Page 11 - ALLISON'S MAGAZINE ~ ISSUE #104

© Kate Russell for Santa Fe Opera © Insight Foto for Santa Fe Opera

imagine, which adds to the experience of American composer Huang Ruo and Opera is anything but. In addition to
the productions.” librettist David Henry Hwang. putting on a diverse array of shows, the
organization offers special programs
COME ONE, COME ALL The performances run from the first and events for families and children,
In addition to its awesome location, week of July to the last week of August. including discounted tickets on the
the Santa Fe Opera is exceptional in Near the end of the festival, all five opera’s Family Nights and Youth Nights
© Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera that it doesn’t just cater to longtime operas are performed within the same throughout the summer, which bring
opera lovers. In an effort to preserve week, giving visitors an opportunity to young people behind the scenes for final
its art form, the organization works come back every night if they so choose. dress rehearsals.
During its busy season, on the map was that Crosby was able project even included the addition of to make the opera feel accessible to The festival attracts some 85,000 people
to bring world-renowned composer LCD touchscreens on each seat and in all. During its busy season, the staff each year, but, as it turns out, people World-class performances are a
the staff increases
Igor Stravinsky to the opera for several standing-room areas, and each screen increases from seventy people to about aren’t just coming for the performances. driving force behind the success of
from seventy people to
summers,” says Santa Fe Opera general displays translations of the performances seven hundred—including performers, Meya notes that one of the most any great opera house, but Meya says
about seven hundred— director Robert K. Meya. “To have in Spanish and English. Despite this orchestra members, and stage directors. exciting traditions in Santa Fe—and the importance of education and
including performers, someone of that caliber involved really increase in size and accommodations, Each season includes five new one of the things that sets it apart—is preservation can’t be discounted for
orchestra members, raised the artistic profile of the company there is a common thread between productions: the first two are selected the opportunity for guests to tailgate the future success of opera as an art
and stage directors. right off the bat.” Santa Fe hosted the three theaters—an open-air back to be attractive to a general audience, before every show. “Tailgating has been form. “Opera encompasses multiple
performances of some of Stravinsky’s and sides, which helps maintain its the third and fourth are typically more a long-standing tradition for as long as art forms—a live orchestra, natural
most famous operas for more than connection to the environment and rarely performed operas but are still the opera has been here,” he says. “The amplification of the human voice,
six years, including the first North provides a naturally dramatic backdrop. accommodating for both new and sunsets are unlike anything else in the costume design, and set design, among
American performance of Persephone “Because of the open-air concept and experienced patrons, and the final opera world, and the opera, of course, is a call others,” he says. “We have to think
in 1961. how the productions are conceived, is often an American or world premiere. for celebration. People like to dress up about how to preserve these great
each performance is a perfect marriage The 2020 season includes performances and set up the most incredible spreads. components of art and succeed in
After a fire struck the opera in 1967, it of music and nature,” says Meya. “The of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, It helps break down the barrier to entry, having live experiences that take you
was rebuilt into a 1,889-seat theater just nights are often warm, the air flows Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Wagner’s too, because it’s such a fun social event.” outside of the digital realm. The value of
a year later and rebuilt again in 1998 through the theater, and you can see the Tristan und Isolde, Dvořák’s Rusalka, and live performance experiences is greater
into a 2,126-seat theater (with 106 stars so clearly—it really is one of the a world premiere of M. Butterfly, which The opera sometimes has a reputation than ever before.”
standing-room spots). The most recent most incredibly romantic places you can the opera commissioned from Chinese for being hoity-toity, but the Santa Fe For more info, visit santafeopera.org

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