Opera San Antonio
Heady ambition in new troupe’s first season of staged
operas
April 29, 2014
“Salome,” based on Oscar Wilde’s scandalous play, will be presented Jan. 8 and 11, 2015, in the H-E-B Performance Hall, the large theater (seating about 1,660 for opera) in the soon-to-open Tobin Performing Arts Center. The opera complements the San Antonio Symphony’s concentration on music by Strauss in four programs early next year.
The season’s other operas, also new productions originated by the fledgling company, will be staged in the Tobin Center’s Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater, a flexible lozenge-shaped space that is expected to seat about 230 as configured for these shows. The season opens with “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” a family-friendly comic opera by the company’s artistic director, Tobias Picker, with a libretto by Donald Sturrock based on a story by Roald Dahl, in four performances, Sept. 23-28. The closer is a double-bill of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s comedic “Il segreto di Susanna” and Francis Poulenc’s tragic monodrama “La voix humane,” March 12 and 15, 2015.
Patricia Racette takes a bow during Opera San Antonio's inaugural gala concert in 2013.
Photo by Karen Almond
The
title role in “Salome” will be sung by soprano
Patricia Racette in her first staged portrayal of the
willful adolescent princess erotically attracted to John
the Baptist. (She will sing the role in a concert version
with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival this
summer.) Ms. Racette is remembered in this region for her
radiant singing and strong acting in disparate roles with
Houston Grand Opera, including the title roles in
Janacek’s “Jenufa” and Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and
Mistress Ford in Verdi’s “Falstaff.”Joining her in “Salome” are tenor Jay Hunter Morris as Herod, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as Herodias, baritone Alan Held as Jochanaan and tenor Brian Jagde as Narraboth — all major players in international opera. Mr. Jagde and Mr. Held previously made impressive showings in OSA’s collaboration with the San Antonio Symphony on a semistaged version of Dvorak’s “Rusalka,” this past January. The full San Antonio Symphony will be in the pit, conducted by music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing.
James Robinson, artistic director of the highly regarded Opera Theatre of St. Louis, leads the “Salome” creative team as stage director. Set designer Allen Moyer has created productions for numerous major opera companies and for Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theatre companies. Costumes are by James Schuette, who frequently collaborates with Robinson in St. Louis. Lighting and projections are being designed by Christopher Akerlind and Greg Emetaz, respectively.
Given that existing sets and costumes for “Salome” are available for rental from other companies, why did OSA choose the costlier route of mounting a new production?
In part, according to company founder and board chairman Mel Weingart, the decision enables the designers to “create a production that fits best in that space” of the H-E-B Performance Hall, which was not designed as a single-purpose opera house but as a multipurpose hall. Existing sets may be too large or too small for the stage, or may require more wing space than is available.
“Salome” was last staged locally in 1983 as part of the inaugural San Antonio Festival, in a Deutsche Oper Berlin production directed by Goetz Friedrich, with Karan Armstrong in the title role.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox,” in which a family of foxes outfoxes a trio of unpleasant chicken farmers, was commissioned by Los Angeles Opera, which first staged it in 1998. Mr. Picker has adapted the work to create several performing versions — abridged and full-length, and for orchestras of various sizes.
The title role in San Antonio will be sung by baritone John Brancy, who made two important debuts last year — at Opera Frankfurt and Théatre du Chatelet in Paris. also notable in the cast is the Miss Hedgehog of soprano Elizabeth Futral, remembered for a glorious portrayal of the title role in Massenet’s “Manon” at Houston Grand Opera in 2003. Andres Cladera conducts, and the stage director is Erica Olden; both are cofounders of Pittsburgh’s The Microscopic Opera Company. British illustrator Emily Carew Woodard is designing the set and costumes. The production will be a collaboration with the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio
The Italian soprano 
Anna
Caterina Antonacci is the co-lead (with bass-baritone
Wayne Tigges) in “Il segreto di Susanna” and the sole
onstage presence as the unnamed Woman in “La voix
humaine.”
In a 2012 story in The New York Times, Zachary Woolfe
wrote, “There are few things more beautiful than
watching Anna Caterina Antonacci suffer.” He was
referring to her performance as Cassandra in a filmed
production of Berlioz’s “Les Troyens,” but suffering is
also central to Poulenc’s shattering 1959 one-act opera,
which is based on Jean Cocteau’s play about a desperate
woman on the phone with the lover who has left her. Ms.
Antonacci has recently made the transition from mezzo to
soprano. As recently as last year in Paris she was
making waves in both voice categories — singing
“Carmen,” her most widely heralded role, at the Opera
Bastille followed by “La voix humaine” at the Opéra
Comique. With only two performances in the Alvarez
Studio Theater, this may be the hottest ticket in town.
Mr. Cladera conducts both works on the double-bill. The
stage director is James Petosa. Set design is by
James Noone, who also designed Houston Grand Opera’s
2006 production of “La voix humaine,” with Audra
McDonald as the Woman.
All productions will be sung in the original languages,
with projected English translations.
Opera San Antonio – which has recently dropped the
definite article from its name – has been building its
foundation since 2009, when Mr. Weingart recruited Mr.
Picker, a highly successful opera composer, to help
establish the company. Its first big splash came last
year in a Majestic Theatre concert featuring a raft of
celebrated international singers, including Ms. Racette,
Mr. Morris and bass-baritone Eric Owens, who returns for
a solo recital at the San Antonio Museum of Art on May
12.
Mike Greenberg
Season subscriptions go on sale May 1 and may be be purchased online through the Tobin Center or Opera San Antonio. Single tickets go on sale June 23.
Soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci
Photo by Bohumil Kostohryz