Who is Werther?

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Tempo Tuesday

Who is Werther? Tempo Presents: An evening of cocktails and conversation.

James Valenti as Werther

Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 6-9pm

6pm-7pm Cocktails, mingling
7pm-9pm Meet the stars of Werther: James Valenti, Roxana Constantinescu, and director Kevin Newbury; hosted by Minnesota Public Radio’s John Birge.
With special music selections by Victoria Vargas and Nathaniel Peake.

Complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Cash bar featuring fabulous French cocktails.

Where:

The Minneapolis Women’s Club,

410 Oak Grove Street, Minneapolis MN 55403

Tickets: $10 Tempo Members; $15 Non-members
General admission. Space is limited.
To purchase tickets, call Minnesota Opera’s Ticket Office, 612-333-6669, M-F, 9am – 6pm.

 

“…The juxtaposition of sin with sanctity.”

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Music Monday

Read the background notes from Minnesota Opera dramaturg David sander on our upcoming opera Werther.

Set design by Allen Moyer

Werther stands alone in Jules Massenet’s wide-ranging oeuvre of operas. The appearance of a male protagonist submerged in the interior, realistic doom and gloom of Germanic Sturm und Drang is unique to the composer’s typically glittering and vibrant artifice of fin-de-siècle France. Several people claim credit for its genus. Naturally, librettists Paul Milliet and Édouard Blau would like to believe they were the impetus (though several adaptations of Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s literary masterpiece had already seen the stage), and their resulting product stands out among the volumes of typically lackluster French libretti. Milliet encouraged the composer to forget complicated, stagy plots of the earlier generation in favor of those with intense passions unrelated to dramatic events. Massenet’s publisher, Georges Hartmann, recalled how he skillfully arranged everything when he and the composer travelled to Bayreuth to see Wagner’s Parsifal in 1886. During a side trip to Wetzlar where Goethe had written The Sorrows of Young Werther, he produced the novel for Massenet’s immediate perusal, discouraging his interest in adapting Henry Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème(later set by Giacomo Puccini and Ruggero Leoncavallo).

Massenet would recall years later that it was his own conception to write Werther, an idea he fostered at the beginning of the 1880s. Composed shortly after his return to Paris, he lobbied for a premiere at the city’s second theater of rank, the Opéra-Comique. Though already renowned for programming serious works (Bizet’s Carmen would be the most notorious example), the impresario, Léon Carvalho, found the subject too somber, and a deadly fire in 1887 put the project in limbo (and Carvalho temporarily in jail for the resulting human death toll). Werther would sit on the shelf for four more years while an earlier work, Manon, would take Europe by storm. It was Manon’s success at Vienna’s Hofopera that would draw attention the Massenet’s “German” opera and it was finally staged in 1892.

Oddly, Goethe’s works would achieve success in the hands of foreign composers rather than those from his homeland, Faust being the most notable example. Rather than relying on supernatural witches and devils or heaven and hell, the writer turned to an actual experience from his past. As a young man, he fell madly in love with Charlotte Buff, the fiancée of Johann Christian Kestner, a young diplomat. Realizing his one-sided affection for the young woman would not amount to anything, he left Wetzlar, devastated and suicidal. He maintained correspondence with Kestner, from whom he soon learned that a mutual acquaintance, Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem, had in fact taken his own life over his own unrequited love for a married woman. Goethe was overwhelmed by the incident and wrote his novel in just one month.

Goethe unfolded his tale in a series of epistles, personal and troubled confessions mostly written to his trusted friend Wilhelm. A few letters are dedicated directly to Charlotte herself and reveal a search for identity through love. Toward the end, however, Goethe shifts the narrative from Werther’s first person to an omniscient editor who sifts through the protagonist’s final writings. The mood is a combination of intense emotionalism and an adoration of wilderness (touched upon lightly in Massenet’s Act I aria for Werther, “Ô Nature, pleine de grâce”), two important components of the blossoming Romantic Age. Eighteenth-century objectivity was falling victim to subjective expression and spontaneity of feeling, as the importance of the individual superseded rational thought. Suicide was the last refuge of Weltschmerz, or the weariness of life to the misguided, agonized intellectual, an affront to the tenants of the Church (consequently, Werther, who renounces God’s benevolence, is notably not buried on consecrated ground). The popularity of Goethe’s novel actually made the taking of one’s own life (or verging on it) a fashionable image – young men adopted Werther’s dress and carried their tears in glass vials, veritable “Emos” of their era. To this date, the “Werther Effect” remains a psychological term for imitative suicide.

