UBC OPERA 2019/20 SEASON
JAN 30, 31, FEB 1, 2, 2020
Mieczysław Weinberg Composer Alexander Medvedev Librettist
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Directed by Nancy Hermiston Conducted by David Agler
JUNE 13, 14, 19, 20, 2020
Gioachino Rossini Composer Luigi Balocchi Librettist
Old Auditorium Directed by Nancy Hermiston Conducted by Gordon Gerrard
Pasażerka
Il viaggio a Reims
Opera Teas
The Singer Behind the Song
Opera Ball
Botanical Garden and Old Auditorium Nov 24, 2019 March 1, April 5, 2020
Old Auditorium Jane Archibald — Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts March 6, 2020
Additional Special Event information at
www.ubcopera.com
Box Office: 604.822.6725
UBCOPERA presents
Les Contes d’Hoffmann Sung in French with English surtitles Opera in Five Acts (Prologue, Three Acts, Epilogue) by Jacques Offenbach | Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
November 2, 8 at 7.30 p.m. | November 3, 9 at 2 p.m. Conductor – Leslie Dala Director – Nancy Hermiston Lighting Design – Jeremy Baxter UBC Opera Ensemble with members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra There will be one 20-minute intermission after Act One. This production is made possible by the David Spencer Endowment Encouragement Fund We acknowledge that the University of British Columbia is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
A Message from the Director Welcome to the first production of our 2019/20 Season! Already we have had quite the exciting start to our season, with hosting the second annual Opera.ca Conference, performances around the city, and visits from two of the Metropolitan Opera’s most illustrious stars: Sondra Radvanovsky and Luca Pisaroni. And now we come to our opening opera: Les Contes d’Hoffmann. The Tales of Hoffmann, with its exquisite music and magical story, has always been one of my great favourites in the operatic repertoire. Jacques Offenbach’s opera transformed the name of the multitalented author/painter/musician, E.T.A. Hoffmann, into a household name around the world. The real Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann was a man of diverse and extraordinary talents: he was a composer, painter, scenic designer, conductor, leader of an opera company, and a councilor of the Berlin Supreme Court. His passion for Mozart’s music inspired him to change his name to Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann – hence E.T.A. Hoffmann. One indeed could make an opera on Hoffmann’s real life. He once said “I am a Sunday’s child with the power to see things invisible to other men.” His eccentric investigations of the senses and his short stories and novelettes had far-reaching influence on the writings of Gautier, Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe, and reached into the realm of dance with Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker (based on Hoffmann’s Nutcracker and Mouse King). The opera’s character Hoffmann has “the power to see things invisible to other men” as well, seen in his visions of the Muse of Poetry – a vision for Hoffmann alone – who comes to his rescue after his frustrations with human relationships, guiding him once again to devote his life to his art. In the opera, Hoffmann’s closing words are: “Beloved Muse – I am your own!” Jacques Offenbach possessed his own powerful muse, and began his career writing musical satires and operettas. A successful tour to America gave Offenbach the inspiration to return to Europe and, despite his steadily declining health, pursue his interest in writing Les Contes d’Hoffmann. His alliance with Jules Barbier and Michel Carré ensured the realization of that ambition. Barbier and Carré had previously written a play integrating the life of E.T.A. Hoffmann with three of his most popular tales: The Sandman, The Lost Reflection, and Antonia’s Song. The libretto for Les Contes d’Hoffmann follows this play very closely. In a race against death, Offenbach hurried to finish his opera. He wrote Léon Carvalho, director of the Opéra Comique: “Make haste, make haste to mount my piece, I am in a hurry and have only one wish in the world – that of witnessing the premiere of this work.” Unfortunately he lost his race to see his beloved opera, and it was first premiered at the Opéra Comique on February 10, 1881, four months after his death, without the third (Venice) act. It was an immediate success in Paris and was presented in opera houses around the world. His opera continues to be an audience favourite to the present day. I hope that you will enjoy seeing our talented UBC Opera Ensemble bring life to Offenbach’s masterpiece once again. Thank you for supporting the UBC Opera Ensemble,
