{"id":174486,"date":"2023-03-17T11:52:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T18:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inbusinessphx.com\/?p=174486"},"modified":"2023-03-17T11:52:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T18:52:57","slug":"arizona-opera-announces-its-2023-24-season-line-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/?p=174486","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Opera Announces Its 2023\/24 Season Line-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The upcoming season\u2019s line-up includes classic operas featuring star-crossed lovers, mistaken identities, and salacious escapades, a World Premiere based on Mary Shelley\u2019s Frankenstein<\/em>, and exciting new initiatives in Phoenix and Tucson<\/p>\n

Arizona Opera<\/a> officially announced its 2023\/24 Season, featuring four opera productions \u2013 including a World Premiere \u2013 in Phoenix and Tucson, as well as the company\u2019s inaugural New Works Festival<\/em> in Phoenix, and a new series of community concerts in Tucson. Arizona Opera\u2019s programming includes something for everyone, from tried-and-true opera lovers to school-aged children and everyone in between.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are eager to continue connecting communities across Arizona through the power and beauty of opera, celebrating great operas from the classic repertoire while also investing in the future of the artform through new works,\u201d said Joseph Specter, Arizona Opera\u2019s President and General Director. \u201cOur upcoming season brings iconic stories of passion, obsession, and stolen identities \u2013 timely and universal themes enjoyable for both seasoned patrons and newcomers alike. We also look forward to launching new initiatives in both Phoenix and Tucson to increase our impact beyond the opera house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casting and other information about the 2023\/24 Season and programs will be released next month.<\/em><\/p>\n

THE MCDOUGALL RED SERIES<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Frankenstein<\/strong><\/em> (World Premiere)<\/p>\n

Gregg Kallor, Composer and Librettist<\/p>\n

Adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley<\/p>\n

Phoenix: October 13-15, 2023 \u2013 Herberger Theater Center<\/em><\/p>\n

Tucson: October 21-22, 2023 \u2013 The Temple of Music and Art<\/em><\/p>\n

Arizona Opera\u2019s eagerly awaited third world premiere, based on Mary Shelley\u2019s iconic novel of the same name, comes to the stage to open the 2023\/24 Season in the McDougall RED Series.<\/p>\n

With a riveting, cinematic score and libretto by Gregg Kallor<\/strong>, the living, feeling Creature is brought to life only to be forsaken by its creator, Victor Frankenstein. Embracing Shelley\u2019s original text, regarded by many as the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein<\/em> gives poignant voice to the Creature\u2019s struggle and lays bare the horror of alienation and \u201cotherness\u201d with exquisite nuance. At the core of this heartbreaking tale lies a passionately wrought plea to look deeper within ourselves to find common ground and uphold our responsibility to one another.\u00a0Arizona Opera\u2019s world premiere of Frankenstein<\/em> follows the successes of Riders of the Purple Sage<\/em> and The Copper Queen,<\/em> the latter of which was released in fall 2021 as a feature-length film.<\/p>\n

MAIN STAGE SERIES:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Barber of Seville, Rom\u00e9o & Juliette, Don Giovanni<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Arizona Opera\u2019s 2023\/24 Season will feature three Main Stage Series productions presented in winter\/spring at Symphony Hall in Phoenix and The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson.<\/p>\n

The Main Stage Series is comprised of powerhouse opera classics, including Gioachino Rossini\u2019s comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville<\/em>; Charles Gounod\u2019s Rom\u00e9o & Juliette <\/em>featuring the famed star-crossed lovers; and Mozart\u2019s dark comedy, Don Giovanni<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Barber of Seville<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Composer: Gioachino Rossini | Libretto by Cesare Sterbini<\/p>\n

Phoenix: January 27-28, 2024 \u2013 Symphony Hall<\/em><\/p>\n

Tucson: February 3-4, 2024 \u2013 The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall<\/em><\/p>\n

