Opera San Jose Announces 30th Anniversary Season

General Director Irene Dalis announced the repertoire for the company's 30th season to begin Saturday, September 7, 2013 with Verdi's masterwork Falstaff, conducted by Opera San José's founding music director and principal conductor, David Rohrbaugh. In November, Opera San José will present Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, a family classic to welcome the holiday season. Acclaimed stage director Brad Dalton returns in 2014 to direct Puccini's bittersweet Madama Butterfly. The season will culminate with Mozart's Don Giovanni conducted by George Cleve, founder and music director of the Midsummer Mozart Festival.

"For our 30th anniversary we will celebrate Verdi's 200th birthday, present a wonderful holiday opera, bring back to the stage a most beloved Italian opera, and showcase one of the world's favorite seducers. The best of opera repertoire and a fairytale classic!" said General Director Irene Dalis. "As always, we select operas that are suited to the artists in our resident company, and these operas are a perfect fit."

The 2013-14 season features the principal artists from Opera San José's resident company: Melody King (soprano), Cecilia Violetta López (soprano), Nicole Birkland (mezzo-soprano), Tori Grayum (mezzo-soprano), James Callon (tenor), Evan Brummel (baritone), and Matthew Anchel (bass). Former resident, Scott Beardan (baritone), returns as a guest artist to open the season as Falstaff.

All performances will be held at the California Theatre, 345 South First Street in downtown San José. Subscriptions for Opera San José's 2013-14 season go on sale February 11, 2013, starting at $120.00 for all four productions.

Subscriptions are available at the Opera San José Box Office or by phone at (408) 437-4450. Single tickets will go on sale August 5, 2013, priced from $50.00 to $110.00.

Performances are made possible, in part, by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José.

Falstaff
September 7-22, 2013
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Performances: September 7, 8m, 12, 14, 15m, 17, 20, 22m (m=matinee)
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Arrigo Boito, adapted from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV.
Premiere: Milan, Italy - February 9, 1893
Conductor: David Rohrbaugh
Stage director: José Maria Condemi
Set designer: Steven C. Kemp
Costume designer: Suzanne Mess

A tale of greed. A travesty of stymied desires. A fat old knight's ridiculous hunger to recapture his youth and gain riches through sexual liaisons is challenged when he meets his match in the form of two wily married women. This is the setting for Giuseppe Verdi's operatic commedia lirica, Falstaff. Based on Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor, Verdi's last opera is an insightfully humorous celebration of love and life that can be enjoyed by all.

Hansel and Gretel
November 16 - December 1, 2013
Sung in English with English supertitles
Performances: November 16, 17m, 21, 23, 24m, 26, 29, December 1m (m=matinee)
Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck
Librettist: Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale
Premiere: Weimar, Germany - December 23, 1893
Conductor: Andrew Whitfield
Stage director: Layna Chianakas
Set designer: TBD
Costume designer: TBD

A mystical forest. A tempting gingerbread house. Two imaginative siblings embark on a precarious adventure to find something to eat when their fortunes turn for the worst. They must rely on perseverance and resilience to escape an evil witch in Engelbert Humperdinck's, Hansel and Gretel. This nineteenth-century holiday opera is much admired for its folk-music-inspired themes, including the famous "Abendsegen" ("Evening Benediction"). Opera San José's Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master, Andrew Whitfield, will conduct. Former Opera San José resident artist, Layna Chianakas, will direct.

Madama Butterfly
February 15 - March 2, 2014
Sung in Italian with English supertitles Performances: February 15, 16m, 20, 22, 23m, 25, 28, March 2m (m=matinee)
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Librettists: Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the short story "Madame Butterfly"
Premiere: Milan, Italy - February 17, 1904
Conductor: David Rohrbaugh
Stage director: Brad Dalton
Set designer: Kent Dorsey
Costume coordinator: Alyssa Dania

A heartbreaking love story. A tragic betrayal. An American naval officer marries a young Japanese girl for convenience only to leave her while she faithfully awaits his return. Set in 1890s Japan, Giacomo Puccini's devastating saga of devotion, tradition and sacrifice is among the most beloved operas of all time.

Don Giovanni
April 19-May 4, 2014
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Performances: April 19, 20m, 24, 26, 27m, 29, May 2, 4m (m=matinee)
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on the legends of Don Juan
Premiere: Prague, Czech Republic - October 29, 1787
Conductor: TBD
Stage director: Daniel Witzke
Set designer: Annie Smart
Costume designer: Julie Engelbrecht

A dark comedy. A dangerous game of seduction. An arrogant nobleman seduces every woman he meets until he encounters Mozart's dramatic genius pervades in Don Giovanni as he weaves humor, melodrama and supernatural elements into a powerful musical masterpiece.