in Ispagna son cinque
Opera set in Spain is
what’s happening in Cincinnati this summer, with no less than five on the
June-July schedule. (Make that six if
you count Manuel de Falla’s “Master Peter’s Puppet Show,” given a lavish
performance by the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Madcap Puppet Theater last
week.)
Cincinnati Opera’s Spanish-themed summer festival opens at 7:30 p.m. June 11 and 13 at Music Hall with Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
Getting all the hype is soprano Nicole
Cabell, who will make her debut with Cincinnati Opera as the Countess.
Then there is conductor Sir Roger Norrington,
already a favorite in town for his guest conducting dates with the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra -- not to mention baritone heart throb Teddy Tahu Rhodes as
the Count.
For details and tickets ($26-$152) visit www.cincinnatiopera.org, or call (513) 241-2742.
Carrying the Spanish theme forward will be Verdi’s “Don Carlo” June 25 and 27, Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” July 9 and 11 and Bizet’s “Carmen” July 22, 24 and 26. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. at Music Hall except June 26 which is at 3 p.m.
The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra concludes its 2008-09 season with yet another opera set in Spain, Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Concert performances are 7:30 p.m. June 20 and 2 p.m. June 21 in Patricia Corbett Theater at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
The CCO will highlight Italian opera next season, with an evening of bel canto arias by Bellini, Monteverdi, Puccini, Rossini and Verdi to be announced.
There are six concerts on the CCO’s 2009-2010 season, four in Memorial Hall, one in Corbett Auditorium at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and one in St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral. Four will repeat at Anderson Center in Anderson Township.
Guest artists include
Roberto Diaz, former principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra (named president
of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2005), who will perform the Monologue for
Viola and Strings (1989) by Russian composer Alfred Schnittke in February.
CCO concertmistress Anna Reider will open the season with
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in September and CCO French hornists Stephen Gross
and Randy Gardner will perform Haydn’s Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat Major
in October and November. Pianist Michael
Chertock will be heard in Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” to close the season in
June, 2010.
The traditional collaboration with Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble will be led by the VAE’s new music director Donald Nally and will comprise John Tavener’s “The Bridegroom,” James MacMillan’s “Seven Last Words from the Cross” and works by Brahms and Danish composer Bo Holten in May.
The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra 2009-2010 season.
- Sept. 20. 2 p.m. Memorial Hall. 7:30 p.m. Anderson Center. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto (to be announced). Frank Martin, Concerto for 7 Winds, Percussion and Strings. Beethoven, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Anna Reider, violin. Mischa Santora, conductor.
- Oct. 18. 2 p.m. Memorial Hall. Alberto Ginastera, Variaciones Concertantes, Op. 23. Stravinsky, “Pulcinella” Suite. Haydn, Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat Major. Stephen Gross and Randy Gardner, French horn. Santora.
- Nov. 22. 7:30 p.m. Anderson Center. Repeat of Oct. 18.
- Feb. 21. 2 p.m. Memorial Hall. Tchaikovsky, Serenade for Strings, Op. 48. Schnittke, Monologue for Viola and Strings. Roberto Diaz, viola. Santora.
- March 21. 2 p.m. Memorial Hall. 7:30 p.m. Anderson Center. Bel canto arias by Bellini, Monteverdi, Puccini, Rossini and Verdi to be announced. Guest artist(s) to be announced. Santora.
- May 2. 3 p.m. St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral. Brahms, “Nänie, Op. 82. Bo Holten, Tallis Variations. John Tavener, “The Bridegroom.” James MacMillan, “Seven Last Words from the Cross.” Vocal Arts Ensemble. Donald Nally, guest conductor.
- June 6. 2 p.m. Corbett Auditorium. 7:30 p.m. Anderson Center. Schoenberg, “Verklärte Nacht” for String Orchestra, Op. 4. Gershwin, “Rhapsody in Blue.” Schoenberg, Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16. Gershwin, “Porgy and Bess” Suite, arr. Scot Woolley. Michael Chertock, piano. Santora.
Further details will be announced later. For information, call (513) 723-1182.