The Santa Fe Opera and 95.5 KHFM Classical Public Radio Announce Broadcasts
The Santa Fe Opera and 95.5 KHFM Classical Public Radio Announce First-Ever Partnership to Broadcast 2021 Season Productions
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Santa Fe, NM — The Santa Fe Opera and 95.5 KHFM Classical Public Radio are pleased to announce a first-ever partnership to bring Santa Fe Opera productions to listeners across New Mexico and beyond. Presented on Mondays throughout the month of August will be the opera’s 2021 Season productions of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, John Corigliano and Mark Adamo’s world premiere opera The Lord of Cries, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each production was recorded live from the stage of The Crosby Theater at the Santa Fe Opera on opening nights. Soprano and KHFM host Kathlene Ritch is joined by co-host, tenor and Santa Fe Opera Chief Artistic Officer David Lomelí to present these historic broadcasts which air at 6 pm MDT on August 2, 9, 16 and 23. Residents in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and the surrounding communities can tune in via 95.5 KHFM; Roswell at 103.1; Taos at 106.3; Ruidoso at 95.9; or by streaming online via a computer or mobile device at KHFM.org. Listeners can look forward to commentary in both English and Spanish.
The broadcasts are mixed by audio engineer Michael Schweppe for the Santa Fe Opera and produced by KHFM Executive and Program Director Brent Stevens and Santa Fe Opera Director of Media and Public Relations Emily Doyle Moore.
Broadcast Schedule
August 2 at 6 pm MDT, The Marriage of Figaro
August 9 at 6 pm MDT, The Lord of Cries (world premiere)
August 16 at 6 pm MDT, Eugene Onegin
August 23 at 6 pm MDT, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
About the Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera annually draws 85,000 people from New Mexico and around the globe. Nestled atop a mountain vista in northern New Mexico, the company’s iconic Crosby Theatre is open on three sides, allowing visitors to enjoy performances complemented by the elements. Since 1957 the company has presented over 2,000 performances of 175 operas by 89 composers spanning five centuries of opera, creating a legacy of 45 American premieres and 17 world premieres. The free 2021 Season broadcasts on KHFM are part of the opera’s reopening celebrations and ongoing commitment to bring the joy of opera to the people of New Mexico.
About 95.5 KHFM Classical Public Radio
KHFM is now the oldest continuously broadcasting Classical station in America. Founded in 1954 by two Albuquerque teachers, KHFM became a public, non-commercial station in 2017 and exclusively broadcasts and streams Classical music 24 hours a day. Serving the Santa Fe, Albuquerque and surrounding communities, KHFM also reaches the communities of Taos, Ruidoso and Roswell via translators. KHFM has a global following in 80 countries and in 43 of the United States via live streaming at KHFM.org.
The 2021 Season
The Santa Fe Opera’s 2021 Season, running July 10 through August 27, presents 30 performances of four operas, including the world premiere of The Lord of Cries by John Corigliano and Mark Adamo directed by James Darrah; the company premiere of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed and designed by Netia Jones; Laurent Pelly’s stylish new production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro; a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin directed by Alessandro Talevi; a celebratory concert featuring soprano Angel Blue in her company debut with 2021 Season artists and The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra led by John Fiore; and two Apprentice Scenes performances. The 64th Season celebrates the inclusion of works new to the world stage alongside audience favorites by Mozart and Tchaikovsky, and features some of opera’s most exciting talent. A variety of time periods and languages are represented, with pieces and perspectives dating from 1786 to 2021, sung in English, Italian and Russian. The season perfectly fits the time-tested programming model pioneered by Santa Fe Opera founder John Crosby: a balanced and varied repertory of new, rarely performed and standard works portrayed in a new light. The Santa Fe Opera has been working to bring this incredible art form to audiences since 1957, and will continue this work to expand opera’s reach to new and diverse audiences through contemporary works, world premieres and its Opera for All Voices initiative. Says General Director Robert K. Meya, “The 2021 Season is a tribute to our unwavering optimism for the future of opera and the delight it can bring to viewers of all ages and backgrounds.”
