Don Giovanni

Performances on February 18, 20, 22,  2011.

At The Paramount Theater

By: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

ACT I

Seville, 16th century. Leporello keeps watch outside the Commendatore’s palace at night, unhappy with his position as servant to the nobleman Don Giovanni (Introduction: “Notte e giorno faticar”). Suddenly, the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna, rushes out of the building, struggling with the masked Giovanni. Her cries for help wake her father, who challenges Giovanni to a duel and is killed in the ensuing fight. Giovanni and Leporello escape. Anna runs for help and returns with her fiancé, Don Ottavio. When she discovers her father’s body, she makes Ottavio swear to avenge his death.

In the morning, Giovanni and Leporello accidentally encounter one of Giovanni’s former conquests, Donna Elvira, in despair over his betrayal (“Ah! chi mi dice mai”). Recognizing her too late to make his exit undetected, Giovanni pushes Leporello forward to explain. Leporello tells Elvira she is neither the first nor the last woman to fall victim to Don Giovanni and shows her the catalogue he keeps, with the name of every woman Giovanni has seduced (“Madamina, il catalogo è questo”).

Peasants celebrate the marriage of Masetto and Zerlina. Attracted to the bride, Giovanni invites the entire party to his palace and sends them all ahead, except Zerlina. Alone with her, he tells her she is destined for a better life and promises to marry her (Duet: “Là ci darem la mano”). As they are about to leave for the palace, Elvira appears and vehemently warns Zerlina about her suitor (“Ah, fuggi il traditor!”), then leads her away. Anna and Ottavio enter and ask Giovanni’s help in finding the Commendatore’s murderer. Just then, Elvira appears again and warns Anna not to trust Giovanni, who insists that Elvira is mad. Anna and Ottavio wonder what to believe (Quartet: “Non ti fidar, o misera”). As Elvira runs off, followed by Giovanni, Anna suddenly recognizes his voice as that of her father’s murderer. Devastated but determined, she once more asks Ottavio to avenge her (“Or sai chi l’onore”). Left alone, Ottavio thinks about his love for Anna and wonders how to restore her peace of mind (“Dalla sua pace”). Giovanni tells Leporello to get ready for an evening of drinking and dancing (“Fin ch’han dal vino”).

In the garden of Giovanni’s palace, Zerlina asks Masetto to forgive her (“Batti, batti, o bel Masetto”). When Giovanni’s voice is heard, she becomes nervous and Masetto’s suspicions return. Giovanni enters and leads Zerlina and Masetto inside. Anna, Elvira, and Ottavio appear masked, and Giovanni instructs Leporello to invite them in. In the ballroom, Giovanni dances with Zerlina and, while Leporello distracts Masetto, drags Zerlina into the adjoining room. When she cries for help and runs back into the ballroom, Giovanni blames Leporello. Anna, Elvira, and Ottavio take off their masks and, along with Zerlina and Masetto, accuse Giovanni. Though momentarily surprised, he manages to outface them and slips away.

ACT II
Leporello threatens to resign, but when Giovanni offers him money, he decides otherwise. The men exchange hats and cloaks in the dark under Elvira’s window, and Leporello, in his master’s clothes, leads Elvira away, leaving Giovanni free to serenade her maid (“Deh, vieni alla finestra”). When Masetto arrives with a band of peasants he has gathered to hunt down Giovanni, the disguised Don divides them into search parties and sends them off in various directions. He then beats up Masetto and leaves. Zerlina finds her bruised fiancé and comforts him (“Vedrai, carino”).

Later that night, Leporello—still believed by Elvira to be Giovanni—is surprised by Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina, and Masetto, who all denounce the supposed Don, despite Elvira’s protests. Fearing for his life, Leporello reveals his true identity and escapes. Ottavio proclaims that he will take revenge on Giovanni and asks the others to look after Anna (“Il mio tesoro”). Elvira thinks about her betrayal by Giovanni, whom she still loves in spite of everything (“Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata”).

Leporello finds Giovanni in a cemetery. As he talks about his latest conquest, Giovanni is interrupted by the voice of the statue on the Commendatore’s grave. It warns him that by morning he will laugh no longer. Giovanni forces the terrified Leporello to invite the statue to dinner (Duet: “O statua gentilissima”), and the statue accepts.

Ottavio once again asks Anna to stop grieving and marry him, but she says she can’t until her father’s death hasn’t been avenged (“Non mi dir”).

