Minnesota Opera's Arabella Program by Minnesota Opera

2013 – 2014 season

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contents

Arabella

Synopsis

Arabella: Finding the Right one

Director’s Notes

Richard Strauss

The Artists

Meet the Artist: Jacquelyn Wagner

Feature: Music Director Michael Christie and the Minnesota Opera Orchestra

Project Success

Feature: Griﬀelkin

Feature: Social Media at Minnesota Opera

Tempo

2013 – 2014 Season

New Works Initiative: Silent Night on PBS

Upcoming Events

Feature: Macbeth Preview

Education at the Opera: Project Opera

Minnesota Opera Board of Directors, Staff and Volunteers

Annual Fund

Legacy Circle

Institutional Giving

Minnesota opera ticket office 620 north First Street Minneapolis, Mn 55401 612-333-6669 Regular Hours: Mon.-Fri., 9am-6pm. Performances: Weekdays — phones open until curtain. Weekends — phones open at 2pm for evening performances and at 10:30am for matinee performances. Minnesota opera staff will be available at the ordway’s Box oﬃce 90 minutes prior to curtain. mnopera.org Visit mnopera.org to watch behind-the-scenes videos, read synopses and blog posts and browse digital programs. Join our e-club to receive special offers and opera news. tickets are not refundable. Subscribers may make exchanges for a different performance or opera up to one hour prior to curtain. Any ticket may be returned for a tax deductible donation up until curtain. call the Minnesota opera ticket oﬃce at 612-333-6669. parking Prepaid parking is available for opera patrons at the Lawson commons Ramp. call 612-333-6669 to purchase passes, or online at mnopera.org. Subject to availability. opera Insights come early for opera insights — free, fun and informative sessions held in the lobby one hour before curtain. Accessibility For patrons with disabilities, wheelchairaccessible seats are available. Audio description will be available for select performances. Please call 612-333-6669 for details and indicate any special needs when ordering tickets. At ordway, accessible restrooms and other facilities are available, as well as Braille or large-print programs and infrared listening systems. ordway is a smoke-free facility. Latecomers will be seated at an appropriate break. Please have all cell phones and pagers turned to the silent mode. cameras and recording equipment are strictly prohibited in the theater. Please check these items with an usher. the phone number for emergencies is 651-2244222. Please leave seat locations with the calling party. Lost and found is located at the Stage door. call 651-282-3070 for assistance.

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Red Wing Residency

Welcome

wo years ago this month, Minnesota Opera premiered Silent Night. I hope you were here at Ordway Center for those sold-out performances. It was an experience that I won’t soon forget. For those of you who weren’t here, or if you just would like to experience Silent Night again, our performance was recorded and will be broadcast on pbs on December 13. It is a great opportunity to have this incredible opera seen by a much larger audience. Silent Night is the only opera that has won the Pulitzer Prize in Music to have its original production recorded for later broadcast. The creation and recording of our commissions is made possible by generous donors to Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative. We’ve created a page full of photos, videos, a digital program and more at mnop.co/silent-night. We continue to expand our audience and make opera accessible to the broader community. Following last summer’s Opera under the Stars concerts of La bohème, we looked for ways to provide more free opera in the Twin Cities. We were pleased to recently announce that Knight Foundation awarded Minnesota Opera a grant to simulcast a free, big-screen, live video of our season-opening performance of the next two seasons. Thanks to this generous gift, we will be able to share our season opening in a way we have never been able to before. Minnesota Opera is active throughout the state with Education Programs and Community Residencies. We recently completed

Silent Night

Kevin Puts (2011)

a three-week intergenerational community residency in Red Wing, Minnesota, which will be featured in our Macbeth program. The work with students, community choruses and orchestras culminated in Opera’s Greatest Hits performances in late October. We are grateful to Xcel Energy for their support of this and other programs. Minnesota Opera also recently received a grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation to help fund our education and community residency programs. “The members of our Board of Directors are pleased to support Minnesota Opera’s comprehensive education and outreach programs that serve young and older opera lovers alike in highly innovative ways,” said Executive Director of the Hearst Foundations Paul “Dino” Dinovitz. We want to continue to make Minnesota Opera a vital part of our community and promote opera to a broader audience. Thank you for your support in making all of this possible. Please enjoy tonight’s performance. President and General Director

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Kevin Ramach

(2013)

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music by Richard Strauss libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal cast

(characters listed in order of vocal appearance)

a fortune teller adelaide, Arabella and Zdenka’s mother Zdenka, Arabella’s sister matteo, a young oﬃcer arabella Count elemer, one of Arabella’s suitors Count Waldner, Adelaide’s husband, a retired cavalry oﬃcer a hotel porter mandryka, a Croatian landowner Welko, Mandryka’s servant djura, Mandryka’s servant Count dominik, a second suitor Count lamoral, a third suitor The Fiakermilli, belle of the Coachmen’s Ball a waiter

shannon Prickett victoria vargas elizabeth Futral brian Jagde Jacquelyn Wagner John Robert lindsey Dale travis John allen nelson Craig irvin Rodolfo nieto Rick latterell matthew opitz Christian Zaremba Jamie-Rose Guarrine Peter Frenz

A chaperone, three card players, coachmen, waiters, ball guests, hotel residents The appearances of Elizabeth Futral, grand prize winner; John Robert Lindsey and Victoria Vargas, regional finalists; and Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Matthew Opitz and Shannon Prickett, 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. The appearances of the Resident Artists are made possible, in part, by the Virginia L. Stringer Endowment Fund for the Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Program.

World premiere at the staatsoper Dresden, July 1, 1933 november 9, 12, 14, 16 and 17, 2013 ordway, saint paul sung in German with english captions

creative team Conductor Stage director Set and Costume designer lighting designer

michael Christie tim albery tobias Hoheisel David Finn

Wig and makeup designer

Jason allen

Chorusmaster

Rob ainsley

assistant director

Daniel ellis

assistant Conductor

aaron breid

Répétiteurs production Stage manager english Captions

Geoﬀrey loﬀ, sheldon miller Kerry masek Christopher bergen

By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. Co-production by The Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company and Minnesota Opera. Jacquelyn Wagner’s appearance is generously sponsored by Bernt von Ohlen and Tom Nichol. Craig Irvin’s appearance is generously sponsored by Sara and Jock Donaldson. Elizabeth Futral’s appearance is generously sponsored by Judy Mortrude and Steven Mahon. the Minnesota opera season is sponsored by

Arabella

SYnopsis

Act I

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The dining room of the Waldner’s hotel room in Vienna on Shrove Tuesday

As Zdenka fends off creditors at the door, her mother Adelaide consults a fortune teller. The precarious finances of the once-wealthy and aristocratic Waldner family can only be remedied by an advantageous marriage of Arabella, the elder daughter. Zdenka herself must dress as a man to save on the expense of raising and marrying off two ladies. The soothsayer’s predictions are ambiguous – she vaguely envisions a rich suitor for Arabella who lives a great distance away. But there are threats and difficulties ahead involving a different man and a younger daughter. As Adelaide leads the fortune teller to another room, Zdenka privately reveals her secret love for the young officer Matteo, who in turn, is courting Arabella. He enters, distraught. Arabella will not respond openly to his affections, even though he has received written correspondence laced with tenderness. Posing as a male friend, “Zdenko” assures Matteo that there is hope and promises another letter is in the near future. If this doesn’t happen soon, Matteo is prepared to ask for a transfer to a remote battalion or, even worse, take his own life. After Matteo leaves, it becomes known that Zdenka has been writing the letters herself, forging her sister’s script.

Arabella returns from a stroll. She casually acknowledges the roses Matteo has brought, as well as tokens left by her suitors, Counts Elemer, Dominik and Lamoral. Zdenka promotes Matteo’s finer qualities to her sister, reminding her that she was once fond of him. Arabella remains indifferent to all of her admirers – she will know in her heart when the right one comes along. From an earlier walk she recalls attracting the attention of a mysterious stranger. She had hoped the flowers were from him. Count Elemer arrives to take Arabella on a sleigh ride. He has also won the right to escort her to the Coachman’s Ball. The young lady chafes at being auctioned in such a low manner and admits that none of her devotees have unchained her heart. Yet she must choose that evening. While Elemer waits outside, Arabella again spots the unknown man lingering in the shadows outside the window. She and Zdenka prepare themselves for the ride. A downhearted Waldner returns, ruing his financial state, and rummages through the many bills. He had once written to his army friend, the elderly and wealthy Count Mandryka, hoping he might be generous and marry his young daughter. He had enclosed her photograph. Waldner further laments his self-induced, impoverished condition when a waiter delivers

a card – it is from Count Mandryka. Waldner is surprised that the visitor is not the old man, but his nephew, who is both namesake and sole heir. The letter and photo have passed to him, and he has traveled all the way from Croatia to seek the hand of Arabella in marriage. Waldner promises an introduction at the ball that evening, and they depart. Arabella returns and quietly reflects upon her situation. Not one of her suitors is especially appealing. The unknown man who has been observing her is the most intriguing prospect, though he is probably married, and she may never see him again. She hopes the ball will brighten her mood.

intermission Act II A public ballroom

Act III The hotel lobby Arabella returns to the hotel distracted by happy thoughts of her future country life and unaware that Matteo has been in an upstairs bedroom, presumably with her. As Matteo tries to leave with discretion, he is astonished to find Arabella in the lobby wearing her evening attire. He is also stunned by her cold attitude toward his new familiarity in the aftermath of what he believed to be passionate lovemaking. The Waldners return with Mandryka, who immediately begins to deride Arabella for her infidelity. She is baffled by his outrage and protests her innocence. In the anger and confusion, duels are proposed by all three men. The situation is mitigated by the appearance of Zdenka, disheveled in her negligée. To prevent Matteo’s imminent suicide, she has pretended to be her sister and now wishes to throw herself into the river. Her family forgives the deception as does Matteo, who finds he now has romantic feelings for his once-male companion. Mandryka looks to Arabella for some sign of forgiveness, but she coolly retires to her room, asking only for a glass of water. As Mandryka deprecates himself for his rash behavior, she reappears. In the custom of his village, she offers him the waterfilled vessel, a symbol of her love and purity. It confirms their engagement and pledges their fates to be united forever. 

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Arabella 2012 © Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera

Mandryka is introduced to Arabella, and his elegant, yet restrained country manner is soon made apparent. As he confides personal details about himself – he is a widower with vast estates – and his devotion to her, she comes to realize that he could indeed be the right man and reciprocates his love. Mandryka begs her to leave with him at once, but Arabella wishes to stay for one last night as queen of the ball. He orders champagne for everyone, and she bids farewell to her other prospective mates. As Arabella revels in the spotlight, Matteo desperately looks for any sign of affection. Zdenka tries to console him with another feigned letter from her sister, which contains a key, supposedly to Arabella’s bedroom. Mandryka overhears the exchange and is angered by Arabella’s apparent lack of constancy. He soon receives a note that she has retired for the night. Disillusioned, Mandryka abandons himself to the champagne and flirts with another woman, while making gibes at Arabella’s loose morals. The Waldners are shocked by this recent turn of events and quickly escort him back to the hotel to clear the matter up.