Love, mistaken identity, and humor are woven throughout The Barber of Seville<\/em>, Rossini\u2019s beloved masterpiece. The Barber of Seville is <\/em>considered one of the greatest comic operas of all time, maintaining its popularity for over two hundred years for good reason.<\/p>\n

Count Almaviva falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful Rosina, the young ward of a grumpy and elderly Bartolo who intends to marry her and claim her dowry. Dressed in disguise, Almaviva tries to earn Rosina\u2019s affection for who he truly is as a person, rather than for his money and status. Almaviva assumes multiple identities, including a poor student, a drunken soldier, and a singing tutor and priest. With the help of his companion Figaro, Almaviva stops at nothing as he pursues Rosina through a series of comical hijinks and bait-and-switch facades. Eventually revealing his true identity, Almaviva manages to win Rosina\u2019s heart and the pair evade the disgruntled Bartolo, with love and laughter triumphing in the end.<\/p>\n

Rom\u00e9o & Juliette<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Composer: Charles Gounod | Libretto by Jules Barbier & Michel Carr\u00e9<\/p>\n

Phoenix: March 2-3, 2024 \u2013 Symphony Hall<\/em><\/p>\n

Tucson: March 9-10, 2024 \u2013 The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall<\/em><\/p>\n

Gounod’s romantic and rapturous music sets the stage for this tale of star-crossed lovers, based on Shakespeare\u2019s timeless play about the power of love, set amidst the feuding of the Montague and Capulet families in Verona.<\/p>\n

Rom\u00e9o Montague and his friend Mercutio don masks to sneak into the Capulet\u2019s ball, where Juliette Capulet has been presented to the party guests. Rom\u00e9o falls instantly in love with Juliette, who fervently loves him back despite being pledged to marry Count Par\u00ees. Juliette\u2019s cousin Tybalt recognizes Rom\u00e9o as he shares a tender moment with Juliette, but he is prevented from attacking as Rom\u00e9o and his friends flee.<\/p>\n

Rom\u00e9o and Juliette affirm their forever love in the iconic balcony scene. Outside the Capulet palace, Rom\u00e9o breaks up a fight between Mercutio and Tybalt, asking him to forgive the feud between families. With nothing but scorn, Tybalt kills Mercutio and Rom\u00e9o stabs Tybalt. Knowing that the feud between their families will never resolve, Rom\u00e9o and Juliette plan to fake their deaths in a desperate attempt to be together, culminating in an ending for these lovers that is as tragic as it is heartbreakingly beautiful.<\/p>\n

Don Giovanni<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte<\/p>\n

Phoenix: April 20-21, 2024 \u2013 Symphony Hall<\/em><\/p>\n

Tucson: April 27-28, 2024 \u2013 The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall<\/em><\/p>\n

Mozart\u2019s Don Giovanni<\/em>, regarded by many as one of the greatest operas of all time, tells the centuries-old story of the libertine Don Juan.<\/p>\n

Don Giovanni tries to seduce Donna Anna, which goes awry, and he ends up killing her father, the Commendatore, unbeknownst to her. Donna Anna asks her fianc\u00e9, Don Ottavio, to avenge her father\u2019s death. The opera continues to follow Don Giovanni\u2019s salacious escapades, aided and abetted by his servant Leporello. Giovanni makes his rounds seducing and duping numerous characters, bragging along the way and escaping accountability by obscuring his identity. In a cemetery, Giovanni ultimately meets the Commendatore\u2019s statue, which comes to life and forebodingly warns Giovanni that he will laugh no longer. When offered the chance to change his ways, will Don Giovanni repent?<\/p>\n

NEW WORKS FESTIVAL<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leaning into Arizona Opera\u2019s passion for bringing new, exciting, and socially relevant operas to our patrons, the 2023\/24 Season will mark the debut of the company\u2019s New Works Festival<\/em>, taking place from November 3-5, 2023, at the Arizona Opera Center in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

This wonderful and immersive experience will highlight three contemporary operas over the course three days. Attendees of the New Works Festival<\/em> will have an opportunity to preview these poignant works in a fun and festive atmosphere featuring food trucks, beverages, and engaging activities to round out the weekend. Selections for Arizona Opera\u2019s inaugural New Works Festival<\/em> will be announced next month.<\/p>\n

