OperaDelaware launches its season next month, promising both traditional classics and cutting-edge new works.
The season is anchored by two mainstage performances at the Grand in Wilmington, with Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” next month and Gluck’s “Orpheus and Eurydice” in May. OperaDelaware’s General Director, Eric Einhorn says presenting an opera as well-known as “Don Giovanni” is both a challenge and an opportunity. While it may be tempting to change the setting to provide a new look, OperaDelaware has opted for a traditional approach.
"What we have settled on is a more traditional visual approach to it, which these days can often feel like the odd choice,” he says. “Sometimes it's great just to do the piece.”
OperaDelaware is presenting “Don Giovanni” in collaboration with Opera Baltimore, with performances in both locations. Another partnership coming this year is with First State Ballet Theatre for “Orpheus and Eurydice” in May.
“There is a significant dance element,” Einhorn says. “You could even argue it's half opera, half ballet.”
Einhorn adds that partnerships like those with Opera Baltimore and First State Ballet are important to the future for all arts organizations in the area.
“I believe in a hyperlocal approach to producing opera and to be hyperlocal I think is to also partner hyperlocally,” he explains.
Also on the program this season are several other chamber performances, including “Written in Secret,” featuring OperaDelaware company artist Dane Suarez, and “Le Villi,” the first opera written by Puccini. Einhorn says that, while “Le Villi” was written years before Puccini’s most famous works, it contains a lot of the genius that puts Puccini in the first rank of opera composers.
“It is still a stirring score, again, you can tell where he will go,” Einhorn says. “He is still very much the Puccini that we come to love later on.”
The company will celebrate the holidays with performances of the classic 20th century American opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors.”
Tickets and more information for all of the season’s performances are at operade.org.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