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David Sander

Arabella: Finding the Right One

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n the 1920s, as he was putting the final touches on his latest opera, Richard Strauss wrote to his erstwhile collaborator, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, requesting a new topic for an opera straightaway. Though the librettist replied that he “couldn’t just dash something off,” he gave the notion some serious thought. Strauss had asked for a comedy, a “second Rosenkavalier,” believing it would bring the same success as its predecessor. Strauss and Hofmannsthal had produced five operas together so far, each uniquely different – Elektra (1909), essentially an expressionist monodrama; Der Rosenkavalier (1911), a courtly amusement emulating Molière and Mozart; Ariadne auf Naxos (1914/16), an opera within a greater musical narrative; Die Frau ohne Schatten [The Woman without a Shadow (1919)], a symbolist fairy tale; and Die ägyptische Helena [The Egyptian Helen (1928)], a quasi-operetta intended to be in the spirit of Jacques Offenbach. Theirs was a successful melding of talent, Strauss with a greater sense of theatricality and Hofmannsthal with aristocratic taste and subtlety. Personally, the two were quite different in temperament and rarely met in person, leaving behind a trove of letters detailing their creative process. To fulfill Strauss’ bidding, Hofmannsthal turned to a sketch he had penned in 1910, Lucidor, Figuren zu einer ungeschriebenen Komödie (Lucidor,

Characters for an Unwritten Comedy). With shades of the cross-sexual Octavian from Der Rosenkavalier, the female tomboy Lucile must pose as a male Lucidor in order to attract the attention of a misogynist rich uncle, upon whom her impoverished mother, Frau von Murska, has pinned her fortunes. Meanwhile her other daughter, the petty and vain Arabella, is being pursued by various suitors. She shows a preference for a certain Herr von Imfanger over the wealthier Wladimir, who Lucile/Lucidor both secretly loves and pities. Now his confident, she sends him a series of letters in Arabella’s hand, promising a midnight rendezvous under the caveat that he does not acknowledge their relationship in public during the daytime. These clandestine meetings occur several times before the mother’s plan falls through and the family must leave Vienna. After Arabella rejects Wladimir for good, Lucile reveals the deception, appearing as a woman in one of her sister’s nightgowns. As in the past, Hofmannsthal seems to have drawn on various literary sources including the amorous pursuits in Dostoevsky’s The Idiot, the nightly assignations from Molière’s Le dépit amoureux, the Rosalind disguise from Shakespeare’s As You Like It and perhaps even Mandryka’s “bear attack” account from The Winter’s Tale. Hofmannsthal had to streamline his story considerably, revising the libretto more than 20 times before offering it to Strauss. In an earlier attempt to make a vaudeville, he produced a plot that appeared cluttered – Arabella as a 20s flapper, visiting cafés, beauty salons and séances and chased by four suitors: a psychoanalyst, a palm reader, an astrologer and a physical training instructor. As the author distilled his plot, he morphed Wladimir into Matteo and her

a time when the aristocracy and the common people could intermix free from class distinction and with a hint of immorality. Presiding over the ball was the real-life Fiakermilli Emilie Turecek. In this production she appears provocatively, a “kitten with a whip” of sorts, easily seducing a misguided Mandryka. Indeed Hofmannsthal and even Strauss may have regretted her inclusion – her “incessant yodelings” (beautiful as they are) were often cut in subsequent productions. The Fiaker Ball was a much needed entertainment in a crumbling, corrupt Vienna that was facing impending doom. Where Der Rosenkavalier celebrates the glorious reign of Empress Maria Theresa in the 18 th century, Arabella is set in the decaying empire of a reactionary Franz J o sep h , w h o w o ul d gain the throne only after a tumultuous revolution ousted his predecessor in 1848. As the result of territorial losses due to the Risorgimento in 1859, the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 and the Ausgleich (which gave Hungary nominal independence) in 1867, the country was reduced to one-eighth its original size. Franz Joseph’s nearly 68-year term was plagued by disaster, from the suicide of his son, the crown prince Rudolf, to the assassinations of his wife Elisabeth and his nephew Franz Ferdinand, triggering events that led to the onset of World War i. In spite of this ominous future, the emperor set about modernizing Vienna. In the late 1850s, he razed the ancient battlements (also in

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Arabella 2012 © Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera

disparate admirers into three rather opaque counts. The true love interest became the distant nobleman Mandryka, a diamond-inthe-rough from the untamed countryside entranced by a picture of his mail-order bride, who to the composer’s horror, began to take over as the most conspicuous character. By softening some of Arabella’s more unappealing qualities, he managed to draw focus on her predicament as a bright young woman trapped in the society of the times and forced to use marriage as a vehicle to save her family. On the surface, Arabella’s personality emerges as icy and proud, but delving into her soul we discover a new type of operatic heroine – assertive, intelligent, hysteria-free and certain of her destiny. She is on the lookout for Der Richtige – the right one – and is determined not to settle for less even though time is running out (with the onset of Lent, there will be a solemn six-week period of non-dating). While cool in her dealings with the wildly romantic, hyper-sensitive Matteo, she is kind in dispensing with her three noble suitors, always the complete mistress of every situation. Central to the action is the Act ii cotillion, an event Hofmannsthal lifted from another sketch, Der Fiaker als Graf (The Cabby as Count). The annual Shrove Tuesday coachmen’s ball, a civic happening Hofmannsthal remembered from his youth, had been a staple of Viennese life, something that had already been treated dramatically [The Magic Flute librettist Emanuel Schikaneder wrote two plays, Der Fiaker in Wien and Der Fiaker in Baden (The Cabby in Vienna and The Cabby in Baden)]. It was

decline, the Ottomans were no longer a threat) and created the Ringstrasse as well as a number of public buildings, most notably the Vienna Court Opera and the Wiener Börse, rivaling the new facades and boulevards of Haussmannian Paris. It was under this veneer that the Viennese waltzed their way to destruction with a reckless joie de vivre. On May 9, 1873, referred to as “Black Friday” (and just one year before Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus was to premiere), the stock market crashed, leaving many in destitution. Thus the plight of the financially insecure products of the outgoing Biedermeir era, the operatic Waldners, can be felt. The gilt and glamour of Der Rosenkavalier is lost in Arabella, seen in many ways – humble hotels rather than rich palaces, the bourgeois Waldners versus the parvenu Faninals, flesh-and-blood realism opposed to ostentatious splendor, a plain glass of water instead of a glittering silver rose symbolizing a betrothal (both inventions of Hofmannsthal). Typically set in the 1860s, Arabella looks forward to fin-de-siècle nostalgia through the Vienniana-soaked eyes of its librettist. Always thinking outside the box, Strauss delighted in the possibility of a Viennese ball, with opportunities for waltzes, folk songs and even a ballet. Hofmannsthal had to reel him in a bit, particularly when he suggested Arabella 2012 © Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera

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a tragic ending where Mandryka shoots himself after Arabella’s supposed rejection. This was the delicate balance between the composer’s theatrical sense and the librettist’s literary finesse. Still, some of the dramatic impossibilities have been deemed suspect, most notably the timely passing of the key to “Arabella’s” room and Mandryka’s angry misinterpretation as well as Matteo’s obliviousness to the fact that he is in bed with a different woman. To others they are masterful coup de théâtres – there is often some suspension of disbelief in making good theater. Some of the plot deficiencies may be due to the fact that Hofmannsthal did not have the opportunity to revise Acts ii and iii, as he always had in the past. On July 15, 1929, while dealing with his son’s funeral (he had committed suicide a few days earlier), he suffered a major stroke and died. An unopened telegram from Strauss praising his work on Act i lay on a nearby table. As an homage, the composer set the rest of the opera without significant alterations. The production of Arabella coincides with an especially catastrophic part of European history. Strauss had chosen the Dresden State Theater for the July 1933 premiere and dedicated the score to its intendant-director Alfred Reucker and its conductor Fritz Busch. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor by Weimar-period President Paul von Hindenburg and began dismissing prominent Jewish artists and sympathizers from their posts, including Otto Klemperer and Max Reinhardt. Strauss tried to withdraw his opera, but was contractually obligated. His choice for the title role, Lotte Lehmann, was not available (though claiming she “never

behest of Winifred, Richard Wagner’s daughter-in-law, for the Bayreuth Festival, filling in for Arturo Toscanini who had declined in protest (it was his first return in 39 years). Alice Strauss did not wish to meet Hitler during the production’s run, but in the end, the hypocritical dictator kindly kissed her hand even though he knew she was “non-Aryan.” Strauss also filled in for a now-denounced Bruno Walter in Berlin – some say at the conductor’s request; others believe it was out of revenge for Walter not programming the composer’s operas. Strauss was dismissed from his official position after serving 20 months once Hitler had intercepted a letter to Zweig criticizing the Nazi regime. To rehabilitate himself, Strauss conducted his Olympische Hymne at the 1936 games. He composed the politically motivated Friedenstag, and in honor of his 75th birthday, Hitler and Goebbels attended the Vienna premiere. Always coming from the weaker position, Strauss had to barter for the safety of his family – at one point Alice and Franz were detained by the Gestapo and on Kristallnacht, the horrific Night of Shattered Glass, his grandchildren were spit at and kicked by Storm Troopers in the public square (November 9, 2013 marks the 75th anniversary of this appalling moment in history). And in 1942, he drove up to the gates of Theresienstadt to save Alice’s incarcerated grandmother, using his customary calling card (“I am Dr. Strauss, the composer”). His request was not granted. Was Strauss guilty, like so many, of mere apathy with regard to the ensuing Holocaust, or was there actual lingering antipathy? That he urged Zweig to return to Germany might indicate how ignorant he was of continued on next page

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sang for Hitler,” her later negotiations with the Nazis do not appear to have been altogether altruistic). The composer had to settle for director Josef Gielen and conductor Clemens Krauss with the latter’s mistress, Viorica Ursuleac, in the title role. The National Socialists did their best to turn the premiere into a celebrated event of the new Reich and Arabella was judged a success, yet due to the worsening diplomatic situation, it wouldn’t fare as well outside of Germany. Strauss’ own relationship with the new regime has also been found questionable. In November 1933, the composer was retained as president of the Reichsmusikkammer, an appointment which he never asked for (though a telegram discovered long after his death betrays his awareness of the offer). Strauss always claimed he was not a political person and that he worked with the Nazis for the sake of German culture. He privately divulged that he found his new boss Joseph Goebbels distasteful. It is difficult to ascertain his true motivation. His son Franz had married a Jewish woman, Alice von Grab, and she and his grandchildren were subject to the new antiSemitic “race laws.” Strauss’ next collaborator, Stefan Zweig, was also Jewish, and this became a prominent issue at the premiere of his next opera, Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman). When the composer discovered that his librettist’s name had been deliberately left off the program, he demanded that they be reprinted, causing the intendant of the theater to lose his position. The premiere was curiously unattended by officials of the Third Reich, and the opera barely survived a few performances. Undeterred, Strauss thought he had found Hofmannsthal’s successor, but Zweig left Germany and declined any further involvement, although ironically, he would have a small part in the development of three more Strauss operas, all of which would premiere while the National Socialists were in power. Publically, Strauss made other serious gaffes, agreeing to conduct Parsifal at the

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the dangers that lay ahead. Yet, in Act i of Arabella, he let pass a derogatory reference to the Jewish financier who purchased Mandryka’s forests. Was he, himself, motivated by the income he would generate by keeping his works in front of German audiences? Is it plausible that Strauss, then in his seventies, could have left his country to start anew elsewhere? His family would most certainly have been at risk of seizure. Scholars and biographers have commented on all points of view. Officially he was “de-Nazified” after the war, with no clear conclusion on culpability. Still, Strauss’ works were banned on the Israeli airwaves for many years.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal, literary prodigy Hofmannsthal might have been fortunate to have missed these terrible events. Had he lived beyond 1929, it would have been interesting to see his reaction to the homogenizing of his beloved Austria in the Anschluss and the worsening political conditions of his former intellectual circle. He had always been a world apart as a member of Vienna’s aesthetic guild. Born on February 1, 1874, into a cosmopolitan, cultured banking family, his precocious talents matured quickly. His first lyric poems, published under the name Loris, drew the attention of the Viennese intelligentsia, Jung Wien, which included Arthur Schnitzler and Hermann Bahr. Other connections were made with Gerhart Hauptmann, Maurice Maeterlinck, Auguste Rodin and Stefan George, from whom (along with Bahr) he made early contact with the work of French symbolists Baudelaire, Verlaine and Mallarmé. Hofmannsthal’s affinity to the Holy Roman Empire (over which the Austrian Habsburgs had held power for centuries) and Central Europe’s relation to antiquity informed many of his later works.

