Opera

A sparse but interesting mix of choices await opera fans this fall (as usual, the spring half of the season will be more substantial). There will be beloved blockbusters and obscure productions, new works and old, tragic and comic. And only two languages: Italian and English.

by Peter Burwasser

Checking in with Joslin Romphf

Curtis student and 25-year-old soprano Joslin Romphf, originally from Victoria, British Columbia, has already received several honors and awards and gotten a chance to sing many juicy roles all over North America. This season she will tackle the title role in Curtis alum Ned Rorem’s Miss Julie. As for her picks for the rest of the season, Romphf has some specific ones:

"I’m looking forward to three of the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s productions -- Susannah, Il Trovatore and Don Carlo. They have some wonderful singers slated to perform."

Giuseppi Verdi: Il Trovatore

Oct. 3-21, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Academy of Music, Broad and Locust sts., 215-732-8400. Verdi's Il Trovatore may well be the most grandiloquent of his operas, a continuous stream of stirring and ingenious melodies that are among the most famous in all of opera. It is also a classic example of Verdi's attraction to byzantine plot lines that can confound even his masterful ability to spin out coherent character development. But it hardly matters: The glorious music is invariably hypnotic, dazzling even veteran operaholics who bother only to have a basic sense of the story. OCP promises a potent, traditional presentation, with company veterans Gregg Baker and Patricia Racette in the leads, and Maurizio Barbacini on the podium.

Carlisle Floyd: Susannah

Oct. 11-26, Opera Company of Philadelphia. Floyd's 1955 folk opera has gained wide-scale acceptance in its nearly half-century of existence, joining Porgy and Bess as an American favorite even in opera-mad Europe. Because it is broadly melodic and in English, Susannah has been a special favorite of regional American opera companies and music schools, more so than on main stages. Floyd, who also wrote the libretto, relates a tale of the poisonous effects of intolerance in the American South, where Floyd is from, but also reflects McCarthyism, which was at its nefarious peak at the time of the opera's creation.

Ned Rorem: Miss Julie

Nov. 7, Curtis Opera Theater, Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce sts., 215-893-1999. The ebullient Ned Rorem turns 80 this year, and his alma mater, where he also still teaches, is throwing a party. "Roremania" is a festival that will include chamber works, many of his highly acclaimed songs and, finally, a fully staged production of his opera Miss Julie. The superb Curtis team of conductor David Agler and director Chas Rader-Shieber will be the ringleaders.

W.A. Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro

Nov. 8-15, Academy of Vocal Arts, Helen Corning Warden Theater, 1920 Spruce St.; Nov. 20-22, Centennial Hall, Haverford School, 450 Lancaster Ave., 215-735-1685. It borders on silly to declare that Figaro is the best thing Mozart ever wrote, but it is not hard to argue that it is his most accessible work. Small children giggle and sigh over the amorous tugs of war that fill the plot, as well as the opportunities for delightful slapstick, while more mature audiences continue to marvel at the subtleties of the human condition that are illuminated by both Mozart's music and librettist Da Ponte's words. Since the wonderful AVA singers are about the same age as the actual characters, this is a production to especially look forward to.

Pietro Mascagni: L'Amico Fritz

Nov. 21-23, Temple University Opera Theater, Tomlinson Theater, 13th and Norris sts., 215-204-8307. Mascagni is most famously known as the composer of the warhorse Cavalleria Rusticana, and infamously known as an ardent Mussolini fan in his later years. Politics aside, few operagoers are even aware that he wrote more than one opera, despite a prolific career. If the brusque, passionately violent Rusticana was Mascagni's big 45 rpm single hit, then L'Amico Fritz was the flip side, written one year later in 1891, a sweet, sentimental confection filled with superb melodic constructions. The redoubtable Temple gang can be counted on for a solid presentation of this neglected minor masterpiece.

"Scenes of Love and Hate"

Dec. 4-7, Curtis Opera Theater, Curtis Opera Studio, 1726 Locust St., 215-893-7902. These collaborations of Curtis Opera director Mikael Eliasen and stage director Chas Rader-Shieber are always a hoot. Everyone, performers and audience alike, seems to have fun at these "black box" presentations, which are semi-staged. Those who might be offended by a mildly deranged sense of humor should stay away.