Renay's Toledo Opera Blog

Student Night at the Opera

It is always a thrilling experience to sit in the audience at Student Night at the Opera. Young people are so enthusiastic about opera, and their reactions are totally spontaneous - they are never polite just for the sake of being polite. You will never in doubt as to whether they have truly enjoyed a performance. I am happy to report, they loved Falstaff, and you will too!

Why Only Two Comic Operas?

During the course of his life,Verdi composed  26 (!) operas. Verdi's only previous attempt at a comic subject, Un Giorno di Regno,which was his second opera, written at the age of twenty-six, was a disastrous failure. The story was an unfortunate choice for someone of Verdi's temperament. If you look at all the stories that Verdi was attracted to, you realize that his strongest characteristic as a composer was his involvement with his characters, and those characters were always tragic figures. There are only a few occasional touches of humor in his works, which is why Falstaff is so remarkable; different from anything that came before it. Verdi had been searching for years for a libretto for a comic opera, and finally came Boito's adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Verdi's wife, Giuseppina was the one who really put her finger on what was needed to inspire him. A librettist who could find "some charming subject, which, without being grossly farcical, was genuinely comic, pungent and seductive; a subject with a thread of sentiment woven into it, but woven only so as to temper delicately and pleasantly the bursting gaiety of the laughter --if only a librettist could discover some such subject Verdi, I swear to you, would show himself in an altogether new light." This is exactly what he did!

Rehearsals for Falstaff will begin soon!

Ok - we are on the final stretch before our singers, stage director, stage management, wig and make-up artists, rehearsal pianist, conductor, arrive in Toledo to begin rehearsing for our production of Falstaff. This is always an exciting time for me because everything leads to this - our productions. I love this opera and the cast is truly wonderful. Let the fun begin!!!

Good News for Toledo Opera!

This has been a great two weeks! The first wonderful thing that happened was our September review in OPERA Magazine, London, where we were recognized as ."...one of North America's finest smaller companies." Today we learned that we have received a $20,000 grant from the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo and the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act Arts Jobs Preservation Grant. I attended the part of the review process that was open to the public, and it was great to hear the unanimous support for our company based on the quality of our work.

Cheers to us!

Purchasing Single Tickets for Toledo Opera productions

OK folks....here is the lowdown. In our on-going quest to put all our money into productions,and as little into staff, we have outsourced our ticketing. This has, and still involves, working out some kinks. However, I am happy to tell you that  you can now purchase single tickets on-line for all our productions excludng Lucretia, which will be available shortly. Lucretia was originally scheduled at The Peristyle in the Toledo Musuem of Art. We have moved it back to The Valentine Theatre because the intimacy of the story seems best suited to a smaller theater. I made this change in venue in order to give our opera patrons the best possible theatrical experince. This decision does involve some reseating of our audience, which should be accomplished fairly soon. 

If you need to actually speak to a human, you can still do so by calling 419-418-0011 for tickets. Thanks for your patience!

The character of Falstaff

Most of us only know the character of Sir John Falstaff from Verdi's opera where he is portrayed as an enormously stout, comic figure who still fancies himself a great lover. Falstaff, however, is an historic figure. A soldier who served in France, he was also Governor of Hondleur, and took part in the battle of Agincourt. He died at the age of eighty-two after numerous valiant exploits.

Although Verdi was nearly eighty when he composed Falstaff, the opera sparkles with freshness and originality.

 

 

 

 

 

A Liberal Arts Education

An interesting book titled"The Management Myth" suggests that anyone considering an MBA degree, shouldn't! He says don't go to business school and study the half-baked ramblings of business acadmeics and consultants. Instead, you should study history, literature and the classic ruminations on life and existence. I couldn't agree more! But, I would definitely add art and music to that list!

 

 

 

 

 

T.E.Lawrence

Just thought I would share this intriguing thought with you.

This, therefore, is a faded dream of the time when I went down into the dust and noise of the Eastern market-place, and with my brain and muscles, with sweat and constant thinking, made others see my visions coming true. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.

T.E. Lawrence

Let's all dream and make wonderful things possible!

 

Why We Need the Arts

It is so easy for people to forget the importance of the arts in their lives when the going gets touch financially. The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. They said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external object, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal hidden objects, helping us figure out the position of things inside us. The arts are part of survival – art is part of the human spirit. It is an unquenchable expression of who we are.

 

Toledo Opera is providing therapy for the human soul. I believe the Unites States will survive and prosper by the talent and ability of its people and the arts help to nurture that talent. Human capital is key to our future. The more it is developed the better we are. The ability to innovate, to think anew, to be creative creates dynamism in a nation. A nation that cares about the arts will be a better nation. We must all be missionaries, willing to work for and on behalf of the arts.

On To The Next Fifty Years!

 As Toledo Opera embarks on the next 50 years, we do so at an exciting time in the history of opera.  New productions that are adventurous are enlivening the art form and Toledo Opera has responded with our recent productions of Salome and Candide. We will, of course, still want to walk that fine line between traditional and inventive. It is really the piece that determines the interpretation. Being very text oriented, I try to listen to what the storyline is saying and respond with an appropriate production. Opera is about telling stories in a way that clearly and logically engages the audience. We will do this in both traditional and new productions.

An important goal for Toledo Opera is to continue setting our sights high. Toledo Opera is an institution of great worth and great potential for the future, and I believe that bringing it to a new international standard is a very exciting and realistic goal. We already receive national and international critical acclaim which has helped us in attracting some of the brightest and most talented singers to our stage. We will work on expanding the boundaries of the opera experience by presenting works of the highest artistic caliber that will engage a diverse audience and instill a love of opera in people of all ages.

This institution is truly a jewel in the City’s cultural crown and I am humbled, energized, and excited by the opportunity to lead this company into the future.  All of us at the Opera understand that a strong and vibrant arts community is essential to the continued growth of this region, and we embrace the role we play in enriching the lives, hearts and minds of our citizens.