He witnessed the devastation brought by World War i and the end of Austria as he knew it but tried to keep the old metaphors of grandeur alive as well as cultural and linguistic traditions. Efforts to establish the Salzburg Festival are linked to his desire to salvage what he could from the former empire. In addition to programming Goethe’s Faust, he envisioned dramas by Shakespeare, Calderón and Molière as well as musical pieces by Mozart. Produced by Max Reinhardt, the first work to be performed was Hofmannsthal’s play Jedermann in 1920. Back in 1900, the gifted 26-year-old approached the now-celebrated Strauss with a scenario for a ballet, Der Triumph der Zeit, but the composer declined to set it. Six years later, Strauss was drawn to Hofmannsthal’s adaptation of Sophocles’ Electra, and a fruitful 23-year partnership was born. The librettist was attracted to the operatic genre because his chosen métier, writing eloquent verse, had become inadequate for expressing his vision of the true human experience. Hofmannsthal considered the text for Arabella to be his finest literary achievement, the one most accessible and free of pretention. His death ended one of the greatest librettistcomposer teams, rivaling Metastasio-Caldara, Da Ponte-Mozart, Scribe-Meyerbeer and Boito-Verdi. In the opera, Arabella may have found “Der Richtige,” who would “accept her as she is,” but in real life, as the uneven quality of his later works attest, Strauss certainly had discovered his professional “Right One” in Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Tragically, fate intervened. 

tim albery

ature or civilization, town or country, the flow of the river or the rush of the city, the glitter of the ballroom or the cool of the woods, the slow rhythm of the seasons or the dazzle of the social whirl. These ageold contrasts are at the heart of Arabella, where Vienna, the setting of the story, represents city life at its most enticing and corrupting. Though the libretto of Arabella was written in the late 1920s, it is based on a short story that Hofmannsthal had published before the First World War. And it is Vienna at that time of hedonistic triviality – with the looming cataclysm of the war that would destroy all the certainties of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – that Arabella captures. It is Carnival day. Two young sisters face having their emotional futures sacrificed to their parents’ financial desperation. Arabella must choose a husband from one of three aristocratic suitors before the evening’s ball. And her younger sister Zdenka has to live her life disguised as a boy because her parents lack the money to clothe her and bring her out into society, tortured all the while by a hidden love of her own. Arabella encapsulates within herself the dilemma of the longing for financial security, not only for herself but her whole family, pitted against the desire

for romantic freedom. She loves fun, beautiful things, the adoration of men, everything that money and society can offer; but she also feels an emptiness, knowing instinctively that life and love can and should be something more. Then Mandryka arrives from the country – unsophisticated, totally unconcerned with fashion or the opinions of others, fully content ruling benevolently over his country estates as a kind of Austrian Tolstoy, rooted in his beloved countryside. Arabella immediately recognizes that, unlike anyone she has ever met, he is utterly his own person; that together, away from the world, they will be complete “for all time and eternity.” Of course Arabella is a romance, so Mandryka conveniently has inherited the enormous wealth necessary to support the rural idyll that Arabella chooses. But beneath the entrancing lyrical outpourings of Strauss’ music and the charming improbabilities of the plot, lies the endlessly fascinating question: “What is the good life?” Does the craving for money and status distort what is real and authentic in human relationships? Is there a harmony in the natural world that we have lost as we hurtle ever faster into the future? — Courtesy of The Santa Fe Opera Mr. Albery’s biography appears on page 

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director’s notes

Composer

Richard Strauss b Munich, June 11, 1864; d Garmisch, September 8, 1949

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nown informally as the “third Richard” or the “other Strauss,” Richard Strauss rose to become the most important composer of German opera in the early 20th century. Living in the shadow of Richard Wagner (the first Richard, after whom there could be no second) and Johann Strauss, Jr. (no relation), Strauss advanced melodic and harmonic theories, while at the same time looking over a sentimental shoulder toward the waltz king’s Viennese dramaturgy and stagecraft. Strauss was Bavarian, born to a wealthy mother and a musical father. Franz Strauss, a noted horn player in the court orchestra, occasionally was called upon as a principal horn for Wagner’s operas at Bayreuth. Although he performed in a number of Wagner premieres, father Strauss considered the much-venerated composer’s music to be cacophonic and “modern,” discouraging his young son from paying it much mind. But Richard would not obey his father’s orders, and as a teen who had been studying music since age four, he was completely consumed by Tristan und Isolde. Strauss had the good fortune to serve as assistant conductor to Hans von Bülow at Meiningen, which led to various postings in Munich, Bayreuth and Weimar. Eventually he would assume prestigious positions at the Berlin Court Opera and the Vienna State Opera, as well as conduct major orchestras around Europe and the Americas. To the early part of his career belong his famous works for the orchestra – the tone poems. The latter part of his profession would be devoted almost exclusively to the voice, either in song or in opera. To compose opera in Germany at the end of the 19th century was to follow the

Wagnerian model, both writing one’s own libretto, then composing music to it. Strauss’ first opera, Guntram, was cast in that mold, complete with characters based on Teutonic history. It was not a huge success, but the work received courteous acknowledgement from Giuseppe Verdi, to whom Strauss had sent the score. It was also during Guntram that Strauss announced his engagement to soprano Pauline de Ahna, who sang the leading female role at the premiere. Many found Pauline’s temperament to be tempestuous, even shrewish, but somehow, offset by the composer’s gentle manner, the marriage stood the test of time. Strauss’ next opera, Feuersnot, was based on a bawdy Flemish legend and initiated a trend of indelicate themes that pervade many Strauss operas. The work that followed, Salome, displayed full-blown sexuality and was his first big succès de scandale. In 1900, when he first saw Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé, Strauss made an important contact with playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Hofmannsthal’s own adaptation of Sophocles’s Electra later would impress the composer when he saw it in a Max Reinhardt production. Strauss set the play to music, and a fruitful artistic partnership was born. As Strauss elaborated, “Your style has so much in common with mine. We were made for each other, and we are sure to do fine things together if you remain faithful to me.” Elektra was also a success but not quite to the same degree as Salome. Its relentless dramatic impetus and biting tonality may have been too barbaric for audiences of the day. For their next project, Strauss wanted a comedy in the vein of Mozart. Der Rosenkavalier, complete with basso buffo

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and en travesti (pants) roles undercut with Like many Jewish artists, Strauss’ next a persistent Viennese waltz, easily fit the librettist, Stefan Zweig, suffered religious bill. It is perhaps their most popular and persecution, and their opera, Die schweigsame enduring work. Frau (based on a play by Shakespeare For the next collaboration, the librettist contemporary Ben Jonson), encountered envisioned a new adaptation of Molière’s some difficulties as a result. Zweig chose Le bourgeois to leave Germany gentilhomme, but presented supported with Joseph Gregor as incidental music a replacement. by Strauss and Together the new followed by a short team produced opera. The double Friedenstag, an opera bill failed to please, set in 17 th-century Austria at the end with the theaterof the Thirty Years going audiences War; Daphne, a being unreceptive subject again steeped to opera and vice in mythology (and versa. The work was Strauss’ tip-of-therevised considerably, hat to Jacopo Peri’s jettisoning the Dafne, reportedly Molière play the first opera ever and refashioning Richard Strauss (1945) written); and Die Ariadne auf Naxos Painted by Willy Damian (1900–1969) Photo credit: bpk, Berlin, MusikinstrumentenLiebe der Danae, into an operawithin-an-opera. The Museum, Staatliches Institut fuer Musikforschung, another mythical Berlin, German tale fusing the Greek new version fared Juergen Liepe (photographer)/Art Resource, NY legend of Danae with much better. Hofmannsthal and Strauss’ next that of King Midas. Capriccio was Strauss’ last opera, collaborations were varied in their themes and forms. Die Frau ohne Schatten is a Gozzi- a “conversation with music” based on esque fairy tale about a mythical empress Giovanni Battista Casti’s 18th-century text who must procure a shadow in order to for Antonio Salieri’s Prima la musica, e save her husband from turning to stone. poi le parole. Its premiere occurred before Die ägyptische Helena concerns Helen of Danae’s, however, as the considerably Troy’s post-war marital issues. Arabella was shorter Capriccio could be played before intended as another Viennese comedy. Apart the nightly air raids commenced. Four years from Hofmannsthal, Strauss wrote and after the war, Strauss died in his sleep at his composed Intermezzo, based on a real-life Bavarian villa. Pauline died one year later, misunderstanding between him and Pauline just nine days before the premiere of Strauss’ that almost led to divorce. monumental Four Last Songs. 

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the artists Tim Albery stage director

Opera credits include Billy Budd, Peter Grimes, Lohengrin, From the House of the Dead, Boris Godunov, War and Peace (English National Opera); Chérubin, The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser (Royal Opera House); The Midsummer Marriage, Don Giovanni, The Trojans, Don Carlos, La finta giardiniera, Luisa Miller, Idomeneo, Così fan tutte, One Touch of Venus, Katya Kabanova, Madama Butterfly, The Fortunes of King Croesus, Macbeth, Fidelio, Giulio Cesare, Otello (Opera North); The Trojans, Don Giovanni, The Ring, Fidelio, The Midsummer Marriage (Scottish Opera); The Trojans, Nabucco (Welsh National Opera); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Widow (Metropolitan Opera); Arabella, Béatrice et Bénédict, The Magic Flute (Santa Fe Opera); Don Carlos, Passion, The Fortunes of King Croesus (Minnesota Opera); Otello, The Aspern Papers (Dallas Opera); War and Peace, Rodelinda, Götterdämmerung, Aida (Canadian Opera Company); The Children’s Crusade (Luminato Festival, Toronto); Peter Grimes, Simon Boccanegra, Ariadne auf Naxos (Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich); Benvenuto Cellini, Béatrice et Bénédict, La Wally (Netherlands Opera); La Wally (Bregenz Festival).

