From Kostis Protopapas, Artistic Director
For those of us who are in the business of opera there’s very little time to reminisce. Frankly, making plans for the future always seems more compelling! However, 2010 was such a remarkable year for Tulsa Opera, full of unique challenges and opportunities, that I wanted to pause for a minute and look back:
We started off the year with Verdi’s Rigoletto. Our cast delivered some powerful singing, and I imagine that if everyone who attended a performance were asked to choose a favorite aria, we would get equal number of votes for Talise Trevigne’s ethereal “Caro nome”, Robb Hyman’s heartbreaking “Cortiggiani” and Bruce Sledge’s exciting “La Donna e Mobile”. I was thrilled to have formed a new, exciting partnership with director Kristine McIntyre, who we are excited to have back in February to direct our Don Giovanni.
Working on an opera that no one on the team has ever done before is a special challenge. For that reason we are especially proud of the success our spring production of Massenet’s Don Quichotte. This gem of an opera seems to have won the heart of everyone who attended it, and people are still stopping me on the street to say how much the loved our evocative production, designed by Michael Ehrmann and lit by Charlie Morrison. Thanks to Don Q. we also got some national attention, with an article and photo in “Opera News”! [September 2010].
As much as new operas have their challenges and rewards, an opera company’s reputation always depends on doing justice to the time-honored classics. With an opera like La Traviata the expectations are always very high; I think we exceeded them with our fall 2010 production. Several long-time subscribers named that production as one of their all-time favorites. Folks are still talking about Kelly Kaduce’s amazing Violetta , and I am getting calls and e-mails asking when we will have her back. Well, don’t worry everyone… it’s in the works!
Meanwhile, I’ve got to get back to work on Don Giovanni and Norma. There’s still a lot to do before breaking for the holidays! Please feel free to share your favorite moments from our 2010 repertoire with us. We love to hear what you think! We’ve also included a little year in review photo album for you here.
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Much love and holiday wishes,
