Minnesota Opera's Lakme Program by Minnesota Opera

Outdoor Environment

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Contents The Minnesota Opera Staff and Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Notes from the Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Lakmé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Background Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Léo Delibes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Minnesota Opera Chorus and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra . . . . . 20 Coming up: The Marriage of Figaro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Education at the Opera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Minnesota Opera Annual Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Opera at the Ordway Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 2007-2008 Season Announcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Young Professionals Group Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

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The Minnesota Opera President & CEO Artistic Director Chair, Board of Directors

Kevin Smith Dale Johnson J. A. Blanchard, III

The Minnesota Opera, 620 North First Street Minneapolis, MN 55401 (612) 333-2700 www.mnopera.org The Minnesota Opera is a member of OPERA America. This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature. This project is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

April 2007

The Minnesota Opera Program

Corporate Administrator/Publisher Assoc. Publisher/Director of Production Account Executive Creative Designer Graphic Designers

Todd Hyde Marsha Kitchel Liesl Hyde, Amy Newton Stacy Hawkins Sue Sentyrz Klapmeier, Robert Ochsner Susan Schwegman

Large-print and Braille programs are available at the Patron Services Office

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is published by

MINNESOTA OPERA

Staff

President & CEO Kevin Smith Artistic Director Dale Johnson Welcome to today’s production of Lakmé. For more than four decades, The Minnesota Opera has enriched the cultural life of our community by producing outstanding and innovative operas that inspire and entertain. U.S. Bank is honored to sponsor the 2006 – 2007 season. We are proud of our 20+ year relationship with The Minnesota Opera and the spectacular Ordway in St. Paul. At U.S. Bank, we support great dreams, great art and great arts organizations. They enrich the community with vibrancy, creativity and excellence. As the sixth largest bank in America today, U.S. Bank is the only major bank headquartered in Minnesota, and we’re deeply committed to giving back to this community. Thank you for coming and enjoy the performance!

Rod Boren, Senior Vice President, Personal Trust Regional Manager, U.S. Bank Private Client Group Jose Peris, Senior Vice President, Private Banking Regional Manager, U.S. Bank Private Client Group and Minnesota Opera Board Member

Artistic

Scenery cont.

Artistic Administrator . . . .Roxanne Stou∂er Cruz Artistic Associate . . . . . . . . Floyd Anderson Community Education Director . . . . . . . . . . . Jamie Andrews Dramaturg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Sander Conductor-in-residence . . . . . .Robert Wood Resident Artists . . . . . . . . . .Kyle Albertson, Alison Bates, Andrea Coleman, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Joshua Kohl, Bryan Lemke, Kelly Markgraf, Cortez Mitchell, Edward Mout, Bill Murray, Nili Riemer, Eric Schnobrick, Hugo Vera RAP Faculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nancy Boler, Carlotta Dradi-Bower, Doug Scholz-Carlson, Barbara Kierig, Peter Robinson Master Coach . . . . . . . . .Mary Jo Gothmann Librarian . . . . . . . . . . . .Griffin Woodworth Teaching Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lisa Butcher Project Opera Apprentices . . . . .Setara Barukzoy, Celeste Johnson, Siri Jorstad, Kaitlin Very Project Opera Music Director . . . Dale Kruse Project Opera Accompanist . . .Kathy Kraulik Education Intern . . . . . . . . . . .Nick Nolte

Properties Master . . Stanley Dean Hawthorne Properties Assistant . . . . . . . . . Mike Long Production Carpenter . . . . . . . . . JC Amel Scene Shop Foreman . . . . . . . . . . Rod Aird Master Carpenter . . . . . . . . . .Steven Rovie Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eric Veldey Charge Painter . . . . . . . . Kevin Noteboom

Production Production Director . . . . . . . Kevin Ramach Production Stage Manager . . . . . Alex Farino Assistant Stage Managers . . . . .Casey Martin, Angie Spencer Production Admin Asst. . Katherine Cattrysse

Costumes Costume Shop Manager . . . .Erica M. Burds Assistant Costume Shop Manager . .Beth Sanders Drapers . . . . . . . . .Chris Bur, Yancey Thrift, Angela Yarbrough Costume Technicians . . . .Helen Ammann, Rebecca Ballas, Jennifer Dawson, Mary Farrell, Rose Ryan Wig/Makeup Designer. . . . . . . Tom Watson Wig/Makeup Assistants . . . . . . . . Mary Farrell, Sarah Opstad, Emily Rosenmeier, Ashley Ryan

Scenery

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Technical Director . . . . . Mike McQuiston Asst. Technical Director. . . Marc D. Johnson Lighting Coordinator . . . . . . . . . Tom Rost

MINNESOTA OPERA

Designers Set & Costume Designer . . Mark Thompson Lighting Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Cox

Administration Finance Director . . . . . . . . . . . . Je∂ Couture Operations/Systems Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Mittelholtz HR/Accounting Manager . . . . Jennifer Thill Executive Assistant . . . . . . . Theresa Murray Finance Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Libby Jones IT Applications Specialist . . . . . .Jessica Wright

Institutional Advancement Vice President of Institutional Advancement . . . . . . . . . . .Patrick Dewane Institutional Advancement Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kelly Clemens

Development Director of the Annual Fund . . . .Dawn Loven Corporate and Government Gifts Manager . . . . . . . . . . . Linda Johnson Institutional Gifts Associate/Gala Coordinator Emily Skoblik Individual Gifts Associate . . . .Megan Stevenson

Marketing/Communications Marketing and Communications Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lani Willis Audience Development Associate . . Jamie Nieman Ticket O∑ce Manager . . . Katherine Castille Ticketing and Communications Associate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Schmidt Ticket O∑ce Assistants . . . . .Kendra Ramthun, Brianne Whitcraft, Max Wirsing, Alexandrea Kouame, Communications Intern . . . . . . . . . . Bomi Kim

Volunteers

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The following volunteers contribute their time and talent in support of key activities of The Minnesota Opera.

