By: Jennifer Colgan People often say, “revenge is sweet.” There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the bad guy get his just desserts. Opera is full of satisfying revenge stories, from Elektra’s bloody retribution against her father’s murderers to...
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By: Angelica DiIorio Rigoletto is one of composer Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpieces. He was Italian, if you couldn’t tell by the name. Rigoletto is performed in Italian and set in Mantua, Italy—a city between Milan and Venice. While Italian is...
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By: Greg Carpenter, The Ellie Caulkins General & Artistic Director Many people ask me how I put together each season, and often they assume I just present a season of my favorite operas. Likewise, I frequently get asked what my...
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By: Bethany Wood The modern American librettist Mark Campbell likens the role of an opera librettist to an architect. A librettist uses words to create the foundation and structure upon which the composer creates a masterpiece. Campbell says, “A...
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By: Bethany Wood “I adored and I adore this art; and when I am alone and am wrestling with my notes, then my heart pounds, tears stream from my eyes, and the emotions and pleasures are beyond description.” —...
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By: Suzanne Whitney & Bethany Wood The 2022-23 Season marks four decades of songs and stories at Opera Colorado. We are kicking off our 40th Anniversary Season with an Italian classic! Rigoletto is one of the archetypal operas for a...
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By: Jennifer Colgan Opera Colorado’s 40th Anniversary Season kicks off with a spectacular semi-staged production of Cavalleria rusticana. If you are a longtime Opera Colorado attendee, you will recognize several faces on stage, including mezzo-soprano Kira Dills-DeSurra as Lola....
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By: Suzanne Whitney Our 40th Anniversary Season marks the third in a row director David Lefkowich has created something masterful for Opera Colorado. During the 2019-20 Season, his beautiful Pagliacci was the final production staged by Opera Colorado before...
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By: Betsy Schwarm In 1888, Pietro Mascagni (1863 – 1945) heard of a competition for one-act operas. With four complete operas to his name, the Italian composer was on the verge of submitting one excerpted act of his historical...
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By: Jennifer Colgan The one-act opera Cavalleria rusticana was an instant success for a young Pietro Mascagni. Audiences loved the intense drama and sweeping melodies, demanding no less than sixty curtain calls after its 1890 premiere. 100 years later,...
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