Hey, over here! Yes, I know that football season just got underway, that baseball is moving closer to the playoffs and the World Series, that the kids are back in school with all the schedule juggling, and that the sofa plus Netflix/Hulu/MAX beckons. There are lots of options for any entertainment free time. It’s exciting and compelling, but don’t forget about opera – take a quick look at the upcoming seasons for the four largest companies in the mid-Atlantic; these represent just part of the opera performances coming our way in 2023-2024 (see the larger list below). Classic opera fans will again be well served by the new season and so will fans of newer works that address contemporary social issues.
Opera Philadelphia (M) - https://www.operaphila.org
Festival O23: 10 Days in a Madhouse – Sep 21, 23, 26, 28, 30
Festival O23: Simon Boccanegra – Sept 22, 24, 29, Oct 1
Festival O23: Unholy Wars – 23, 27, 30, Oct 1
Festival O23: Afternoons at AVA – 23, 27, 30
Festival O23: Curtis Voices – 22, 29
Festival O23: Late Night Snacks – 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, Oct 1
Apr 26, 28, May 3, 5 – Madame Butterfly
Opera Philadelphia again begins their season with an opera festival, this one labeled Festival O23. Among the highlights, O23 begins with an opera premiere: Composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch tell us the story of investigative reporter Nellie Bly who, in the late 1880s, faked mental illness to get herself committed to Blackwell’s Asylum in order to reveal the treatment of women there and the larger implications for society; soprano Kiera Duffy and baritone Will Liverman return to OP for this production. Simon Boccanegra, an opera from Verdi’s middle period, will feature baritone Quinn Kelsey and soprano Anna María Martínez in the Academy of Music with Conductor Corrado Rovaris. Unholy Wars is a recent much acclaimed opera that examines Baroque views of the Crusades from an American Arab perspective. A goal of OP’s festivals is to explore the boundaries of opera. From September 21 through October 1, there will be daily performances of operas, recitals, and after-opera cabaret in various venues across the city, 33 performances in 11 days. I have visited all the festivals since the inception of the program with O17, and each has been a highlight of the opera season for me.
Pittsburgh Opera (M) - https://www.pittsburghopera.org
Oct 14, 17, 20, 22 – The Barber of Seville
Nov 11, 14, 17, 19 – The Flying Dutchman
Jan 20, 23, 26, 28 – Iphigénie En Tauride
Feb 17, 20, 23, 25 – Proving Up
Mar 16, 19, 22, 24 – La Traviata
Apr 27, 30, May 3, 5 – The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson
Classic opera fans will delight in Pittsburgh Opera’s new season with operas by Rossini, Wagner, Gluck, and Verdi. Fans will enjoy visits from Figaro, the Dutchman, and Violetta in the grand opera house of the historic Benedum Center, and I also recommend scrambling for tickets to the performances in the smaller venues that feature Pittsburgh Opera’s highly talented Young Artists that frequently sell out. These have been among my favorite PO productions. PO ends its season with a recent opera, The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson, that will star mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and tells the story of the Pittsburgh native who in 1942 founded and directed the National Negro Opera Company, at a time when black singers were not allowed on the stages of mainstream opera houses, not even at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. She is credited with training hundreds of African American youths to sing.
Virginia Opera - (M) - https://vaopera.org
Sep 29, Oct 1, 7, 8, 13, 15 – Siegfried
Nov 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 19 – The Barber of Seville
Jan 26, 28, Feb 3, 4, 9, 11 – Sanctuary Road
Mar 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 22, 24 – Madama Butterfly
The newly adventurous Virginia Opera began its presentation of the four operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle over four seasons by performing Rhinegold with an outdoor staging at Top Golf, that enabled the company to present the opera live and at the same time observe pandemic restrictions still in effect in 2021. They lead off this season with the third episode, Siegfried, performed in opera houses in Norfolk, Fairfax, and Richmond. In addition to three classic operas, VO will present a staged version of the oratorio, Sanctuary Road (2017) by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell. This opera tells the story of William Still who helped hundreds of slaves flee to freedom via the Underground Railroad and recorded this history for posterity. Virginia Opera will also present the ever pleasing The Barber of Seville and Madama Butterfly.
Insider tip: Check out the excellent one-hour “Let’s Talk Opera” lectures by VO’s scholar in residence Joshua Borths. These are given via Zoom sessions on Facebook, Youtube, and LinkedIn prior to the opening of each Virginia production; they have invariably provided background and insights into the operas that increased my understanding and enjoyment of them. The Zoom sessions are announced a few weeks before each opera, and once broadcasted, remain online for viewing anytime.
Washington National Opera (M) - https://www.kennedy-center.org/wno/home/
Oct 28, Nov 1, 3, 5, 11, 13 – Grounded
Nov 4, 6, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18 – Romeo and Juliet
Dec 8, 9 (2), 10 – The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me
Jan 19 (2) – AOI: Three One-Act Operas
Mar 9, 11, 15, 17, 20, 23 – Songbird
May 11, 13, 17, 19, 22, 24, 25 – Turandot
Washington National Opera opens a strong season with the premiere of a new opera, this from composer Jeanine Tesori, titled Grounded, explores the personal consequences of drone warfare. WNO says, “In a first for opera stages, massive LED-screen technology will immerse audiences in the psychological and social implications of virtual warfare, suggesting that “distance” from war through technology is no distance at all”. A month later, Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet is a must for me. Why? My first chance to hear soprano Rosa Feola live. Tesori’s family opera (bring the kids) is featured in the holiday season, then an equally strong second half in 2024, American Opera Initiative’s annual premieres of new short operas, Washington favorite, Isabel Leonard, starring in Songbird, and adaptation of Offenbach’s La Périchole (jazz meets operetta), and finishing with an exciting young cast giving new life to the opera that has defied cancel culture, Turandot. This looks to me to be one of WNO’s best seasons.
The mid-Atlantic region is also rich with smaller, often niche, opera companies that serve local fan bases. The season listings for both large and small companies is maintained on OperaGene’s Seasons List page with links to the companies. These lists go back to the 2015-2016 season when OperaGene began. These companies are all included in the Seasonal Lists Page:
Academy of Vocal Arts
Annapolis Opera
Opera Baltimore (formerly Baltimore Concert Opera)
Bel Cantanti Opera
Charlottesville Opera
Curtis Opera Theatre
INSeries
Maryland Lyric Opera
Maryland Opera
Opera Delaware
Opera in Williamsburg
Opera Lafayette
Opera on the James
Opera Philadelphia
Opera Roanoke
Pittsburgh Festival Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Princeton Festival
Shakespeare Opera Theater
Urban Arias
Victory Hall Opera
Virginia Opera
Washington Concert Opera
Washington National Opera
Washington Opera Society
Wolf Trap Opera
Audiences are yet to fully return to pre-COVID levels. The ‘do it from home’ restrictions of the pandemic have caused some societal shifts, but live opera you cannot do at home, and opera live is as good as it gets. Support your local opera companies, and they will sing you a song and tell you a story that reconnects you with your humanity. Abandon the sofa and head to your local opera house. Go, enjoy, and be enriched!