Subscription packages went on sale in the summer, with single performance tickets going on sale in November 2021. Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer.Welcome back to live opera! Minnesota Opera’s 2021-2022 Season features in-person events alongside free virtual offerings. Where: Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Minnesota Opera's 'The Daughter of the Regiment' If it doesn't make you smile, it's likely that no opera will. Played out on a lovely Boyd Ostroff set full of mountain vistas, this very enjoyable production might be the ideal introduction for anyone new to opera. Its musicians are working without a contract, negotiating a new one with Minnesota Opera management and have authorized a strike. And her Trevor Bowen costuming is splendidly imaginative.Īll are supported quite well by the orchestra, which drew an enthusiastic ovation when filing into the pit before the performance began. They're both scene-stealers, as is Monét X Change, a veteran of "Ru Paul's Drag Race" who does a lot more with the incidental role of La Duchesse de Krakenthorp than customary. She's also hilarious, never more so than when reluctantly thrown into a ballet lesson.Ĭomplementing her perfectly is David Portillo as Tonio, her bumbling love interest, employing an elastic face and a pure-toned tenor voice that does wonders with every challenge it encounters, most notably the role's famous series of high C's near the end of the first act.īut the performers who set the comic tone are mezzo-soprano Margaret Gawrysiak as the melodramatic La Marquise de Birkenfeld and baritone Andrew Wilkowske as Marie's primary parental figure, the supportive pushover, Sergeant Sulpice. Hers is a voice of both prettiness and power, whether smoothly sliding into richly forceful high notes or bringing soft subtlety to a heartbroken aria of parting. Conductor Kelly Kuo propels the Minnesota Opera Orchestra at a lively pace that serves the comedy well, and rarely will you find a set of leads with such an awe-inspiring combination of singing skills and comic acting chops.įoremost among them is soprano Vanessa Becerra as the title character, Marie. This production's director and choreographer, John de los Santos, seems to have approached almost every scene with the intent of mining it for a gag, in the best possible way. ![]() ![]() Now she's reached adulthood, and changes are afoot: Romance is blossoming with a villager, and some of her mysterious family history is coming to light. ![]() Paul's Ordway Music Theater at evening's end, almost every overheard conversation contained the word "fun," and understandably so, as it overflowed with an infectious feeling of delight.ĭonizetti has been a Minnesota Opera staple ever since it pledged allegiance to the "bel canto" style of Italian opera around the turn of this century, but this is the company's first "Daughter of the Regiment." Set during the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century, it's the tale of a girl raised by a group of soldiers after being left in their care as a baby. An uproariously funny version of Gaetano Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment," it's filled with spectacular singing and loads of expertly executed comedy.Īs I departed St. Indeed, Minnesota Opera's latest production fits that description. How I longed to laugh again in the company of a crowd, even if our facemasks would muffle our snorts and guffaws and remind us that we're still dealing with a pandemic.Īnd if that laughter is spiced with some magnificent music, outstanding singing and fine stagecraft, then that would be an embarrassment of riches. Has COVID-19 left you craving comedy? Me, too.
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