific, and more. ROBERT PERDZIOLA | Costume Designer Robert Perdziola has designed sets and costumes in the U.S. for the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Curtis Institute of Music, Glimmerglass Opera, Manhattan School of Music, and the Jacobs School of Music. Internationally, Mr. Perdziola has designed for the Garsington Opera, Opera Monte Carlo, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center, the Saito Kinen Festival, and Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House. He has designed sets and costumes for the Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Miami City Ballet, and the Finnish National Ballet. In 2018, for American Ballet Theatre Mr. Perdziola created sets and costumes for Harlequinade, seen at the Metropolitan Opera, the Segerstrom Center of Orange County, and the Kennedy Center. In the theatre, his work is often seen at the Asolo Repertory Theatre (Sarasota, FL), Shakespeare Theatre (Washington, DC), and the Signature Theatre (Arlington, VA). Upcoming work includes designs for Grand Hotel at the Signature Theatre, The Seasons for ABT, and Giselle for the Bolshoi Ballet. JOEY MORO | Lighting & Projection Designer Joey Moro is a New York-based designer of lighting, projection, and scenery. Mr. Moro’s recent lighting designs include Awful Event (Baryshnikov Arts Center), Die Fledermaus (SUNY Stony Brook), A Streetcar Named Desire (Le Petit Theatre), Hair (Hofstra University), The Eurydice Project (Dublin), and Detroit (TheatreSquared), and many more. His projection work has been seen in St. Joan (Delaware Theatre Company), A Bright Room Called Day (Juilliard), Skeleton Crew (Dorset Theatre Festival), The Last Five Years (Mexico City), Once On This Island (Le Petit Theatre), Death of the War Poets (Sheen Center), Orange Julius (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Long Gone Daddy (Mile Square Theatre), among others. He received a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama.
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA | 9
ARTISTS JOHN CONKLIN | Dramaturg John Conklin has designed sets on and off Broadway, at the Kennedy Center, and for opera companies around the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Bastille Opera in Paris, The Royal Opera and the opera houses of Munich, Amsterdam, and Bologna, among others. Locally, his work has been seen in Boston Lyric Opera’s recent productions of The Rake’s Progress (2017), The Marriage of Figaro (2017), The Merry Widow (2016), Werther (2016), La Bohème (2015), and I Puritani (2014), as well as at the American Repertory Theater and Boston Ballet. Additionally, Mr. Conklin develops lecture series and community events for BLO that enrich the audience experience and strengthen the presence of opera in Boston’s arts community. He is on the faculty at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and was a recipient of the 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors. YURY YANOWSKY | Intimacy/Movement Director Yury Yanowsky returns to Boston Lyric Opera after performing in and directing movement for The Rake’s Progress (2017) and appearing in BLO’s In the Penal Colony (2015). His career as a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet spanned over two decades. He was the recipient of the first prize at the Prix de Lausanne and won the Silver medal at both the Varna International Ballet Competition and the International Ballet Competition. Over the past decade, Mr. Yanowsky has had the opportunity to choreograph numerous ballets for Boston Ballet, Boston Ballet II, Carlos Acosta’s “Premieres Plus,” Festival Ballet Providence, The Bundes Jugend Ballet, among others. In 2015, he was awarded the Choreographic Prize at the prestigious Erik Bruhn Competition for his ballet, District, and he was the guest choreographer at the 2016 Jacob’s Pillow Opening Night Gala. Mr. Yanowsky is currently on faculty at Harvard University and is commissioned to create new works for Atlanta Ballet and Tulsa Ballet in 2019. JASON ALLEN | Wig-Makeup Designer Jason Allen has been Boston Lyric Opera’s resident Wig and Makeup Designer since 2003. A fixture of the Boston performing arts community, he also works with Huntington Theatre Company, Boston Ballet, and many other organizations in Boston and throughout the country.
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BRANDON CEDEL | Bass-Baritone COLLATINUS Brandon Cedel is a recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist development program and is currently an Ensemble member of Oper Frankfurt, having joined in the 2016/17 Season. Highlights from recent Seasons include performances in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro at Opera Philadelphia, and his U.K. debut as both Masetto and Leporello in Don Giovanni with the Glyndebourne Festival. Orchestral engagements include Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and an upcoming performance with the BBC Philharmonic. Mr. Cedel is a recipient of many awards including the 2015 Richard Tucker Career Grant and was the 2013 Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions. JESSE DARDEN | Tenor MALE CHORUS Jesse Darden returns to BLO as the Company’s first Principal Artist-in-Residence, performing in all four operas of the 2018/19 Season. This summer, Mr. Darden returned to Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist covering the role of Robert Wilson in Doctor Atomic; he previously served as an Apprentice Artist with the company in 2017, and has also completed apprenticeships with Chautauqua Opera and Opera North. Mr. Darden was a New England Regional Finalist with the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, won Third Prize in the Gerda Lissner International Voice Competition, and was a recipient of the Chautauqua Opera Studio Artist Award. He has performed roles and solos with Odyssey Opera, Dartmouth College, Piedmont Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and the Chautauqua Symphony. Mr. Darden is also a BLO Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist alumnus. MARGARET LATTIMORE | Mezzo-Soprano BIANCA Margaret Lattimore is a Grammy® nominated artist returning to BLO, where she performed the role of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (2003). Ms. Lattimore began her career singing the works of Handel, Rossini, and Mozart, and has expanded her repertoire in recent Seasons to include the works of Mahler, Verdi, and Wagner. Most recently, Ms. Lattimore reprised the role of Mrs. De Rocher in Dead Man Walking with Opera on the Avalon, sang Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Pacific Symphony, Costa Rica National Symphony, and Bozeman Symphony, and returned to The Metropolitan Opera for Les Contes d’Hoffmann, The Exterminating Angel, The Merry Widow, and Romeo et Juliette. This Season, Ms. Lattimore returned to The Metropolitan Opera in their production of Iolanta, performed the role of Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin with the Canadian Opera Company, and sings Verdi’s Requiem with the National Philharmonic at the Kennedy Center, as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Sheboygan Symphony.
