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Meet the Staff: Yours Truly

Submitted by PDX OPERAbeat on Mon, 07/18/2011 - 09:49

One of the main objectives of this blog is to let you see behind the scenes at our company. A common misconception is that opera is snobby -- and by extension, that those of us who love opera are stuck up! I always laugh when this comes up, because the people I work with are some of the wackiest, funniest, and most wonderful people around. We have a pretty great work environment, and occasionally we even throw off-the-wall celebrations, like our Royal Wedding High Tea:

Portland Opera Royal Wedding Party 2011

Un Viaggo Operatico in Italia- Atto VI (An Operatic Journey in Italy- Act VI)

Submitted by PDX OPERAbeat on Tue, 07/12/2011 - 12:43

July 8-10

Three opera performances at the Arena di Verona were the grand finale to our trip. The arena dates back to 30 AD, when it was used for spectacles and sporting events. It seats approximately 15,000 spectators:

Italy 6.1 Image

Here's a group photo in front of the orchestra pit. The set for The Barber of Seville is on stage. I assume the enormous roses are a reference to Rosina (the lead female character), and they were quite beautiful under stage light:

Italy 6.2 Image

Enjoying a glass of prosecco with George and Lee Anne Carter, as the crowd starts to file in:

Italy 6.3 Image

The word "spectator" is apt in this arena - one feels less like a member of a typical opera audience, and more like a spectator and participant in some enormous, grand event. Attending The Barber of Seville on Friday night made this abundantly clear. The overture featured at least 100 dancers in 18th century dress moving about the stage in a series of tableaus and choreographed sequences.

Throughout the performance, an endless number of dancers, servants, mimes, gymnasts, soldiers, etc, appeared in the large areas stage right and left - dancing, miming, posing, etc, while the story of the Barber of Seville happened to be taking place center stage. Here's a photo from the performance:

Italy 6.4 Image

Un Viaggo Operatico in Italia- Atto V (An Operatic Journey in Italy- Act V)

Submitted by PDX OPERAbeat on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 15:51

Thursday, July 7

Addio, Milano - we're off to Bergamo to visit the birthplace of Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848):

Bergamo Image

Seeing his home was quite humbling - his entire family (a total of seven) lived in two very small stone rooms - one for sleeping, the other for everything else - in the basement! Bergamo had a church that provided free music lessons to poor families, and this is how Donizetti first studied composition. He eventually composed over 70 operas(!), the most popular being Lucia di Lammermoor.

Almost every place we visit, there is an example of the great Italian pastime:

Soccor Image

My favorite meal thus far has been the 'al fresco' lunch we had in Bergamo at a cafe entitled, appropriately enough, Enoteca al Donizetti:

Enoteca al Donizetti Image

After a meal of local meats and cheeses, grilled vegetables (including delicious fennel), a pasta with spinach and aged parmigiana, and perfectly ripe chilled peaches and sliced watermelon, all accompanied by local wines, we board the coach to Verona. Most everyone napped and, I'm sure, dreamed blissfully of the meal they just ate...


Friday, July 8   

Many places in Bergamo are named after Donizetti, but they're nothing compared to the amount of cafes, bars, trinkets, jewelry, drinks, pizzas, sandwiches, chocolates, shot glasses, snow globes, etc, etc, etc, named after Romeo and Juliet in Verona! Here's part of our group (please note the Portland Opera hats on George and Lee Anne!) at Verona's beautiful Piazza delle Erbe, surrounded by endless carts selling assorted stuff to the many tourists who crowd Verona between April and September:

Piazza delle Erbe Image

For two characters that never actually existed (Shakespeare adopted the story of Romeo and Juliet from many sources dating back to antiquity), Verona has gotten quite a bit of mileage out the two tragic lovers. This balcony has been declared "Juliet's balcony" and is a major tourist attraction. There are love notes stuffed between the stones, declarations of love written directly on the walls surrounding it, and it's also a popular rental space for wedding ceremonies:

Juliet Balcony Image

There is also a tradition of touching the right breast of Juliet's statue as you leave the courtyard, which is said to bring good luck in love:

Juliet Statue Image

Next up - attending opera in the Arena di Verona!

Ciao,
Chris