The more I learn about opera, and become immersed in this world, the more I realize opera is everywhere. You may think you don’t know anything about this art form, that you don’t like opera, that it’s stuffy and boring and for gray haired old ladies – but several Hollywood directors would disagree with you. If Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Elvis think opera is cool, I can get on board too.

1. The Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen

Carmen is one of the most performed operas in North America and the Habanera has been performed and recreated in everything from Disney cartoons to Walmart commercials.

The original: Maria Calla sings the Habanera

Movies you’ve heard it in: Trainspotting, Pixar’s UP, Hudsucker Proxy

2. Ride of the Valkyries from Wagner’s Ring Cycle

Ride of the Valkyries is perhaps Richard Wagner’s most famous piece (that’s VAG-ner, not WAG-ner). It was composed as part of four epic operas called Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung, or more often Wagner’s Ring Cycle) which took twenty-six years to write. And by epic, I mean EPIC: the four operas, generally performed over four nights, have a total playing time of about 15 hours.

Opera misconception: Many people believe the Ring Cycle inspired J.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. While the two were inspired by the same Old Norse mythologies, Tolkien has once said, “Both rings are round, and there the resemblance ceases.”

The original: Ride of the Valkyries

Movies you’ve heard it in: Apocalypse Now, The Blues Brothers, Full Metal Jacket, What’s Opera, Doc?

3. Barcarolle from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann

The Tales of Hoffmann, written by Jacques Offenbach, is based on the short storied of writer E.T.A. Hoffmann and the Barcarolle is the most famous aria in the opera.

Fun Fact: Barcarolle provided the tune for Elvis’s Tonight Is So Right For Love in G.I. Blues.

The Original: Barcarolle

Movies you’ve heard it in: Life is Beautiful, Titanic

4. Flower Duet in Delibes’ Lakme

Lakme duet is always used to evoke beauty and tranquility, although sometimes overlayed as a foil for violence like in Tomb Raider. Listen closely while you are watching TV and youll hear it helping sell you some of your favorite products. Its ubiquitous presence in films and popular music since the mid-1980s was inaugurated by its usage in the 1983 horror film The Hunger.

The original: The Flower Duet

Movies you’ve heard it in: Meet the Parents, The American President, Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, The Hunger

5. Sull’aria from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro, an opera buffa (comic opera) – not to be confused with The Barber of Seville and the aria Largo al factotum – was originally banned in Vienna because of it’s satire of the aristocracy, but later became one of Mozart’s most successful works.

The original: Cecilia Bartoli and Renee Fleming

Movies you’ve heard it in: The Shawshank Redemption

Join us in March for Opera Goes to the Movies as movies and opera meld.

IO ANSWER: IO explored several options for our inaugural Book Club, some of them more closely paralleled Madama Butterfly and some of them explored some of the surface themes of the opera (for instance Memoires of a Geisha). In the end, we felt that it was more interesting and thought provoking to explore the themes of discrimination, cultural insensitivity and unrequited love. What struck me, even in the first pages of the book, was Ishmaels subtle similarities to Butterfly – he’s pining for someone he can’t have and in many ways he doesn’t fit into his own community, he’s an outsider among his own people much like Butterfly was a bt of an outsider among her culture and Pinkerton’s culture.

IO ANSWER: In the beginning of the novel, which takes place during a snow storm, you can feel the cold emanating from the page and can so clearly picture the dim courtroom and the hushed chatter that seems to accompany inclement weather. Gunderson is quietly building to a dramatic revelation, and I found myself struggling not to skip ahead to discover the crime. I felt, though, when he finally got there, that the revelation was actually a bit anti-climatic. This is in sharp contrast to Puccini, who quickly foreshadows Butterfly’s fate with Pinkerton’s lackadaisical attitude about his marriage contract with Cio-Cio San and Cio-Cio San’s obvious devotion to Pinkerton. While Puccini gives us this bit of insight at the beginning of the opera, he delays the most dramatic moment until the very end. Unlike Gunderson, when Puccini’s intentions for Butterfly are revealed, even when you know it’s coming, it’s dramatic and poignant every time.