DAVID MCFERRIN | Baritone JUNIUS David McFerrin is a BLO Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist alumnus, where he has sung roles in The Love Potion, Agrippina, In the Penal Colony, Burke & Hare, and more. Recently, Mr. McFerrin performed the role of Achilla in Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Boston Baroque); was a soloist in Bach cantatas and the Monteverdi Vespers (Handel and Haydn Society); and performed various programs around the U.S. and U.K. with the Renaissance group Blue Heron. Other opera credits include Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Sarasota Opera, and the Rossini Festival in Germany. As a concert soloist, he has sung with the Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Arion Baroque Orchestra (Montreal), A Far Cry, and the Handel and Haydn Society. He was also a runner-up in the Oratorio Society of New York’s 2016 Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition, the premier contest for this repertoire. Recital and chamber music performances have included the Caramoor, Ravinia, and Marlboro Festivals. KELLEY O’CONNOR | Mezzo-Soprano LUCRETIA Kelley O’Connor is a Grammy® Award-winner returning to BLO, having performed the role of Suzuki in the Company's production of Madama Butterfly. Operatic highlights include Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict (Opera Boston), Carmen (Los Angeles Opera), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company), Donizetti’s Anna Bolena (Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Falstaff (Santa Fe Opera). Ms. O’Connor’s symphonic calendar this season includes performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, among others. John Adams wrote the title role of The Gospel According to the Other Mary for Ms. O’Connor, which she has recorded with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and, for her debut with the Atlanta Symphony in Osvaldo Golijov’ Ainadamar, she joined Robert Spano for performances and a Grammy® Award-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording. DUNCAN ROCK | Baritone TARQUINIUS Duncan Rock returns to BLO, where he performed the title role in Don Giovanni. Mr. Rock’s engagements this Season include a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Schaunard in La Bohème, performing the role of Donald in Billy Budd (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), and singing the title role in Don Giovanni for his Australian debut (Opera Queensland). Career highlights include performances with the Glyndebourne Festival (title role, Don Giovanni, and Tarquinius, The Rape of Lucretia), English National
Opera (Marcello, La Bohème, and Papageno, The Magic Flute), Opera North (Marcello, La Bohème), and Deutsche Oper, Berlin (Tarquinius, The Rape of Lucretia). Mr. Rock has also sung with Théâtre du Châtelet, Houston Grand Opera and Teatro Real (Madrid). Highlights on the concert stage include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, the Orchestra of Teatro Real, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. ANTONIA TAMER | Soprano FEMALE CHORUS Antonia Tamer returns to BLO where she has performed in Burke & Hare, and is a BLO Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist alumna. Ms. Tamer has fulfilled young artists residencies with opera companies including Portland Opera, the Caramoor Festival, Chautauqua Opera, The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and Songfest. Recent performances include Così Fan Tutte and La Bohème (Portland Opera), Madama Butterfly (Natchez Music Festival), Hänsel und Gretel (Opera San José), among others. Ms. Tamer returns to Portland Opera this Season to perform in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and La Finta Giardiniera. Ms. Tamer is a recipient of multiple awards including the Chautaqua Opera Award, Second Place in the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition, recognition from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as a regional finalist and district winner, among others. SARA WOMBLE | Soprano LUCIA Sara Womble is a BLO Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist alumna, where this fall she created the role of Girl in the World Premiere production of Schoenberg in Hollywood. At BLO, she has also sung the roles of Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro (while covering Susanna) and the Shepherdess in Tosca. Other recent engagements include Ilia in Opera NEO’s Idomeneo, Frasquita in North Carolina Opera’s Carmen, Susanna in Point Loma Opera’s Le Nozze di Figaro, St. Margaret in Odyssey Opera’s Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher, and Zerlina in Opera NEO’s Don Giovanni, and her North Carolina concert debut as a soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Winston-Salem Symphony. She received a Master of Music in Voice from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Music Performance from Duke University, Phi Beta Kappa and Magna cum laude.
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA | 11
THE LEGEND OF
EXPLORING AN ARCHETYPE BY JOHN CONKLIN
Lucretia (detail) by Rembrandt (1666), Andrew W. Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Inset: Tarquin and Lucretia by Titian, completed in 1571, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
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The story of Lucretia encompasses a brutal sexual attack, the tragic and devastating personal action that follows it, and the momentous political events that subsequently arise from it—a relatively straightforward narrative sequence. But the complex ambiguities and the disturbing moral and psychological interpretations that lie below the surface have long fascinated writers, painters, composers, and philosophers. And, of course, it is to be discouragingly (but crucially) noted that, for the most part, these are male viewpoints. As we anticipate the new BLO production of Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, we examine some of the various accounts of this…legend? myth? moral fable?...as well as touch on its origin as historical actuality.