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
Stand back and let love conquer.
What’s a bride to do to stop the unwanted advances of her employer? She teams up with his wife to teach him a lesson in fidelity.
The Santa Fe Opera commences its 64th Festival Season with a stylish new production of Mozart’s sparkling comedy The Marriage of Figaro, opening on July 10, 2021. Featuring a dozen well-known and indelible arias, the work is a wealth of musical riches. Further, the operas of Mozart have held a special place at the Santa Fe Opera since the company’s opening season in 1957, when the new company mounted Così fan tutte. This repertory tradition has held strong over the decades, with a Mozart opera having been produced in 55 of 63 prior seasons, none more so than The Marriage of Figaro, which has been performed in 17 prior seasons, more than any other single opera in the company’s repertory.
Laurie Feldman directs Laurent Pelly’s concept inspired by Jean Renoir’s La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) – itself partly inspired by The Marriage of Figaro. French director and costume designer Pelly has settled on stylings of the late 1930s, just prior to World War II, a time period closer to the present, but one that similarly was coming to an end. French set designer Chantal Thomas has chosen to build the set on a revolving turntable, alluding to the earth-shattering events that will take place not long after the close of the opera. The opera occurs within a 24-hour timeframe, with the action beginning and ending at the same hour; thus the turntable resembles a large clock, with rotating oversized brass gears to the sides of the stage. This motif slyly refers to Louis XVI’s fondness for watchmaking and building timepieces—a common avocation of the time— as well as to the idea that the countdown to revolution has begun. As the story progresses, the characters are swept away by centrifugal forces that build over the course of the opera and which are stronger than themselves. By Act IV, the clock’s mechanism lies shattered and strewn across the stage. Internationally recognized lighting designer Duane Schuler returns to Santa Fe to further illuminate this beautiful, stylish and timeless production. Associate costume designer Jean-Jacques Delmotte rounds out the creative team.
Santa Fe Opera Music Director Harry Bicket leads a bright young cast in ten performances that includes former Apprentice singer and bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee as Figaro; Colombian-American soprano Vanessa Vasquez in the role of the Countess; Chinese soprano Ying Fang in her company debut as Susanna; mezzo-soprano and former Apprentice singer Megan Marino in her first turn as Cherubino; and tenor Brenton Ryan as Basilio. Australian baritone Samuel Dale Johnson makes his exciting U.S. Debut as Count Almaviva. Mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer will return to the Santa Fe Opera stage as Marcellina; Apprentice singer Lindsay Kate Brown will sing Marcellina on August 24 and 27. Former Apprentice singer Patrick Carfizzi sings Dr. Bartolo and James Creswell makes his company debut as Antonio. Susanne Sheston is the Chorus Master.
THE LORD OF CRIES
You have been asked once.
He lands tonight, on his ship of ghosts, under the scudding skies. His high, thin voice – ecstasy and ruin! Dracul, Dracula: the Lord of Cries! Deny him not his place.
The Santa Fe Opera’s 17th world premiere will be The Lord of Cries by composer John Corigliano and librettist Mark Adamo, based on the intriguing points of intersection between two classics of Western literature, The Bacchae by Euripides and Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Separated by 24 centuries, The Bacchae and Dracula tell virtually the same timeless story, with the same subversive message: We must honor our animal nature lest it turn monstrous and destroy us. The Lord of Cries begins with a strange, androgynous god returning to earth to offer a mortal three chances to “ask for what you want” or risk the consequences. He materializes in Victorian England in the guise of the eponymous “Lord of Cries,” none other than the irresistible antihero of Dracula.
Corigliano creates powerfully contrasting sound worlds to contrast the tidy world of the Victorians with the savage grandeur of the immortals, forging musical drama from the tension and the gravitational pull between the two worlds. Says the composer, “One important point of The Lord of Cries is that this conflict between who we want to be and who we actually are goes on and on; it tormented the ancient Greeks, and it torments us still. So that torment is the score’s real subject.”
