Who’s Doing What: Summer Opera, Part I
It’s summertime and opera is jumping, with a variety of productions in repertory and at festivals around the world. A few of the US highlights still coming up this summer include: Seattle Opera’s signature production of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen at McCaw Hall in August: The four operas that comprise the Ring—Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung—will be presented in three full cycles: August 9 to 14, August 17 to 22, and August 25 to 30. Directed by Stephen Wadsworth and conducted by Roberto Spano, the design team includes Thomas Lynch, sets, Martin Pakledinaz, costumes, and Peter Kaczorowski, lighting. At the Santa Fe Opera’s summer festival, productions include La Traviata, with sets by Chantal Thomas, costumes by Laurent Pelly, and lighting by Duane Schuler, whose original lighting for Don Giovanni has been recreated by Japhy Weideman, in collaboration with David Zinn for sets and costumes, while Schuler lit Alceste, with sets and costumes by Louis Desire, and the world premiere of The Letter with Hildegard Bechtler, sets, and Tom Ford, costumes; The Elixir of Love design team includes scenic/costume designer Ashley Martin-Davis and lighting designer Pat Collins. At Glimmerglass, Jonathan Miller’s new production of La Traviata has sets and costumes by Isabella Bywater and lighting by Robert Wierzel, while other new productions include La Cenerentola with sets by Cameron Anderson, costumes by Jessica Jahn, and lighting by D.M. Wood; and The Consul with sets by Andrew Lieberman, costumes by Kaye Voyce, lighting by Jane Cox.
Stay tuned for Part II with highlights of international summer opera.