ROME: HISTORY OR MYTH?
The basic story: Rome is under foreign rule by an Etruscan dynasty. The king’s son, Tarquinius, is leading a joint army in an expedition against Greece. Aroused by stories of the virtuous chastity of the Roman matron Lucretia, wife his general Collatinus, Tarquinius rapes her. She, in the presence of her husband, commits suicide, and another general, Junius Brutus, uses her ravishment and selfsacrifice as a rallying cry against the Etruscans. A popular uprising drives the occupiers from Rome, abolishing the monarchy and leading to the founding of the Roman Republic. The main classical account seems to derive from sources that exist only in fragments. The important surviving accounts are from the historian Livy (in his The History of Rome, written between 27 and 9 BC), from the poet Ovid (published a few years later), and Plutarch (a century or so later still). Possibly the story grew out of actual events and characters, but certainly it was shaped by the passage of time, coming to incorporate elements of fiction and the propaganda-driven modification of historical truth. As articulated by Donaldson (see below), the story of Lucretia was “…fashioned into a political myth to rehearse and explain…certain fundamental Roman ideals [about]…public and private behavior… [and] the nature of liberty. … Brutus achieves political liberty for Rome as Lucretia by her suicide achieves personal liberty. Lucretia is not simply herself but the figure of violated Rome…the rape epitomizes the wider tyranny of the Tarquins.”
SAINT AUGUSTINE
The early Fathers of the Christian Church did not oppose the pagan notion that a woman’s honor (and chastity) is a treasure more precious than life, or that life should be laid down in order to save this treasure…or atone for its loss. “The very high value placed on virginity made female martyrdom a subject of particular interest to the church” (Donaldson). But Saint Augustine in The City of God (413 AD) renewed skeptical questions about the problems of Lucretia’s suicide that have reverberated in all subsequent commentary and controversy. In the beginning (from Livy’s account), Lucretia stated the issue: “My body only has been violated…my heart is innocent: death will be my witness.” Augustine adds, “There is no possible way out…if she is adulterous in spirit, why is she praised? If she is chaste and guiltless in spirit, why does she kill herself?” While ancient Romans had cast Lucretia as the ultimate sacrifice in the face of tyranny, Augustine cast doubt on Lucretia’s celebrated virtue, implying that her suicide in some way proved her complicity in her own rape. As odious as this false equivalence seems today, however, it also opened up a way for Christian women to regain their lost honor after an assault—if moral purity was an inner quality of the soul, suicide was an unnecessary and counterproductive way to restore it.
SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare’s long narrative poem “The Rape of Lucrece” is an early work written in 1594 (and thus more or less contemporaneous with Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew, two quite different studies of the power and violence of sexual dynamics). It was one of Shakespeare’s first great successes but has been overshadowed by his second long poem, the more masterfully composed “Venus and Adonis,” which was written the following year. Shakespeare’s telling of the Lucretia story contains sequences of compelling psychological insight and narrative vigor. He dwells at some length on Tarquinius’ ambivalent, even tortured, feelings towards the crime he feels driven to commit before he eventually accepts and embraces his course of violence. At even greater length, Shakespeare explores the complex reaction of Lucretia and, with his usual insight and poetic force, dramatizes her desperate attempt to understand what has happened. “No other version of the Lucretia story explores more minutely or with greater psychological insight the mental processes of the two major characters, their inconsistent waverings to and fro, before they bring themselves finally, and reluctantly, to action.”
THE MYTH INVERTED
The post-Augustinian tellings of the Lucretia story refashion it in a wide variety of responses (serious and even sometimes humorously), “reversing its traditional narrative outlines and moral assumptions in an attempt to make it more comprehensible or acceptable.” In Madeleine de Scudery’s (a rare woman’s response) romance Celine (1654), Lucretia shows indifference,
even hostility, towards her husband and is in love with the dashing Lucius Junius Brutus. A.V. Arnault’s tragedy (1792) allows his heroine to harbor a lingering fondness for her rapist, a former suitor whose attentions had been proscribed by her father because of his connection to the hated Tarquinius family. In Rousseau’s unfinished play (1792), Tarquinius again is a former suitor once betrothed to Lucretia, and Collatinus an ambitious and contemptible figure who encourages Tarquinius to approach Lucretia to advance his own position at court. Parody, low comedy, disconcerting facetiousness often enter the picture. In Thomas Heywood’s play (1608), after the rape, a bawdy song is sung merrily reflecting on the event. “Unlike jokes about other crimes—murder, theft, incest—jokes about rape have a special quality: that it is legal and social fiction which will dissolve before the gaze of humor and the universal sexual appetite.” Pushkin’s Count Nulin (1852) is another example of this “modern” deflation of the legend. He wrote, “…re-reading LUCRECE, a rather weak poem by Shakespeare, I thought: what if it had occurred to Lucretia to slap Tarquin’s face? Maybe it would have cooled his boldness and he would have withdrawn covered in confusion.” “The tragic versions of the myth tend to present Lucretia as a saint; the comic versions as a whore. The two views, equally dehumanizing in their different ways are perhaps not so radically opposed. Both are products of male thinking; both present women according to popular stereotype…veneration and contempt are often closely allied.”