Catherine Ahern Ann Albertson Gerald Benson Jim Brownback* Sue Brownback Sarah Burman Christine Buss Jerry Cassidy Diane Choih Joann Cierniak Susan Cogger Caroline Coopersmith Beverly Dailey* Denis Dailey Jeanette Daun Timothy Davis Lee Drawert Judith Duncan Sally Economon Svea Forsberg Christopher Foster Hazel Francois Li-Jun Fu Jane Fuller Joan Gacki* Alex Garay

Christine A. Garner* Juhi Gupta-Gulati Mark Gustin Mary E. Hagen Mark Hahn Lucinda Hallet Merle J. Hanson John Harris* Cari Beth Head Anne Hesselroth Heather Huber Alisandra Johnson Karen Johnson Nancy Johnson Steve Johnson Jeannie Johnston Kristen Johnston Robin Keck Dawn Klassen Shannon Klonecki Eleanore Kolar Lucinda Lamont Shirley Larson Mathilda Lien Jerry Lillquist Joyce Lillquist

Maura LoMonico Abby Marier Margery Martin Joan Masuck Yasuko Matsumoto Mary McDiarmid* Beth McGuire Verne Melberg Jeanette Middleton Irma Monson Barbara Moore Doug Myhra Denise Nichols Pam Nielsen David Nifoussi Candyce Osterkamp Dan Panshin Pat Panshin Megan Pelka Holly Peterson Bill Phillips Sydney Phillips Julia Porter Carol Purvis Kathleen Riley Shannon Robinson

Leigh Roethke John Rosse Emma Rotilie Enrique Rotstein John Sauer Lynette Saucier Michael Silhavy Wendy Silhavy Angie Solomon Wendi Sott Naomi St. Gregory Karen St. John Katie Steerman Harry Swepston Dave Terwilliger Emily Thompson Doris Unger Stacey Vonderhear Carolyn Wahtera Mary Weitz Barbara Willis* Elizabeth Cutter Wilson Kathie Wojtkiewicz Eve Yang *Lead volunteer

NOTES FROM THE

Directors

Artistic Director Welcome to this long-awaited world premiere.

More than a decade ago, after working with director Eric Simonson on our last commissioned opera, Bok Choy Variations, I started to look for a topic for a new commission. I felt we were in need of operas that speak to us as a people right now the way Mozart’s and Verdi’s operas spoke to the audiences of their times. I looked to Aida as a model. Aida’s intimate story of three central characters is told in a broader social context. When I reread The Grapes of Wrath, I knew it could be an opera. The Joad family story is told in an epic context – the mass migration of tenant farmers from the ruined lands of the Dust Bowl to the harsh reality of California’s corporate agriculture. Steinbeck’s 75-year-old portrayal of Dust Bowl-era disenfranchisement, FROM THE

BOARD OF

homelessness and corporate indifference rings sadly true in today’s world. As in the 1930s, there is displacement of whole populations caused by natural, economic and political disasters. We only have to look at Hurricane Katrina’s refugees to know this is still a relevant American story. To tell this story, we assembled a talented creative team of American artists: Academy Award-winning director Eric Simonson, the distinctly American composer Ricky Ian Gordon and the talented wordsmith and theater man, Michael Korie. Together, they have created a powerful opera that we think will resonate in the hearts of everyone who still seeks the American Dream. I hope you enjoy America’s newest opera, The Grapes of Wrath.

Dale Johnson, Artistic Director

President Welcome to The Grapes of Wrath.

The opera industry, like any successful business, needs to invest in the creation of new product. This is one reason why The Minnesota Opera regularly introduces new and unfamiliar works to our audience. Yet commissioning an opera is no small feat, and the raising of this commission – with its 18 principals, a cast of 50 and 60 musicians in the pit – has certainly taken a village. There are many generous sponsors to thank, and I invite you to read the acknowledgments on page 10 of this program. Without the major support of national presenting sponsor Ameriprise Financial, The Grapes of Wrath would

simply not be possible. The Minnesota Opera could not have initiated this project without the support of longtime friends Ruth and John Huss, who provided the “start-up capital” for the commission. Nor could we have done it alone, and we are grateful for the forward vision of Anne Ewers and Utah Symphony & Opera for coming on as a co-commissioner from the moment we had secured the music rights to The Grapes of Wrath. Utah Symphony & Opera, along with coproducers Pittsburgh Opera and Houston Grand Opera, are essentially the venture capitalists. We’d also like to salute The National Endowment for the Arts and OPERA America for their support of this project and for their leadership role in creating a thriving American opera industry.