Between 1901 and 1907, almost 110,000 Japanese immigrated to the United States. They were drawn by promises of ready work–American railroads actually sent recruiters to Japanese port cities, offering laborers three to five times their customary wages–and by worsening economic conditions in their homeland, which was undergoing social upheaval in the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration. Although many originally came as dekaseginin–temporary sojourners–work was plentiful, not only on the railroads, but in the lumber camps, salmon fisheries, and fruit orchards of Oregon and Washington. Increasingly, the newcomers stayed on. Many purchased their own farms. In time, these issei–first-generation Japanese–started families.

The Japanese government actively encouraged emigration, and although the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1908 curbed the flow of Japanese men, it allowed unrestricted entry to their wives and children. Many women were “picture brides,” who came to join husbands they knew only through photographs and letters and whom they had “married” by proxy in ceremonies in their native villages.

Very quickly the newcomers encountered antagonism. Although Japanese constituted less than two percent of all immigrants to the U.S., newspapers trumpeted an “invasion.” The mayor of San Francisco proclaimed that “the Japanese are not the stuff of which American citizens can be made.” The Sacramento Bee warned that “the Japs…will increase like rats” if allowed to settle down. The Asiatic Exclusion League agitated for legislation to halt all Japanese immigration. Politicians ran for office on anti-Japanese platforms. In 1923, the state of Oregon prohibited issei from legally buying land. A year later, Congress passed the National Origins Act, which banned all immigration from Japan.

In spite of this, the newcomers thrived. They found ways of getting around some laws (under Oregon’s Alien Land Law, first-generation Japanese could legalize their land purchases by registering them in the names of their American-born-or nisei-children). They tolerated other laws. Meanwhile, the immigrants preserved the ceremonies and values of Japan even as they encouraged their children to acculturate and, particularly, to educate themselves. “You must outperform your detractors,” one issei counseled his children. Typically, the nisei grew up thinking of themselves as Americans, yet were reminded of their difference every time they encountered the taunts and ostracism of their white neighbors.

Following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, hostility turned into paranoia–and paranoia became law. Japanese who had lived in America for thirty years were accused of spying for their native land. The day after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Treasury Department ordered all Japanese-owned businesses closed and all issei bank accounts frozen. The U.S. government had already compiled lists of Japanese whose loyalties might be suspect, and more than 1,000 businessmen, community leaders, priests, and educators were arrested up and down the West Coast.

The restrictions escalated. Japanese homes were searched for contraband. Telephone service was cut off. One newspaper columnist wrote: “I am for the immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in the interior….Herd ‘em up, pack ‘em off and give ‘em the inside room in the badlands…let ‘em be pinched, hurt, and hungry.” In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which empowered the government to remove “any and all” persons of Japanese ancestry from sensitive military areas in four western states. Japanese residents had only days in which to evacuate. They were compelled to sell their land and businesses for a fraction of their value, or to lease them to neighbors who would later refuse to pay their rent. All told, some 110,000 Japanese Americans were deported from their homes to hastily built camps such as Tule Lake and Manzanar, where they lived behind barbed wire for the duration of the war.

Neither Germans nor Italians living in this country were subject to similar restrictions, and recently declassified documents reveal that the Japanese population was never considered a serious threat to American security. In all of World War II, no person of Japanese ancestry living in the United States, Alaska, or Hawaii was ever charged with any act of espionage or sabotage. As one nisei later wrote, the victims of Executive Order 9066 were people whose “only crime was their face.”

In 1988, the U.S. government formally apologized to Japanese citizens who had been deprived of their civil liberties during World War II.

