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With a joyful heart for all the people who have attended our performances, |
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Welcome
Dear Kansans and Visitors,
With a joyful heart for all the people who have attended our performances, and to all those attending their first night of opera, I welcome you to Wichita Grand Opera’s 6th International Season, the Season of the Stars!
Our terrific blend of grand opera and ballet promises to have something for everyone. The stars we have engaged for your enjoyment are among the best in the world, performing in New York, Paris, London, Berlin, and Vienna.
We are honored to welcome back superstar and Kansas native Samuel Ramey along with golden-toned Mexican tenor Hector Sandoval, who delighted WGO’s audiences last season. We are also thrilled to bring Italian superstar Marcello Giordani to Wichita for the first time. Singing opposite our dashing men are beautiful leading ladies: Svetla Vassileva, European phenomenon; Kallen Esperian, one of America’s most-admired sopranos; and Zvetelina Vassileva, the electrifying Verdi soprano. Furthermore, we are privileged to host the two supreme ballet companies of Russia: the St. Petersburg Ballet and Moscow’s Russian National Ballet Theatre.
We know you will be exhilarated by the glorious music, drama, and dance that will thrill your soul and touch your heart with a passion unmatched by any other art form. Celebrate with us the infinite range of human emotion, portrayed through powerful music, fabulous voices, passionate drama, and stunning sets, coming together to make magic on the stages of the Wichita Grand Opera. I encourage you to purchase your Season Tickets now and receive savings up to 20 percent off the regular ticket price and take advantage of this great opportunity to enjoy the best of opera and ballet right here at home.
With best regards,
Opera History
Opera is the plural of the Latin word opus, meaning, "work" (each piece written by a composer is called an opus). Opera is often defined as a play in which the words are sung rather than spoken, but this definition is too simplistic. A better definition is drama through music. The music is a partner; it does not merely accompany the drama, it contributes to it. Time stands still at times for the vocal sections in which the characters express their emotions. While opera combines music, plot and the spectacle provided by the sets, costumes and staging, the result is much more than the sum of the parts. It is truly an audio-visual art form.
Although opera as we know it started during the Italian Renaissance, its roots go back to Greek drama. We don't know what it sounded like, but the ancient Greeks never thought of separating the poetry of their drama from music. The Greek plays were accompanied by strings or pipes and the words were sung or chanted. Dance was also part of the drama. The early church gave structure to chants and the accompanying music, supplying scales and notation. At first there were only single-line melodies, but later these were woven together to form polyphony (several different lines of music played or sung at one time) and thus, harmonies. By the end of the fifteenth-century, it was the custom in Italy to perform short musical dramas during intermissions of other plays. Small orchestras accompanied these intermezzi.
Court Masques, or elaborate dramas based on mythology or fables, became a very popular form of entertainment in the royal courts of Europe from the early sixteenth through seventeenth centuries. The stories were played out in pantomime to a background of orchestrated music, and the players were court members who spent lavish amounts of time and money on their costumes. Masques were intended to honor the head of the court where they were produced, and they were used to show the wealth and political power of the royal they honored. At this time, there was no real separation, as we know it, between theatre and opera, or between opera and ballet. These divisions started to become more obvious as musical composition developed.
Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) is credited for the first opera, Dafne, based on the Greek myth. Though famous throughout Europe at the time, it has since been lost. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) is the earliest composer whose works are still performed. He blended the music and the poetry of the libretto to create a multi-faceted theatrical form. Such early operas were usually based on history or mythology. This kind of opera is called opera seria, in contrast to opera buffa, or comic opera, which would develop later. During this period, the words were most important, with the small orchestras providing a simple accompaniment. Separate musical lines were not written for the instrumentalists. Instead, they played the singers' lines; this meant that there was also no need for a conductor as we know of them now. Orchestras of the day usually functioned much the way current jazz ensembles often do; they looked to one player, often the keyboardist, to prompt them while playing.
Mozart (1756-1791) was one of the first composers to write not just for, but about the nobility and their servants. A great example of this type of work is The Marriage of Figaro. In the early nineteenth century, with the development of more complex orchestrations and the addition of more flexible woodwind and brass instruments, conductors became necessary to coordinate and mold the sound and tone of the whole. By the end of the nineteenth century, opera was telling us stories on the steamier side of life among the lower classes, and the singing became more conversational. This type of opera is identified as verismo, or real. Puccini (1858-1924), who wrote his works during this time, gave us such important works as La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and Turandot. Opera is still being written today, and new works about historical and colorful figures are being performed throughout the world. Some of the newest works tell the stories of Harvey Milk, Malcom X and Jacqueline Kennedy.
--- Courtesy of San Diego Opera and Elizabeth Otten ---
The Ann Ross Resident Artists Program
Through an audition process, regionally-based professional opera singers are chosen to be members of the WGO Resident Artist Program. The purpose of the WGO Resident Artists Program is to offer significant professional opportunities to regionally-based professional artists, close to where they work and live. These artists may be contracted throughout the season to perform leading and secondary roles, to understudy or cover roles, to serve as assistant stage directors or music coaches, or to assist with choral preparation. They may also be given the opportunity to participate in professional development classes offered by WGO. This program provides its chosen singers with advanced professional experience and gives them opportunities to perform and/or work with seasoned international opera singers, directors, coaches, conductors and composers.
New To Opera
If you have never attended an opera, Wichita Grand Opera invites you to explore one of the most rapidly growing art form phenomemons in the world. Opera is growing in popularity among younger and older generations. Come see for yourself what the excitement is all about. To help you get started, we have developed this informative guide. We hope it will help you expand your cultural horizons as you discover a new experience& - or passion - in an art form that has transcended the ages.
What is opera?
Opera is drama or comedy told in music through powerful, unamplified voices. Opera combines all the art forms - vocal and instrumental music, theater, drama, visual art and often dance - into one complete theatrical experience. When successfully produced, an opera’s directing, singing, acting, stage setting, lighting, conducting and orchestral playing will create an unforgettable spectacle that can move audiences to tears or elation - or both.
Will I understand opera?
Yes! At Wichita Grand Opera, every performance features Supertitles (English translations of what’s sung) projected above the stage, visible from every seat. We also distribute a printed program with a synopsis that describes the acts and scenes to help you follow the story. You can learn more about each of the operas in our current season at www.wichitagrandopera.org. So although most operas are sung in the foreign language in which they were written, you won’t miss a minute of the action.
Will I like opera?
You’ve heard it and enjoyed it, but you may not have realized that it was opera. Remember the tuneful British Airways ads? After the ads aired, everyone started humming it - the “Flower Duet” from Delibes's opera Lakmé. The tune has also adorned Ghirardelli chocolate ads and others. And of course, you have heard opera in countless movies across all genres. See if you can recognize some of the examples below:
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Contact Us
Box Office
Century II Performing Arts Center
Concert Hall, 2nd Floor
225 W. Douglas Ave.
Wichita, KS 67202
Phone: 316.262.8054
Email: boxoffice@wichitagrandopera.org
Hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Performance days: The Box Office opens 1 1/2 hours prior to curtain time and is located in the theater's box office.
Administrative Offices
Century II Performing Arts Center
Concert Hall, 2nd and 3rd Floors
225 W. Douglas Ave.
Wichita, KS 67202
Phone: 316.683.3444
Fax: 316.263.2126
Email: info@wichitagrandopera.org
Hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM |
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Opera company |
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Welcome - Opera History - The Ann Ross Resident Artists Program - New To Opera - What Is Opera? Will I Understand Opera? Will I Like Opera? - |
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