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Want to See More Opera? Visit Kansas City or Minneapolis
You can also hear Brenda Harris in the title role of Bellini's Norma at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City on November 6, 10, 12 and 14, 2010. Visit www.kcopera.org for ticket information. She will return for the 2011 DMMO Season to sing the role of Madame Lidoine in Dialogues of the Carmelites.
Baritone John Michael Moore, last seen at DMMO as Figaro in the 2009 production of The Barber of Seville, will return to the Company in 2011 as Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale. You can hear John in another Rossini opera, La Cenerentola (Cinderella), at the Minnesota Opera on October 30 and November 2, 4, 6 & 7, 2010.
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2011 Season Tickets
Current DMMO season ticket holders can renew their subscriptions beginning on October 1. New subscribers can purchase season tickets beginning on November 2. Single tickets will go on sale April 1.
As in years past, current subscribers will have the chance to renew their series choice and secure their seats before they are available to anyone else! Of course, those who wish to change their series or their seats, will receive the best seats available before they go on sale to the general public.
New subscribers will have the opportunity to secure the best possible seats, ensuring that they can see the fabulous productions of Puccini's La Bohème, Donizetti's Don Pasquale, and Poulenc's The Dialogues of the Carmelites on their preferred dates.
Watch your mail during the last week of September for your renewal notice or during the last week of October for subscription information. If you have any questions, you can contact Box Office Manager Dennis Hendrickson at (515) 961-6221.
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DMMO's Guild Chapters Plan to Hit the Ground Running
The officers of DMMO's three Guild Chapters (Ames, Des Moines and Indianola) are hard at work planning for a great year of programs, lectures and social events that you won't want to miss! DMMO is also excited about the formation of a 4th chapter which will service the Pella/Newton area.
There will be lots of opportunities to get to know other opera fans in your area while having fun and learning about the original multi-media art form. Memberships are a great bargain at just $10 for students, $25 for individuals and $40 for families.
If you aren't a member, click here to download a membership form. (If you are a renewing member, please fill out a membership form to help us keep our records current!)
Here are the plans for September's Kickoff events:
- Ames--Overture Potluck Dinner on Sunday, September 19
Join the Ames Chapter at it kicks off the new year with its annual Overture Potluck, Sunday, September 19, at Oakwood Church in Ames. The event will begin with a Social Hour at 5:00 pm followed by a presentation of the Chapter's Scholarship winner at the ISU Opera Studio and dinner at 6:00 pm. There you'll meet the scholarship winner and hear about the chapter's upcoming activities! To learn how you can help or get more involved, contact the new chapter co-presidents, Wallace and Julia Sanders at: wallacesanders@yahoo.com.
- Des Moines--Live Music, Nibbles and Drinks on Thursday, September 16 The Des Moines Chapter is excited to welcome DMMO's 39th Festival Season with its fall kickoff event on Thursday, September 16, 2010, at 6:30 pm at West End Architectural Salvage. It will feature wine and cheese, an opera performance, and lots of networking! To get involved, contact one of the two chapter co-presidents: Adrienne McFarland at: adriennemcfarland@yahoo.com or via phone at (515) 720-4677 or Leo Skeffington at: lskeffington@ncpinconline.com or via phone at (515) 244-8120.
- Indianola--Appetizers and Cheese on Sunday, September 19
The Indianola Chapter is excited to kick off the 39th Festival Season at the home of Judy and Phil Watson on Sunday, September 19 at 4:30 pm. Come enjoy some wine and cheese. Expect some wonderful music and enjoy a gathering of friends both old and new. All are welcome! To learn more, contact Julia Hagen at: dbhagen3@mchsi.com or via phone at (515) 961-7027.
- A new chapter of the Des Moines Metro Opera Guild will be forming this Fall. This new joint chapter will serve Pella, Newton and the surrounding area. To learn more about this chapter, contact its new leaders: Virginia Bennett at: vcbennett1@mchsi.com or Joan Tyler at: jtyler@iowatelecom.net.
If you are interested in more information or to be placed on the invitation list, please contact Dennis Hendrickson at: dhendrickson@dmmo.org or call the DMMO office at (515) 961-6221.
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The 2011 Summer Festival Season Has Been Revealed!