Massenet had to make some changes to make Goethe’s piece a little more stageworthy. In the novel, Werther is already informed of Charlotte’s betrothal from the start, and she is unaware (until the very end) that he loves her, but in Act III of the opera, she is given an intensely heartrending scene as she waivers between fidelity to her husband and feelings for Werther. In Goethe’s original, she does not visit Werther as he lays dying – having shot himself just above the right eye, he does not regain consciousness and takes a full twelve hours to expire (significantly on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year). In the opera, we see the rational Albert’s transition from amiable to suspicious to coldhearted as he orders Charlotte to send Werther the pistols. In the novel, he remains Werther’s friend to the very end and is the one to discover and dispense with his body. In contrast, Charlotte’s character is dignified a bit more in the opera as she has promised her deceased mother she would marry Albert and acts as a surrogate parent to the hoard of her siblings. Her casting as a mezzo-soprano fortifies this maternal role. Another added bourgeois touch, no doubt satisfying a demand of the audience, was to include the incongruous singing of Christmas carols as Werther slowly dies – he may not get a Christian burial, but there is still some hope for redemption.

Part of Werther’s complexity is the contrast between light and dark – the happiness of children singing, the comic relief of Schmidt and Johann’s drinking song, the frivolity of Sophie’s ariette, the festivities of the pastor’s golden anniversary – all characteristics expected by Paris’ theatrical crowd. Still, they were puzzled at the French premiere in 1893 by the sharp contrast of idyllic youth with adult gravity and the juxtaposition of sin with sanctity. As a result, Werther was slow to gain acceptance. Still grappling with their first complete glimpses of Richard Wagner at the Paris Opéra in the final decade of the 19th century, likely viewers were unable to see Werther’s true depth – a one-sided Liebestod, an ever-worsening love drama that rushes incessantly toward its dire conclusion.

 

Bravi: Opera Boot Camp 2011

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Tempo Tuesday

A special thank you to Sargent Keeton, Be’wiched, Summit Brewery and the Naked Grape for making this event possible. We also want to thank our press sponsor, The Onion.

Tempo converted a rehearsal hall at the Opera Center into a Mess Hall for the evening.

Sargent Keeton giving us the facts about opera.

Our exquisite performers for the evening

Our Tempo cadets

Thank you to everyone that donated to Toys4Military Kids! We collected 20 toys at Opera Boot Camp, over 300 through collecting at performances and the Opera Center, and $1,065 through the give back program! Bravi!

Special thanks to Summit Brewery and the Naked Grape for providing drinks for the evening.

And, last but not least, we would love to thank Be'wiched for providing food for the evening.

“The opportunity to meet wonderful people and travel to the world’s most beautiful places.”

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Feature Friday

Mary Dibbern (Head of Music)

How long have you been working with opera?

Mary Dibbern (Head of Music)

A man should never ask a lady her age!

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

A combination of the courageous repertoire decisions, always perfectly cast, along with the family spirit of the personnel.

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

Tuna with potato chips on top (must stay crispy during the cooking.)

What are your top three favorite operas?

La Juive by Halévy, L’Etoile by Chabrier and Les Troyens by Berlioz.

How has music changed your life?

The opportunity to meet wonderful people and travel to the world’s most beautiful places.

If you had to choose a different field of work, what would you choose?

Medicine.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Berg’s Lulu. I was one of the pianists for the rehearsals at the new production of the Paris Opera several years ago. The piano score is hard to read because there is so much music. I finally took white-out and eliminated everything I didn’t think I would play so that I could look at it without stress!

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

Je ne sais pas, mon cher!

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

www.Mary-Dibbern.com

Do you speak any languages besides English? What are they?

French fluently, opera coach’s Italian and German. I used to speak enough Mandarin Chinese to get into trouble, but not to get out.

 John Lindsey (tenor, Resident Artist, Schmidt)

How has music changed your life?

John Lindsey (tenor, Resident Artist, Schmidt)

John Lindsey (tenor, Resident Artist, Schmidt in the upcoming Werther)

The biggest thing music has done for me is improved my ability to communicate. I’m very quiet by nature, so being on stage and laying all of your emotions out on the table is an important learning experience. Having the music be the motor behind that emotion is very nice.

What are your top three favorite operas?

Carmen, Otello, and Turandot, for now. That will change by next week. I can’t ever narrow it down.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

I had to do the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia when I was 20 and was absolutely terrified. I was very new to opera, and singing Britten as one of my first big roles was very hard, musically speaking.

Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share from this or previous productions that our audience might enjoy?

