Rare Bird in the Tristate

(first published in The CIncinnati Post Jan. 15, 2004)

Opera is not a bird that ordinarily winters in the tri-state.

So much more reason to do it when the opportunity arises.

Such was the thinking of Kentucky Symphony music director James R. Cassidy as he was planning the KSO's 2003-04 season.

"We were sitting there trying to program the season. We wanted to do something that was different and we thought what about an opera? It's January and for the Cincinnati area, it's six months before opera season."

The result is Verdi's "Otello."

The KSO, in collaboration with University of Kentucky Opera Theatre, presents the complete opera in concert form at 8 p.m. Friday in Northern Kentucky University's Greaves Hall and 3 p.m. Sunday at Singletary Center in Lexington. It will be sung in Italian with projected English translations.

The opera -- the KSO's "first bus and truck show," said Cassidy -- marks its first venture beyond the Greater Cincinnati region.

Based on Shakespeare's tragedy about a Venetian general (Otello) who is convinced by a treacherous adviser that his wife is unfaithful, "Otello" is Verdi's next-to-last-opera and one of his very greatest.

"It's a fabulous piece," said Cassidy, who picked it because he was looking for something familiar with maximum musical impact.

"I said, what would people know that would be a barn burner? I put on the first act of "Otello" and I mean it's just hair-raising with the storm and everything for the first 25 minutes. And people know the story. Not only did you possibly read it in school, but there have been movies, Kenneth Branagh and so on. It's Shakespeare, so it's kind of a twofer."

Cassidy also chose it "because it was going to do a number of things."

"It was going to challenge the orchestra -- I mean all sections, everybody has stuff to play. It gives us a chance to develop the chorus" (the KSO Chorale led by Matthew Phelps was founded in 1999). And the collaborative idea with UK projects us downstate."

It's an opportunity for UK Opera Theatre and Lexington because "Otello" is an opera that UK would never do, Cassidy said. "You don't have lead voices mature enough at that level. CCM would never do "Otello" either."

The singers, a first-rate cast including tenor Jeffrey Springer as Otello, soprano Nicolle Foland as Desdemona and baritone Kelly Anderson as Iago, benefit by getting to sing plum Verdian roles.

Springer, an Indiana University graduate, has performed leading roles in Europe and the U.S., including Pinkerton in "Madame Butterfly" for Michigan Opera Theater and Don Jose in "Carmen" for Dayton Opera. He sang Cavaradossi in KSO's concert version of Puccini's "Tosca" in 2000.

Anderson is a CCM graduate with many roles to his credit, including the Don in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" (Washington Opera, Florida Grand Opera) and Figaro in "The Marriage of Figaro" (New York City Opera). He sang Scarpia in KSO's "Tosca" and is now covering the role (serving as understudy) at New York City Opera.

It is the first "Otello" for both Springer and Anderson. "It gives them the opportunity to learn a role that's not completely staged, without all of that pressure," Cassidy said. "Jeff was asked to do Otello in Atlanta last year but turned it down because he had never done it."

Foland, a star on the rise, has sung Desdemona before, but was eager to sing with the KSO when Cassidy approached her. A leading soprano at the San Francisco Opera, she has sung Violetta in "La Traviata" with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Kitty Hart in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking" in San Francisco and New York and also on the New York City Opera recording (Erato). She sang Micaela in Cincinnati Opera's 1997 "Carmen."

Cassidy met Foland in New York when she and Anderson were singing at the NYCO. "We went out to dinner and got to talking, so I called her up and asked her if she'd like to do it (Desdemona) and she said, 'I'd love to.'"

Singing secondary roles are UK Opera Theatre graduates, students and faculty. Cassidy was impressed by the UK program when tenor Norman Reinhardt sang in the KSO's "Carmina Burana" last season. "I said there must be something happening at UK Opera Theatre. That's when I went down and talked to Everett McCorvey, the director, and here we are."

Cassidy and the KSO's appeal to singers stems from his background at CCM (he is a CCM conducting graduate) as well as the atmosphere of performing with the KSO. "We have a great time. There are no head trips. We go out and have dinner and it's a party. And you know something? That's how things happen and how we get our name out around the country."