Officers J. A. Blanchard III, Chair Jane M. Confer, Vice Chair Ruth S. Huss, Secretary Denver Gilliand, Treasurer Kevin Smith, President & CEO Directors Martha Goldberg Aronson Susan S. Boren Kathleen Callahan Nicky B. Carpenter Richard P. Carroll Rachelle D. Chase Susan J. Crockett Mary A. Dearing Sara Donaldson Chip Emery Thomas Foley Steve Fox Sharon Hawkins Karen L. Himle Heinz F. Hutter Philip Isaacson

Lucy Rosenberry Jones Michael F. Kelly, Jr. B. John Lindahl Lynne E. Looney Diana E. Murphy Brian E. Palmer Debra Paterson Jose Peris Mary Ingebrand Pohlad Stephanie J. Prem Elizabeth Redleaf Connie Remele Stephanie Simon Mitchell Stover Virginia Stringer H. Bernt von Ohlen

Directors Emeriti Karen Bachman Burton Cohen Julia W. Dayton Mary W. Vaughan Honorary Directors Dominick Argento Philip Brunelle Elizabeth Close Dolly Fiterman Charles C. Fullmer Norton M. Hintz Liz Kochiras Patricia H. Sheppard Legal Counsel James A. Rubenstein, Moss & Barnett

Kevin Smith, President and CEO

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FROM THE

Leadership

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TBD

Music by Léo Delibes Libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille Inspired by Pierre Loti’s Rarahu (1880) and the stories of Théodore Pavie (1853) World premiere at the Opéra-Comique, Paris April 14, 1883 March 31, April 1, 3, 5 and 7, 2007 Ordway Center for the Performing Arts Sung in French with English translations

BACKGROUND

Conductor ..............................................Michael Güttler* Conductor-in-residence ..............................Robert Wood** Stage Director ............................................Alain Gauthier Choreographer ..................................Heidi Spesard-Noble Production ....................................................Adam Cook Set and Costume Designer ..........................Mark Thompson Lighting Designer ..............................................Jane Cox Wig Master and Makeup..................Tom Watson & Associates French Diction Coach ..................................Peter Robinson Production Stage Manager ........................Alexander Farino English Captions ..................................Christopher Bergen

THE CAST Lakmé, a Brahmin priestess ..........................Youngok Shin* ................................................................Nili Riemer** Gérald, a British army officer........................Shawn Mathey* ..............................................................Chad Johnson** Nilakantha, Lakmé ’s father ..........................Kyle Albertson Mallika, Lakmé ’s servant ..........................Andrea Coleman Frédéric, a British army officer ......................Kelly Markgraf Ellen, Gérald’s fiancée....................................Alison Bates Rose, Ellen’s companion ......................Jamie-Rose Guarrine Mistress Bentson, Ellen and Rose’s governess ..Kathleen Humphrey Hadji, a Hindu servant ..................................Edward Mout Dancers......................................Jason Jacobs, Julia Sutton

Notes

by David Sander

uch like the forgotten gems of the Bel Canto period, French opera is undergoing a renaissance with renewed interest in the lesser-known works of Jules Massenet and the one- or two-hit wonders Charles Gounod, Georges Bizet, Camille Saint-Saëns and Ambroise Thomas. Even Léo Delibes’ Lakmé, after its resoundingly successful premiere in 1883 and after holding court at Paris’ Opéra-Comique for 80 years thereafter, has gotten little play in North America in spite of its familiar barcarole duet so commonly used in airplane commercials and motion pictures. It is a unique opportunity to see this exquisite work of art in its entirety. Part of Lakmé ’s everlasting appeal is its exotic nature. Exoticism

A fortune teller, a Chinese merchant, a sepoy, English officers and ladies, Hindus, Brahmins, merchants, musicians, sailors, Chinese people, dervishes, dancing girls Setting: India during the 19th century

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performs March 31, April 3, 5, 7 ** performs April 1

Lakmé is sponsored by Presented by arrangement with Opera Australia and Opéra de Montréal. Sets and Costumes designed by Mr. Mark Thompson; Original Lighting Designer, Mr. Gavin Swift; Original Director, Mr. Adam Cook; Original Choreographer, Ms. Elizabeth Hill. The appearances of Youngok Shin, winner; Alison Bates and Joshua Kohl, regional finalists; and Kyle Albertson, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Chad Johnson, Edward Mout and Nili Riemer, district finalists of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, are made possible through a Minnesota Opera Endowment Fund established for Artist Enhancement by Barbara White Bemis. Performances of Lakmé are being taped for delayed broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio, KSJN 99.5 in the Twin Cities.

The 2006–2007 Season Preview Recording is made possible, in part, with the assistance of Universal Music, featuring Lakmé on its London/Decca label (catalogue no. 425 485-2 conducted by Richard Bonynge). The Minnesota Opera season is sponsored by FAF Advisors and U.S. Bank. The appearances of the 2006–2007 season conductors are underwritten by SpencerStuart. Opera Insights is sponsored by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation. Intermission reception sponsored by Lowry Hill Private Wealth Management.

