News
News Home
The Regina Brett Show
Quick Bites
Exploradio
News Archive
News Channel
Special Features
NPR
nowplaying
On AirNewsClassical
Loading...
  
Weather
From WKYC.COM / TV 3
School Closings
WKSU Support
Funding for WKSU is made possible in part through support from the following businesses and organizations.

University of Akron School of Law

KeyBank

The Holden Arboretum


For more information on how your company or organization can support WKSU, download the WKSU Media Kit.

(WKSU Media Kit PDF icon )


Donate Your Vehicle to WKSU

Programs Schedule Make A Pledge Member BenefitsFAQ/HelpContact Us
Arts and Entertainment


Bringing back grand opera to northeast Ohio
A task force works to revive Opera Cleveland
by WKSU's VIVIAN GOODMAN


Reporter
Vivian Goodman
 
Mozart's Don Giovanni at Severance Hall
Courtesy of Roger Mastroianni

This week the Cleveland Orchestra presents Mozart's Don Giovanni at Severance Hall, but grand opera, with all the sets, costumes, and spectacle it entails, has been missing in the region since Opera Cleveland went silent for the season. A task force is working to bring it back. Meanwhile opera fans have HD opera in movie theaters and the offerings of music conservatories, orchestras, and smaller opera companies.

Click to listen

Other options:
Windows Media / MP3 Download (9:00)


(Click image for larger view.)

Third year student Mark Waynick rehearses at the Cleveland Institute of Music. CIM and the Oberlin conservatory are able to do productions that commercial companies might find riskier than "warhorses" like Carmen and La Boheme. Brecksville Theater on the Square is presenting a new opera called Edison Invents with free admission on May 20th and 21st.
The Cleveland Institute of Music's production of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. CIM Opera Theater is directed by David Bamberger, the founder and former executive director of Cleveland Opera.
Opera per Tutti at Cleveland's Italian Cultural Gardens.
l. to r. Molly McGinnis,mistress of ceremonies;Tim Culver,tenor;James Love baritone;Paulette Penzvalto mezzo-soprano;
Dan Doty,tenor; Andrea Anelli,soprano;Benjamin Czarnota,baritone. The Northern Ohio Opera League lends support to Opera per Tutti, Opera Circle and the CIM Opera Theater.
Ohio Light Opera's Kismet. This season kicks off with Camelot. Also on the performance calendar this season will be Jubilee, the Pirates of Penzance, The Merry Widow,the Fortune Teller, and Madame Pompadour.
 
La Scala's La Traviata with Renee Fleming on screen at the Cedar Lee 
Theater in Cleveland Heights. Still to come in the HD series is The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, Macbeth, Rigoletto in Mantua and the Girl of the Golden West.
Baritone David Small as  Figaro in the Canton Symphony Orchestra's Barber of Seville
Alvy Powell will be Porgy and Marquita Lister will be Bess in the Akron Symphony Orchestra's production of Gershwin's Opera April 15th and 16th at E.J. Thomas Hall.
Akron Symphony Music Director Christopher Wilkins produced a semi-staged version of La Traviata in his first full season with ASO in 2007.
Canton Symphony Music Director Gerhardt Zimmerman had a sellout success with Madama Butterfly in 2009.

Related Links & Resources
Opera America

Brecksville Theater on the Square

Northern Ohio Opera League

The Cleveland Orchestra

Cleveland Institute of Music

Opera Circle

Opera per Tutti

Listener Comments:

Great reporting, Vivian.

I am involved with nearly all of the regional operatic organizations. What amazes me, is that Detroit, in its post-apocolyptic ecomonic state, is able to support a renowned company in Michigan Opera Theatre and Cleveland is not. That having been said, Detroit Symphony has folded while the Cleveland Orchestra remains world class.

If you ask me, the problems with both Lyric Opera Cleveland and Cleveland Opera and now Opera Cleveland stem from the organizations losing (or the boards pushing out) their founding directors and, hence, losing sight of the companies' mission. While Dean Williamson is a great conductor, he is not a Clevelander. I think part of Detroit's sustainability is that founding General Director, David DiChiera IS a Detroiter. DiChiera has had companies fail in other cities, Opera Pacific comes to mind. Being a member of the community is particularly important in the area of development. I know that this responsiblity was that of Will Cole's in Cleveland. This, too, is problematic. I sang for the company and can hardly pick Cole out of a line-up. Bamberger was the "face" of Cleveland Opera.

This discussion is far from over, but thank you for shining a light on the plight of opera in our region.


Posted by: Jeremy Gilpatric on March 24, 2011 11:03AM
Add Your Comment
Name:

Location:

E-mail: (not published, only used to contact you about your comment)


Comments:




 
Page Options

Print this page

E-Mail this page / Send mp3

Share on Facebook




Stories with Recent Comments

Husted's voter-address plan is under scrutiny
=========== The new directive allows voters to make the updates online for the first time. =========== Ahem!!! You might want to do some fact checking before ...

Leveling the field between private and public school sports
Consideration should be given to establishing a limit on athletic scholarships to private schools (which may be disguised as financial aid to poor students). I...

Thirteen Cleveland firefighters indicted
What was stolen? Section 7(p)(3) of the FLSA provides that two individuals employed in the same capacity by the same public agency may agree, solely at their ...

Union refuses to back gay teacher fired by Catholic school
Catholic schools can be very vindictive regarding the lifestyles of their teachers. Insurance does not pay for birth control, non-Catholic teachers are replace...

Drilling for wind on Lake Erie
May God help us defeat the WIND MONSTER ...

Raise a glass to craft beer week
Vivian, What a great interview - Just done so professionally. I loved the way you smoothly transitioned from production to interview to history of the company...

Castro could face death penalty as abduction case goes to a grand jury
I thought kidnapping was automatically a federal charge. Is it not?

Funk Hall of Fame in Dayton?
My quesiton how much of this groups own money are they investing? What resources has the City of Dayton's Mayor Leitzell (who just lost the run off elections) ...

Ohio has an election Tuesday; who knew?
WHY isn't there any information in this article about what the issues are for???????? Oh, I guess so only those who know about it will vote and everything will...

Copyright © 2013 WKSU Public Radio, All Rights Reserved.

 
In Partnership With:

NPR PRI Kent State University

listen in windows media format listen in realplayer format Car Talk Hosts: Tom & Ray Magliozzi Fresh Air Host: Terry Gross A Service of Kent State University 89.7 WKSU | NPR.Classical.Other smart stuff. NPR Senior Correspondent: Noah Adams Living on Earth Host: Steve Curwood 89.7 WKSU | NPR.Classical.Other smart stuff. A Service of Kent State University