Michael Christie

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conductor

Michael Christie became Music Director of the Minnesota Opera in September 2012 after eight years as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony. Michael opened his 13th season as music director of the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, Colorado this year and has been music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and chief conductor of the Queensland Orchestra (Brisbane, Australia). Recent opera engagements have included acclaimed productions with Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Alice in Wonderland, The Ghosts of Versailles and The Death of Klinghoffer), Wexford Festival Opera, Minnesota Opera (La traviata, Wuthering Heights, Silent Night, Madame Butterfly, Nabucco, Anna Bolena, Turandot and Manon Lescaut) and Aspen Opera Theatre (The Ghosts of Versailles and West Side Story). In 2013, Michael helped inaugurate Opera Philadelphia’s tenyear New American Opera Project with the East Coast premiere of Silent Night and made his San Francisco Opera debut conducting the world premiere of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Michael lives with his family in Minneapolis and also conducts Macbeth this season.

David Finn lighting designer

David Finn’s work for opera includes projects for the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera, the Paris Opéra, Santa Fe Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Opéra de Lyon, Opera Communale Firenze, Het Muziektheater, Stuttgart Opera, New York City Opera, Canadian Opera Company and San Francisco Opera. Previous work with Tim Albery includes Tannhäuser, The Flying Dutchman (Royal Opera), Götterdämmerung (Canadian Opera), Così fan tutte (Opera North, Glimmerglass, nyco), Idomeneo (Opera North) and The Abduction of the Seraglio (Flemish Opera). His dance work includes The Nutcracker and Cinderella (Birmingham Royal Ballet), Roméo et Juliette for Sasha Waltz (Paris Opéra Ballet), Swan Lake (Bayerisches Staatsballett), and he has worked with Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Merce Cunningham, James Kudelka, Jose Limon, Helgi Tomasson and Dana Reitz, as well as for leading international companies. David was the resident lighting designer for Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project from 1993–2000. Future plans include Tannhäuser for the Berlin Staatsoper and The Han Project for Franco Dragone Productions.

the artists Elizabeth Futral zdenka

American soprano Elizabeth Futral has established herself as one of the world’s leading sopranos. With her stunning vocalism and vast dramatic range, she has embraced a repertoire that ranges from the Baroque to world premieres. During the 2013–2014 season Ms. Futral explores an array of diverse repertoire. She creates two world premiere roles: Vera in Dolores Claiborne with San Francisco Opera and Alice B. Toklas in Twenty-Seven for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. She also sings the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Portland Opera and returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Baroness Schraeder in The Sound of Music and to Houston Grand Opera as Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. Ms. Futral sang Marian Paroo in The Music Man at Glimmerglass Opera and the title role of Saariaho’s Émilie for the Lincoln Center Festival in 2012. She performed at the Royal Opera House in Muscat and returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Musetta in La bohème and to the New York Philharmonic for their CONTACT! Series. She was last seen at Minnesota Opera as Violetta in La traviata. Ms. Futral’s appearance is generously sponsored by Judy Mortrude and Steven Mahon.

Jamie-Rose Guarrine fiakermilli

Soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine is acclaimed for her vibrant vocal beauty, charming stage presence and accomplished musicianship. Of her portrayal of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Opera News described her as “a natural object of attraction for the men in the play,” her voice as “light, flexible and vibrant – well suited to the part of a scheming maid and romantic ingénue.” The 2013–2014 season finds Jamie-Rose as the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera Saratoga and Poppea in Agrippina with Opera Omaha. In the 2012–2013 season she reprised her Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for both Florentine Opera and Austin Lyric Opera, and debuted as Judy Atkins in Hoiby’s This is the Rill Speaking with Opera Memphis. Recent seasons have seen her at Los Angeles Opera, Madison Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Wolf Trap, Opera Philadelphia and Chicago Opera Theater. She is a former Minnesota Opera Resident Artist and most recently appeared in the guest role of Clerida in The Fortunes of King Croesus.

Tobias Hoheisel Tobias Hoheisel was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and studied theater design at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, moving to London in 1993. Kát’a Kabanová was his Glyndebourne debut, followed by Jenufa, Death in Venice, The Makropulos Case, The Bartered Bride and many productions for almost all major British opera and theater companies (eno, roh, wno, Opera North, Scottish Opera, rnt, rsc, Almeida, Royal Court). The Glyndebourne production of The Makropulos Case was also staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and in Hamburg, Barcelona, Berlin and Lyon. His designs for Hans Werner Henze’s Boulevard Solitude by the Royal Opera was awarded the 2001 Laurence Olivier Award for best opera production and Pfitzner’s Palestrina was taken on tour to the Met for its American premiere. In addition to Glyndebourne, he has worked for the festivals in Drottningholm, Graz, Wien, München, Glimmerglass, Firenze and Santa Fe. Since 2002, he has also been directing/ designing a number of productions, the latest having been Anna Bolena for Oper Köln.

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set and costume designer

the artists Craig Irvin mandryka

Baritone Craig Irvin brings a vibrant sound and commitment to character to each role he portrays. He recently made role and company debuts with Wolf Trap Opera as the Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann, returning in 2012 for Leporello in Don Giovanni, debuted with Minnesota Opera in the world premiere of Silent Night, appeared with the Canadian Opera Company as Betto in Gianni Schicchi, covered the role of Simone in A Florentine Tragedy and joined the cast of Simon Boccanegra with Los Angeles Opera, covering the role of Paolo. During the 2012–2013 season, he reprised his role in Silent Night for Opera Philadelphia, was a soloist in Carmina burana with the Phoenix Symphony, returned to Canadian Opera Company as the First Nazarene and Jochanaan/cover in Strauss’ Salome and sang both Dick Deadeye in hms Pinafore and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor for Opera Saratoga. The 2013–2014 season brings debuts with both Fort Worth Opera and Cincinnati Opera, reprising his Lieutenant Horstmayer in Silent Night, and his return to Minnesota Opera as Mandryka in Arabella. Mr. Irvin’s appearance is generously sponsored by Sara and Jock Donaldson.

Brian Jagde

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matteo

Tenor Brian Jagde is quickly emerging as one of the top new lyric tenors to watch. This season, he debuts at the Metropolitan Opera as Count Elemer in Arabella and at Opéra de Limoges as Don José in Carmen. He also returns to San Francisco Opera as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and the Orlando Philharmonic as Alfredo in La traviata. A recent graduate of the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship Program, Mr. Jagde’s mainstage appearances there have included Cavaradossi in Tosca, Joe in La fanciulla del West, Janek in The Makropulos Case and Vitellozzo in Lucrezia Borgia. Other recent engagements have included his debuts at Santa Fe Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin as Cavaradossi, Alfredo at Opera Grand Rapids, Rodolfo in La bohème with the Müncher Philharmoniker, Pinkerton at Virginia Opera and Minnesota Opera, Rodolfo at the Castleton Festival and Syracuse Opera and his European debut as the title role in Werther at the Teatr Wielki Opera Poznan in Poland. He has also made appearances at Opera New Jersey, Chautauqua Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera.

John Robert Lindsey count elemer

Colorado native tenor John Robert Lindsey is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he earned his Master of Music in vocal performance under the tutelage of Julie Simson. Past engagements include the Tenor Soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Sam Polk in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, the Stage Manager in Ned Rorem’s Our Town and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. Mr. Lindsey has met with numerous successes in competitions recently. He was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for two years, as well as taking third place in 2010 and first place in 2011 at the prestigious Denver Lyric Opera Guild competition. For Minnesota Opera, Mr. Lindsey appeared as Jonathan Dale in Silent Night, Schmidt in Werther, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor, Goro in Madame Butterfly, Ismaele in Nabucco, Hervey in Anna Bolena, Pang in Turandot and Edmondo in Manon Lescaut. He also sang a concert of Carmen highlights with the Mankato Symphony. This season he returns as Elemer in Arabella, Malcolm in Macbeth, Marvin Heeno in The Dream of Valentino and Monostatos in The Magic Flute.

the artists Matthew Opitz count dominik

A native of Arizona, baritone Matthew Opitz recently graduated from the Indiana University School of Music with a master’s degree in voice, where he later sang Eddie Carbone as a guest artist in A View from the Bridge. Other iu Opera credits include Professor Bhaer in Little Women, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, the Priest in The Light in the Piazza and Farfarello in The Love for Three Oranges. He also appeared as a soloist in Szymanowski’s Stabat mater, Britten’s Cantata Misericordium and Don Freund’s Passion with Tropes. Mr. Opitz completed his undergraduate degree at Northern Arizona University, where his roles included Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Count Carl-Magnus Malcom in A Little Night Music, Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus. Most recently, he appeared as the Imperial Commissioner in Madame Butterfly for Arizona Opera and was a Central City Opera Young Artist, singing Dr. Bartolo in a family performance of The Barber of Seville. For Minnesota Opera, Mr. Opitz sang the First Gravedigger in Hamlet, Ping in Turandot and Lescaut in Manon Lescaut. He returns as the Second Armored Man in The Magic Flute.

Shannon Prickett fortune teller

Hailed as a soprano with “a vocalism that is rich and unforced, equally capable of a sudden drop to a sustained whisper or being ratcheted up to a thrilling forte without a hint of strain” by Madison Magazine, Shannon Prickett is becoming a well-known performer in the Madison area. She recently completed her Master of Music degree in opera, singing the title role in Médée and Suzel in L’amico Fritz. During the summer of 2012, Shannon performed the title role of Suor Angelica in Siena, Italy. In the spring of 2012, she won first place at the Iowa District Metropolitan National Council Opera Auditions, advancing to the regional competition, in which she received third place. This past year, at the University of Wisconsin, Shannon was the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem as well as Mimì in La bohème and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. In 2010, she made her debut at the Des Moines Metro Opera, singing the role of the Lady-inwaiting in Verdi’s Macbeth. For Minnesota Opera this season, she also appears the Lady-in-waiting in Macbeth, the Woman in Red in The Dream of Valentino and the Second Lady in The Magic Flute.

Dale Travis Dale Travis has become one of the most sought after bass-baritones in America today. With a repertoire encompassing 50 roles over 25 years from Mozart, Donizetti and Rossini to Strauss, Puccini and Wagner, Mr. Travis has been a frequent guest artist at the most prestigious opera companies in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Colorado, Spoleto Festival usa, the Saito Kinen Music Festival, Teatro Regio (Turin), Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa), Komische Oper (Berlin), New Israeli Opera (Tel Aviv) and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Recently, Mr. Travis returned to Chicago for La bohème, Santa Fe for Le nozze di Figaro and La traviata, San Francisco for Tosca, the Met for The Makropulos Case and debuted with Lyric Opera of Kansas City in the title role of The Mikado. Upcoming engagements include Tosca with Austin Lyric, Arabella at the Met and La traviata, Susannah, La bohème and La Cenerentola with the San Francisco Opera.

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count waldner

the artists Victoria Vargas adelaide

Mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas returns to Minnesota Opera for a fourth season as a Resident Artist, having appeared as the Madrigal Singer in Manon Lescaut, Tisbe in Cinderella, Anna in Mary Stuart, Flora in La traviata, Nelly in Wuthering Heights, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, Fenena in Nabucco and Smeton in Anna Bolena. This season she will be seen as Adelaide in Arabella, Natacha Rambova in The Dream of Valentino and the Third Lady in The Magic Flute. In 2013, she was a second place Upper Midwest regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Ms. Vargas has been a young artist at Sarasota Opera and Chautauqua Opera, where she covered the role of Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana. At Chautauqua, she returned for a second season as an Apprentice Artist, performing Laura in Luisa Miller and the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte. This past summer she was a Gerdine Young Artist at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, covering the role of Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance.

