HOT season begins with changes in store
Quinn Kelsey, second from right, and Lori Phillips, far right, star as Amonasro and Aida in the Honolulu Opera Theatre's production of "Aida," which opens HOT's season tonight. —FL Morris / fmorris@staradvertiser.com
Depending on your appetite for opera, we’ve either been spoiled or deprived all these years. Hawaii Opera Theatre has shoehorned its entire season into a single, breathless month for as far back as we can remember.
This year is no different — we’re getting “Aida,” “Don Pasquale” and “The Pearl Fishers,” all in the space of 4 1/2 weeks. But it’s the last time the season will be presented this way.
“We’re pulling the opera season apart!” HOT Director Henry Akina said happily. “For years all the opera in Honolulu happened in January and February, and it’s been that way for a long time.”
The reasons varied, ranging from the availability of trained classical musicians, to a desire to shoehorn the season, to simple, traditional inertia. When this current season wraps, HOT will start offering performances spread throughout the year, starting with “Die Fledermaus” in October.
HOT Executive Director Karen Tiller made the announcement in a prepared statement. “After our Winter Grand Opera Season, HOT will begin to present a new Grand Opera schedule, with productions in ‘fall’ (October 2012), ‘winter’ (February 2013) and ‘spring’ (April 2013),” she said. “It will be an exciting change for HOT and our ticket buyers who will appreciate the year-round opportunity to enjoy HOT productions.”
So there you have it. The orchestra, as it was last year, will be composed of individually contracted musicians, many from the in-limbo Honolulu Symphony, forming a Honolulu Opera Theatre Orchestra, said Akina.
“We always hire local musicians, first and first,” added Akina.
He believes it might be easier to book individual runs at the Blaisdell Concert Hall instead of tying it up for much of February. “Our relationship with the Blaisdell is great; it’s probably our permanent home,” said Akina. “Of course, we always want the option, but the Blaisdell is Hawaii’s largest hall.”
The decision to change the seasonal structure was made by the HOT board and had staff approval, said Akina. Instead of trying to construct a precariously balanced, brief season of works, the opera can concentrate on one at a time.
We don’t know when the Hawaii Opera Theatre team sleeps during February. This year, sisters Lori and Mary Phillips return to HOT playing Aida and Amneris; they were last here in “Die Walkuere.” Jose Luis Duval performs as Radames, and local-boy-does-opera Quinn Kelsey plays Amonasro.
Mark Flint is maestro for “Don Pasquale,” directing George Dyer (a HOT perennial), Evelyn Pollock, Valerian Ruminski and Kelly Markgraf.
“The Pearl Fishers” will be directed by Tiller, with Julian Wachner as maestro. There are several HOT malihini, including Sari Gruber, Vale Rideout, Jerett Gieseler and Matt Boehler.
“This time of year is always the most exciting for Hawaii Opera Theatre, because our time to deliver all that our audiences anticipate has arrived,” said Tiller. “The professional artists cast in our productions are finally here, bringing their success in performances at the Met, the Chicago Lyric and many other respected opera houses around the world.”
WHAT TO EXPECT
This year’s season of Hawaii Opera Theatre includes an epic, ancient battle for power and love; a lighthearted, gorgeous and overly complicated roundelay of misplaced romance; and a brooding, grandly realized mythological tragedy set in a faraway place. In other words, all the stuff opera fans groove on.
“Aida,” by Giuseppe Verdi, at 8 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Jan. 29 and 7 p.m. Jan. 31.
“Aida, an Ethiopian princess, is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the pharaoh. To complicate the story further, Radames is loved by the pharaoh’s daughter Amneris, although he does not return her feelings,” according to HOT. This was a commissioned work — Verdi was hired by the ruler of Egypt to write it, and “Aida” premiered in Cairo. (And does anyone remember the 1953 film version starring Sophia Loren?)
“Don Pasquale,” by Gaetano Donizetti, at 8 p.m. Feb. 10, 4 p.m. Feb. 12 and 7 p.m. Feb 14.
Confirmed bachelor Pasquale schemes to “disinherit his rebellious nephew, Ernesto, by marrying someone and producing his own heirs. Little does he know! Ernesto has his own tricks up his sleeve. Hilarity ensues, Don Pasquale swears off marriage, leaving Ernesto to marry his true love, Norina.” Donizetti, the in-house musician for Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria, wrote 66 operas, and “Don Pasquale” was his 64th. So he had it down by that point.
“The Pearl Fishers,” by Georges Bizet, at 8 p.m. Feb. 24, 4 p.m. Feb. 26 and 7 p.m. Feb 28.
A couple of colorful, native divers in Ceylon fall hard for the same gal, but she loves only one of them, which is a signal for some major tragedy and heaven-moving arias. Guess how many die in the end? “The Pearl Fishers” was Bizet’s sophomore effort at opera and caused quite a dialogue at the time between snooty critics and happy audiences. Not until Bizet knocked out “Carmen” a decade later did he hit his stride.
Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
Cost: $29-$125; call or go to the HOT website for information about discounts for young adults and season tickets.
Info: 596-7858 or www.hawaiiopera.org
Note: HOT’s productions are staged in the original language of the libretto. Each performance features supertitles projecting English translations above the stage.
—Burl Burlingame / bburlingame@staradvertiser.com
