Announcing the Opera San José
2010 - 2011 Season

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 Anna Karenina (WEST COAST PREMIERE!)

The season opens in September with uncommon fanfare as we proudly present the West Coast premiere of an American composer's new work. Based on a great literary classic, David Carlson's extraordinary Anna Karenina is promising to become a classic for the opera stage as well. It was welcomed by standing ovations at its world premiere at Florida Grand Opera in 2007 and again at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. It is an honor for us to produce this electrifying new American opera.

She's a lady: beautiful, wealthy, aristocratic. But Anna Karenina is also vulnerable: trapped in an unhappy marriage and caught in a rigid society that crushes anyone who does not follow the rules of the game.

Her story has long been familiar through the practically perfect novel by Leo Tolstoy and the two most memorable film versions starring Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh. Of the two operatic versions, we have chosen the new American opera by David Carlson that has received wide acclaim since its premiere in 2007. This deeply personal story follows an upper-class woman in 19th-century Russia through a loveless marriage, burning love affair, wrenching heartbreak, and finally her sudden death. It is told with compassion, unsentimental observation, and ultimately, our horror at her inevitable violent end.

Anna Karenina is at once new and familiar, brilliant and accessible. We are pleased to present this modern American opera for its West Coast premiere.

Tosca

She's a superstar: brilliant, beautiful, and spoiled. Yet Floria Tosca, despite her wealth and privilege, cannot save her aristocratic lover without consenting to debase herself. An opera diva as wildly popular in 1800 Rome as any rock or movie icon today, she finds that living for "art, love, and prayer" isn't enough to protect her in a society run by wicked, powerful men. She is a beauty pursued by a beast determined to have her, and killing her stalker - chief of the secret police, Baron Scarpia - still doesn't end her suffering. Suicide is her final act of defiance.

Tosca is at first glance an unlikely vehicle for Puccini. Murder, violence, and lust would seem to be unfamiliar themes for his typically tender, sentimental style. But his genius triumphs in this political thriller full of arias that are as dramatic and compelling as they are lyrical and heart-breaking. This is an opera where no one escapes death and destiny, yet, for most, their downfall is so powerfully poignant that, indeed, "the stars fall down."

The Barber of Seville

She's a winner: young, pretty, and resourceful. Against all odds, plucky Rosina succeeds in securing love and happiness. She's an orphan - the ward of a silly codger who is plotting to marry her for her substantial dowry. And she lives in 17th-century Seville - a time and place not known for its kindliness toward women. But Rosina has two things on her side: Figaro, a wily jack-of-all-trades, is her conniving accomplice, and her devoted young lover is actually a powerful, wealthy count instead of the poor student he pretends to be. (Later, in The Marriage of Figaro, Count Almaviva will let his high station go to his head until he is taught a lesson in humanity. For now, the ardent young man makes the most of this blessings only to win his true love.)

The Barber of Seville is fast and furious and fun, full of effervescent music and never-ending wit. It made Rossini world-famous and has become the most popular Italian comic opera of all time, a tuneful testament to all that's wonderful about the buffoonery in opera buffa.

La bohème

She's a dreamer: simple, sweet, and shy. She calls herself Mimì, even though it's not actually her name. She spends her days embroidering flowers and her nights longing for springtime. And she is very much alone and on her own. Literally in search of light - a match for her only candle - she instead finds happiness and friendship with a band of young Parisian bohemians - a handsome but insecure poet, a philosopher, a painter, a musician, and a good-time girl. Briefly, Mimì and Rodolfo make a place of love for themselves - until jealousy and poverty prevail. Eventually she succumbs to tuberculosis - the scourge of the underclass - but she is never consumed by self-pity, and she dies surrounded by those who love her.

La bohème is Puccini at his most tender and sympathetic. He loves these foolish young Parisians because he was once a struggling bohemian just like them. He understands their happiness and pain, and he is never judgmental. His music pierces our hearts with its beauty and directness. For generations, La bohème has been the best First Opera, the best Date Opera. And for many, the Best Opera.