Jacquelyn Wagner

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2013 © Aleutian Calabay for Minnesota Opera

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The 2013–2014 season of soprano Jacquelyn Wagner includes a revival of Le nozze di Figaro as the Contessa at the Vienna Volksoper and the role debut of Arabella for Minnesota Opera, which she will interpret in future seasons at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), among others. Ms. Wagner will also give her debut at Carnegie Hall in a concert version of Feuersnot as Diemut. During the 2012–2013 season, Ms. Wagner made her role debut as Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica) at Cologne Opera and appeared as Violetta in La traviata at the Vienna Volksoper and at Frankfurt Opera, as Ortlinde in Die Walküre at the Maggio Musicale Florence, as Fiordiligi in a new production of Così fan tutte for Minnesota Opera, as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Opéra de Bordeaux as well as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at Opéra du Rhin (Strasbourg), where she gave her debut as Fiordiligi two seasons earlier. Ms. Wagner recently gave her triumphant debut in Japan (Tokyo, Nagoja, others) with recitals and as Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro). Ms. Wagner’s appearance is generously sponsored by Bernt von Ohlen and Tom Nichol.

Christian Zaremba count lamoral

Hailed by The New York Times as “a stage animal with a big bass voice” the 26-year-old basso cantante is quickly garnering praise from companies and critics alike. He made his debut this summer at Glimmerglass Opera as the Bass Soloist in David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion, appeared as Pistola in Falstaff with the Martina Arroyo Foundation and as Zuniga in Carmen and Colline in La bohème with Long Island Opera. Christian performed the speaking role of the Porter in Manon at the Metropolitan Opera, covered the principal acting role of Agamemnon in Iphigénie en Tauride at the Metropolitan Opera and appeared at Weill Hall as Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni. He has sung Sarastro in Die Zauberflote, Zuniga in Carmen and Angelotti in Tosca with New York Lyric Opera as well as Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Capitol Heights Opera. The 2013–2014 season will see Christian make his debut with Minnesota Opera as Sarastro (The Magic Flute), Lamoral (Arabella), the Innkeeper (Manon Lescaut) and cover Banquo (Macbeth).

meet the artist

JacQuelYn Wagner left and Right: Wagner as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, 2011

How does the role of Arabella fit into your career path? As a singer, you want to make sure you have the timing right for when you go to bigger repertoire, and I felt it was time to do this. I have a really great teacher in Berlin, Deborah Polaski, who is a dramatic soprano herself. She understands how to pace yourself for these bigger roles and, for Arabella, you have to test your voice against the size of the orchestra. This is a great “pivot” opera to expand my repertoire. As I transition to heavier roles, this piece is creating a big learning curve for me. I started with lots of Mozart (Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni) – there is a huge difference in singing an aria or a duet with breaks between them to this “come on, we have to go down the road like this and we don’t get a break”-type singing. I’m going to stay in this “Arabella” phase for awhile, maybe with some lighter Puccini, and down the road in five years or so, I may be ready for Wagner’s Meistersinger or Lohengrin.

How have you developed your musical skills? My father played French horn for Detroit Symphony for more than 30 years, and he has a very unique, finessed sound – an almost singable line to his playing. From him, I learned musical phrasing and how the beauty of the music has to come through. In 2005, I graduated from Manhattan School of Music and won a Fulbright Scholarship, which brought me to Germany. The nyiop program, which brings European opera houses to the u.s. in order for American singers to audition, helped bring me to Deutsche Oper Berlin as a contracted singer for three years as well as my first Così fan tutte at Opéra de Marseille. In 2009, I decided to go freelance so I could do exactly what I wanted to do and found a good agent so I can be singing exactly the roles I need to be singing.  Ms. Wagner’s biography appears on the opposite page.

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2013 © Aleutian Calabay for Minnesota Opera

FeatuRe

michael Christie and the minnesota Opera Orchestra

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he four-week period spent creating an opera is one of the most exhilarating a person could experience. Singers are coached and costumed, directors work intensely to realize their vision six days a week, and folded into overlapping production and technical schedules fairly late in the game are six days of rehearsal that suddenly bring 50 critical artists into the mix – the Minnesota Opera Orchestra. This is a typical scenario in all of the opera houses I’ve worked over the past year, be it Philadelphia, San Francisco or Saint Louis. Musicians who play in an opera orchestra are a particular breed in my opinion, often as fanatical about opera as you, our patrons.

Instrumentalists use the same skills in any performing scenario; however in an opera, these skills are heightened. Performing in an opera orchestra requires a unique connection of senses, heart and mind. Even though members cannot see what is happening onstage, their sense of hearing in particular is operating at an acute level. Our orchestra is as sensitive to the small breath a singer may sneak in as to the erupting climax they’ve taken that breath to accomplish. Then there’s me steering the ship, serving as a linchpin between lead soprano and violins, or between the triangle player at the back of the pit and the chorus member on an elevated set piece in a far corner of the stage. I love the dualities of being an opera conductor. For me, it is just as gratifying to bring together one gentle voice with a transparent orchestration as it is to have 120 singers and instrumentalists at full volume in absolute precision raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

“

Music Director

When all the variables in an opera performance come together, the synergy created is extraordinary. there is nothing as exhilarating as pouring one’s heart and mind into a great work and watching it come to life. I am always humbled by the music I’m playing and know I can speak for all my colleagues in the Minnesota opera orchestra that it is a great honor to play the operatic repertoire and share it with others.

”

— Allison ostrander, concertmaster

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The level of trust we all must have with each other is something I value about working with the Minnesota Opera Orchestra. That physical distance from pit to stage cannot hinder our ultimate goal of amplifying the life experience composers and librettists work tirelessly to convey through their words and music. And yet, love and loss, glee and reflection mean different things to each of us, so naturally we must trust one another’s instinct for portraying them. We are so fortunate to have this group of opera lovers committed to playing with such passion and precision, whether it be something one knows back and front like Madame Butterfly, or something we breathe into life and notoriety like Silent Night. I am very honored to play a part in the development of this

key performer, who is a constant from production to production. I hope you’ll find a moment at an intermission or before a performance begins to look into the orchestra pit and see all of the devoted opera fans playing their hearts out for you. Enjoy the performance!

the artists Minnesota Opera Orchestra Violin I

Allison Ostrander Concertmaster Julia Persitz David Mickens Judy Thon-Jones Conor O’Brien Natalia Moiseeva Heidi Amundson Maisie Block Jill Olson Lydia Miller

Violin II

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Laurie Petruconis Elizabeth Decker Melinda Marshall Margaret Humphrey Elise Parker Huldah Niles David Block Miriam Moxness Griffiths

Viola

David Auerbach Emily Hagen Laurel Browne Jenny Lind Nilsson Susan Janda Tyler Sieh

Cello

Jim Jacobson Sally Gibson Dorer Rebecca Arons Thomas Austin Teresa Richardson Kirsten Whitson

Bass

John Michael Smith Constance Martin Jason C. Hagelie Charles Block

Flute

Michele Frisch Amy Morris Eun Cho, Double piccolo

Oboe

Michael Dayton Jeffrey Marshak

ENGLISH Horn

Robert McManus

Clarinet

Karrin Meffert-Nelson Nina Olsen

C Clarinet

Rena Kraut

Horn

Matthew Wilson Charles Hodgson Timothy Bradley Lawrence Barnhart Caroline Lemen

Trumpet

John G. Koopmann Christopher Volpe Pamela Humphrey

Trombone

BASS Clarinet

Phillip Ostrander John Tranter David Stevens

Bassoon

Ralph Hepola

Paul Schulz

Coreen Nordling Laurie Hatcher Merz Norbert Nielubowski Double contra bassoon

Tuba

Timpani/ Percussion

Kory Andry

Harp

Min J. Kim

the artists CHORUS Andy Elfenbein Peter Frenz Missy Griffin Christie Hageman Helen Hassinger Brian Jorgensen Elizabeth Kohl

Rebecca Krynski Rick Latterell Maggie Lofboom Elizbeth Longhurst Eric Mellum Chandler Molbert John Allen Nelson

Michael Powell Louise Rogan Lauren Stepka Mark Thomas Lara Trujillo Lu Zang Tracey Zavadil

Chorus from Orpheus and Eurydice 2010 © Michal Daniel

Matthew Abbas Alex Barnett Kelsey Bruso Lisa Butcher Cecile Crozat-Zawisa Rachel Daddio John deCausmeaker

production multimedia A & C Publishing, Inc. – Wendy Wagner, Director of Operations Aleutian Calabay – Publicity Photographer

MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO®

Michal Daniel – Production Photographer QuarterTon Productions – Publicity Video

Classical MPR – Broadcast Recording

Celebrating the 61th year of the Metropolitan Opera National Council

November 16, 2013, 10am Ordway Mainstage

MASTER CLASS WITH JUDGE RUTH GOLDEN

November 17, 2013, 1pm Minnesota Opera Center

For more information visit moncuppermidwest.com

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Minnesota District Auditions

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eclared by Lukas Foss to be his favorite composition, Griﬀelkin celebrates the childlike curiosity in all of us. I can think of no better way than to present this touching and joyous work than through the eyes of the children that are a part of Project Opera. Originally told as a story to Foss when he was eight years old by his mother and loosely based on works by the Brothers Grimm, it is a dark fairytale celebrating the pain and joy of what it means to be mortal. Even as adults the stories of the Brothers Grimm make us smile with their cautionary tales deeply rooted in folklore, magic and superstition. And what better way to revisit these stories than by listening to children telling a new “modern” fairytale of their own. From bringing stone lions to life and enchanting toy soldiers to making mailboxes talk, Griffelkin guarantees to be one little devil who will tug on your heartstrings as he discovers the meaning of the words beauty, death and the greatest of all – love. Daniel Ellis Stage Director

ProJect opera

GrIFFelKIN GRIFFELKIN is the story of a little devil who travels to earth to perform one bad deed for his tenth birthday. While wreaking havoc, he meets a brother and sister grieving over the loss of their mother. Griffelkin sheds a “human” tear and use his magic to bring the children’s mother back to life. For his unacceptably “good” behavior, Griffelkin is put on trial and found guilty of treason against hell. as punishment for his crimes, the devils cut off his tail, and exile him to earth where he must live the rest of his days as a human. Just when Griffelkin thinks he is all alone, the young boy and girl return with their mother and decide to adopt the young Griffelkin.

Jan 10 – 7pm • Jan 11 – 1 and 4pm • Jan 12 – 1pm

Ideal for families and children of all ages. Performed in English with English titles projected above the stage.

the lab theater 700 north First street minneapolis, mn 55401 tickets – $5/child, $15/adult to purchase call

612-333-6669

See page 42 for more about Project Opera.

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Dale Kruse – music Director Daniel ellis – stage Director Kathy Kraulik – accompanist Heidi spesard-noble – Choreographer

Manon Lescaut 2013 © Michal Daniel

minnesota opera

Connect With us “Hunger Games mentor, Geronte, shows his tributes the importance of a strong duck-face.” lindsay R. (winner of the Manon Lescaut

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photo caption contest)

“Fantastic costume, i sat way up in the gallery and it was eye candy that almost stole the whole act.” Jennifer c.

