Get Ready for Some Opera!

In a place like Texas, where everything is larger than life, dramatic, and full of heart, the opera should be as popular as football, the rodeo, and country music.

Kathy LeMaster, Office Manager for theFund, took me to my first opera, Guiseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, last June. We had great seats close to the stage, and I was blown by the performers’ sheer vocal athleticism. The dialog and storyline were more cunning than my prejudices had allowed a 19th century opera. And for those of us who don’t speak Italian, there are English surtitles; the lyrics are projected on a screen at the top of the stage. (In all the opera scenes I’ve seen in movies like Pretty Woman, they never showed the 1980’s Canadian invention of surtitles.)

The San Antonio Opera opens its 15th season this weekend with two one acts: Pagliacci led by the tenor Stuart Neill and Suor Angelica starring the lirico-spinto soprano Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs. Now this is not like a movie or a play at the San Pedro Playhouse; you can’t catch it next week. There are only three performances, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the 17th through the 19th.

The divine Maria Callas once said “An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.” An evening at the San Antonio Opera is perfect for an exotic date (fellow parents, you must get out) or just a few friends looking for an adventure. Get more cultured.

The 2010-2011 season has two more operas in store, The Marriage of Figaro and H.M.S Pinafore. The full calendar is here.

The San Antonio Opera is one of 27 affiliates of theFund. Donations to theFund help provide financial operating support to qualified arts and cultural organizations.