BRINGING GREAT ARTISTS TO TUCSON<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the inception of its long-standing partnership with the Tucson Desert Song Festival (TDSF)<\/strong>, Arizona Opera has collaborated\u00a0with the Festival to bring some of today\u2019s greatest artists to perform in Arizona Opera\u2019s birth city. In addition to the TDSF\u2019s annual sponsorship of an Arizona Opera production in The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, this partnership has brought nearly two dozen recitals over the years, of\u00a0illustrious artists like\u00a0Susan Graham, Matthew Polenzani, Lisette Oropesa, and this spring\u2019s superstar guest artist, soprano Angel Blue. The 2023\/24 Season continues this rich tradition with memorable and notable guest artists sharing their gifts with our Tucson audiences, with the 2024 recitalist to be announced later this spring.<\/p>\n

In addition to this annual recital series in partnership with TDSF, Arizona Opera is proud to announce a new series of outdoor Tucson Parks Concerts<\/strong> designed to reach Tucsonans where they are, in their communities. These outdoor performances will bring the arts to those who may not otherwise be able to access them within a traditional theatre setting. The full line up of dates, locations, and artists will be revealed later this year.<\/p>\n

ABOUT ARIZONA OPERA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arizona Opera, entered its 50th<\/sup> Season in fall of 2021, produces fully-staged operas, concerts, and collaborative programs throughout the state of Arizona each season, and is among only a handful of companies in the U.S. that regularly performs in more than one city. Arizona Opera elevates the transformative power of storytelling through music, cultivating community and strengthening a state and people as adventurous and diverse as the place they call home. Since its inaugural year in 1971, Arizona Opera has produced more than 200 staged operas and concerts. The company’s artistic history is rich with a blend of operas traditional repertoire featuring baroque, bel canto, and verismo works, turn-of-the-century masterpieces, operettas, and American operas.<\/p>\n

ABOUT TUCSON DESERT SONG FESTIVAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tucson Desert Song Festival provides a world-class experience for music enthusiasts and novices alike. The mission is to elevate Tucson to a world-class destination for music lovers. The event is a unique three- weekend blend of glorious singing in orchestral, chamber, choral, and solo formats along with related lectures and master classes in the warmth and charm of Arizona\u2019s renowned Sonoran Desert resort region.<\/p>\n

2023\/24 SEASON\u00a0SPONSOR INFORMATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frankenstein<\/em>\u00a0is part of the McDougall Arizona Opera RED Series. The new commission of Frankenstein<\/em> is funded, in part, by a gift from Linda and Stuart* Nelson. The production of Frankenstein<\/em> is made possible by Ron and Kay McDougall, Herk and Jill* Rosenzweig, Susan Esco Chandler\u00a0and\u00a0Alfred\u00a0D.\u00a0Chandler,\u00a0and Michael and Beth Kasser.<\/p>\n

Arizona Opera\u2019s New Works Festival<\/em> is part of the McDougall Arizona Opera RED Series. The New Works Festival<\/em> is made possible, in part, through generous support from Ron and Kay McDougall, and Michael and Beth Kasser.<\/p>\n

The Barber of Seville, Rom\u00e9o & Juliette<\/em>, and Don Giovanni, are part of the Arizona Opera Main Stage Series. The Barber of Seville<\/em> is also a part of the Marlu Allan and Scott Stallard Family Opera Series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The upcoming season\u2019s line-up includes classic operas featuring star-crossed lovers, mistaken identities, and salacious escapades, a World Premiere based on Mary Shelley\u2019s Frankenstein, and exciting new initiatives in Phoenix and Tucson Arizona Opera officially announced its 2023\/24 Season, featuring four opera productions \u2013 including a World Premiere \u2013 in Phoenix and Tucson, as well as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-174486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-learn","tag-live-learn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=174486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=174486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=174486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.inbusinessphx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=174486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}