This information was gathered from Lauren Kessler, Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese-American Family. New York, Random House, 1993. Courtesy of Bookbrowse.com

by Tom Alvarez, The Examiner

In staging what may be one of its finest productions to date, the Indianapolis Opera offered up a sumptuous feast for the senses when it presented “La Traviata” Sunday afternoon at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis.

With music by Giuseppe Verdi and Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on “La dame aux Camélias” by Alexandre Dumas, this three-act opera featured the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Opera Chorus, conducted by James Caraher.

The first-rate quality of this opera’s technical elements, including magnificent sets, effective lighting and gorgeous costumes, was eclipsed only by the excellent vocal and acting performances of its fine leads and splendid chorus (led by chorus master John Schmid) and the accomplished stage direction of Joachim Schamberger.

“La Traviata,” literally translated as “The Fallen Woman,” opens with a scene in the Paris salon of Violetta Valéry (Maureen O’Flynn), a well-known courtesan who, having recovered from an illness, throws herself a party. There she is introduced to Alfredo Germont (Scott Piper) who has long carried a torch for her and eventually declares his love. At first Violetta resists, because she is already involved with the Baron Duphol (Daniel Scofield), but then she reconsiders.

What follows is a story about a meddling parent, Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont (Richard Paul Fink), who, discovering that his son and Violetta have fallen in love and are blissfully living together, is determined to sabotage their relationship due to his concern that her reputation will harm his family.

Because Giorgio is successful, Violetta and Alfredo are torn apart, only to reunite, after she has once again fallen ill and and is lying on her deathbed. By then, it is tragically too late for the lovers to have a life together, once Violetta dies in Alfredo’s arms.

O’Flynn beautifully interpreted her role as Violetta, capturing the essence of her sensitive and vulnerable character through both her delicate coloratura soprano voice and a dramatic performance that was deeply moving. She was especially poignant singing “Addio del Passato” – “So closes my sad story,” once her character realizes her dream of being with Alfredo may be doomed.

She was matched in talent by Piper, who displayed magnetic stage presence in his role as the passionate Alfredo. Singing in a powerful golden-toned tenor voice, Piper projected charisma and sex appeal.

Together, O’Flynn and Piper conveyed a chemistry that was palpable in their duets as Violetta and Alfredo singing “Un di, felice, eterea” – “The day I met you” – when they first meet, and “Parigi, o cara, noi lasceremo” – “Dearest, we’ll leave Paris” – during the deathbed scene.

Two scenes showcased the outstanding chorus, as well as sets notable for their spectacular grandeur. One took place in Violetta’s elegant salon at the beginning of the opera when the chorus sang “Libamo ne’ lieti calici” – “Drinking song.”

The other was the second scene in the Second Act, during a party with a Spanish bullfight theme, hosted by Violetta’s friend Flora (Paulette Maria Penzvalto in another fine performance) in her home. As the chorus sang “Noi siamo zingarelle” – “We’re youthful gypsies” – and “Di Madride noi siam mattadori” – “We are bullfighters from Madrid” – one could really appreciate director Schamberger’s marvelous staging.

For tickets and information about the recently announced Indianapolis Opera 2011-12 season, call (317) 283-3470 or visit www.indyopera.org.

by Tom Aldridge, Nuvo

4 stars

Indianapolis Opera; Clowes Memorial Hall; May 13 and 15.

There are four short acts; the title aptly describes the female lead. Her character is a frail tubercular living with her “man” out of wedlock and dies of the disease at the end — in the key of C-sharp minor. The opera — whose themes include redemption, whose setting is 19th-century Paris — is filled with engaging tunes which come at you with astonishing fertility at the outset. The middle two acts form a contrast between a bustling stage and a quiet setting featuring only the main characters. This quintessential Italian stage work has captivated the world’s opera houses since its inception.

Puccini’s La Boheme you say? Well, what about Verdi’s La Traviata — if you make one allowance: In last weekend’s IO production of this middle-period Verdi masterpiece, Acts 2 and 3 were compressed into a single act, with a five-minute scene change, as has very often been done elsewhere.