The Cast* Councillor Lindorf Andrès, a servant Luther, an innkeeper Waiter Nathanaël, a student Hermann, a student Hoffmann, a young poet Nicklausse, his companion Spalanzani, an inventor Cochenille, his servant Coppélius Olympia, a doll Giulietta, a courtesan Schlemil, her protector Dapertutto, a magician Pittichinaccio Antonia Crespel, her father Frantz, a servant Dr. Miracle Voice of Antonia’s Mother Stella Dolls Sorceresses
NOVEMBER 2, 9 NOVEMBER 3, 8 Matthew McLellan Matthew Kim Iorwerth Lewis Iorwerth Lewis William Constable William Constable Philip Wing Philip Wing Benson Temple Jackson Allen Hossein Abrishamkar Thomas Brosky Ian Cleary Ian McCloy Hope Nelson Simran Claire Jackson Allen Benson Temple Iorwerth Lewis Iorwerth Lewis Matthew McLellan Kurt Ward-Theiss Sodam Lee Magdalena How Leila Kirves Sarah Anderson-Caulfield William Constable William Constable Luka Kawabata** Yuhui Wang Iorwerth Lewis Dae Hyun Justin Cho Sydney Frelick Juliana Cook Rafael Laurindo Philip Wing Dae Hyun Justin Cho Iorwerth Lewis Luka Kawabata** Matthew Kim Carleigh Ross Ziara Greene Emma Petersen Melland Erika Simpson Maya Goell, Emma Jang, Emma Petersen Melland, Taryn Plater Emma Jang, Nia Lewis, Taryn Plater
UBC Opera Ensemble Chorus: SOPRANOS: Marina Agasian, Neusha Amir Rahmani, Allison Anderson, Abigail Ayala, Cassie Chang, Juliana Cook, S. Skye Donald, Alanah Ellsworth, Hannah Ernst, Kate Fraser, Maya Goell, Emma Jang, Julia Johnstone, Emma Petersen Melland, Roshaan Saulnier, Erika Simpson, Sarah Sum, Catherine Thornsley, Tessa Waddell, Clara Wiens, Andrea Wyllie, Biying Zhang MEZZO-SOPRANOS: Ziara Greene, Irem Ince, Yeeun Lee, Taryn Plater, Lydia Querengesser, Carleigh Ross, Alyssa Samson, Grace Walker TENORS: Turgut Akmete, Jackson Allen, Colin Bell, Dae Hyun Justin Cho, David Gibbons, Iorwerth Lewis, Benson Temple BARITONES/BASSES: Hossein Abrishamkar, Thomas Brosky, William Constable, Luka Kawabata**, Matthew Kim, Antony Knight, Rafael Laurindo, Hanwen Liang, Matthew McLellan, Liam Robertson, Yuhui Wang, Kurt Ward-Theiss, Philip Wing *All cast and chorus are subject to change **Appears with the permission of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
Synopsis* PROLOGUE The opera opens in Luther’s tavern in Nürnberg. Councillor Lindorf enters with Andrès, the servant of the primadonna Stella, a famous opera singer from Milan who is singing in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Nürnberg Opera House. She has sent Andrès to deliver a message and a key to Hoffmann. Lindorf bribes the servant to give him both message and key. Lindorf exalts over his prospective conquest of the beautiful Stella. At the end of the first act of Don Giovanni, the students fill the tavern, among them the poet Hoffmann, accompanied by his friend Nicklausse. Students urge Hoffmann to drink and sing, so he tells them the ballad of a dwarf names Kleinzach and calls for the punch bowl. Seeing the devilish Lindorf, Hoffmann declares that this man has haunted his steps and has brought him great misfortune, destroying each of his passionate romances. When the students ask him to explain himself, he begins the stories of his three past loves.
ACT I The inventor Spalanzani is aided by his servant, Cochenille, in assembling the mechanical doll Olympia. With her, Spalanzani hopes to recoup the fortune he lost in the collapse of the banking house of Elias. Hoffmann declares his love for Olympia, and Nicklausse hints that he is making a fool of himself. Coppélius, Spalanzani’s business partner, sells the poet a pair of rose-coloured glasses that make Olympia appear human. Spalanzani and Coppélius haggle over ownership of the doll, and Spalanzani agrees to pay 500 ducats by way of a draft on the house of Elias. Guests arrive and Olympia captivates them with a charming song. Oblivious to the periodic mechanical difficulties of the doll, Hoffmann is enchanted. When the guests leave for dinner, Spalanzani leaves the two alone, and Hoffmann declares his love. When he embraces her, she whirls out of control. Coppélius returns, bent on revenge for having been given a worthless bank draft. As the guests start to dance, Olympia is destroyed by Coppélius and Hoffmann loses his glasses, revealing Olympia’s true mechanical nature.
