The
phrase "Opera Special Interest Group" (a/k/a "OperaSIG")
seems a little grandiose for what we actually do.
No,
we don't have any:
This
webpage is pretty much it.
What
we do offer is:
For
bureaucracy, though, you're stuck with this webpage.
What
do we actually do? Opera SIG goes to Metropolitan
Opera: Live in HD! This is the Saturday
matinee (well, mid-morning, West Coast time) of the Metropolitan
Opera, live and in High-Definition big-screen
audio-visual cinematic splendor! The Met now broadcasts the
live performance to selected high-tech theaters worldwide. We go to the
very-high-tech theater at "The District" in
The show usually starts at
After
the show, we walk back to Panera and have a late lunch. My traditional
conversation starter is, "So, what did you think of the sets in Act 2,
Scene 1?". Feel free to talk religion and/or politics -- topics which have
a way of creeping into The Opera.
Opera SIG meets as follows
for the 2012-13 season:
October
13, 2012: Donizetti’s
L'Elisir d'Amore–New Production
Anna Netrebko and Matthew
Polenzani star in Bartlett Sher's new production of one of the
greatest comic gems in opera, as the fickle Adina and her besotted
Nemorino. Mariusz Kwiecien is the blustery sergeant Belcore and
Ambrogio Maestri is Dulcamara, the loveable quack and dispenser of
the elixir. Maurizio Benini conducts.
October 27, 2012: Verdi’s
Otello
Verdi’s Shakespearean masterpiece returns to the Met with Johan Botha in the title role opposite the acclaimed Desdemona of star soprano Renée Fleming. Semyon Bychkov conducts.
November 10, 2012: Adès’s The Tempest—Met Premiere
Composer Thomas Adès
conducts the Metropolitan Opera premiere of his own work, with
baritone Simon Keenlyside starring as Prospero. Director Robert
Lepage recreates the interior of 18th-century La Scala in this
inventive staging.
December 1, 2012: Mozart’s
La Clemenza di Tito
The virtuosic Elīna
Garanča sings Sesto in Mozart’s drama set in ancient Rome.
Giuseppe Filianoti is the noble Tito and Barbara Frittoli is
Vitellia, in this handsome revival of one of the composer’s final
masterpieces. Harry Bicket conducts.
December 8, 2012: Verdi’s
Un Ballo in Maschera—New
Production
Director David Alden’s
dreamlike setting provides a compelling backdrop for this dramatic
story of jealousy and vengeance. Marcelo Álvarez stars as the
conflicted king; Karita Mattila is Amelia, the object of his secret
passion; and Dmitri Hvorostovsky is her suspicious husband. Kathleen
Kim is the page Oscar, and Stephanie Blythe sings the role of the
fortune-teller Ulrica. Fabio Luisi conducts.
December 15, 2012: Verdi’s
Aida
The Met's unforgettable
production of Verdi's ancient Egyptian drama stars Liudmyla
Monastyrska as the enslaved Ethiopian princess caught in a love
triangle with the heroic Radamès, played by Roberto Alagna, and the
proud Egyptian princess Amneris, sung by Olga Borodina. Fabio Luisi
conducts.
January 5, 2013: Berlioz’s
Les Troyens
The Met offers a rare opportunity to witness Berlioz’s vast epic, last performed at the Met in 2003. Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani, and Dwayne Croft lead the starry cast, portraying characters from the Trojan War. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi marshals the large-scale musical forces.
January 19, 2013: Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda—Met Premiere
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, one of the world’s most exciting singers, takes on the virtuosic bel canto role of the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. Director David McVicar turns to the second opera of Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy, which explores regal characters at fateful moments of their lives. Elza van den Heever sings Elizabeth I, and Maurizio Benini conducts.
February 16, 2013: Verdi’s Rigoletto– New Production
Director Michael Mayer has placed his new production of Verdi’s towering tragedy in Las Vegas in 1960. In this production, inspired by the antics of the Rat Pack, Piotr Beczala is the womanizing Duke of Mantua, Željko Lucic is his tragic sidekick, Rigoletto, and Diana Damrau is Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda.
March 2, 2013: Wagner’s Parsifal–New Production
Jonas Kaufmann stars in
the title role of the innocent who finds wisdom in François Girard's
new vision for Wagner's final masterpiece. His fellow Wagnerian
luminaries include Katarina Dalayman as the mysterious Kundry, Peter
Mattei as the ailing Amfortas, Evgeny Nikitin as the wicked Klingsor,
and René Pape as the noble knight Gurnemanz. Daniele Gatti conducts.
March 16, 2013, ONE HOUR EARLY: Zandonai’s
Francesca da Rimini
Zandonai's compelling opera, inspired by an episode from Dante's Inferno, returns in the Met's ravishingly beautiful production, last seen in 1986. Dramatic soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek and tenor Marcello Giordani are the doomed lovers. Marco Armiliato condudcts.
April 27, 2013: Handel’s Giulio Cesare—New Production
The opera that conquered London in Handel’s time comes to the Met in David McVicar’s lively production. The world’s leading countertenor, David Daniels, sings the title role opposite Natalie Dessay as an irresistibly exotic Cleopatra. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts.
2457 Park Avenue
Here is a map.
OperaSIG
is, technically, a Special Interest Group (SIG) of Orange County Mensa.
However, it by no means limits its membership to:
Our
only limitations are that:
Some
of you may have seen a similar performance before our SIG meeting
Saturday morning, and therefore not be interested in rolling out of bed at
Some
of you may be seeing the performance as a rebroadcast after our
SIG meeting Saturday morning, and therefore not be interested in rolling out of
bed at
Would
you like an email reminder of future OperaSIG events? Send me an email (or hand me your email
address at our late lunch) and I'll hook you up with our yahoo-group.
If you're web-savvy, feel free to sign up (or sign out!) directly. You'll get
an automatic reminder three days before each event -- and another
reminder one day before the event.
Yes,
you can leave the yahoo-group (and stop getting notices) any time you want. If
you're having difficulty signing out directly, then send me an email; I'll sign you out
myself. A successful OperaSIG is good; having good friends remain good friends is
even better.
I
welcome comments on this
reminder service.
It's
hard to imagine OperaSIG's activities as being particularly controversial. However,
no, we don't speak for:
None
of these entities has any control over us, nor has any responsibility
(financial or otherwise) for what we do.
Well,
yes, Orange County Mensa sometimes gives us a link from its website, and a
mention in its newsletter. Sometimes. When its Webmaster (and/or Calendar
Editor) feels like it and/or has some space.
Sheesh!
Lawyers! And I'm a lawyer myself!