Otherwise, what I described in the first paragraph applies equally and exactly to Puccini’s 1896 and Verdi’s 1853 stage works; yet nobody really equates the two. Nor should they, as the explicit story lines differ completely. And the musical structures show the near half-century evolution in Romantic opera.

Returning from her IO debut in 2009 as La Boheme‘s Mimi, soprano Maureen O’Flynn sang an altogether excellent Violetta, the courtesan, the “traviata” or “fallen woman.” She dominated in all four acts with an exceptional voice, both beautiful and controlled — one of IO’s best in a title role. O’Flynn especially defined herself in the familiar aria/duet “Sempre libera” — a “drinking song” which closes Act 1. Throughout the opera her high notes simply soared.

Tenor Scott Piper, who later joins O’Flynn in the latter number, sang Alfredo, Violetta’s lover. His lyric voice proved a close match to his consumptive lover in their numerous duets. His vocal delivery was largely satisfying while not seeming quite as effortless as O’Flynn’s.

Baritone Richard Paul Fink, his voice a bit nasal, nonetheless showed the same well-projected, controlled delivery as our principals in the role of Germont, Alfredo’s father. Bass/baritone Thomas Gunther’s Baron Douphol (incorrectly listed in the program booklet as “Escamillo”), appearing as Violetta’s escort in the Act 2 Scene 2 soiree, made a quite masculine impression as the heroine’s — in this case pretended — love interest.

The remainder of the supporting cast — e.g. Paulette Maria Penzvalto as the socialite and “fellow” courtesan Flora, Kristin Gornstein as the maid Annina and Mark Gilgallon as Violetta’s attending physician Doctor Grenvil (returning in this role from IO’s 2002 Traviataproduction) all did creditable jobs, though all somewhat inferior to the principals (which is not always true in these productions).

Artistic director James Caraher, now in his 30th IO season, competently led “half” the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (the other half playing a concurrent concert downtown at the Circle) in Verdi’s characteristically timid (in his early and middle periods) scoring — filled with “oom pah/oom-pah-pah” rhythms and the piccolo riding herd over the other instruments.

La Traviata‘s final performance is Sunday, 2:00 p.m., at Clowes Hall.

by Jay Harvey, Indianapolis Star

Giuseppe Verdi’s personal sympathy with how love can redeem scorned behavior helps lend “La Traviata” its perpetual appeal.

That the heroine, Violetta, is modeled through the opera’s dramatic source on a real Paris courtesan who died young gives only a clue to this longtime favorite’s hold on audiences.

The rest comes through Verdi’s music: ardent, tuneful, intimate, steeped in reminiscence and foreshadowing. In the Indianapolis Opera’s current production, sensitive attention to musical detail is echoed in the show’s staging.

In Friday’s performance, it quickly became clear that Joachim Schamberger’s stage direction was never going to let the principal characters become stick figures in a morality play weighted heavily toward the sorrows and fitful vitality of the title character, “the strayed reveler.”

That phrase is one of several that has been used to translate the opera’s title. English renderings tend to emphasize the “tsk-tsk” attitude the opera strives to set aside.

In Maureen O’Flynn’s performance, Violetta confirms everyday notions that people in insecure social positions learn how to balance on the divide between acceptance and ostracism. Her decency is never in doubt in this production; more ambivalence might have been in order.

But from the drinking song launched by her new lover, Alfredo Germont, in the first scene, Violetta is a party girl who is only as manipulative as she needs to be. Schamberger uses the little pauses in this “brindisi” to characterize her, and O’Flynn had the sparkle to bring off such touches. She also indicated how Alfredo’s impulsive passion for her melts her demimondaine resistance.

