HGO's 52nd season: family-friendly offerings
The Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2006-2007 season with a focus on appealing to a younger audience:
Houston Grand Opera has announced the details of its fifty-second season — the first under new general director Anthony Freud — with the company planning to stage forty-seven performances of seven operas, including the company premiere of Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen, a new production of La Cenerentola, Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky's debut in the title role of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and a new English-language chamber version of Hansel and Gretel to coincide with the holiday season.
The season, lacking in the presentation of a world premiere — something that had become a company hallmark under the three-decade tenure of Freud's predecessor, David Gockley — seems to have shifted its focus towards offering family-friendly fare in an effort to recruit younger audiences, a sentiment affirmed by company administrators.
“The most important element of this season is that it provides perfect opportunities for families to experience opera together,” Patrick Summers, the company's music director said in a press release.
Freud echoed Summers, saying: “Our season will offer three marvelous opportunities for parents to introduce their children to the magic of opera. Opera is not an adults-only activity; it is an unforgettable experience that can delight and enchant the whole family..."
The Chronicle's Charles Ward has more:
In his new capacity as head of HGO, Freud added Vixen, Janácek's fable about a young fox who lives life to the fullest, as a last-minute replacement after an ambitious idea didn't work out. He and HGO music director Patrick Summers approached Sir André Previn about a new opera -- his previous one, A Streetcar Named Desire, has been a big success -- but the timetable was too tight. Freud hopes to schedule it for a later season.
With Vixen, the season has three strong and musically varied operas to appeal to families: the Wagnerian-tinged Hansel and Gretel, the bubbly Rossini-isms of Cenerentola and the magical evocation of nature in Vixen.
The Cunning Little Vixen, Freud said, "may be the greatest opera for families to come to experience opera for the first time. It's perfect in its story line and comparable brevity." The show clocks in at roughly 90 minutes, not including intermissions.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/08/06 07:40 PM | Print |
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