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten’s opera, with a libretto by Ronald Duncan freely adapted from the play by André Obey, Le Viol de Lucrece (1931), was written in 1946. His retelling of the story is set within a Christian context where the meaning of Lucretia’s suicide/sacrifice is linked to the martyrdom of Christ…a context and comparison that had been proposed as the pagan myths of Rome encountered the newly Christianized Europe. This framework has been and continues to be a controversial and much criticized aspect of Britten and Duncan’s work, and is but another example of the richly dense, ambiguous and important questions that the story of Lucretia has engendered.
Note: The quotations and much of the material in this very brief overview of a very complicated story are taken from The Rapes of Lucretia: A Myth and Its Transformations by Ian Donaldson…a detailed, authoritative and eminently readable study, highly recommended by this author. BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA | 13
SPRING 2019
BLO COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS AT BLO, we believe that art can be a catalyst for conversation, for healing, and for action. Our Spring Season of 2019 places issues of sexual violence and power in focus with our new productions of The Rape of Lucretia and The Handmaid’s Tale.
From left, Brianna J. Robinson, soprano; David Tinervia, baritone; Renée Tatum, mezzo-soprano
By presenting these two works side-by-side, BLO is striving to create an inclusive platform for crucial dialogue—but we also recognize that we have much to learn. This Season, we are partnering with two leading social service organizations in the Boston community, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and Casa Myrna. These unique community partnerships will: • Deepen BLO’s understanding of the dynamics of sexual and intimate partner violence through workshops and trainings. • Provide a variety of supports to the audience experience at the theatre, including trained representatives on site to answer questions, talkbacks with experts alongside members of the cast and creative team, and referrals and resources. • Enrich our opera performances onstage through artistic consultation and support. If you are interested in learning more, please visit our resource table in the lobby, or stay with us after the performance for our half-hour Talkback, which will include representatives from our partner organizations as well as the artists and creative team for The Rape of Lucretia.
On February 7, 2019, a cast of artists led by director Paula Plum explored the sexual violence at the heart of the Lucretia story through BLO's event, Reclaiming Lucretia: Responding to Sexual Violence through Music, Poetry, and Story. With selections from the opera paired with readings from Shakespeare, Livy and more, alongside the words of contemporary survivors, in partnership with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and Casa Myrna. From left, Jesse Darden, tenor; Brianna J. Robinson, soprano; David Tinervia, baritone; Renée Tatum, mezzo-soprano; Ed Hoopman, actor; Aimee Doherty, actor; Not pictured, Douglas Sumi, pianist
We are grateful to the Susan A. and Donald P. Babson Foundation and the Boston Cultural Council for support of our partnerships with BARCC and Casa Myrna.
PHOT0S: LIZA VOLL PHOTOGRAPHY
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BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 2018 | THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA | 15
ARTISTS, STAFF & CREW CHAMBER ENSEMBLE VIOLIN I ANNIE RABBAT Concertmaster HEIDI BRAUN-HILL
PRODUCTION/ARTISTIC STAFF CLARINET/BASS CLARINET JAN HALLORAN Principal
VIOLA KENNETH STALBERG Principal
BASSOON RONALD HAROUTUNIAN Principal
CELLO LOEWI LIN Principal
HORN WHITACRE HILL Acting Principal
BASS ROBERT LYNAM Principal
PERCUSSION RICHARD FLANAGAN Principal
FLUTE/PICCOLO/ ALTO FLUTE LINDA TOOTE Principal
HARP INA ZDOROVETCHI Principal
OBOE/ENGLISH HORN NANCY DIMOCK Principal
PIANO DAVID ANGUS
Bradley Vernatter Production Manager Whitney McAnally Stage Manager Melanie Bacaling Assistant Stage Director & Company Intimacy Advocate Julie Marie Langevin Assistant Stage Manager Bruno Baker Assistant Stage Manager Kristina Furey Production Assistant Alisa Rabin Stage Management Intern Lisa Berg Props Master Kayleigha Zawacki Assistant Lighting Designer Michael Commendatore Associate Projection Designer Alex Brandt Lighting Director Aja Jackson Lighting Director J Jumbelic Audio-Visual Supervisor Eliot Bayless Video Technician Renee Goudreau Audio Technician Satrina Massey Surtitle Operator Maynard Goldman Orchestra Personnel Manager Charles Neumann Associate Costume Designer Gail Buckley Costume Supervisor Melinda Abreu Wig/Makeup Artist Joe Arbeely Wardrobe Run Crew Costumes built by Costume Works, Krostyne Studio, and Dyenamix Inc.
