This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, May 21, 2013 - With its 2013 season about to open Saturday, Opera Theatre of St. Louis announced the four operas the company plans to present in its 2014 festival season.
The company will get international attention for the world premiere of "Twenty-Seven," an American opera the company commissioned about Gertrude Stein. The opera is by Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek.
The three other operas in the 3014 season will include the return of the beloved world-renown soprano Christine Brewer, of Lebanon, Ill., in a second opera set in Paris: Poulenc’s "Dialogues of the Carmelites." Brewer, who the BBC named one of "top 20 sopranos of the 20th century," began her professional career in the chorus at Opera Theatre.
OTSL’s 2014 seasons will open on May 24 with a new production of Mozart’s "The Magic Flute." Isaac Mizrahi will design sets, costumes and direct. He previously directed and designed OTSL’s 2010 breath-takingly lovely "A Little Night Music."
Famed Mozart expert Jane Glover returns for her fourth stand at the OTSL pit’s podium. Tenor Sean Panikkar also returns as Tamino, the prince charged with rescuing Pamina. She will be sung by former Gerdine Young Artist Elizabeth Zharoff. Another former Gerdine Young Artist, Matthew Anchel, will sing the villain, Sarastro. Others returning OTSL will be favorites Levy Hernandez and Matthew DiBattista, featured as Papageno and Monostatos. Emily Hindrichs makes her debut as the daunting Queen of the Night.
The season will continue with Donizetti’s "The Elixir of Love," which last was produced here in 1982. The story unfolds over a single day, as, Nemorino, desperate to win the love of Adina, purchases a "love potion" from a travelling salesman. James Robinson’s original production will be staged by Jose Maria Condemi and conducted by OTSL Music Director Stephen Lord. Tenor René Barbera, returns to sing the lovelorn hero. He was last here in Donizetti’s "The Daughter of the Regiment" in 2011. Susannah Biller makes her OTSL debut as Adina, and former GYA Tim Mix and Patrick Carfizzi return as the rival for Adina’s heart, Belcore, and the snake oil peddler Dulcamara, respectively.
"Twenty-Seven," was commissioned by Opera Theatre as the second in its New Works, Bold Voices series. The first in the series, "Champion," opens June 15. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe will make her Opera Theatre debut.
Its plot traces the life of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas during their Paris years, hosting salons at 27 Rue de Fleurus. Fans of Woody Allen’s "Midnight in Paris" and more serious between-the-world-wars stories will see "Lost Generation" characters on stage including Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henri Matisse, Man Ray, and Leo Stein. Michael Christie, who conducted OTSL’s 2012 "Alice in Wonderland" and 2011 "The Death of Klinghoffer,” will conduct and the company artistic director James Robinson will be stage director.
"Dialogues of the Carmelites" is the tale of cloistered nuns in the midst of the worst terrors of the French Revolution. In addition to Brewer, Kelly Kaduce, Ashley Emerson, Meredith Arwady, Troy Cook and David Portillo will return to Opera Theater. Former St. Louisan Ward Stare conducts, returning after this year’ OTSL debut with "Il tabarro" and "Pagliacci."