Behind the Curtain: An Epic Season is Coming
By Greg Carpenter, The Ellie Caulkins General & Artistic Director
Summer is ending and the beginning of Opera Colorado’s 2023-24 Season is just around the corner. All summer long, the Opera Colorado team has been putting the final touches on another incredible season of grand opera and preparing for a new class of Artists in Residence. We look forward to new opportunities to connect with our community in meaningful ways.
There is much to be excited about with the upcoming season. We have a diverse selection of operas representing vastly different styles, and two of our productions have not been performed on our stage in over three decades.
MEET THE 2023-24 SEASON
Don Giovanni is one of Mozart’s musical masterpieces. It features everything we love about Mozart: beautiful arias, duets, and ensembles; well-developed characters whom we can love, hate, and sympathize with; and the perfect balance of drama and dark comedy. Quite often, productions of Don Giovanni focus all the attention on the title character and his lascivious, violent acts towards women. Our production will also focus on how the three women—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Zerlina—react toward Giovanni. Donna Anna wants revenge, Donna Elvira grapples with the conflicting emotions of being attracted to a horrible man, and Zerlina fights Giovanni’s manipulating seduction.
Our production of The Flying Dutchman gives us an opportunity to dip our toes into the musical realm of Richard Wagner. Opera Colorado has not performed a full production of this opera since 1996. Director Kathleen Belcher and set designer Alan Muraoka have created a brand-new production that is fresh and insightful. The setting is a twenty-first-century coastal fishing town where worlds collide between the modern-day workers on the wharf and the mythical Dutchman, a man who has docked his larger-than-life sailing ship to seek a loving, loyal relationship that will end his cursed nautical wanderings.
Finally, we end with Saint-Saëns’s interpretation of the biblical tale Samson and Delilah. Here is where we experience the true grandeur of opera. The lush orchestration, the indulgent setting and costumes, and the beauty of ballet and refined drama mark the great masterworks of French opera.
AN EPIC EXPERIENCE
In this incredible season, we have a talented and diverse group of artists, including singers, musicians, directors, designers, and more. Some artists are returners like our Don Giovanni, Bruno Taddia, Figaro in our 2019 production of The Barber of Seville. Several artists will be making their Opera Colorado debuts, including Katharine Goeldner, our Delilah.
Can’t pick just one favorite opera? Join us for all three of these spectacular performances and save 25% when you become a season ticket holder. Learn more about subscriber benefits>>
We are so thrilled to be sharing Opera Colorado’s 2023-24 Season with our community and look forward to opening Don Giovanni on Saturday, November 4.
See you at the Ellie!
Interested in joining us for Opera Colorado’s 2023-24 Season? Learn more about tickets and upcoming events>>