The Lord of Cries is only the second opera by John Corigliano, following his acclaimed The Ghosts of Versailles (1991), the Metropolitan Opera’s first commission in three decades. Corigliano’s one-hundred-plus compositions have won him the Pulitzer Prize, four Grammy Awards and an Oscar, and have been performed and recorded by many of the world’s greatest soloists, conductors and orchestras.
Librettist Mark Adamo, an accomplished composer in his own right, has authored the libretti for his four full-length operas, Little Women (1998), Lysistrata (2005), The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (2013) and Becoming Santa Claus (2015). The Lord of Cries marks the first operatic collaboration between Corigliano and Adamo, longtime partners in life.
Johannes Debus returns to the Santa Fe Opera podium to conduct this world premiere production. James Darrah directs, with sets by Adam Rigg, costumes by former technical apprentice Chrisi Karvonides-Dushenko, lighting design by Pablo Santiago, projection design by Adam Larsen and sound design by Mark Grey.
The title role of The Lord of Cries is written for superstar countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, who makes his Santa Fe Opera debut as Dionysus. Soprano and Apprentice Singer Kathryn Henry sings the role of Lucy Harker. She is joined by tenor David Portillo as Jonathan Harker in his company debut, baritone and former Apprentice singer Jarrett Ott as John Seward, bass Matt Boehler in his company debut as Van Helsing and bass Kevin Burdette as the Correspondent. Susanne Sheston is the Chorus Master.
The Lord of Cries receives its world premiere on July 17, 2021 and runs for six performances.
EUGENE ONEGIN
Buried desires and dreams corroded with rust.
Potent emotion and sweeping drama take the stage as Tatyana’s confession of love is rejected by Onegin who, a little too late, realizes his mistake.
Not seen on the Santa Fe Opera stage since 2002, the company presents a new reimagining of Eugene Onegin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous lyrical drama based on Pushkin’s famous novel, directed by European Opera-directing Prize winner Alessandro Talevi in his company debut. Scenic and costume designer Gary McCann, lighting designer Rick Fisher, choreographer Athol Farmer and fight director Rick Sordelet round out the creative team. Eugene Onegin premiered in Moscow in 1897 and though at first it was regarded only as a Russian curiosity, it has since become a standard fixture in the operatic repertoire. Tchaikovsky himself attributed its success to Mahler for having conducted a performance in Hamburg and whom he described as “not some average sort, but simply a genius burning with a desire to conduct.”
The production is led by Australian conductor Nicholas Carter in his return to the Santa Fe Opera podium. The all-star cast includes baritone Lucas Meachem in the title role and former Santa Fe Opera Apprentice singer Sara Jakubiak as Tatyana in her company debut. The production also includes contralto Avery Amereau in her company debut as Olga, mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel in the role of Filippyevna, Katharine Goeldner as Larina, German-Turkmen tenor Dovlet Nurgeldiyev in his U.S. debut as Lensky and bass James Creswell as Prince Gremin. Tenor Matthew DiBattista sings Triquet and Zaretsky will be performed by bass and Santa Fe Opera Apprentice singer Allen Michael Jones. Susanne Sheston serves as Chorus Master.
The Santa Fe Opera’s new production of Eugene Onegin opens July 24, 2021 and runs for six performances.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Out of this wood do not desire to go.
Mismatched lovers, a group of actors, fairies and their King and Queen are in the forest. Paths cross, so do lovers and, in the end, all’s well that ends well.