The singing didn’t merely go along for the ride: Hers was brilliant, and the tender “Ah, fors’e lui” was spectacularly succeeded by Violetta’s attempt to come to her senses and proclaim she will fight for her right to party (“Sempre libera”). Just before the curtain, Alfredo’s sudden reappearance with the flower she had just given him was unconventional but helped explain why she quickly jettisons her need to be free and sets up house with him.

Scott Piper’s Alfredo, though his phrasing lacked polish in the first act, settled down subsequently. His relaxed postures in the Act 2 aria “De’miei bollenti spiriti” suited Alfredo’s temporary happiness as Violetta’s domestic partner.

The pleasures are short-lived, however, as Papa Germont pays a visit to enlist Violetta’s help in saving Alfredo from an inappropriate liaison. Richard Paul Fink used his large voice flexibly to evince the stern father’s growing admiration for Violetta.

James Caraher conducted a performance with much evocative playing by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, especially in the preludes to the first and third acts.

The choruses in the first two acts were vigorous reminders of Violetta’s social world, which vanishes as her illness worsens and the belated loyalty of the Germonts shines brighter.

Today Indianapolis Opera executed it’s very first flash mob. Thirty plus opera singers assembled at City Market and treated the downtown lunch crowd and farmers market attendees to a performance of Libiamo ne’lieti calici or the Drinking Song from our upcoming performance of La Traviata.

Were you there? Awesome! Share your pictures and videos with us on Facebook and Twitter! Missed the action? Don’t worry, here’s the video!

Being a far more visual than musical person myself, I get pretty excited when the production department starts sending me images of the sets and costumes. La Traviata is just what I picture when I think about opera. The sets are opulent and dramatic – just like the story itself.

I thought I would share the excitement with all of you today. Enjoy!

It’s sort of a joke around the office that I am an opera neophyte. Many of the other staff members, in fact almost all of the other staff members, have a personal history firmly rooted in opera – they attended performances at the Met as a child; obtained advance degrees in the art form and have performed, directed, stage managed and in general studied opera for many years.

I think my novice status works in my favor and yours – it allows me to view our organization from the perspective of our average patron, and hopefully that helps me to make your opera experience better.
As we move through season planning and marketing of productions, I tend to do a lot of research so I can better understand the opera’s we are presenting. In the spirit of opera study, I’m sharing with you today a guide of common opera terms. Enjoy!

Aria: An emotion-expressing song, the big number of the performance. For example:

Bel Canto: A style of sweet singing, that emphasizes breath control, a beautiful tone and the ability to go from loud to soft.

Cadenza: A moment near the end of an aria for the singer alone, with lots of fast, high, difficult notes, designed for showing off.

Coloratura: A singer (usually a soprano) with an agile, light, pure-sounding voice, capable of easily singing fast, high notes. Like Beverly Sills:

Libretto: Simply put, these are the words of the opera, or the script. Libretto literally means “little book”.

Leitmotif (“LIGHT-mo-teef”): A little melody that plays every time a certain character or object appears, invented by Richard Wagner.

Opera Buffa: A funny opera, such as The Barber of Seville:

Opera Seria: A formal or serious opera

Prima Donna: Italian for “First lady” this is the singer who plays the heroine, the main female character in an opera or anyone who thinks the world revolves around her.

Proscenium: The front part of the stage right below the place where supertitles are projected.

Recitative (‘ress-it-uh-TEEV”): Speech-singing, in which the singer semi-chants the words, imitating the free rhythms of speech.

Singspiel (“SING-shpeel”): A German opera with spoken dialogue (instead of recitative) between arias.

Sitzprobe (“ZITS-probe”): rehearsal where the singers perform with the orchestra without scenery or costumes.

Super or Supernumerary: Supers are like movie extra’s, the do not act or sing in an opera.

Trouser role: A man’s part played by a woman – a mezzo soprano. Hansel in Hansel and Gretel is a trouser role, so is Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro

Verismo: An opera that depicts a realistic – sometimes sordid or violent – aspect of life.