“love this: Paul moravec and mark Campbell will write opera based on “the shining” for @mnopera, premiering 2016.” bruce Hodges @bruceHodgesnY (Writer/editor. Columnist for The Juilliard Journal and The Strad, north american editor for Seen and Heard International (london). blog: monotonous Forest.)

facebook.com/minnesotaopera • twitter.com/mnopera youtube.com/minnesotaopera • pinterest.com/mnopera

upCOminG eVenTS JanuaRy 13 – Macbeth tempo Happy Hour + behind the Curtain This season, Tempo is moving into its second decade of engaging 20and 30-somethings with Minnesota Opera through one-of-a-kind events and steeply discounted tickets for opening night performances. For only $50, your Tempo membership includes exciting benefits to help you get the most out of your experience.

JanuaRy 25 – Macbeth tempo night out + after Party verdi’s dark-hued Macbeth examines the corrosive consequences of tyranny. at the urging of his scheming wife, macbeth murders the king to claim the crown. His desperate and deadly reign of terror devastates his country and hastens his doom in this masterwork based upon shakespeare’s classic thriller.

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2012 © ClarePix Photography

mnop.co/tempo mnop.co/blog 612-333-6669 tempo@mnopera.org

meet up at loose Wiles Freehouse brewpub in the north loop neighborhood for beer and casual fare. then head over to the minnesota opera Center for behind the Curtain. Get the inside scoop as opera experts and members of the cast and creative team lead discussions exploring the music, history and design of Macbeth. behind the Curtain classes are ideal for ﬁrst-time opera goers and long-term fans alike.

ANNA BOLENA TEMPO NIGHT OUT + AFTER PARTY

neW Works initiative

SIleNT NIGHT on pbs mnop.co/silent-night

Friday, December , pm ct

Silent Night 2011 © Michal Daniel for Minnesota Opera

innesota Opera’s production of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, a company commission which earned its composer the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music, will broadcast nationally on pbs on Friday, December 13. The broadcast time in the Twin Cities market is 8pm on tpt2. Minnesota Opera presented the world premiere of Silent Night in November 2011. Its libretto by Mark Campbell was based on the screenplay for Joyeux Noël by Christian Carion for the motion picture produced by Nord-Ouest Production. The opera recounts a miraculous moment of peace during one of the bloodiest wars in human history. On wwi’s western front, Scottish, French and German officers defy their superiors and negotiate a Christmas Eve truce. Enemies become brothers as they share Christmas and bury their dead. William Burden starred as the soldier whose voice inspired peace – if only for a day.

Silent Night was conducted by Minnesota Opera’s Music Director Michael Christie and staged by Academy Awardwinning director Eric Simonson. Silent Night, which was recently honored with a regional Emmy nomination, was the first commission of Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative. “A major objective of the New Works Initiative is to see that the new works we produce enter the repertoire and reach an audience far beyond our own local market,” said President and General Director Kevin Ramach. “One strategy was to record and distribute some of these new operas to amplify their reach to new audiences in our community and worldwide. Working with the talented director Joe Brandmeier, Minnesota Opera developed a new capacity for capturing the essence of these new works digitally, and we’re very excited that millions of Americans have the opportunity to watch this Pulitzer Prize-winning opera in December.” 

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UPCOMING EVENTS at minnesota opera

Dec 13 – Silent Night on pBs Tune in locally at 8pm to tpt2 for the national broadcast on pbs of Minnesota Opera’s 2011 production of Silent Night, which earned Kevin Puts, its composer, the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. More on page  or at mnop.co/silent-night.

JAn 22 – Nabucco broadcast Minnesota Public Radio will broadcast Minnesota Opera’s “colorful and superbly sung” (Pioneer Press) production of Verdi’s Nabucco at 8pm. This stunning opera which opened the 50th anniversary season starred Brenda Harris.

Dec 31 – Last Day of the tax year December 31 is the last chance to make a gift to Minnesota Opera in the 2013 tax year. To donate online, visit mnop.co/ support. Thank you for your generous support, and Happy Holidays from Minnesota Opera! More on page .

JAn 23 – social Media preview: Macbeth More on page .

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JAn 10-12 – project opera: Griﬀelkin More on page .

JAn 13 – tempo Happy Hour + behind the curtain More on page . JAn 13 – behind the curtain: Macbeth Look behind the curtain to see what it takes to bring innovative opera to the stage. Hosted by Minnesota Opera’s new Head of Music Rob Ainsley, get the inside scoop from members of the cast and creative team and explore the music, history and design of Macbeth.

JAn 25 – tempo night out + After party More on page . JAn 25-feb 2 – Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth Verdi’s dark-hued Macbeth examines the corrosive consequences of tyranny. At the urging of his scheming wife, Macbeth murders the king to claim the crown. His desperate and deadly reign of terror devastates his country and hastens his doom in this masterwork based upon Shakespeare’s classic thriller. More on opposite page. opera Insights – Come early and enjoy free, fun and informative half-hour sessions, hosted by Minnesota Opera artistic staff in Ordway’s mezzanine lobby one hour prior to each performance. Join us for Opera Insights and get an overview of the characters and music, historical and cultural context for the opera and highlights to watch for during the show.

GiVe TO THe maX day – november 14 Please see page .

Dale Johnson

MaCbeTH previeW hope you are enjoying this company premiere of Arabella. I have long loved this opera and am thrilled that we could present it to you in this lovely new production headed by Tim Albery. Our next presentation is Verdi’s music drama, Macbeth. This will be the second time we have produced this exciting early masterpiece – one of the top reasons we’re bringing it back to you is the magnificent casting of Brenda Harris and Greer Grimsley as the power-hungry Macbeths. In order to do justice to this innovative opera you have to have extraordinary singers and an extraordinary chorus and orchestra. Verdi said that the three stars of Macbeth were Lady Macbeth, Macbeth himself and the Witches. Of course there are more players, including a moving bass role for Banquo and an excellent scene for the tenor, Macduff. With Nabucco, written a few years before Macbeth, Verdi had emerged as the most prominent and exciting composer in mid-19th century Italy. Our production of Nabucco last season introduced the power of young Verdi’s style. With Macbeth, Verdi began to move in another direction. Rather than being solely concerned with martial choruses and virtuosic singing, Verdi began to explore his inner emotional voice. He became enamored with Macbeth after reading an Italian

translation of the play. He saw this play as an opportunity to explore a new type of composition, one not so slavishly adhering to the bel canto structure, rather one more freely composed adhering to the dramatic through line. Verdi even at one point likened Macbeth to some of the music dramas of Wagner. What attracted Verdi to Macbeth initially was the “musical” structure of the play. Verdi wanted for his works three things: dramatic action, suitable music and organization of the story. From this he could create his opera. He was a great fan of adapting plays by the great authors to operas – Victor Hugo, Shakespeare, Schiller and Gutierrez. From Shakespeare alone he created Macbeth, Otello and Falstaﬀ. Beyond having two of the world’s greatest singers, we have much to look forward to in this terrific new production. Joel Ivany’s approach explores the inner relationships of the Macbeth duo as well a new interpretation of the famous Witches. We are welcoming a new creative team that will use cutting edge video and projection systems as well as stunning new costume designs. It will be a night to remember. 

Artistic Director

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minnesota opera

education

PRoJeCt oPeRa: “From the very beginning project opera has been a special place where for kids to develop their own individual voice, both in terms of singing and socially. Studying opera requires discipline and dedication, and seeing our kids’ willingness to take risks and to go outside of their comfort zones really demonstrates the powerful connection they have with the art form.”

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roject Opera, Minnesota Opera’s premier vocal training program, is made up of more than 80 young musicians who meet weekly over the course of the school year to learn about singing, acting and what it takes to put an opera on stage. It’s a program dedicated to provide kids with a hands-on experience with the art form, guided by professional artists and master teachers. Each year, participants present a student-performed opera, and when the opportunity arises, they serve as the children’s chorus for Minnesota Opera’s main stage productions such as Turandot and La bohème. Project Opera attracts singers from all over the Metro and as far away as Duluth, St. Peter and Eau Claire. Graduates from this program have gone on to study at Juilliard, Oberlin, Eastman School of Music, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and many, many others.

— dale Kruse Music director

Hansel and Gretel Humperdinck (2006)

opera by kids – for kids!

The Nightingale The Giver

Shoes for the Santo Ninõ stephen Paulus (2012)

see Project opera perform Griﬀelkin Jan 10-12, 2014. More on page 35.

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susan Kander (2012)

imant Ramnish (2008)

minnesota opera staff President and General Director | Kevin Ramach Artistic Director | Dale Johnson Music Director | Michael Christie

Artistic

Production

Artistic Administrator | Roxanne Stouffer Artist Relations and Planning Director | Floyd Anderson Dramaturg | David Sander Head of Music | Robert Ainsley Resident Artists | Aaron Breid, Daniel Ellis, Christie Hageman, Rebecca Krynski, John Robert Lindsey, Geoffrey Loff, Sheldon Miller, Matthew Opitz, Shannon Prickett, Victoria Vargas, Christian Zaremba Master Coaches | Lara Bolton, Mary Jo Gothmann Artist Administration Intern | Thomas Glass

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Scenery

Marketing/Communications Marketing & Communications Director | Lani Willis Marketing Manager | Katherine L. Castille Communications Manager | Daniel R. Zillmann Program Manager, Marketing and Communications | Kristin Matejcek Technology and Interactive Media Manager | Adam Holisky Ticket Office Manager | Julie Behr Assistant Ticket Office Manager | Kevin Beckey Ticket Office Associate | Sarah Fowler Ticket Office Assistants | Carol Corich, Kärsten Jensen, Carrie Walker Photography Intern | Noorah Bawazir

minnesota opera board

OfFIcers Rachelle D. Chase, Chair Kevin Ramach, President and General Director James Johnson, Vice Chair Robert Lee, Secretary Patricia Johnson, Treasurer

Directors Patricia Beithon Peter W. Carter Rachelle D. Chase Jane M. Confer Sara Donaldson Chip Emery Bianca Fine Sharon Hawkins Ruth S. Huss Heinz F. Hutter Mary IngebrandPohlad Philip Isaacson James Johnson Patricia Johnson Christine Larsen Robert Lee Steve Mahon

David Meline Leni Moore Albin “Jim” Nelson Kay Ness Luis Pagan-Carlo Jose Peris Stephanie Prem Kevin Ramach Elizabeth Redleaf Connie Remele Don Romanaggi Christopher Romans Linda Roberts Singh Nadege Souvenir Simon Stevens Virginia Stringer H. Bernt von Ohlen Margaret Wurtele

Emeriti Karen Bachman John A. Blanchard, III Burton Cohen

Julia W. Dayton Mary W. Vaughan

Honorary Directors Dominick Argento Philip Brunelle Dolly Fiterman

Norton M. Hintz Liz Kochiras Patricia H. Sheppard

Legal Counsel James A. Rubenstein, Moss & Barnett

Tempo Board Ryan Alberg Thomas Bakken Benjamin Canine Leslie Carey Melissa Daul Katie Eiser Kara Eliason Jennifer Engel Laura Green Ben Jones Claire Joseph Carolina Lamas Susan N. Leppke

Kristin Matejcek, Staff Liaison Megan Mehl, Board Chair Alex Morton Jamie Nieman Chrissi Reimer Jana Sackmeister Polina Saprygina Rhonda Skoby, Vice Chair Carrie Walker Jenna Wolf

minnesota opera volunteers The following volunteers contribute their time and talent to support the key activities of Minnesota Opera. If you would like to learn more about volunteering please visit mnopera.org/volunteer, email volunteering@mnopera.org or call Jenna Wolf at 612-342-9569. Lynne Beck Gerald Benson Debra Brooks Jerry Cassidy Judith Duncan Jane Fuller Joan Gacki Merle Hanson Robin Keck Mary Lach Jerry Lillquist Joyce Lillquist Melanie Locke Yelva Lynfield

Suzan Lynnes Mary McDiarmid Verne Melberg Barbara Moore Douglas Myhra Candyce Osterkamp Dan Panshin Pat Panshin Eric Peterson Sydney Phillips Kari Schutz Janet Skidmore Wendi Sott Barbara Willis

Minnesota Opera is a proud member of The Arts Partnership with Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and The Schubert Club.