ROAD CREW Brendan Ritchie Head Production Carpenter Brian Willis First Assistant Production Carpenter Matthew Frelinger Second Assistant Production Carpenter Michael Gottke Head Production Electrician Donald King First Assistant Production Electrician Allyson Loomis Second Assistant Production Electrician Becky (Rebecca) Marsh Light Board Programmer Hilliary Kramer Head of Production Properties LaRasha Payne First Assistant of Production Properties Hilliary Kramer Hospitality Coordinator Dianna Reardon Wardrobe Supervisor
UNIONS The Artists and Stage Managers employed on these productions are members of the American Guild of Musical Artists. All musicians are members of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. The scenic, costume, and lighting designers are members of United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Stagehands are represented by Local #11 of IATSE. Boston Lyric Opera is a member of OPERA America, the national service organization for opera in the U.S. and Canada.
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BOSTON LYRIC OPERA STAFF
VOLUNTEER CORPS
Esther Nelson Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director David Angus Music Director John Conklin Artistic Advisor
Jeannie Ackerman Sharon Barry Katie Bauer Allyson Bennett Pam Borys Laima Bobelis Lynn Bregman Jane Cammack Susan Cavalieri Caroline Cole Michelle Chen Ann D’Angelo Karla De Greef Marsha dePoo Mary DePoto Frances Driscoll Marian Ead Lee Forgosh Erin Frey Audley Fuller Linda George Mencken Graham Rachel Hahn Christine Hauray-Gilbert James Karg Eva Karger Milling Kinard Esther Lable Daniel Levin Richard Leccese Nancy Lynn Domenico Mastrototaro Patti McGovern Anne McGuire Meg Morton Kameel Nasr Gail Neff Cosmo and Jane Papa Barbara Papesch Manitari Araceli-Patterson Jeffrey Penta Nikta Sabouri Elizabeth Sarafian Colin Sheehan Alexandra (Sasha) Sherman Yamel Rizk Barbara Trachtenberg Amy Walba Gerry Weisenberg Kenneth Westhassel Beverly Wiggins Debra Wiess Alfred Williams Lynn Williams Sybil Williams
ARTISTIC Nicholas G. Russell Director of Artistic Operations Andrew Eggert Artistic Manager Zachary Calhoun Auditions Coordinator Sydney Mukasa Artistic Associate PRODUCTION Anna B. Labykina Production & Technical Director Samantha Layco Production Operations Manager Patrick McGovern Associate Technical Director Andrew M. Trego Production Coordinator Jessica Pfau Master Carpenter William “Billy” Douglass Carpenter Thomas Farrell Carpenter Julia Noulin-Mérat Associate Producer FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Karen T. Frost Director of Finance and Administration David J. Cullen Accounting Manager Reingard Heller Finance Manager Steven Atwater Senior Accountant Elisabeth Layne Finance & Office Coordinator Lizabeth Malanga Executive Assistant to the Stanford Calderwoord General & Artistic Director EXTERNAL RELATIONS Eileen Nugent Williston Managing Director Sarah B. Blume Director of Major Gifts Cathy Emmons Director of Institutional Gifts Robin Whitney Development and Outreach Manager Jayne Gallagher External Relations Coordinator Ashley Daugherty Development Coordinator Molly O’Keefe Patron Relations Associate Jeila Irdmusa Marketing & Communications Manager Madison Florence Marketing & Communications Coordinator JMK PR Public Relations Rebecca Kittredge Audience Services Manager Bailey Kerr Patron Services Associate Lacey Upton Director of Community Engagement Rebecca Kirk Manager of Education Programs Sara O’Brien Events Manager Patricia Au Resident Teaching Artist Lydia Jane Graeff Resident Teaching Artist IRN Internet Services Website Leapfrog Arts Graphic Design As of March 1, 2019
ABOUT BOSTON LYRIC OPERA Both locally and beyond, Boston Lyric Opera leads the way in celebrating the art of the voice through innovative programming and community engagement initiatives that redefine the operagoing experience. Under the vibrant leadership of Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director Esther Nelson, BLO’s productions have been described by the magazine Musical America as “part of the national dialogue” because of their role as entry points for new audiences. The New York Times observed that BLO “clearly intends [its productions] to catch the interest of operagoers around the country.” This view is shared by the nearly 25,000 people who experience BLO each year through dynamic performances, extensive partnerships with leading cultural organizations, and programs throughout our vastly diverse and exuberant community. BLO’s programming remains faithful to tradition while blazing new ground, building audiences, and creating new ways to enhance the opera-going experience. BLO’s Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artists hone their craft and prepare to expand their careers to other worldleading stages. And BLO’s wide-reaching education initiatives introduce opera to new audiences across generations. Through your support and attendance, BLO employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalists, artisans, stagehands, costumers, and scenic designers—many of whom are members of our own community. The Company is proud to play a significant and meaningful role in Boston’s vibrant arts community.
DONOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are honored to recognize our donors who generously support the mission of Boston Lyric Opera to build curiosity, enthusiasm, and support for opera by creating musically and theatrically compelling productions, events, and educational resources for our community and beyond. We are deeply grateful for the following contributions made to BLO between July 1, 2017 and January 25, 2019. • FRIENDS OF BLO | The largest community of supporters of Boston Lyric Opera. Members enjoy exclusive opportunities to explore opera and engage with others who share their passion through benefits such as invitations to Deconstructing Opera Salons, backstage tours, final dress rehearsals and more. • ORFEO SOCIETY | Members gain behind-the-scenes access to BLO Artists and Creative Team members, while providing direct support to bring opera to our stages and communities. • THE GOLDOVSKY SOCIETY | Membership is given in recognition of those who have made a provision in a will, living trust, deferred gift plan, or retirement plan that will benefit BLO. For more information or to become a member, please call Sarah B. Blume at 617.702.8974. CRESCENDO ($100,000+) Anonymous Jane & Steven Akin Linda Cabot Black*§ Willa & Taylor Bodman*† Alicia Cooney & Stephen Quigley*§ Wayne Davis & Ann Merrifield*†§ Jody & Tom Gill*† Jane & Jeffrey Marshall* The Montrone Family Mr. & Mrs. E. Lee Perry*† William & Helen Pounds*†
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Alan & Lisa Dynner*§ Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Karen Johansen & Gardner Hendrie Mimi Hewlett*§ Mr. & Mrs. Amos B. Hostetter, Jr Maria Krokidas & Bruce Bullen* Anne M. Morgan*† National Endowment for the Arts Janet & Irv Plotkin*† Schwab Charitable Fund Susan & Dennis Shapiro* Dr. Robert Walsh & Lydia Kenton Walsh* Ms. Amy Merrill Jo Frances & John Meyer Shari & Christopher Noe D. Cosmo & Jane P. Papa* Mr. Winfield Perry, in memory of Shirley & Kenneth Perry Dr. & Mrs. John William Poduska, Sr. William & Lia Poorvu Carol & Frank Porcelli Melinda & James Rabb Deborah Rose & Dr. Noel Rose Dr. Jordan S. Ruboy Charitable Fund‡§ Dr. & Mrs. R. Michael Scott Mr. & Mrs. Jeremiah Shafir David Shukis & Susan Blair Lise & Myles Striar Tee Taggart & Jack Turner Mr. Thaemert & Mr. Gokey Ms. Amy Tsurumi* UBS Financial Services, Inc. Tanya & David Virnelli Jeannie Ackerman Curhan & Joseph C. Williams PRODUCER ($1,500 - $2,999) Alliance Bernstein Matching Gift Program Anchor Capital Advisors John & Molly Beard Bessie Pappas Charitable Foundation, Inc. Boston Cultural Council Ms. Kathleen Boyce Mr. & Mrs. John Cabot Judge & Mrs. Levin H. Campbell Mark H. Dalzell & James Dao-Dalzell Laura Dike & Vaughn Miller
Andrew L. Eisenberg* RADM & Mrs. S. David Frost Stefan & Sonchu Gavell Dr. David Golan & Dr. Laura Green Mark Kritzman & Elizabeth Gorman Arthur & Eloise Hodges Mrs. Charles Hood Doris & Howard Hunter Mr. & Mrs. C. Bruce Johnstone, in honor of Steve & Jane Akin Eva R. Karger§ Dr. Harold Michlewitz Mary & Sherif Nada§ Mr. Carl R. Nold & Ms. Vicky Kruckeberg Robert & Carolyn Osteen Mr. & Mrs. Richard S. Perkins, Jr. Max & Meredith Russell Mr. Jonathan F. Saxton & Ms. Barbara Fox Mr. & Mrs. Lionel Spiro State Street Foundation Mr. John Whittlesey Mr. Michael Wyzga & Ms. Judy Ozbun PARTNER ($500 - $1,499) Anonymous (3) Mr. & Mrs. Dana Bartholomew John Belchers Mr. Martin S. Berman, in memory of Lila Gross Mr. Clark Bernard Leonard & Jane Bernstein MK Bertelli Ms. Sophie Cabot Black Dr. Paul Bleicher & Dr. Julia Greenstein Mr. & Mrs. Kenyon C. Bolton III Dorothy & Hale Bradt Ed & Amy Brakeman Peter Braun & Diane Katzenberg Braun John & Irene Briedis Pam & Lee Bromberg David W. Brown Thomas Burger & Andree Robert Samuel & Claire Cabot Timothy & Sara Cabot Susan Cavalieri, in memory of Eurydice Cavalieri Ms. Mei Po Cheung Rachel & Thomas Claflin Ms. Nina Cohen Mr. Eugene Cox Rita Cuker Gene & Lloyd Dahmen Mr. Terry O. Decima Janice Mancini Del Sesto§, in memory of Susan D. Eastman
Mr. James DeVeer Mr. Lawrence M. Devito Mr. & Mrs. Myron J. Dickerman Dr. & Mrs. David B. Doolittle Ms. Jennifer Eckert Marie-Pierre & Michael Ellmann Mr. Martin Elvis Mr. Edward N. Gadsby Mrs. G. Peabody Gardner, in honor of Mr. & Mrs. E Lee Perry GE Foundation Lucretia Giese‡ Mr. Walter Gilbert Dr. & Mrs. William E. Goldberg Paul Golden Mark Goodman & Jennifer Cope Goodman Pamela & Alan Goodman Google, Inc. Ms. Sandra Steele & Mr. Paul Greenfield Mr. Stephen Grubaugh & Ms. Carol McGeehan Anne & Neil Harper Ms. Bette Ann Harris Mr. & Mrs. John Henn† Dr. Robert Henry Mr. Joseph M. Herlihy Robert & Stephanie Hood Mr. Henry B. Hoover, Jr. Fred Hoppin Mr. Ted & the Rev. Canon Cynthia P. Hubbard Thomas & Cynthia Kazior Mr. Stanley Keller Mr. John Michael Kennedy Milling Kinard Dr. David Korn & Carol Scheman Ms. Yuriko Kuwabara & Dr. Sunny Dzik Pam Lassiter Mr. & Mrs. Boardman Lloyd Tod Machover & June Kinoshita Peter Madsen Mr. Joseph Mari Mr. Domenico Mastrototaro§ Dr. Edward McCall Mary & Michael McConnell Kate Meany Ms. Virginia Meany Mr. Adam G. Neilly Melissa & David Norton Prof. Suzanne P. Ogden Jack Osgood‡§ Finley & Patricia Perry Pamela E. Pinsky Memorial at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Mr. & Mrs. James Post Mr. & Mrs. Patrick & Ute Prevost