La Bohème (1896) by Giacomo Puccini
June 24, July 1, 5, & 9 at 7:30 pm and June 26 & 17 at 2:00 pm
The world's most popular opera! It's Christmas Eve in Paris, complete with the abandoned revelry of Bohemian life. The novelist Henri Murger wrote a journal about his youth in Paris in the 1930s and from its pages comes a musical version that Puccini set to beautiful and passionate melody so eloquent in its expression of love won and lost that it hasn't failed to inspire each succeeding generation. This is an opera to be seen again and again. Last seen at DMMO: Summer Festival 1996 and the Civic Center in January 2001.
Don Pasquale (1843) by Gaetano Donizetti
June 25, July 6, 8, 12, & 16 at 7:30 pm and July 3 at 2:00 pm
Don Pasquale is the 69th of Donizetti's 71 operas. One of the world's greatest operatic comedies contains a plot as old as time. The characters and their roles in farce are clearly based on commedia dell'arte types- Italian improvised comedies. Pasquale is the old bachelor who always has an eye for the young ladies; Malatesta is the Doctor whose attitude and carriage is of profound erudition - but whose wisdom is questionable; Ernesto is the young, passionate and often witless lover and Norina is the willful, vivacious young women caught in the center of the intrigue. Fashioned for four incredible singers / comic actors and a chorus, the story is durable and timeless, the music is charming, buoyant and as enduring as springtime itself! Last seen at DMMO: Summer Festival 1993.
Dialogues of the Carmelites (1956) by Francis Poulenc
July 2, 13 & 15 at 7:30 pm and July 10 at 2:00 pm
One of the twentieth century's most powerful, important and emotionally challenging operas, the piece is based on a play by Georges Bernanos and was premiered at La Scala in Milan. Set against the terrifying backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story about a young woman of nobility who becomes a nun, against the wishes of her father and brother. Blanche de la Force is deeply afraid of the terror of the world in which she finds herself and joins the convent in an attempt to find refuge where she can live and work without fear. And then the Revolution begins and nothing is ever the same again. This is a story about real people but told with some abstractions that reflect the fact that often times what we say to each other is not often exactly what we mean.
As the wheels of the Revolution turn, giants are felled and lesser people are left behind to tremble in the wake. The opera records the everyday happenings and conversations in Blanche's life as she watches those around her deal with faith and courage and those events that lead her to her own crisis of faith versus fear.
The final scene stands alone and apart as one of the greatest moments in all musical theatre. Last seen at DMMO: Summer Festival 1984.
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"The Met Live in HD" Broadcasts
The Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" will continue again this year at movie theaters around the state. DMMO hopes to see you at one of these Central Iowa broadcasts. Last year, the event was hosted by Movies 12 in Ames and Century Theater at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines. October will kickoff these broadcasts. Watch for more details to come soon. Until then, "Save the Date" for a showing below!
Wagner's Das Rheingold (Live)
Saturday, October 9, 2010 (12:00 PM CST)
Wagner's Das Rheingold (Encore)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 (6:30 PM CST)
Estimated running time: 3 hours
Two unparalleled artists join forces to create a groundbreaking new Ring for the Met: Maestro James Levine and director Robert Lepage. The cycle launches with Das Rheingold, the prologue to Wagner's epic drama. "The Ring is not just a story or a series of operas, it's a cosmos," says Lepage, who brings cutting-edge technology and his own visionary imagination to the world's greatest theatrical journey. Bryn Terfel sings the leading role of Wotan for the first time with the company, heading an extraordinary cast.
Cast: Wendy Bryn Harmer, Stephanie Blythe, Patricia Bardon, Richard Croft, Gerhard Siegel, Bryn Terfel, Eric Owens, Franz-Josef Selig, Hans-Peter König
Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (Live)
Saturday, October 23, 2010 (12:00 PM CST)
Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (Encore)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 (6:30 PM CST)
Estimated running time: 5 hours
René Pape takes on one of the greatest bass roles in a new production by Stephen Wadsworth. Valery Gergiev conducts Mussorgsky's epic spectacle that captures the suffering and ambition of a nation, with Aleksandrs Antonenko, Vladimir Ognovenko, and Ekaterina Semenchuk leading the huge cast.
Cast: Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, Vladimir Ognovenko
Donizetti's Don Pasquale (Live)
Saturday, November 13, 2010 (12:00 PM CST)
Donizetti's Don Pasquale (Encore)
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 (6:30 PM CST)
Expected Running time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Anna Netrebko revives her sensational turn in this sophisticated bel canto comedy, opposite Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, and John Del Carlo in the title role. Music Director James Levine conducts. When Otto Schenk's production premiered in 2006, the New York Times called it "brilliant" and "wonderful."
Cast: Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, John Del Carlo
Visit the Metropolitan's website to learn more upcoming performances.
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