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board of directors

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annual fund | from the music director

music Director michael Christie and daughter sinclair at Como Park

y wife Alexis and I were thrilled to move our family to Minnesota, to join this amazing opera company and become members of our vibrant arts community. One of my goals as Music Director is to share the creative process with you. The quality of our local musicians who sing in the opera chorus and perform in the orchestra is extraordinary, and the level of artistic excellence continues to grow. I hope you will join me and Alexis by making Minnesota Opera part of your familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charitable giving this holiday season. Contributing to Minnesota

Opera means investing in the dynamic future of opera in the Midwest. Thank you for your generosity!

Michael Christie Music Director

annual fund | individual giving It is with deep appreciation that Minnesota Opera recognizes and thanks all of the individual donors whose annual support helps bring great opera to life. It is our pleasure to give special recognition to the following individuals whose leadership support provides the ﬁnancial foundation which makes the Opera’s artistic excellence possible. For information on making a contribution to Minnesota Opera, please call Dawn Loven, Director of Development, at 612-342-9567 or email her at dloven@mnopera.org.

bel canto circle Platinum $25,000 and above

Gold $15,000–$24,999

Anonymous (1) Mary and Gus Blanchard Jane M. and Ogden W. Confer Julia W. Dayton Sara and Jock Donaldson Vicki and Chip Emery Mr. and Mrs. William Frels Ruth and John Huss Heinz Hutter Mr. and Mrs. Philip Isaacson James E. Johnson Lucy Rosenberry Jones The Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund of HRK Foundation Elizabeth Redleaf Mrs. Mary W. Vaughan C. Angus and Margaret Wurtele

Anonymous (1) Tracy and Eric Aanenson Karen Bachman Rachelle Dockman Chase Ellie Crosby William I. and Bianca M. Fine Charitable Trust N. Bud and Beverly Grossman Foundation Robert L. Lee and Mary E. Schaffner Barbara and David Meline Moore Family Fund for the Arts Judy Mortrude and Steven Mahon Albin and Susan Nelson Kay Ness and Chris Wolohan Joseph Sammartino Bernt von Ohlen and Tom Nichol

Silver $10,000–$14,999

Anonymous (2) Patricia and John Beithon Karen Bachman Donald E. Benson Susan Boren Sharon Hawkins Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind Nilsson Kathleen and John Junek Warren and Patricia Kelly Harvey T. McLain Mary Ingebrand Pohlad Connie and Lew Remele Patricia and Don Romanaggi Robert and Barbara Struyk Maggie Thurer and Simon Stevens Virginia L. and Edward C. Stringer

Platinum $7,500–$9,999

Allegro Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation Shari and David Boehnen Alexis and Michael Christie Patricia Johnson and Kai Bjerkness Erwin and Miriam Kelen Jose Peris and Diana Gulden Chris Larsen and Scott Peterson Lynne Looney Lois and John Rogers Jennifer and Chris Romans Carolyn, Sharon and Clark Winslow

Gold $5,000–$7,499

James Andrus Anonymous (2) Martha and Bruce Atwater Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation William Biermaier and David Hanson Cy and Paula Decosse Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Jodi Dehli Dolly J. Fiterman Alfred and Ingrid Lenz Harrison Andrew Houlton Cynthia and Jay Ihlenfeld Debra and James Lakin Mary and Barry Lazarus

Ilo and Peggy Leppik Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lucker Mr. and Mrs. Reid MacDonald Kendrick B. Melrose Family Foundation Diana and Joe Murphy Bill and Barbara Pearce Stephanie Prem and Tom Owens Mary and Paul Reyelts Nadege Souvenir Dr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Thomas Stephanie C. Van D’Elden Lori and Herbert Ward

Silver $2,500–$4,999

Anonymous (4) Nina and John Archabal Martha Goldberg Aronson and Daniel Aronson Annette Atkins and Tom Joyce Alexandra O. Bjorklund Ken and Peggy Bonneville Dr. Lee Borah, Jr. Margee and Will Bracken Rita and Kenneth Britton Juliet Bryan and Jack Timm Christopher J. Burns Kathleen Callahan Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Carlson Darlene J. and Richard P. Carroll Nicky B. Carpenter

Rusty and Burt Cohen Gisela Corbett Jennifer and Corey Cowart Rebecca and Jay Debertin Thomas and Mary Lou Detwiler Ralph D. Ebbott Nancy and Rolf Engh Rondi Erickson and Sandy Lewis Gail Fiskewold Patricia R. Freeburg Meg and Wayne Gisslen Mrs. Myrtle Grette Ms. Susanne Haas and Mr. Ross Formell Michele Harris and Peter Tanghe Dorothy Horns and James Richardson Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Horowitz Bill and Hella Mears Hueg Dale A. Johnson Robert and Susan Josselson Nancy and Donald Kapps Warren and Patricia Kelly Lyndel and Blaine King Robert Kriel and Linda Krach David MacMillan and Judy Krow Helen L. Kuehn Dr. Caliann Lum Margery Martin and Dan Feidt Roy and Dorothy Mayeske Mary Bigelow McMillan Velia R. Melrose

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camerata circle

annual fund | individual giving camerata circle Karla Miller Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Moore Sandy and Bob Morris Nancy and Richard Nicholson Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Peters Marge and Dwight Peterson Mrs. William Phillips Sara and Kevin Ramach Rhoda and Paul Redleaf

“

(continued)

Thomas D. and Nancy J. Rohde Nina and Ken Rothchild James A. Rubenstein, Moss & Barnett Kay Savik and Joe Tashjian Mary H. and Christian G. Schrock Drs. Joseph and Kristina Shaffer Lynda and Frank Sharbrough Andrea and Bob Sheehy Stephanie Simon and Craig Bentdahl

Julie and Bruce Steiner Dr Norrie Thomas William Voedisch and Laurie Carlson Dr. Craig and Stephanie Walvatne Sonja and Jerry Wenger Nancy and Ted Weyerhaeuser Woessner Freeman Family Foundation

We had never attended an opera until a relative gave us tickets to Minnesota Opera’s production of Norma in 2002. We were grabbed immediately. We discovered that opera is the complete package of art, theater and music. There is nothing quite like it. We love Minnesota Opera’s balanced attention to both tradition and innovation. Over the years, we have gotten to know many of the wonderful people at Minnesota Opera and they’ve helped to make opera the very personal experience it has become for us. — Ken and Peggy Bonneville, Minnesota Opera donors and subscribers

artist circle

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$1,000–$2,499

Anonymous (3) Mary and Charles Anderson Kim A. Anderson Betty Andrews Ruth and Dale Bachman Barbara and David Baker In memory of Kent Bales Ann and Thomas Bagnoli Mrs. Paul G. Boening Allan Bradley Drs. Jan and Eli Briones Juliet Bryan and Jack Timm Ann and Glen Butterman Scott Cabalka Elwood and Florence Caldwell Joan and George Carlson Wanda and David Cline In Memory of Kathy Coleman Bruce Coppock and Lucia May Barb and Jeff Couture Susan and Richard Crockett Helen and John Crosson Jeff and Wendy Dankey Fran Davis Ruth and Bruce Dayton The Denny Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Margaret DiBlasio Elise Donohue Joan Duddingston Joyce and Hugh Edmondson Ann Fankhanel Ester and John Fesler Joyce and Hal Field Melanie and Bruce Flessner Salvatore Silvestri Franco Emil and Robert Fredericksen

Bradley Fuller and Elizabeth Lincoln Christine and Michael Garner Mr. and Mrs. R. James Gesell Heidi and Howard Gilbert Stanley and Luella Goldberg Dr. Richard Gregory Bruce and Jean Grussing Hackensack Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation Don Helgeson and Sue Shepard Jean McGough Holten Thomas Hunt and John Wheelihan Ekdahl Hutchinson Family Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Teresa and Chuck Jakway Margaret and Philip Johnson Janet Jones Wadad Kadi Stan and Jeanne Kagin Terri and Alan Kildow E. Robert and Margaret V. Kinney Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Hugh Klein and Judy Lebedoff Gerard Knight Mrs. James S. Kochiras Kyle Kossol and Tom Becker Constance and Daniel Kunin Stefanie Lenway and Tom Murtha Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Levy Helen and Ben Liu Bill Long Dawn M. Loven Barbara McBurney Laura McCarten Helen and Charles McCrossan Sheila McNally Deb and Jon McTaggart

”

Judith and James Mellinger David and LaVonne Middleton Judy and David Myers Elizabeth B. Myers Louis Newell Joan and Richard Newmark Pat and Dan Panshin Derrill M. Pankow Paula Patineau Sally and Thomas Patterson Suzanne and William Payne J.M. Pickle Mary and Robert Price Kari and Dan Rasmus John and Sandra Roe Foundation Kim and Peter Rue Kristine and Roger Ruckert Terry Saario and Lee Lynch Anne and Lee Salisbury Sampson Family Charitable Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Richard J. Schindler Gloria and Fred Sewell Ardath and Glenn Solsrud Matthew Spanjers Edson Spencer Michael Steffes Donna Stephenson Dana and Stephen Strand Michael Symeonides and Mary Pierce Jennifer and David Thomas Schelly and Bryn Vaaler Patricia and Douglas Vayda Cindy and Steven Vilks Mr. and Mrs. Philip Von Blon James and Sharon Weinel Lani Willis and Joel Spoonheim In Honor of Ron Wyman

annual fund | individual giving patron circle Barbara S. Belk Brian Benjamin Gerald and Phyllis Benson Debra Brooks and James Meunier Peter Davis and Pamela Webster Christine and Jon Galloway Jennifer Gross and Jerry LeFevre Charles Hample Carolyn and Charles Mayo Eric Peterson and Jenna Wolf A.M. Rock, M.D. David E. Sander Warren Stortroen David L. Ward John W. Windhorst Jr.