The Santa Fe Opera is thrilled to round out its 2021 Season with the company premiere of Benjamin
Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a new co-production with Garsington Opera directed by powerhouse Netia Jones, who also serves as the scenic, costume and projections designer. The Observer describes Jones as “the most imaginative director of opera working in Britain today.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is considered Britten’s most beguiling and enchanting opera. The orchestral music weaves a spellbinding atmosphere that immediately places one in a dreamlike realm. Britten wrote, “Operatically, it is especially exciting because there are three quite separate groups – the Lovers, the Rustics, and the Fairies – which nevertheless interact. Thus in writing the opera I have used a different kind of texture and orchestral colour for each section.”
A piece long-intended but never before performed on the Santa Fe Opera stage, this new production will be led by Harry Bicket and features soprano Erin Morley as Tytania, British countertenor Iestyn Davies in the role of Oberon, tenor Brenton Ryan as Flute, tenor Matthew Grills as Snout, bass and former Apprentice singer Patrick Carfizzi as Starveling, bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee as Bottom and bass Kevin Burdette in the role of Quince. The four lovers are performed by Santa Fe Opera Apprentice singers Teresa Perrotta as Helena, Adanya Dunn as Hermia, Duke Kim as Lysander and Michael J. Hawk as Demetrius. Australian dancer Reed Luplau performs as Puck and serves as choreographer. Rounding out the creative team is D.M. Wood, recipient of the United Kingdom’s 2012 Knight of Illumination Award, to serve as lighting designer in her Santa Fe Opera debut, and fight director Rick Sordelet. Susanne Sheston is the Chorus Master.
This long-awaited company premiere opens July 31, 2021 and runs for five performances.
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
Production support generously provided by:
The Estate of Suzanne Hanson Poole
James R. Seitz, Jr.
THE LORD OF CRIES
Production support generously provided by:
The Wyncote Foundation as recommended by Frederick R. Haas & Rafael Gomez
David A. Kaplan & Glenn A. Ostergaard, Brautigam-Kaplan Foundation
Robert L. Turner
Two Anonymous Donors
Additional artistic support provided by:
Drs. Susan & Dennis Carlyle
Agnes Hsu-Tang & Oscar Tang – Tang Fund in honor of Anthony Roth Costanzo
The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation
The National Endowment for the Arts
The performances of Anthony Roth Costanzo are supported by Gene & Jean Stark
The performances of David Portillo are supported by The MacKay Fund for Debut Artists
EUGENE ONEGIN
Production support generously provided by:
Jane Stieren Lacy in honor of Brad Woolbright
Robert & Ellen Vladem
Additional artistic support provided by:
The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Production support generously provided by Avenir Foundation, Inc.
Sarah Billinghurst Solomon & Howard Solomon
The engagement of Harry Bicket is supported by Joseph M. Bryan Jr.
The engagement of Netia Jones is supported by The Marineau Family Foundation
The performances of Erin Morley are supported by The Peter B. Frank Principal Artist Fund
The performances of Iestyn Davies are supported by The MacKay Fund for Debut Artists
PRINCIPAL REOPENING SPONSOR
The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston
REOPENING CONSORTIUM
Susan & Philip Marineau
Jacqueline B. Mars
Debra Turner
SIMULCAST SPONSORS
Brooke Suzanne Gray
James V. & Dana Pope Manning
Gene & Jean Stark
REOPENING PARTNERS
AXCES Research & Health
CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center
Production Safe Zone
About The Santa Fe Opera –The Santa Fe Opera annually draws 85,000 people from New Mexico and around the globe. Nestled atop a mountain vista in northern New Mexico, the company’s iconic Crosby Theatre is open on three sides, allowing visitors to enjoy performances complemented by the elements. Since 1957, the company has presented over 2,000 performances of 175 operas by 89 composers spanning five centuries of opera, creating a legacy of 45 American premieres and 17 world premieres.
The mission of the Santa Fe Opera is to advance the operatic art form by presenting ensemble performances of the highest quality in a unique setting with a varied repertory of new, rarely performed, and standard works; to ensure the excellence of opera’s future through apprentice programs for singers, technicians and arts administrators; and to foster an understanding and appreciation of opera among a diverse public.