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ENTERTAINMENT

Opera's 2017 festival mixes old favorites, new wave

Janelle Gelfand
jgelfand@enquirer.com
In this production of "The Magic Flute" for Los Angeles Opera, Papagena (Amanda Woodbury) and Papageno (Rodion Pogossov) finally find one another.

Cincinnati Opera’s 2017 Summer Festival will include two grand operas: “La Boheme” conducted by Louis Langrée in his company debut, and a whimsical production of “The Magic Flute” on the Procter & Gamble stage at the Aronoff Center.

Also on tap will be the company premiere of “Frida,” an opera about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo by Robert Xavier Rodriguez, in the smaller Jarson-Kaplan Theater at the Aronoff Center.

And there is a unique collaboration planned with the Cincinnati ensemble concert:nova of “Song from the Uproar,” by the fast-rising American composer Missy Mazzoli. It will be separately ticketed as a special event.

The 2017 Summer Festival will be Cincinnati Opera's second season at the Aronoff Center, while its home, Music Hall, undergoes an extensive renovation.

The three-production series (including one in the smaller theater) is a reduction from the 2016 season’s three grand operas and the world premiere of "Fellow Travelers" in the Jarson-Kaplan Theater. The company explained that it has offered a three-opera series – as opposed to its longtime tradition of four – on occasions such as the 2010 season, when it had the extensive production demands of Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger.”

Next year, Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” will be the blockbuster production, coming from Komische Oper Berlin. Cincinnati Opera is also expanding its single-ticket offerings with four performances each of “La Boheme” and “The Magic Flute.”

Puccini’s “La Boheme” will open the season (June 15, 17, 22 and 24) in Procter & Gamble Hall. A co-production with English National Opera, it is set in the 1930s and was last seen at Cincinnati Opera in 2010.

Nicole Cabell, who recently starred as Rosalinde in “Die Fledermaus,” will sing the role of Mimi. Soprano Jessica Rivera will perform the role of Musetta. Sean Panikkar will make his company debut as Rodolfo. The other bohemians include Edward Nelson as Schaunard, Rodion Pogossov as Marcello and Nathan Stark as Colline.

Langrée, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will make his company debut leading his own orchestra in the pit. Natascha Metherell is stage director. And the company will continue its partnership with Cincinnati Boychoir, which will provide the boys' chorus in "La Boheme."

“Frida,” a 1991 opera in Spanish about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo by Robert Xavier Rodriguez, will be presented in seven performances June 23-July 8 in Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Kahlo's short, painful life and tempestuous marriage to the muralist Diego Rivera (to be sung by Ricardo Herrera) became well-known after the 2002 movie, “Frida.”

The production, created for Michigan Opera Theatre in 2015, will star Catalina Cuervo as the portrait artist. Jose Maria Condemi will return to stage the opera. Andrés Cladera conducts.

The season concludes with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” July 15, 20, 22 and 23 in Procter & Gamble Hall. Created for The Komische Oper Berlin, the production was described by Berliner Morgenpost as “a deliciously absurd mixture of silent film and cartoon." Besides Germany, the production has appeared in Los Angeles and Minneapolis. The unique concept is by Barrie Kosky and “1927,” a London-based company that specializes in combining performance and live music with animation and film. It will be sung in German.

A scene from Los Angeles' Opera's production of "The Magic Flute."

The large cast includes Aaron Blake as Tamino, Kim-Lillian Strebel as Pamina, Jeni Houser as Queen of the Night, Tom McNichols as Sarastro, Rodion Pogossov as Papageno and Alexandra Schoeny as the First Lady. (Other cast members will be announced.) Daniel Ellis directs and Christopher Allen, Cincinnati Opera’s resident conductor, will conduct.

In a special presentation, Mazzoli’s “Song from the Uproar” will be mounted in collaboration with concert:nova July 17, 19 and 21 in the Aronoff Center's Fifth Third Bank Theater. The libretto is by Royce Vavrek.

Cincinnati Opera will kick off its 2017 season with a free, Spanish-themed program on June 11 in Washington Park, featuring stars from the mainstage season. The company is also planning its signature programs such as Back to the Zoo, Opera Goes to Church and Temple and other events.

The Summer Festival will return to Music Hall and its “Opera Campus” surrounding Washington Park in 2018.

Subscription renewals will go on sale this month, with new subscriptions available in November. Single tickets will go on sale in Spring, 2017. Information: 513-241-2742; cincinnatiopera.org.