Tensions run high when feuding neighbors lie, cheat and sneak
around to get what they want, leading to bitter betrayals with tragic
consequences. No, it’s not an episode of
Real Housewives. It’s the breathtaking story of Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti
and the next exciting performance presented by the newly formed and locally
grown, Island City Opera.
What? You don’t like
opera? It’s too long, boring, old
fashioned (fill in the blank) for your taste?
ICO founders and Alameda residents, Eileen Meredith, Ellen St. Thomas,
Robert Boyd, along with the rest of the talented folks working to bring quality
opera to Alameda, would like you to reconsider.
“The themes of opera are classic, timeless,” says Meredith,
soprano and Executive Director of the company, “and full of emotions everybody
feels.”
The word opera
means “the composition in
which poetry, dance, and music are combined” and what an exciting
opportunity for Alameda to cultivate a rich tradition that dates back to the 16th
century. Once considered exclusively for elite society, opera became a more
accessible form of entertainment in Venice, Italy during the annual festival of
Carnival. Popular productions soon
spread throughout Europe and opera “season” was born.
Lucia di Lammermoor
(often referred to simply as Lucia) will
be the first full production of Island City Opera’s inaugural season. It is a
bel canto (beautiful singing) opera, performed in a style made popular in the
19th century, defined by its splendid compositions and vocal
pyrotechnics.
“Love, hate, political interests, lust, greed…anything you
can think of since the beginning of mankind, really hasn’t changed and neither
have our stories. It’s all here,” says
Maestro Robert Ashens, Musical Director and Conductor for the January
performances at the historic Elks Lodge Ballroom, a perfect setting for Lucia which takes place in Scotland
during the early 18th century.
Really? Opera here in
little ol’ Alameda? The answer is yes!
Formerly under the banner of the Virago Theatre Company, ICO
is devoted to “producing great opera in an intimate setting.” After visiting a recent rehearsal of Lucia, it is clear ICO is group on a
mission.
“We are about high
quality music and drama together, beautiful singing and bringing music back to
the schools,” says Meredith, whose daughter attends Encinal High. The company focuses on local talent, with an
emphasis on supporting new, promising performers along side artists with extensive
opera backgrounds.
“We work really hard at introducing a younger crowd to the
values of opera so that it’s not stale and that it’s always new, says Maestro
Ashens, a renowned conductor and unflappable ambassador of opera. He wants locals to know, “Excellence lives
right here at home. It’s an exiting time
for this city. Look at the movement and
the people who are the driving forces here. The people at Island City Opera are
doing things in such a quality way, they are not shirking their responsibility
to the art form.”
There really is something for everyone in opera and our very
own Island City Opera hopes to bring the young and the older, the seasoned opera
buffs and the curious newbies together to experience the beauty of this classic
art form.
Seasoned opera enthusiasts will surely be pleased to see
such professional talent and thoughtful productions right here in our own
backyard. Newcomers will get an intimate
chance to expand their cultural horizons with tantalizing tales of passion and
pathos, tears and triumphs.
“We have a lot of great things planned,” says Meredith, “and
we love being in Alameda. It’s so
beautiful and the people are very supportive.”
It takes a village to keep the arts alive and Ashens sums up
the idea of opera in Alameda nicely by adding, “Opera is the sign of a healthy
environment and a healthy community.
So, come out to the opera!
Yes, Lucia will be sung in
Italian but there will be supertitles in English and a fabulous 20-piece orchestra
to bring the words (libretto) to life. Step
into a world where music can elevate your soul, where joy and madness often go
hand in hand and nothing is really over until somebody sings.
Originally published on The Alamedan - January 9, 2015
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