Clay & Emily Rives Dr. & Mrs. Edward Roberts Simon Rosenthal & Nouri Newman Elizabeth Ross & William O'Reilly Stephen & Peg Senturia JoAnne & Joel Shapiro Lisa G. Shaw Sayre Sheldon Mr. John Stevens & Ms. Virginia McIntyre Ms. Beth Sullivan Susan A. & Donald P. Babson Charitable Foundation Ms. Roberta Sydney & Mr. Jordan Rich Mr. Andrew Szentgyorgyi Edward H. Tate II Diane C. Tillotson Michael Tomich Mrs. Wat Tyler Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Walter H. Weld Leonce Welt Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Winthrop Aniki Wisser Mr. & Ms. Douglas Woodlock Mr. & Mrs. Robert Wulff Dr. Ioannis Yannas Albert & Judith Zabin CONTRIBUTOR ($250 - $499) Anonymous (4) Mr. Peter Ambler & Ms. Lindsay Miller Mr. Bernard Aserkoff Marc & Carol Bard Mr. John Barstow & Ms. Eugenia Ware Dr. & Mrs. Robert M. Beazley Dr. & Mrs. Martin Becker Nina & Donald Berk Mr. Andrew Binns Ms. Elizabeth Bjorkman Ms. Christine Bradt Ms. Sally T. Brewster Jennifer L. Hochschild & C. Anthony Broh Ms. Katherine Cain Ms. Mary Chamberlain Ms. Elisabeth Clark Cary Coen, in honor of Gerry & Sherri Cohen A. Paul Cravedi, in memory of Anna Cravedi James F. Crowley, Jr. Mr. Paul Curtis Deborah B. Davis Mr. Mark Donohoe Willis & Zach Durant-Emmons Bill & Susan Elsbree Robert & Iris Fanger Family Foundation, in honor of John Michael Kennedy
Mr. Bruce Feibel Mr. & Mrs. Glenn L. Fencer Mr. William Fregosi Sarah Gallivan & Gopal Kadagathur Mark C. Gebhardt, MD & Kristi L. Griffin Mr. Clayton Geiger Mr. James Glazier Dr. Philip L. Goldsmith & Melissa Boshco Laurie Gould & Stephen Ansolabehere Mr. Daniel Halston Sylvia Hammer Mr. & Mrs. James J. Harper Mr. John Hauser Mr. Thomas Hotaling Investment Technology Group Ms. Ann Johnson Robert Kauffman & Susan Porter Jeri Lardy Ricardo & Marla Lewitus Mr. Charles Maier Dr. Nicholas & Mrs. Charlotte Mastroianni Mr. Arthur Mattuck James & Caroline McCloy Mr. & Mrs. Kilmer McCully Margaret McDormand, in memory of Anna Elizabeth McDormand Claudia J. Morner & Leonard S. Jones Curiosity Foundation Mr. William Pananos Enid Ricardo Quiñones & Wendy Blackfield Quiñones Mr. Jack Reynolds Jim & Sandy Righter Donald & Abby Rosenfeld Mark & Lori Roux Varda & Dr. Israel Shaked Dr. George L. Sigalos Mr. & Ms. Matthew Stewart Ms. Joan Suit Marcos & Faith Szydlo John & Mary Tarvin Ms. Ann Teixeira Ms. Antra Thrasher Dr. Ed Tronick Mr. Konstantin Tyurin & Ms. Kirstin Ilse Linda & Harvey Weiner Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Weinstein Mr. Jerry Wheelock & Elizabeth Wood Mr. Stephen Wohler Ms. Mary Wolfson Board Member * Lyric Circle Member † Goldovsky Society Member § Deceased ‡
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS Boston Lyric Opera’s programs are funded, in part, by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Boston Lyric Opera extends its gratitude to the following vendors, partners, individuals, community organizations, and school partners for their extraordinary courtesy in making our 2018/19 Season possible: 4Wall Boston | Rui Alves, Mike Texeira Acentech, Inc. | Carl Rosenberg, Ben Markham Alexander Aronson Finning American Repertory Theater Artists for Humanity ArtsBoston Backstage Hardware Be Our Guest Susan Bennett, M.D., Company Physician, Consultant, Associate Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital BOCA Systems Boston Area Rape Crisis Center Boston Center for the Arts | Gregory Ruffer Boston Public Library Boston Public Schools Visual & Performing Arts Office Caffé Nero Cartage America | Tim Riley Casa Myrna Chandler Inn Charcoalblue LLP | Andy Hayles, Gary Sparkes, John Owens Coastal Advisory | Tom Lynch Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP | Andrew Eisenberg, Will Krasnow Coppersmith Costume Works, Inc. | Liz Perlman C3 Commercial Construction Consulting, Inc. | Doug Anderson Dyenamix, Inc. East Cambridge Piano | James Nicoloro Elderhostel, Inc. | Road Scholar Eric Antoniou Photography Fessenden & Sykes Films Around the World, Inc. | Alexander W. Kogan, Jr. Furnished Quarters | Annette Clement Louis A. Gentile Piano Service Goldstar Gourmet Caterers Grand Image Inc. | Tamir Luria, Shane Bandzul Timothy Hamilton High Output Inc. | Jim Hirsch Mark Howard Hubspot, Inc.