BACKGROUND

Photos courtesy of Opera Australia.

eyes. As more regular travel expanded to the Near and Far East, so did possibilities for new subjects, evidenced in part by the hyper-realism of Jean-Léon Gérôme, by the Impressionists’ interest in Japanese prints, and toward century’s turn, Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian scenes and Henri Matisse’s dazzling visions of Morocco. New themes and subjects enticed an increasingly weathy and burgeoning middle class as eyes turned to ready-made works for purchase at Parisian salons while royal commissions fell by the wayside. Literature and music followed suit, exemplified by Victor Hugo’s Les Orientales, Gérard de Nerval’s Le voyage en Orient, Sir Walter Scott’s The Talisman, Gustave Flaubert’s Salammbô and Prosper Mérimée’s Carmen, first appearing in the Revue des deux mondes in 1845 (Spain, with its Moorish history and geographic isolation, was grouped into the Occidental Mediterranean), just to name a few. In music, Félicien David composed Mélodies orientales in 1836 from his notebook of foreign tunes, followed by a highly influential symphonic poem, Le désert, and the operas La perle du Brésil, Lalla-Roukh and Herculanum. Generally considered the forerunner of the movement, his music drew high praise from the overly critical (and often jealous) Hector Berlioz, and inspired Giacomo Meyerbeer (L’Africaine, set on a nameless island in the Pays merveilleux! Jardin fortuné! Temple Indian Ocean), Gounod radieux, salut! Oh paradis sorti de (La reine de Saba, set in l’onde! Ciel si bleu, ciel si pur dont mes yeux sont ravis! the Levant), Bizet (Les [Wondrous country! Lush garden! pêcheurs de perles, set in Radiant temple, I greet you! Oh paradise Ceylon, Djamileh, set in rising out of the sea! So blue the sky, so Cairo and Carmen, set in pure the sky to my delighted eyes!] southern Spain), Jacques — Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine Offenbach (Ba-ta-clan, set in China; also the Giulietta act of Les contes d’Hoffmann is set in Venice, traditionally considered part of Byzantium), Saint-Saëns (Samson et Dalila, set in the Middle East), Thomas’s Le caïd (set in Algeria) and Massenet [Le roi de Lahore (among others), set in what is now Pakistan]. Biblical subjects, traditionally taking place in Palestine and Egypt, attracted new significance as composers sought to recreate actual or artificial melodies from non-traditional scales, ancient modes and altered intervals, coloring both staged and orchestral works. Even Verdi’s Aida (set in Egypt) draws its exotic moments from this approach – in fact, all of that composer’s operas in the French model fit into this category: Aida (though originally written for Cairo, had its eye toward a Paris premiere), Don Carlos (set in Spain, again features “Moorish” harmonies in Eboli’s “Veil Song”), Les vêpres siciliennes (set in Sicily, another untamed, remote outpost) and Jérusalem. (Verdi is thought to be particularly inspired by Le désert and L’Africaine as well as these other trends.) Opportunities for sumptuous scenic design easily followed suit in an effort to provide visual titillation with detailed pictorial accuracy. Current events also played a role, as Britain and France scrambled to conquer the known world. British might influenced the Mideast and Egypt as the Ottoman ➤ 2

BACKGROUND NOTES CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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was in full bloom in late 19th-century France – stories of foreign locales and faraway places were very attractive to the escapist bourgeoisie, fatigued by the regimentation of war and the mechanization of industry, was still unlikely to dare (in those days) an arduous journey beyond the provinces – even the Occitan of southern France had a dangerous sense of the untamed. Exoticism as a genre finds its roots at the turn of the 19th century with Napoleon’s Egyptian campaigns. Besides raping the country of pyramids and obelisks, the future emperor generated new interest in the Orient, at that time considered to be Northern Africa and the Middle East. By mid-century, periodicals such as the Revue des deux mondes and Le Globe glamorized these locales during an era when the stories of The Arabian Nights also became quite popular. Visual The Orient is watched, since its almost artists, such as Eugène (but never quite) offensive behavior Delacroix and Horace issues out of a reservoir of infinite Vernet, used their own peculiarity; the European, whose experiences (either real sensibility tours the Orient, is a watcher, or imagined) to recreate never involved, always detached, always ready for new examples of what the the color and vibrancy Description de l’Égypte called “bizarre of foreign cultures as jouissance.” The Orient becomes a living tableau of queerness. seen through Western

Notes

BACKGROUND

Notes

BACKGROUND NOTES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Empire was eventually reduced to a fraction of its former glory (the conflict of nations and of religions being key features of Orientalism). The Suez Canal opened in 1869 (an event that eventually was to bring Verdi’s Aida into existence), making travel to foreign places all the more convenient. India revolted against its imperial overlords, only to be confiscated by the British crown, the deal sealed by Queen Victoria’s elevation to empress in 1877. Japan begrudgingly opened its doors to Commodore Perry, while the less fortunate French vied for supremacy around the perimeter, on the coasts of Africa and in the expansive William Carpenter, A Street Scene Sunrise – South Seas. In this Bombay (mid-19 century); Courtesy of V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum quest for acquiring land mass, the contrast of the Orient (“them”) helped define the European West (“us”). The newly constrained world was celebrated by the Industrial Age in a series of world exhibitions hosted by London and Paris, giving composers and artists a high profile venue where one could experiment with these new trends to their fullest potential. Delibes was one of the most successful évocateurs of foreign lands, and Lakmé abounds with exotic melodies and harmonies. The opera is drawn from a work by the most successful travel authors of the day. Julien Viaud (1850–1923), writing under the pseudonym of Pierre Loti,