— Intermission — ACT II Hoffmann and Nicklausse are attending a Masquerade in the Venetian palazzo of the courtesan Giulietta. Giulietta appears more than eager to discard her current lover, Schlemil, in favour of the poet. Hoffmann drinks to pleasure, and Giulietta takes her guests to the gambling tables, led there by Schlemil. Hoffmann remains behind and Nicklausse warns his friend of the danger of loving the beautiful courtesan. Hoffmann declares that should he fall in love, the Devil may take his soul. The magician Dapertutto,
secretly listening, declares he will bribe the courtesan by means of a glittering diamond in order to obtain the soul of the poet. She has already obtained Schlemil’s soul for the magician, who now insists on possessing Hoffmann’s soul as well. Hoffmann capitulates to Giulietta, and Dapertutto, Schlemil, Nicklausse, Pittichinaccio, and the chorus comment on the dangers of love. Schlemil, who refuses to give Hoffmann the key to Giulietta’s apartment, is killed by the poet in a duel. As Nicklausse drags Hoffmann away, Dapertutto gloats in triumph and Giulietta leaves with Pittichinaccio.
ACT III The musician Crespel has fled to Munich with his daughter, Antonia, hoping she will forget her love affair with Hoffmann. She sings and becomes exhausted. Her father demands that she never sing again, since it will endanger her life. He orders the deaf servant Frantz to allow no one into the house. Frantz, not understanding the orders, continues his chores and becomes distracted as he tries to sing and dance. Hoffmann enters the house and asks Frantz to bring Antonia to him. While he waits for her he begins to sing one of their favourite songs. Antonia, hearing his voice, runs to him and they swear eternal love. Breaking her promise to her father, she sings with Hoffmann. They hear her father approaching and Hoffmann leaves through the garden door as Antonia runs to her room. The sinister Dr. Miracle appears, whom Crespel considers an omen of doom. Miracle treated Crespel’s wife the day she died. Dr. Miracle inquires after Antonia, while Hoffmann watches unnoticed. Although Antonia has not appeared, the charlatan pretends to examine the girl, then commands her to sing – and her voice is heard. Dr. Miracle offers medicines to save her. Crespel, knowing this means death, throws Dr. Miracle out. When Crespel leaves, Hoffmann reenters the room, quickly joined by Antonia. He begs her not to sing and leaves. The doctor reappears, taunting Antonia with prospects of glory as a singer and invokes the memory of her mother, herself a famous singer. As Dr. Miracle plays his violin, Antonia sings until she collapses and dies.
EPILOGUE After the retelling of his tragic love stories, the Muse – a vision for Hoffmann alone – comes to his rescue, guiding Hoffmann once again to devote his life to his art. His closing words are “Beloved Muse – I am your own!” Hoffmann proceeds to drown his sorrows in drink and falls into a stupor. Nicklausse observes that Hoffmann’s new love Stella is no doubt the personification of all three types of womanhood that Hoffmann had so passionately loved – Olympia, Giulietta, and Antonia. Stella enters looking for Hoffmann. Nicklausse coldly addresses her and informs her that Hoffmann has passed out – she is too late. Stella steps forward, gazing at the unconscious Hoffmann. Lindorf, the combination of Hoffmann’s evil adversaries Coppélius, Dapertutto, and Dr. Miracle, leads the diva – his latest conquest – out of the tavern. *adapted from San Francisco Opera
Nancy Hermiston, O.C., Director Canadian-born lyric coloratura soprano Nancy Hermiston has performed throughout Europe and North America. Parallel to her extensive singing career, Ms. Hermiston worked as voice teacher, stage director, and Co-coordinator with the University of Toronto’s Opera and Performance Divisions. In 1995, she joined the University of British Columbia’s School of Music as the Head of the Voice and Opera Divisions, where she established the UBC Opera Ensemble. Professor Hermiston is also a favourite guest for master classes throughout Canada, the United States, China, and Germany. Her UBC Opera Ensemble tours regularly to the Czech Republic, Germany, Ontario, and throughout British Columbia. The Opera Ensemble gave their first performances in Beijing and Chengdu in May of 2009, and Shanghai in 2010 and 2011. Ms. Hermiston appeared as Stage Director with the Regina Opera for The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola and with the Vancouver Opera twice for Die Fledermaus, then La Traviata, La Bohème and in 2016, directed their production of Verdi’s Rigoletto, starring UBC Alumna and her former student, Simone Osborne. In 2004, Professor Hermiston was named the UBC University Marshal, and in 2008, UBC awarded her the Dorothy Somerset Award for Performance and Development in the Visual and Performing Arts. She was also honoured with a Killam Teaching prize in 2010. In October 2011, she received an Opera Canada Rubie Award for her contributions to opera in Canada. Ms. Hermiston was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in December 2013. In 2017, she was awarded the Canadian Music Centre’s BC Award of Excellence and in November 2017, Alumni UBC recognized Professor Hermiston with the Honorary Alumnus Award. In 2018, she received the Faculty of Arts 2017/18 Dean of Arts Award for her outstanding contributions to UBC’s creative research, teaching, and service to the scholarly and broader community. Last fall Ms. Hermiston was inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame.