Leporello serves supper in Giovanni’s palace. Elvira arrives and makes a last desperate attempt to persuade Giovanni to change his life, but he only laughs at her. Elvira runs off. There is a knock on the door and the statue enters. Giovanni greets it while Leporello hides under the table. The statue asks Giovanni to repent (“Don Giovanni, a cenar teco”). When he boldly refuses he is consumed by flames. Elvira, Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina, Masetto, and Leporello appear, contemplating their futures and the fate of an immoral man (“Questo è il fin di chi fa mal”).

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Girl of the Golden West

Soprano steals show in ‘Girl’
By Jeff Wolf / Reporter-News Staff Writer
February 19, 2005

Friday night’s audience fell in love with Patricia Stevens, the New York soprano who sings the title role in the Abilene Opera Association’s production of Puccini’s ”The Girl of the Golden West.”

Nationally known director Ron Luchsinger has staged outstanding shows here, but this – AOA producer Jane Guitar‘s most-ambitious project – is especially impressive, with the AOA’s largest orchestra, largest cast, complex stage sets and three virtuoso principals performing their parts for the first time. Not to mention the horses.

The whole cast is solid. An equal partner for Minnie, the mining-town saloon owner, must be a tenor who is more than merely adequate. Houston’s Drew Slatton, as outlaw Dick Johnson, rises to the task with an upper-register power that suggests no hint of strain.

Consummate professional that he is, baritone William Parcher – whose artistry Abilene operagoers have long admired – fought off laryngitis to convey the full menace of Sheriff Jack Rance.

The supporting crew of cowboys and miners does well. Notable are Richard Reeves as Wells Fargo agent Ashby and Abilene Christian University’s Samuel Cook as Nick the barkeep.

At the controls of the lush orchestral fabric and the intense drama on stage is young French conductor Denis Segond. Alert to every detail, Segond is a genius of the podium, surely bound for international stardom.

Amid this abundance of world-class talent, the night was still Stevens‘ to take, and seize it she did.

From her startling Annie Oakley-like entrance to her final whispered ”Addio,” she displays an astounding vocal and emotional range. An adept actress whose looks are ideal for the role, Stevens also braves equestrian challenges few opera sopranos would even attempt.

If she doesn’t win your heart, you don’t have one.

Copyright 2005, Abilene Reporter News. All Rights Reserved.

Madama Butterfly

The first opera I saw was Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” in 1969, and the setting was anything but exotic — a Kentucky high school auditorium on the Ohio River, about as unlikely a place as you could imagine for a kid from West Texas to see an Italian opera set in Japan.

After 12 years in Abilene schools and two years at McMurry, I had set off to explore the outside world and transferred to Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro. Growing up in Abilene, I’d never had an opportunity to see live opera. And even though recordings I tried to listen to sounded like unintelligible squawking, I figured opening myself to new experiences was my main purpose at the time, just like seeing Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin at the Fillmore in New York the year before. So when the Indiana Opera Company ventured across the river for a one-night stand at Owensboro High School, I went to find out what the fuss was all about.

Despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, at Butterfly’s entrance I was transported to a realm of the imagination I didn’t know existed. It’s one of those magical moments in music that hardly anything can spoil. This live opera stuff, I said to myself, has possibilities.

The Abilene Opera Association’s production of “Madama Butterfly,” which opens Friday night at the Paramount, marks the 100th anniversary of the work’s premiere in February 1904. Puccini was taking a risk with the “Oriental” music and the opera’s departure from conventional structure. Nevertheless, considering how famous this staple of the repertoire has become, it seems odd today that the Milan premiere was a disaster. Fortunately, Puccini believed in “Butterfly,” and audiences soon embraced it.

Local opera fans will recall AOA’s dramatic 1999 staging of “Tosca,” which followed “La Boheme” on Puccini’s big-hit list. It was while attending a performance of “Tosca” in London in 1900 that Puccini saw a play about a Japanese girl abandoned by the U.S. Navy lieutenant whose son she bears, and the composer began working on an operatic version of the story.

Act I presents a sweeping panorama of Japanese culture, with a multitude of possibilities for spectacular staging. Because of Hollywood’s wholesale adoption of Puccini’s “Oriental” music, the new sound world Italian audiences found so strange does not strike us as alien, and its beauties are immediately apparent.

Despite being renounced by her family, Butterfly falls in love with Pinkerton, the American officer, and gives up everything to marry him. During the last 10 minutes or so of the first act, Butterfly and Pinkerton sing a passionate duet in which she emerges as a flesh-and-blood woman rather than a two-dimensional cardboard cutout. If those 10 minutes don’t move you, a vital part of your humanity is gone.