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gained his experiences as a sailor in the French navy, traveling to Africa, South America, India, Tahiti, Japan, Persia and Turkey [a family tradition – his grandfather fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, his uncle died in the wreck of the Méduse (and perhaps was consumed by other sailors, the scandalous event Allez loin de Papeete, là où la civilisation famously captured in oil n’est pas venue, là où se retrouvent sous by French painter les minces cocotiers; au bord des plages Théodore Géricault) and de corail, devant l’immense Océan désert, les districts tahitiens, les villages aux toits his brother Gustave, 12 de pendanus. Voyez ces peuplades years his senior, who immobiles et rêveuses; voyez au pied des preceded him to the grands arbres ces groupes silencieux, indolents et oisifs, qui semblent ne vivre South Seas and whose part le sentiment de la contemplation. Byronic demeanor is key que Écoutez le grand calme de cette nature, le to the unfolding of bruissement monotone et éternal des Lakmé ’s principal brisants de corail; regardez ces sites source]. Viaud’s fantastic grandioses, ces mornes de basalte, ces forêts suspendues aux montagnes travelogues were quite sombres – et tout cela, perdu au milieu de popular, frequently cette solitude majestueuse et san bornes – translated and widely Le Pacifique … [Go far away from Papeete, where read around the world. civilization has not penetrated; where, He was elected to the under the slender coco-palms, the native French Academy in Tahitian villages are strewn, huts thatched 1891, and upon his with pandanus leaves, on the very edge of the coral reef and the immense and death, given a state solitary ocean. See the tranquil, dreaming funeral. By the 1930s, hamlets, the groups of natives lounging at Viaud was also the feet of the great trees – silent, passive recognized as one of the and idle, feeding, as it would seem, on the most overtly gay writers cud of speechless contemplation. Listen to the utter calm of nature, the monotonous, of the Victorian era, eternal murmur of the breakers on the predating Oscar Wilde barrier reef; look at the stupendous and his Portrait of Dorian scenery, the tors of basalt, the dark forests clinging to the mountain’s flank – Gray. Mon frère Yves is and all this lost in the midst of a vast, perhaps his most immeasurable solitude – the Pacific] revealing work of this — Le mariage de Loti genre as is his fascination with the servant boy Samuel rather than the attractive Turkish harem girl in Aziyadé, though gay subtext can be 3

LÉO

Delibes

b St. Germain du Val, February 21, 1836; d Paris, January 16, 1891

found in most of his novels in the subtle language used with regard to his male companions. Often Viaud, as Loti, is the central character, as is the case in Lakmé ’s foundation, Le mariage de Loti, ou Rarahu (which the author dedicated to actress Sarah Bernhardt) and also Madame Chrysanthème, first set to music by André Messager, and later, the ultimate source of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (the Italian giovane scuola would pick up on this trend for foreign subjects; that particular opera abounds with authentic Japanese music). Both works involve a temporary, indulgent marriage with an intoxicating foreign woman, and each has a subsidiary male character with a suggestive connection to the author [John to become Frédéric in Lakmé and Yves to become Sharpless in Madame Butterfly – though Loti would marry in both of these stories (albeit temporarily) and in real life (unhappily), he later confessed in his diaries that he only did this in order to have children to care for him in his old age]. The sense of Otherness conveyed by the exotic heroine and her environs is extended through these unusually close and uncommon male relationships. Delibes became familiar with the recently published Le mariage de Loti in 1880 at Edmond Gondinet’s bidding, yet as a source the story ➤ BACKGROUND NOTES CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Portrait of Léo Delibes © Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis

future. Much esteemed for his lush orchestrations and advanced harmonies, he set the stage for the Impressionist composers, as well as dabbling in melodic codification that was described by some critics as edging on Wagnerism. An impressive orchestrator in his own right, Pyotr ll’yich Tchaikovsky greatly admired Delibes’ works, placing his ballets (in particular Coppélia) ahead of his own Swan Lake in esteem.

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Photo courtesy of Opera Australia

ost famous for his late opera Lakmé, Léo Delibes is also known for his many operas, operettas and ballets. The grandson and son of two singers, Delibes was naturally drawn to the theater and made his own debut in 1849 at the Paris Opéra as a chorister in Giacomo Meyerbeer’s monumental opus La prophète. A veteran of Adolphe Adam’s composition class at the Conservatoire, Delibes first worked as an accompanist and chorusmaster at Léon Carvalho’s avant-garde Théâtre Lyrique. Many of his operettas dating from this period were performed at Jacques Offenbach’s Bouffes-Parisiens, and when Delibes became master of the chorus at the more prestigious Opéra, he was selected to write ballets, of which Coppélia and Sylvia have become his most popular. In 1867, Delibes contributed one act to Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre, an operetta to which composers Georges Bizet, Édouard Legouix and Émile Jonas also contributed. It was a huge success. Delibes’ comedy Le roi l’a dit, which premiered at the Opéra-Comique in 1873, showed his maturing ability to move beyond Offenbachian buffoonery, and his Jean de Nivelle was composed with Meyerbeerian proportions (Le roi l’a dit later traveled to Vienna in German translation, where it is said Delibes also had a hand in the premiere of Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus in 1874). The composer also wrote a set of six dance scenes based on Victor Hugo’s Le roi s’amuse (the same work that had inspired Verdi’s Rigoletto) and completed and produced Offenbach’s posthumous comedy Belle Lurette. Delibes’ own final work, Kassya, was left incomplete upon the composer’s death in 1891, and was finished by Jules Massenet, to be unveiled two years after Delibes’ demise. Delibes’ style is considered to be caught between the past and the

