Boston
Singers' Resource News Bulletin, August
24, 2006
The
newly formed Boston Opera Collaborative opens with a production of the
rarely performed masterwork "Iphigenie en Aulide" by Christoph
Willibald Gluck. BSR investigates this new artist collective and their
production below.
For its inaugural
production, the Boston Opera Collaborative is offering the rarely performed
masterwork "Iphigénie en Aulide" by Christoph Willibald
Gluck, with libretto by Marie François Leblanc du Roullet. The
show opened on August 18th at the Ruth Corkin Theater in Chestnut Hill,
MA, and continues through the 27th. It is sung in French with English
supertitles.
This opera, which is conducted by co-founder Markus Hauck* and stage
directed by Andrew Ryker*, clearly illustrates Gluck’s transitional
place in western music. Written in 1774, it retains much of the Baroque
flavors of Handel but it also displays the light and charm that was
coming to be associated with the operas of Mozart. The libretto is based
on the play of the same title by the Greek dramatist, Euripides, and
it has been somewhat reduced for modern consumption. Unlike the original
Tragedie, in which the daughter of the king is sacrificed to the gods,
all ends happily in the opera.
The production of "Iphigénie en Aulide" is the result
of several months work by the aptly named Boston Opera Collaborative.
The organization, which hopes to become non-profit shortly, differs
from most start-up opera companies in the area. It was founded last
October by conductor and Music Director Hauck, mezzo-soprano and President
Brooke Larimer*, and soprano Katherine Drexel*, and was originally conceived
as a small group that would provide emerging professionals with an outlet
to perform full operatic roles.
But initial interest in the group was so strong, that the business model
has quickly evolved. The founders believed that, more than just providing
singing opportunities, the company could help singers to develop business
skills by learning how to market a production, to raise funds, to balance
a budget and to work as a team.
This is now BOC’s business model. Members can become part of one
of the several Committees and Boards that see to the business of the
organization: Executive, Auditions, Marketing, Public Relations, Membership
or Fund-Raising.
The company has a current membership of over 35 and new members are
welcome at any time. Many of them are BSR subscribers. Members are asked
to contribute $100 per year. This money, plus some additional funding
from friends and family, has served to underwrite the costs of the current
production including a 10-piece orchestra and the use of the Ruth Corkin
Theater for the four-night run.
The BOC was first heard in February with a program at the First Church
of Boston in the Back Bay entitled "Steal Me, Sweet Thief: An Evening
of Operatic Love Arias and Duets", presented by the membership.
The auditions for "Iphigénie en Aulide", however, were
opened up to all interested singers. This, too, is part of the BOC business
model and will be applied at auditions of future productions. The best
voice available for the role is assigned the role. In the current show,
in which the principal roles have been double cast, this flexibility
has yielded some fine performances. The lead performers heard on the
night of this interview included Leslie S. Kittel as Iphigénie,
Joanna Gates* as Clytemnestre, Michael Rausch as Achille, and Brian
Ballard* as Agamemnon.
Complete cast information is available at http://www.bostonoperacollaborative.org/browse/event/iphigenie.
Following the run of "Iphigénie en Aulide", the Executive
Board will be meeting to plan events for the next 15 months. A membership
meeting is scheduled for September 5th which is open for anyone to attend.
For information about the location, and for answers to other questions,
write to info@bostonoperacollaborative.org
Be sure to take a look at their website, www.bostonoperacollaborative.org,
which went on-line earlier this month.
Iphigenie en Aulide
Boston Opera Collaborative
Brimmer and May Chase Building
Ruth Corkin Theater
69 Middlesex Road
Chestnut Hill, MA
Adults: $15.00
Students/Seniors: $12.00
Children (10 and Under): $10.00
Members of the YMCA of Greater Boston receive a $3 discount with ID
Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:00 PM
Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:00 PM
Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:00 PM
Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:00 PM