HUM Properties | Casey Smith The HYM Investment Group IATSE Local #11 JACET | Colleen Glynn IRN Internet Services | Jay Williston Jayne’s Flowers Inc. JMK PR Krostyne Studio Leapfrog Arts | Melissa Wagner-O’Malley Liza Voll Photography Maggiano’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation | Nick Connors mindSHIFT Technologies Inc. Mitel Myles Standish Business Condominiums NEPS Primary Freight New England Professional Systems | Bill Miller Production Advantage Opus Affair | Graham Wright Oregon Shakespeare Festival ProPrint Boston Quality Graphics, Inc. Robert Silman Associates Structural Engineers | Michael Auren, Ben Rosenberg Rosebrand Inc. Ryder Transportation Santander Scalped Productions Sentinel Group | Denise Roney Seyfarth Shaw LLP | Brian Michaelis StageSource Starburst Printing | Jason Grondin The Strategy Group Tessitura TDF | Theatre Development Fund Toshiba, Corp. | Cheryl Hayford, Todd Tweedie United Staging & Rigging | Eric Frishman Vantage Technology Consulting Group | Geoffrey Tritsch VOICES Boston WBUR WGBH/WCRB
PAINTINGS FEATURED IN THE LOBBY The Suicide of Lucretia, Lucas Cranach The Elder, 1525-30, oil on beech wood, Staatliche Museen, Kassel, Germany | Lucretia, Master of the Holy Blood, c. 1530, oil on panel, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary. | Tarquin and Lucretia, Titian, 1571, oil on canvas, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England. | Tarquin and Lucretia, Tintoretto, 1580-90, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. | Tarquinius and Lucretia, Hans von Aachen, c. 1600, oil on canvas, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. | Lucretia, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653), recently sold to a private collection. | The Rape of Lucretia, Artemisia Gentileschi, between c. 1645 and c. 1650, oil on canvas , New Palace, Potsdam, Germany. | Tarquin and Lucretia, Peter Paul Rubens, 1610, tempera on canvas, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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MAY 5 - 12 RAY LAVIETES PAVILION
MUSIC BY POUL RUDERS
LIBRETTO BY PAUL BENTLEY BASED ON THE NOVEL BY
MARGARET ATWOOD
OPERA BEYOND THE STAGE | SPRING 2019 BLO EMERGING ARTIST RECITAL: BRIANNA ROBINSON WED | APR 3 | 6:00PM Boston Athenæum
BLO BOOK CLUB: THE POWER AND THE HANDMAID'S TALE TUE | APR 9 | 7:00PM Trident Cafe and Booksellers
ANNE BOGART: OPERA, DIRECTING, AND THE HANDMAID’S TALE
LIZA VOLL PHOTOGRAPHY
THU | APR 18 | 6:00PM District Hall
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY BOOK CLUB: THE HANDMAID'S TALE TUE | APR 23 | 6:00PM Central Library
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LEARN MORE AT BLO.ORG/EVENTS
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION: BLO.ORG | BLO AUDIENCE SERVICES: 617.542.6772 All performances begin on time. At the request of our patrons, Boston Lyric Opera observes the national opera standard of a no late seating policy. Additionally, if you must leave during the performance, reentry may be prohibited. While we understand that traffic conditions, public transportation, weather and other factors can have unexpected effects on your arrival, we wish to minimize disruptions for our seated patrons and for our artists on stage. As a courtesy to the artists and for the comfort of those around you, please turn off all mobile phones, pagers, watch alarms, and any other device with audible signals prior to the start of the performance. The use of cameras or recording devices in the theatre is strictly prohibited.
VENUE INFORMATION: THE ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY EPICENTER ACCESSIBILITY: The Artists for Humanity EpiCenter can accommodate both wheelchair and companion seating. Restrooms are located in the lower lobby, which is accessible by elevator. Assisted listening devices are available at the box office. VENUE INFORMATION: Artists For Humanity | 100 W 2nd Street, Boston, MA, 02127 | 617.268.7620 | afhboston.org FIRE EXIT PLANS: For your own safety, please take a moment to view the exits for each floor.
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BOXOFFICE@BLO.ORG | BLO.ORG | GET SOCIAL WITH BLO | QED AUDIENCE SERVICES: MON – FRI | 10AM – 5PM | 617.542.6772