PHOTO: TIM MATHESON
Leslie Dala, Conductor Leslie Dala is the Music Director of the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Associate Conductor and Chorus Director of Vancouver Opera, and the Music Director Emeritus of the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra. He has worked at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Canadian Opera Company, the Santa Fe Opera, l’Opera National du Rhin, Edmonton Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria and Saskatoon Opera and he is a frequent guest conductor with the UBC Opera Ensemble, the COSI Program in Sulmona Italy and Soundstreams Canada. Recent highlights include the world premiere of The River of Light by Brian Current during the Vancouver Opera Festival as well as Rossini’s La Cenerentola. In the fall of 2018 he made his debut at the Wexford Festival in Ireland where he conducted William Bolcolm’s opera Dinner at Eight as well as Max Richter’s The Four Seasons Recomposed. Other recent highlights include the Verdi Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Vancouver Bach Choir; the UBC Opera Ensemble’s productions of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Puccini’s Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi; and the world premiere production of The Overcoat, an Operatic Tailoring by James Rolfe and Morris Panych, co-produced by Vancouver Opera, Tapestry Opera, and Canadian Stage Theatre.
UBC Opera Ensemble The University of British Columbia Opera Ensemble was founded by Canadian lyric coloratura, Nancy Hermiston, in 1995. Beginning with a core of seven performers, Ms. Hermiston has built the program to a 90-member company. The Ensemble performs three main productions at UBC every season, several Opera Tea Concerts, and a series of Singer Behind the Song events featuring international stars who work with Ensemble students. As well, the Ensemble has several engagements with local community partners such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, and Bard on the Beach. In addition, the Ensemble travels each year to the Czech Republic to gain valuable European performance experience. Frequently they appear in concert with the Plzen Opera Orchestra, and they are regular guests at the Nürnberg Opera House for their Musikalischen Damen Teas (founded by Prof Hermiston in 1985). They have also given several concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu, China. The Ensemble has also toured throughout B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. The Ensemble’s mission is to provide an outstanding performance and academic education for young, gifted opera singers, preparing them for international careers. Past mainstage productions have included Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Die Gärtnerin aus Liebe, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Suor Angelica, La Bohème, Dido and Aeneas, The Bartered Bride, Manon, Eugene Onegin, Florence: the Lady with the Lamp, Dreamhealer, Falstaff , Don Giovanni, Cendrillon, Albert Herring, the Western Canadian Premiere of Harry Somer’s Louis Riel, The Crucible, Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), Rusalka, Così fan tutte, Dialogues des Carmélites, Carmen, The Tales of Hoffmann, The Florentine Straw Hat, La Traviata, A Night in Venice (Eine Nacht in Venedig), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Consul, Orfeo ed Euridice, La Cenerentola, Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi, and Silent Night by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell.