Synopsis

Act I – quintet Act II – market scene

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ACT I

A shady garden Lakmé, her father Nilakantha and other Indians secretly pray in the sacred forest, hoping soon to be rid of their hated English overlords. Nilakantha departs for the city’s temple, promising to return before nightfall, as Lakmé and Mallika prepare themselves for the holy river. Under the watchful eye of their governess, Mistress Bentson, Rose and Ellen approach the garden with their companions Gérald and Frédéric. Though the spinster urges caution, the other four breach the consecrated grounds, knowing they belong to the fearsome Nilakantha and his alluring daughter. No one has ever seen Lakmé, but her legendary beauty stirs their imaginations, particularly that of Gérald. As Rose and Ellen examine the temple jewels, Gérald rhapsodizes over the woman who must wear them, and after the others leave, spots her in the flesh. Lakmé is startled to find the ardent young man in the garden, knowing he would be killed for such an outrage, yet feels new and strange emotions in her heart. Suddenly catching sight of her father, she urges Gérald to make a fast retreat. Nilakantha plans to avenge this sacrilege.

– INTERMISSION – ACT II

The town marketplace Merchants of various types sell their wares in a bustling open market. Mistress Bentson expresses disdain as she is approached several times, and fears she will be robbed. As the market closes for a noontime repast, the festival begins with dance. Rose and Frédéric observe an old man and young girl, who are really Nilakantha and Lakmé in disguise. The father’s plan for revenge is in place – to attract Gérald’s attention, Lakmé is to sing, and in the admiring dense crowd, the Englishman will be stabbed by Nilakantha and his conspirators. While she tells the legend of the Pariah’s daughter, Gérald indeed comes forward. They share a brief reunion, and Lakmé tries to warn him of the imminent peril. As the Brahmins begin their prayers, Gérald refuses to leave her side and is viciously knifed. Lakmé’s loyal servant Hadji quickly takes the unconscious man away.

Act I – duet Photos courtesy of Opera Australia

– INTERMISSION – ACT III

A hut in the forest The wounded Gérald has been brought to Lakmé’s refuge in the forest where she has nursed him back to health. She sings him a lullaby as he wakes, and the two revel in their mutual affection as they are finally together. Passing couples visit the sacred spring to drink the water that binds them together forever, and Lakmé is inspired to draw the mysterious potion to celebrate their union. In her absence, Frédéric drops by with some dark news – their regiment has been called to duty, and they must leave at once. Lakmé returns and notices Gérald’s changed demeanor. She realizes something is wrong, yet makes him swear his fidelity to her. As he sips the sacred water, Lakmé instead ingests the poisonous datura flower and dies in his arms.

For more biographical information about these artists, visit our website at www.mnopera.org

Nilakantha Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently The Tales of Hoffmann; La donna del lago, Minn. Opera Il matrimonio segreto, Merola Opera Program Nixon in China; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Le nozze di Figaro; Finding Yolanda, Chicago Opera Theater Giasone; The Cunning Little Vixen; Rigoletto, Aspen Opera Theater Center Carmen; Albert Herring; Candide, DePaul University Upcoming Le nozze di Figaro; Un ballo in maschera, Minnesota Opera

Andrea Coleman Mallika Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently The Tales of Hoffmann, The Minnesota Opera Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artist Così fan tutte; Little Women; Cendrillon; The Turn of the Screw; The Magic Flute, New England Conservatory The Gondoliers, Harvard-Radcliffe G & S Players The Magic Flute; The Mikado; The Pirates of Penzance, University of Kansas Upcoming Le nozze di Figaro; L’italiana in Algeri, Minnesota Opera

Kathleen Humphrey Mistress Bentson Minnesota Opera Debut My Fair Lady, 1990 Recently Mozart Requiem, Minnesota Orchestra Beauty and the Beast; The Sound of Music, Chanhassen Theaters A Christmas Carol, Guthrie; La belle Hélène, North Star Opera Elephant Man; Madame Butterfly; Passion; The Handmaid’s Tale; Little Women; Street Scene; Le nozze di Figaro; Faust; Cinderella; Carmen; others, The Minnesota Opera Upcoming Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony

Kelly Markgraf Frédéric Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently Street Scene, Opera Theatre of St. Louis Carmen; Il barbiere di Siviglia; Madama Butterfly, Pensacola Opera Die Fledermaus, Rimrock Opera Così fan tutte; The Memory Game; The Village Singer, Univ. of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Artist Upcoming Le nozze di Figaro; Roméo et Juliette, Minnesota Opera

Edward Mout Hadji Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Program La donna del lago; Tosca; Don Giovanni; The Tales of Hoffmann, The Minnesota Opera Falstaff; Eugene Onegin, Indiana University Opera Theater Norma; Fidelio; Rigoletto; Aida; Faust; Lohengrin; Macbeth; Verdi Requiem (ensemble), San Diego Opera Apprentice Artist – Opera Theatre of St. Louis Upcoming Le nozze di Figaro, Ryan Opera Center Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Youngok Shin Lakmé Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Un ballo in maschera; Rigoletto; Lucia di Lammermoor; Don Giovanni; I puritani; others, Metropolitan Opera Die Vogel, Spoleto Festival (USA) I Capuleti ed i Montecchi, Tenerife Festival (Spain) Un ballo in maschera, Washington Opera Perela, l’homme de fumé; La sonnambula, Paris Opéra Lakmé, Baltimore Opera Company Upcoming Roméo et Juliette, Baltimore Opera Company