Three years elapse between acts, and the narrowing of focus on Butterfly’s character in Act II is where Puccini departs from traditional operatic structure. The relatively small Paramount should be perfect for this intimate portrayal, which usually seems awkward on a wider, mostly empty stage.

On a hill overlooking the ocean, Butterfly waits for Pinkerton to return and sings one of the greatest songs ever written for soprano: “One fine day,” she tells her serving woman Suzuki, “we’ll see a wisp of smoke rising from the distant horizon of the sea, and then the ship will appear.” And the aria concludes: “I shall await him with unshakable faith.” It’s enough to break your heart.

Since the mid-1990s, Abilene opera-goers have grown accustomed to top-flight productions here, thanks to the efforts of producer Jane Guitar and a behind-the-scenes supporting crew as long as your arm. Mounting an opera is as complicated as running a presidential campaign. It’s no small achievement to pull off one or two solid shows, but doing it year after year — well, it’s a delight we shouldn’t take for granted.

A world-class cast has been assembled, with established European stars in the principal roles and an accomplished French conductor leading probably the best orchestra AOA has put together.

Copyright 2004, Abilene Reporter News. All Rights Reserved.

Having access to a production of this quality of musical entertainment in the heart of downtown is one measure of how far 21st century Abilene has traveled from the town where I grew up. Skip this, and you’re missing one of the best experiences of the year.

Careful, though — see a live opera, and you might get hooked, just as I did back in Kentucky.

History and Mystery of Abilene Opera

The Abilene Opera Association was organized in August 1980. It remains faithful to the established goals of providing the Opera experience for existing audiences and developing new audiences for Opera, while furthering the appreciation of opera and providing the opportunity to develop promising artists in the West Texas area.

• Providing performance opportunities and a home base for professional growth of local and area artist, to include vocalists, orchestra instrumentalists and chorus members. These performers are paid for their services.
• Utilizing Production and Technical support from the local and area-wide residents, which is essential to a successful performance.
• Furthering cultural education of young people (K-12, college students, and other young aspiring artists), continues to be a major force and a top priority. AOA sponsors Master Classes, free of charge, conducted by distinguished principals performing in the current opera, a rare opportunity to promote and expand professional growth and be mentored and coached by professionals in the field of opera.
• Providing Cultural Art opportunities and accessibility to all Texans. To include culturally diverse populations, geographically isolated and rural territories and economically disadvantaged communities. To assure that the “wonderful world of opera experience” will be widely available, outreach efforts include providing participation opportunities to all audiences regardless of age, sex, handicap, ethnic race, or economic status. Focus is on promoting audience growth by introducing cultural education and opportunities to the diverse, isolated regions.

Casts include local, national and internationally acclaimed opera performers, a professional orchestra, professional direction, beautiful costumes, elaborate sets and effective lighting. High quality and professionalism have been achieved in the operas presented throughout the years.

LA TRAVIATA, TE MAGIC FLUTE, THE MASKED BALL, THE MERRY WIDOW, TOSCA, MADAME BUTTERFLY, FIGARO, GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST, LO BOHEME, CARMEN, and the delightful PETER PAN are some of the productions presented throughout the past 28 years. AOA has successfully achieved its exceptionally high goals, due to the “labor of love” efforts by the dedicated board members, devoted volunteers and supportive business community leaders. AOA is able to produce stellar productions within a limited budget due to this valuable and enthusiastic support. AOA Board Members pay annual dues, volunteer their time, and meet monthly or as needed.

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Abilene Opera Association

Founded in 1980, Abilene Opera Association (AOA) set out with two goals in mind: Tto promote opera appreciation in West Texas by locally producing professional caliber grand opera, and to foster local talent utilizing our professional means.

For 25 years we’re proud to say we’ve done just that. Playing to packed houses every summer, local singers, musicians, and production crew have worked hand in hand with the likes of professionally noted artists Faith Esham, Mary Jane Johnson, Drew Slatton, Patricia Stevens, and William Parcher. Abilenian Neil Wilson has lit up stages worldwide and has been able to return to our venue and perform for his hometown fans.

Rising West Texas talents have had the good fortune of working under the auspices of such conductors as Ransom Wilson from Connecticut, Denis Segond from France, and such directors as Ron Luchsinger of Opera North from New Hampshire.

2010 Board Members:

Jeanne Bayless    Jean Cook     Amos Davis     Jane Guitar     Kevin Hines     Annabel House     Debbie Jones     Josephine Jordan     Cecillia Aquirre     Shelly Reed     Adam Samuels     Shelby Weatherford     Frances Yakes

Abilene Opera Association

P.O. Box 6611
Abilene, TX 79608

+1 (325) 676-OPERA

(7374)

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