Operas KO Should Do (Again)

So, what's missing from recent KO lineups? What have we missed? Are there any popular operas that we could make a buck on? Are there any we've done minimally previously that would be good now? Here's my list... again, my opinion, nothing else. Plus, some dreaming, and some things that, financially, would be right out.

1. Così fan tutte. Of course, Carroll Freeman and the UT Opera Theater covered this one last year for the Rossini Festival, but the last time the KO did it was in 1995--and, as I recall, that was done in English. One of the courses was translated as the rather saccharine "Friendly breezes bear the message..." Yech. It would be nice to do it in Italian. Yes, I know: tons of recit., which was one of my complaints about Figaro. Still, we've done Figaro, and Barber; we ought to finish the light-hearted trio with Cosi. I doubt we could do better than a story of biker dudes and chicks, but we could give it a shot.
2. Turandot. Yes, big, lavish, long, expensive... all major complaints of some of the operas I blacklisted previously. But Turandot is, arguably, the very pinnacle of Puccini's genius. I mean, really! The music at the top of the Third Act, even before "Nessun dorma," is just an amazing passage! It conveys so clearly the sense of chaos and terror that has enveloped Peking and adds a certain dimension of helplessness and hopelessness. And what opera starts off with more of a dynamite blast than Turandot? "Moya! Si! Moya! Noi vogliam il carnifice! Presto! Presto! Moya! Moya!"
3. Rigoletto. Rigoletto. I included this one even though we are actually doing it next spring. Our last production was 2000/2001. The "Zitti, zitti" chorus for the men is just a great chorus and shows a very different side of Verdi, one that isn't always about singing loud. With Rigoletto,, novice opera-goers actually get to hear "La donna è mobile" in context and not as part of a TV commercial (and discover it's not the be all, end all tenor aria, but just a trifling little ditty). Easy show for the ladies! Fifteen minutes (tops!) and you're done for the night. The guys gotta stay... not like that's anything unusual. Which reminds me...
   
4. Dialogues of the Carmelites. I know I'm expressing an opinion, but this is way down on my list of operas I would want to see again. UT did it in the mid 90s, I think, and I went to see it then. I was curious as, being a choral and church musician, I have enjoyed Poulenc's works in the choral and organ genre. Alas, I was much disappointed. I mean, it was Poulenc, but it was Poulenc at his most depressing. (Actually, I admire UT Opera for doing what I think most would agree is not an easily accessible work.) Though the opera is about an order of nuns, it treats religion in a kind of mid-20th-century existentialist way. So, why do I include it here if I don't care for it? Simple: It's an easy show for the men... for a change!
5. Salome. Yes, I know, another dog. Probably the only opera KO has ever done where there were, potentially, more people on stage and in the pit than were in the audience. That being said, the music is amazing! Not easily-accessible for the average opera-goer, but in having the opportunity to sing a role and, therefore, study the score, Strauss' sturdy command of melodic motives and harmonic atmospheres captivated me. The argument of the five Jews, in the form of a very odd fugue, is genius. Plus, it's a pretty sicko story: Slutty chick has hots for prophet boyfriend but is rejected, gets naked for the king, has said boyfriend killed, and makes love to his head for the last half hour of the opera. Weird instrumentation, too! It was the first musical piece to use the heckelphone. and you won't find too many operas calling for contrabassoon, either.
6. Faust. While we're on the subject of, shall we say, the devilish pursuits of man, we have to mention this opera, as we would if we were talking about terrific chorus shows. There's a ton of 'em: the Kirmesse ("Vin où bierre? Bierre où vin? "Le veaux d'or" ("Et Satan conduit le balle! conduit le balle! conduit le balle!"), and what has got to be one of the bestest, most greatestest men's choruses in all of operadom, the Soldier's Chorus ("Gloire Immortelle"). In trying to memorize it, get the French right, all the verses, etc. I studied it almost constantly, at work, at school, at night, for about two months; to this day, I can sing just about all of it (well, the tenor I part) by memory. Alas! Faust is pretty long and drawn-out, meant for a time before 30-minute sitcoms and 90-minute super hero movies when spending an entire evening at the opera was no biggie. If we could ever find a way to do it again, it would be fab! Heck, let's at least do the Soldier's Chorus on some concert, Brian! It rocks!
   
7. Flying Dutchman. Yes, probably the only Wagner opera we've ever done, and probably the one and only we'll ever do. It's a good chorus show, that's for sure. Even the women get their little sewing circle scene. And of chorus... I mean, course, we ol' salts always singing of the sea and making fun of the steuermann (steersman, navigator), getting drunk, fighting off demons, trying not to listen to off-key offstage brass choirs, and putting up with temperamental German conductors. You have to admit, as hard as the ghost ship scene is, it's an impressive moment both stage- and music-wise.
8. Any Baroque Chamber Opera. C'mon! Just once! Do a Handel or a Purcell, or a Charpentier. There's a special place in my heart for Baroque operas. I aver that some Baroque operas are every bit as good as anything Puccini or Verdi wrote, maybe even better. I must admit to a great fondness for Baroque (and before) music, so I'm a bit biased. Plus, I had the opportunity to see Luigi Rossi's Orfeo performed by some the greatest early music experts in the world at the Boston Early Music Festival in '97. Who's to say that a Knoxville audience wouldn't enjoy one? People know about Handel (that guy that wrote the "Hallelujah Chorus" that everybody has to do at Christmas and Easter), and they probably would recognize some of the choruses from their usage in (even more) TV commercials. Dare I say, even do one that has no chorus! Save a ton of money on costumes, time, etc. (We are quite a draw, though. One wonders how our productions would sell were it not for the hundreds of people that each of us chorus members "recruit" to come to the performances.) Anyway, there. I've put my $0.02 in in plugging early music.
   

In looking over my choices, I realize that my dreams tend toward the more grandiose. And, who knows? It may be possible, sometime in the future, to do some of the more, uh... "involved" (read "expensive") operas. Hey, Brian's worked some pretty good miracles so far! And perhaps, by doing some different operas, we might broaden the horizons of our audience further, allowing us to delve even deeper into the opera genre. Akhnaten, anyone?