Artists

Alison Bates Ellen Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently Gianni Schicchi; The Gondoliers; Tosca, Chautauqua Opera The Tales of Hoffmann; La donna del lago; Don Giovanni; Joseph Merrick dit Elephant Man, The Minnesota Opera A View from the Bridge; Abduction from the Seraglio; Little Women; Giulio Cesare, Indiana University Opera Theater Symphony No. 2; Israel in Egypt, Columbus Indiana Phil. Gianni Schicchi, MasterWorks Festival (Young Artist) Upcoming Le nozze di Figaro; L’italiana in Algeri, Minnesota Opera

Jamie-Rose Guarrine Rose Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently San Francisco Opera Merola Program The Elephant Man; Don Giovanni, The Minnesota Opera Paul Bunyan; Face on the Barroom Floor; Madame Butterfly, Central City Opera Hansel and Gretel, Opera for the Young Carmen, Madison Opera; Dr. Miracle, Florentine Opera Upcoming Le nozze di Figaro; Croesus, The Minnesota Opera Hotel Casablanca, San Francisco Opera Merola Program

Chad Johnson Gérald Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Così fan tutte, Connecticut Opera The Merry Widow, Lyric Opera San Diego Death in Venice; Lucie de Lammermoor, NPR World of Opera The Pirates of Penzance, Glimmerglass Opera Upcoming H.M.S. Pinafore, Opera East Texas Così fan tutte, Tanglewood Music Festival La rondine, Lyric Opera San Diego The Blizzard Voices, Opera Omaha

Shawn Mathey Gérald Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Don Giovanni, L’Opéra National de Paris – Bastille Così fan tutte, Theater an der Wien; Salzburg Festival; Aix-en-Provence Festival; L’Opéra National de Paris La finta semplice, Opernhaus Zurich Lulu; Ariodante; Fierrabras; others, Frankfurt Opera Upcoming Don Giovanni, Washington; Così fan tutte, Cincinnati Op. The Abduction from the Seraglio, Michigan Opera Theatre Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’Opéra National de Paris

Nili Riemer Lakmé Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently The Tales of Hoffmann, The Minnesota Opera Suor Angelica; Le nozze di Figaro, Chautauqua Opera Die Zauberflöte; Lucia di Lammermoor; The Medium; Hansel and Gretel; La fille du régiment, Tri-Cities Opera The Tales of Hoffmann, Des Moines Metro Opera L’enfant et les sortilèges, Lowell House Opera The Impresario, International Vocal Arts Institute (Israel) Upcoming Le nozze di Figaro; Un ballo in maschera, Minnesota Opera

Adam Cook Production Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Lakmé; Midrite, Opera Australia La bohème; Carmen; The Ghost Wife, OzOpera stage director – Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide Festivals; MTC; Company B Belvoir; STC; State Theatre Company of South Australia; Ensemble Theatre; Sydney Opera House Trust; Playbox; Griffin; Bell Shakespeare Company; Festival of the Dreaming; Marian Street; NIDA; Queensland Performing Arts Centre; La Boite; Q Theatre; Edinburgh Fringe Fest.

| LAKME´

Kyle Albertson

THE

Artists

For more biographical information about these artists, visit our website at www.mnopera.org Jane Cox

Lighting Designer Minnesota Opera Debut Joseph Merrick dit Elephant Man, 2006 Recently Glass Menagerie, Guthrie Theater Dame Edna – Back with a Vengeance, (Broadway) Brooklyn Academy of Music; Playwrights Horizons; Signature Theatre; NYSF/Public Theater, (New York) Arena Stage; McCarter; Long Wharf; CTC Minneapolis; CenterStage; Denver Center, (Regional/International)

Alain Gauthier Stage Director Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Lakmé; Il tabarro/Suor Angelica; L’étoile; La bohème; Opéra de Montréal L’étoile, Cincinnati Opera Festival The Medium, Opera Atelier of l’Université de Montréal La bohème, L’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal Upcoming Così fan tutte, Cincinnati Opera Festival Carmen, Edmonton Opera

photo not available

Michael Güttler

Heidi Spesard-Noble

Conductor Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Le sacre du printemps, Göteborg Opera (Sweden) Don Giovanni, L’Opéra National de Paris – Bastille Tosca, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe (Germany) Eugene Onegin; La traviata; Mozart Requiem, Ekaterinburg Opera The Ring; Tristan und Isolde; Falstaff; Le nozze di Figaro; La traviata, Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg, Russia) Upcoming Lohengrin, Paris Opéra; Torvaldo e Dorliska, Teatro San Carlo Tosca; Chovanshtshina; Traviata; Zauberflöte, Ekaterinburg

Choreographer Minnesota Opera Debut The Merry Widow, 2002 Recently Orazi e Curiazi*; Carmen*; La traviata*, The Minnesota Opera ( choreographer) Midlife: the Crisis Musical*, Brigadoon*; The Christmas Show*; Big Bang*; Music Man; My Fair Lady; others, Chanhassen Theatres Runaways*, Macalaster College Rite of Spring; Beauty and the Beast; Swan Lake, Mystical Hunter; Allegro Brilliant, Minnesota Dance Theatre *