Vancouver Opera Orchestra The Vancouver Opera Orchestra was established in 1977, replacing an orchestra made up of members of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Comprised of the region’s leading freelance players, the VO Orchestra has developed into a fine ensemble that has taken the specialized and demanding art of pit performance to a very high level. Several of the current roster of musicians were in the pit for the orchestra’s inaugural performances, in 1977, of Massenet’s Le Roi de Lahore, starring Joan Sutherland and conducted by founding Music Director Richard Bonynge. There have since been two music directors: David Agler (1992–1999) and Jonathan Darlington (2002–2018). VIOLIN I
FLUTE/PICCOLO
TIMPANI
Angela Cavadas* (Concertmaster) Ken Lin (Assistant Concertmaster) Peter Krysa
Brenda Fedoruk*
Philip Crewe*
OBOE
PERCUSSION
Emma Ringrose*
Graeme Tofflemire*
CLARINET
PIANO
Mary Backun* Michelle Anderson
Michael Onwood
BASSOON
Jim Littleford
VIOLIN II
Andrea Siradze* Heilwig von Koenigsloew** Paula Wise
Ingrid Chiang*
ORCHESTRA MANAGER
ORCHESTRA LIBRARIAN
VIOLA
HORN
Tawnya Popoff* Isabelle Roland**
Tom Shorthouse
Laurel Spencer* Nick Anderson
ORCHESTRA STAGE MANAGER
VIOLONCELLO
TRUMPET
Rebecca Wenham* Robin Copas**
Tom Shorthouse* Jim Littleford
BASS
TROMBONE
Les Kasprzak*
Jeremy Berkman*
Nick Anderson * denotes principal ** denotes assistant principal
Special Thanks David Spencer Endowment Fund The Wall Family Mohammed Faris Vancouver Opera Guild Robert Dales Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation Judith and Graham Forst
Dean of Arts, Gage Averill Assistant Dean, Gerald Vanderwoude SOM Director, T. Patrick Carrabré SOM Administrative Assistant, Isabel Da Silva Stephen Quigley and Colborne Architects
Vancouver Opera Parvin Mirhady Catherine Alchenbrack and Suzanne Poohkay Grant Windsor Lynn Burton, Properties, Theatre UBC
Production Team DIRECTOR
WARDROBE
SURTITLES OPERATORS
Nancy Hermiston
Andrea Wyllie (Head) Juliana Cook Ziara Greene Catherine Thornsley Tessa Waddell
Simran Claire Hope Nelson
CONDUCTOR
Leslie Dala LIGHTING DESIGNER
Jeremy Baxter
PROGRAMME
Erica Champion
William Constable Magdalena How
WARDROBE CONSULTANT
PROGRAM PRINTING
Parvin Mirhady
Ancan Marketing
SCENIC PAINTER
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Hannah Myers
Miles Linklater
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER
OPERA MARKETING AND PUBLICITY STUDENT DIRECTORS
LIGHTING OPERATOR
Philip Wing OPERA COACHES
Richard Epp Michael Onwood Denise Gaudry Wenwen Du Derek Stanyer STAGE MANAGER
Suseh Nievares HAIRDRESSING & WIGS
Elke Englicht MAKE-UP
Carmen Garcia PROPS
Lynn Burton Matthew McLellan
Olivia Rapos Anisa Sobhani EVENTS MANAGER
Francesca Corrado ASSISTANT STAGE AND EVENTSÂ MANAGERS
Dae Hyun Justin Cho Leila Kirves OFFICE ASSISTANTS
William Constable Magdalena How SURTITLES
Created by Milena Janda
OPERA LIBRARIAN
Sydney Frelick BOX OFFICE DIRECTOR
Tony Koelwyn STUDENT BOX OFFICE DIRECTOR
Luka Kawabata BOX OFFICE WORKERS
Jackson Allen Simran Claire Kate Fraser Sarah Sum TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/ CARPENTER
Grant Windsor STUDENT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Matthew McLellan ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
Ian Cleary David Gibbons Matthew Kim Benson Temple ASSISTANT LIGHTING TECHNICIANS
Colin Bell Liam Robertson FRONT OF HOUSE
Sydney Frelick Magdalena How
LOOKING FORWARD: OPERA AND SYMPOSIUM
UBC Opera Presents The Passenger by M. Weinberg
Jewish composer Mieczysław Weinberg was no stranger to the atrocities of war, and his opera The Passenger beautifully incorporates his hard-won experience to tell the story of the methodical imprisonment and genocide of two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe, and the persecution and murder of European populations deemed “unsuitable” in a way that reminds us all how important it is to ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated in the present. To reinforce this message, UBC Opera is presenting a symposium together with this opera in which we will once again remember the millions of souls lost in the Holocaust, pay tribute to the survivors and their families and ask the very difficult questions as to how such a genocide could happen, why such acts of inhumanity continue to plague our world and what we can do to stop them. Guest speakers and panelists include: Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz (Auschwitz-Birkenau) Dr. Dorota Glowacka (Kings College, Halifax) Prof. Michael Berenbaum (American Jewish University) Dr. Aleksander Laskowski (Adam Mickiewitz Institute)
We hope you will consider attending both the opera, with its powerful and haunting message and music, and the accompanying symposium, to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. We wish to thank our partners in this production and symposium:
UBC Professors: Dr. Bozena Karwowska Dr. Rima Wilkes Dr. Anja Nowak Dr. Peter Suedfeld Dr. Richard Menkis Dr. Chris Friedichs
The Adam Mickiewitz Institute, Warsaw, Poland Auschwitz-Birkenau UBC Library UBC Go Global Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre Hillel House UBC President Santa Ono UBC Dean of Arts, Gage Averill