Silver $500–$749

Anonymous (3) Arlene and Tom Alm Alvaro Alonso August J. Aquila and Emily Haliziw Dr. and Mrs. Orn Arnar Dan Avchen and David Johnson Jo and Gordon Bailey Family Fund of the Catholic Community Foundation Rebecca Arons and Thomas Basting, Jr. Donald and Naren Bauer Carl and Joan Behr Chuck Bennett Dennis and Judy Berkowitz David and Diane Blake Martin and Patricia Blumenreich Allen Brookins-Brown Thomas and Joyce Bruckner Jim and Julie Chosy Joann Cierniak Ann Marie Collins

“

J.P. Collins Norma Danielson Eileen Dauer Amos and Sue Deinard Mary Elise Dennis Patrick and Mona Dewane Joshua A. Dorothy Holli Egerstrom Mrs. John C. Rowland Steven Engle C.D.F. Foundation Terence Fruth and Mary McEvoy Family Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Jane Fuller Joan and William Gacki David and Terry Gilberstadt Roger L. Hale and Nor Hall David and Chris Hansen Bonita Hanson Blanche and Thane Hawkins Stefan and Lonnie Helgeson Sharon and Cliff Hill Norton and Mary Hintz Henry and Jean Hoover Worth L. Hudspeth Diane and Paul Jacobson Barbara Jenkins Bryce and Paula Johnson Drs. Charles and Sally Jorgensen Samuel L. Kaplan and Sylvia Chessen Kaplan Markle Karlen Carole and Joseph Killpatrick Katherine and Scott Kovarik James and Gail LaFave Chris and Marion Levy Ruth W. Lyons Mahley Family Foundation Dusty Mairs Tom and Marsha Mann Kristin and Jim Matejcek

Lee Mitau and Karin Birkeland Steven J. Mittelholtz Jack and Jane Moran Jill Mortensen and S. Kay Phillips Theresa and Jim Murray Lucia Newell Ann and John O’Leary Dennis R. Olson Ruth and Ahmad Orandi Jim Pagliarini and Elizabeth Raymond Kathleen and Donald Park James A. Payne Lana K. Pemberton Ron and Mary Peterson Carroll and Barbara Rasch Dennis M. Ready Lawrence M. Redmond George Reid Bryn Roberts and Marcy Jefferson Richard G. and Liane A. Rosel Enrique and Clara Rotstein Georgie Saumweber Cherie and Robert Shreck Topsy Simonson Stanislaw Skrowaczewski Clifford C. and Virginia G. Sorensen Charitable Trust of The Saint Paul Foundation Mark and Kristi Specker Jon Spoerri and Debra Christgau Chichi Steiner Judith Stone Dr. Anthony Thein Jill and John Thompson Jean Thomson and John Sandbo Susan Truman Mary Weinberger Howard and Jo Weiner Barbara and Carl White Frank and Frances Wilkinson Barbara and James Willis

I give to Minnesota Opera because it’s become part of my family, and my life is better because of it. First, I’m highly entertained by quality performances, educational events and parties throughout the year. And by serving on the Tempo Board of Directors and a committee of the Minnesota Opera Board of Directors, I’ve grown professionally and met amazing people from all over the Twin Cities, many of whom are now my closest friends. Minnesota Opera brings me joy, and it’s my pleasure to share it with others. — Ben Jones, Minnesota Opera donor, subscriber and Tempo Board Member

”

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Gold $750–$999

annual fund | individual giving associate circle

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$250–$499

Anonymous (2) Thomas O. Allen Katherine Anderson Linda Z. Andrews Jerry Artz Suzanne Asher Marcia J. Aubineau Eric S. Anderson and Janalee R. Aurelia Thomas Bailey James and Gail Bakkom Bishu and Irina Bandyopadhyay Laird Barber Carolyn Beatty Kevin Beckey Bender Vocal Studio Bill Bertram Matthew Brummer Philip and Carolyn Brunelle Emilie and Henry Buchwald Dan Buivid Keith Campbell Renee Campion and David Walsh Jerome and Linda Carlson Katherine L. Castille John Chrisney Elisabeth Comeaux Jeanne E. Corwin Melissa Daul Mark Dickey Barry Divine Katherine and Douglas Donaldson Leah and Ian Evison Herbert and Betty Fantle Charles and Anne Ferrell Brian M. Finstad Christine Fleming Kingston Fletcher Judith Garcia Galiana and Alberto Galiana Greta and Paul Garmers Father Joseph P. Gillespie Hunt Greene and Jane Piccard William and Aimee Guidera Margaret Gunther

Russell and Priscilla Hankins Anne Hanley and George Skinner Douglas and Doris Happe Todd and Amy Hartman Jill A. Heath John and Rosmarie Helling Frederick J. Hey, Jr. Mary K. Hicks Andrew Holey and Gary Whitford Burton and Sandra Hoverson Margaret F. Humphrey Ray Jacobsen Christina and Nicholas Jermihov Sharon and Fredrik Johnson Dr. and Mrs. Eric Jolly Erika and Herb Kahler Jeff and Andrea Kaiserman Kathryn Keefer Barry and Cheryl Kempton Janice Kimes John Krenzke and Michelle Davis Kelly and Adam Kuczkowski Robert and Venetia Kudrle Scott and Karla Lalim Beatrice H. Langford Kenyon S. Latham Bryan Lechner Lisa and Jonathan Lewis Sarah Lutman and Robert Rudolph Dr. Joan E. Madden Donald and Rhoda Mains Diane Malfeld Julie Matonich and Robert Bras David Mayo Patricia N. and Samuel D. McCullough Beth McGuire and Tom Theobald Malcolm and Wendy McLean Laurie and David Mech Curtis and Verne Melberg Robert Messner John L. Michel and H. Berit Midelfort Michael J. and Judith Mollerus Brad Momsen and Rick Buchholz Virginia Dudley and William Myers

Merritt C. Nequette William and Sharon Nichols Lowell and Sonja Noteboom Ms. Kathleen Nye-Reiling Patricia A. O’Gorman Robert and Dorothy Ollmann Donna and Marvin Ortquist Scott J. Pakudaitis Julia and Brian Palmer John and Margaret Perry Carol Peterson Edward and Beverly Phares Walter Pickhardt and Sandra Resnick Barbara Pinaire and William Lough John and Norma Pierson Dwight and Christina Porter Nicole and Charles Prescott Christina Reimer Robert E. Rocknem Michael and Tamara Root Bob and Donna Rose Daniel Roth Trish and Steve Rowley David M. Sandoz Mary Savina Jon L. Schasker Deborah and Allan Schneider Paul L. Schroeder Mrs. Donald Sell Mr. and Mrs. Morris Sherman The Singer Family Foundation Debra Sit and Peter Berge Emily Skoblik Jim Snustad Delroy and Doris Thomas Elaine B. Walker Wesley Wang Mark Warnken and Rebecca Peason Ellen M. Wells David Wendt John and Sandra White John M. Williams Daniel Richard Zillmann

These lists are current as of October 1, 2013, and include donors who gave a gift of $250 or more during Minnesota Opera’s Annual Fund Campaign. If your name is not listed appropriately, please accept our apologies and contact Jenna Wolf, Individual Gifts Officer, at 612-342-9569.

Support the opera you love with a donation to Minnesota Opera on ‘Give to the Max’ Day. The state’s largest day of giving takes place on Thursday, November 14 and all gifts will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a generous opera fan. Make your tax-deductible gift at mnop.co/give-mn. Thank you!

leGaCY CiRCle

MInnesotA operA tHAnKs the following donors who, through their foresight and generosity, have included the Opera in their wills or estate plans. We invite you to join other opera-lovers by leaving a legacy gift to Minnesota Opera. If you have already made such a provision, we encourage you to notify

Anonymous (4) Valerie and Paul Ackerman Thomas O. Allen Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Andreassen Mary A. Andres Karen Bachman Randolph G. Baier* Mark and Pat Bauer Mrs. Harvey O. Beek * Barbara and Sandy* Bemis Dr. Lee Borah, Jr. Allan Bradley C. T. Bundy, II Joan and George Carlson Darlene J. and Richard P. Carroll Julia and Dan Cross Judy and Kenneth * Dayton Charles Denny Mrs. George Doty Rudolph Driscoll *

Anne P. Ducharme Sally Economon * Ester and John Fesler Paul Froeschl Katy Gaynor Robert and Ellen Green Ieva Grundmanis * Julia Hanna* Ruth Hanold * Fredrick J. Hey, Jr. Norton M. Hintz Jean McGough Holten Charles Hudgins * Dale and Pat Johnson Ruth Jones* Drs. Sally and Charles Jorgensen Robert and Susan Josselson Charlotte * and Markle Karlen Mary Keithahn Patty and Warren Kelly Margaret Kilroe Trust *

Blaine and Lyndel King Gretchen Klein * Bill and Sally Kling Gisela Knoblauch * Mr. and Mrs. James Krezowski Robert Kriel and Linda Krach Venetia and Robert Kudrle Robert Lawser, Jr. Jean Lemberg * Gerald and Joyce Lillquist David Mayo Barbara and Thomas * McBurney Mildred McGonagle * Beth McGuire Mary Bigelow McMillan Margaret D. and Walter S. Meyers* John L. Michel and H. Berit Midelfort Susan Molder *

Edith Mueller * Kay Ness Joan and Richard Newark Philip Oxman and Harvey Zuckman Scott Pakudaitis Lana Pemberton Sydney and William* Phillips Richard G. * and Liane A. Rosel Mrs. Berneen Rudolph Mary Savina Frank and Lynda Sharbrough Drew Stewart James and Susan Sullivan Gregory C. Swinehart Stephanie Van D’Elden Mary Vaughan Dale and Sandra Wick Richard Zgodava* Daniel R. Zillmann * In Remembrance

For more information on making planned giving arrangements, please contact Dawn Loven, Director of Development, at 612-342-9567. Your attorney or ﬁnancial advisor can then help determine which methods are most appropriate for you.

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us so that we may appropriately recognize your generosity.

institutional giving minnesota Opera gratefully acknowledges its major institutional supporters: $100,000+ Hearst Foundations this activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

$50,000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$99,999

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$25,000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$49,999

$10,000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$24,999

For information on making a corporate or foundation contribution to Minnesota Opera, please contact Beth Comeaux, Institutional Gifts Manager, at 612-342-9566 or email her at bcomeaux@mnopera.org.

institutional giving minnesota opera sponsors Season Sponsor

Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank

Production Sponsors

Manon Lescaut Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank The Magic Flute Target

Production Innovation System General Mills

Resident Artist Program Wenger Foundation

Tempo After Parties Sakura

Opera Insights

Camerata Dinners

Comcast

Gala Sponsors

Minnesota Public Radio

Media Sponsor

Abbot Downing

3M Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank JB Hudson Jewelers – Official Jeweler of Opera Gala 2013

corporations, foundations and government 3M Foundation Ameriprise Financial, Inc. Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank General Mills Foundation Hearst Foundations Knight Foundation The McKnight Foundation The Medtronic Foundation The Michelson Family Foundation Minnesota State Arts Board National Endowment for the Arts Target U.S. Bank Foundation United Health Foundation

Platinum $10,000– $24,999

The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc. Abbot Downing Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation Best Buy Children’s Foundation Cargill Foundation Comcast Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Ecolab Foundation Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation

MAHADH Fund of HRK Foundation Travelers Foundation Valspar Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota Wenger Foundation Xcel Energy

Gold $5,000–$9,999

Accenture Boss Foundation Briggs & Morgan, P.A. Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts Anna M. Heilmaier Charitable Foundation R. C. Lilly Foundation Mayo Clinic Pentair Foundation The Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Rahr Foundation RBC Wealth Management Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, p.a. Securian Foundation Thomson Reuters Twin Cities Opera Guild

Silver $2,500–$4,999

Cleveland Foundation Dellwood Foundation Faegre Baker Daniels Hutter Family Foundation Le Jeune Family Foundation Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, LLP The Elizabeth C. Quinlan Foundation Margaret Rivers Fund Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Spencer Stuart Summit Brewing Company Tennant Foundation

Bronze $250–$2,499

The Curtis L. Carlson Family Foundation Enterprise Holdings Foundation Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. McVay Foundation Onan Family Foundation Peravid Foundation Sewell Family Foundation Sit Investment Foundation

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Sponsors $25,000+