Mark Thompson

Robert Wood

Set and Costume Designer Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Lakmé; Orpheus in the Underworld, Opera Australia Midrite, OzOpera Uncle Vanya, State Theatre Co. of South Australia Two Weeks with the Queen, Windmill Theatre Company Rain – Times of India, Delhi and Mumbai designer – The Adelaide Festival; State Opera of South Australia; National Institute of Circus Arts; The Hole in the Wall Theatre; Sydney Theatre Co.; Ensemble Theatre; Bell Shakespeare; Spare Parts Theatre

Conductor-in-Residence Minnesota Opera Debut La donna del lago, 2006 Recently The Nutcracker, San Francisco Ballet Le Comte Ory, Wolf Trap Opera Company L’italiana in Algeri; La traviata, San Francisco Opera Tosca; Faust; Manon; Carmen; others, Opera San José Upcoming The Marriage of Figaro, The Minnesota Opera L’italiana in Algeri, Vancouver Opera The Magic Flute, Wolf Trap Opera Company

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BACKGROUND NOTES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

he and Rarahu are described as sleeping “like brothers” (one bears little resemblance to Lakmé. The locale has been of Viaud’s double entendres, as he would frequently refer to switched from Tahiti to India. Rarahu, who would become his male companions as Lakmé, is fully aware of frères adorés). Little else the fleeting nature of her develops in the narrative, union with Loti, a other than providing an British sailor who will opportunity for endless undoubtedly leave her evocative descriptions of when his ship sails. She the exotic surroundings. does not die from Recent scholarship2 poisoning herself, but of consumption (probably indicates another, more brought by the derivative source for Europeans) two years Lakmé exists in the after his departure, stories of Viaud’s during which she takes compatriot Théodore on other lovers. For his Pavie, a linguist and part, Loti does not marry fellow world traveler her out of desire, but whose adventures took merely to satisfy the him to the New World Act III – final scene, photo courtesy of Opera Australia. prodding of Tahitian as well as the Far East. Queen Pomaré, against whom Loti commits no Pavie spent two years in India and set three of his tales there, transgression – in fact he is welcomed and fêted by her belonging to a larger collection entitled Scènes et récits des pays people as an honored guest (very much in the musical vogue, d’outre-mer (1853). From these fictional accounts come the Loti entertains the natives with excerpts from the newly names Mallika and Nilakantha, as well as themes of cultural penned L’Africaine). Hardly impassioned with one another, insensitivity, conspiracy and poison – two Englishmen ➤ BACKGROUND NOTES CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

| LAKME´

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BACKGROUND NOTES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

spot Nilakantha’s beautiful, yet ellusive, daughter Roukminie bejeweled within the sacred pagoda and mock the Brahmin priest’s ritual of prayer. In turn, Nilakantha disguises himself as a beggar and stalks the unsuspecting Edward (a good Victorian name), whose fiancée Augusta eventually expires from the scent of a deadly flower, planted by the angry father in a bouquet presented by her beau. In another tale, Sougandhie is raised solely by her father, as her mother (a lakshmi, from The paradigmatic plot for Orientalist which the opera adapts operas: young, tolerant, brave, possibly naive, white-European tenor-hero the name of its title intrudes, at risk of disloyalty to his own character) has since and colonialist ethic, into passed. The heroine falls people mysterious, dark-skinned, colonised for a European soldier territory, incurring wrath of brutal, intransigent tribal chieftain (bass or and is known to sing in bass-baritone) and blindly obedient the streets while chorus of male savages. soliciting alms. The transformation of these snippets into stagecraft demonstrates another convention of Exoticism – the imprint of a generic plot structure. An attractive young woman of modest disposition and differing ethics is easily conquered by a misogynistic foreign invader in dereliction of duty, then abandoned by him and destroyed as a result – a reverse femme fatale syndrome, though Orientalist opera is pregnant with bewitching sirens as well. Chaste and proper

white women (Ellen, Augusta, Micaëla) are shown in sharp contrast to wild darker-toned beauties, and sexual mores are abandoned in favor of eroticism as the male protagonists sojourn in an anonymous milieu far from Europe’s starchy conventions. Cultures collide in a public forum with murder and mayhem as the only possible outcome, the geographical gulf too great to bridge. A cookie-cutter strategy likely responsible for Lakmé ’s initial success – the public got exactly what it wanted – which may explain one reason for its infrequency today. As with many opera plots, one must look past some of the greater flaws akin to French libretti of the era and enjoy the fantastic, dreamlike visual and aural sensations that the genre provides – Lakmé is a rare treat to be savored. ❚ 1

Edward W. Said, Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1978.

Charles P. D. Cronin and Betje Black Klier, “Théodore Pavie’s ‘La babouches du Brahmane’ and the Story of Delibes’ Lakmé,” Opera Quarterly, 12/4 (1996), 19–33.

Pierre Loti (translated by Clara Bell), Tahiti: The Marriage of Loti. New York: F. A. Stokes, 1926.

Ralph P. Locke, “Constructing the Oriental ‘Other’: Saint-Saëns Samson et Dalila,” Cambridge Opera Journal, iii/3 (1991), 261–302.

| THE MINNESOTA OPERA www.mnopera.org

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