OPERA FOR SYMPHONIES?

Recently a number of orchestras have delved into opera.  True a number of mid-size cities have orchestras that already play opera.  Take Nashville and Louisville, for example, in our region.  But these orchestras play opera as the "hired" orchestra for an established opera company.  In this case, the Nashville Opera and Kentucky Opera, respectively.  But what about orchestras that perform opera on their own...

Some examples include the recent Opening Night performance of La Boheme in a semi-staged version with the Atlanta Symphony.  The idea of a semi-staged version of opera is quite intriguing.  Many orchestras have taken this route.  In Lafayette last season we performed the opera Cavalleria Rusticana with the excellent Bach Chorale Singers and soloists from Indiana University.  We performed with minimal staging and no props. 

In November, I performed the opera Madame Butterfly with the Owensboro Symphony and Kentucky Opera to great effect.  Like the performance in Lafayette, the orchestra was onstage, but we also had props, makeup and costumes:  pretty much everything except the actual sets.  People in the audience liked the set up very much.  They felt that the orchestra was an equal partner in the production, rather than being relegated to the "pit" as they normally are in opera.  This is something I'd like to try in Lafayette, as we have a sophisticated and educated audience as well as Metropolitan Opera simulcasts...

My opinion is that this type of production/collaboration is the wave of the future for orchestras and choruses eager to do opera.  Without the sets opera in much more affordable, plus, as I witnessed in Owensboro- people like to see their hometown orchestra, too!

NICK