There was a production in college I did of Marriage of Figaro. One of my best friends was playing the Count, and was supposed to open a window during the second act finale to look for Cherubino. The window, of course, just opened to the backstage area– so three or four of us guys stripped down to our boxers and posed like a model ad in the window, but just out of sight of the audience. He opened it and saw us and started cracking up. We didn’t think he would be able to get it together before his next line, but he did. He told us it was only because he bit his cheek on purpose to stop laughing. Professionalism in action all around, back then.

What is your dream role?

My dream role has always been Don Jose, but since I was lucky enough to do it already, I’m waiting to do Otello now. That one would be fun.

If you had to choose a different field of work, what would you choose?

I would be a personal trainer, I think. Or maybe go back to manual labor stuff like working roofs and lumber mills. I always really enjoyed that.

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

I grew up on all kinds of hot dish stuff– tuna casserole, frito pie, green bean casserole, shepherd’s pie, the list goes on and on. I think green bean casserole has always been my favorite.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing?

Staying engaged in a character between scenes can be tricky, particularly if you’re playing one of the many crazy people in opera. If you completely let down it will translate into the next scene, but if you try to get too into it backstage people start wondering if you’ll be committed to an asylum during the run of the show.

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

If we’re talking material things (because I certainly would want my girlfriend and her dog to be there!), I guess I would say as much good cheese as possible, a set of weights to work off the cheese, and a good bottle of scotch for nights next to the campfire as we wait to be rescued.

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

ww.johnrobertlindsey.com

…Auditions That Will Lead to Fame, Success and Glory.

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Tempo Tuesday

The Metropolitan Opera

Join some of your fellow Tempo opera-phites anytime between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2:30 this Saturday, December 3 at the McKnight Theatre in the Ordway Center for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions. Different auditions will be taking place during this time-span, and you are free to come and go as you please!

What are the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions? They are the preliminary rounds for the National Council Auditions that will lead to fame, success and glory. Many of the world’s foremost singers, among them Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick have received awards from the National Council. Annually, approximately 100 former auditioners appear in Metropolitan Opera productions. For more information on the auditions, visit: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/auditions/national/index.aspx

Special appearances from friends of Minnesota Opera will take place at 11:05, 11.25, 12:25 and 12:45.

11:05AM- Victoria Vargas, mezzo soprano – Victoria is a resident artist with Minnesota Opera and a featured performer at Opera Tasting 2011.

11:25AM- Angela Mortellaro, soprano – Angela is a resident artist with Minnesota Opera and was featured this season as Despina in Cosi fan tutte and Madeleine in Silent Night.

12:25PM- Rudolfo Nieto, bass baritone – Rudy was a resident artist with Minnesota Opera during the 09-10 and 10-11 seasons, as well as a featured performer at OT 2011.

12:45PM- Brad Benoit, tenor – Brad was a resident artist with Minnesota Opera during the 08-09, 09-10 and 10-11 seasons, as well as a featured performer at OT 2011. If you attended opening night of Silent Night, you will remember Brad’s brilliant tenor voice filling in for a sick William Burden.

I speak Southern. Just you try and tell me it’s not a language. Try.

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Feature Friday

Angie Keeton (Teaching Artist)

What made you decide on a career in the arts?

Angie Keeton (Teaching Artist)

I don’t know if you really get to decide. Many talented folks try so hard for so long and still never get the chance to make this their full-time job. Hard work, sacrifice and luck all play into the equation when it comes to any non-profit work in the arts. Originally I was going to study medicine, but caught the performing bug in High School. With a LOT of encouragement from my teacher and even MORE counseling for my parents, I was lucky enough to get to study music in college and have been ten times as lucky to be able to make a living performing and teaching.

How long have you been working with opera?

I hadn’t even seen an opera until I was 18 years old. It was La traviata at Opera Theater of St. Louis. I wept my eyes out and decided that THAT was what I wanted to do. But I performed in my first opera 3 years later as a junior in college (Faust).

My first time in a show with Minnesota Opera was as a supernumerary in Rigoletto in 2003. I started as the Teaching Artist in early 2004. My 2 sad years away makes this my 6th FULL season serving as Teaching Artist.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

I have never felt part of a work “family” more than with Minnesota Opera. Although the company produces opera and opera education programs that are world-class, there is still a small-company charm about it. Everyone is so committed to making a great experience for the artists and partrons. I am very proud to say that I work for this company.

Is there any “haute” backstage gossip you would like to share from this or previous performances?

Well, I don’t want to get in trouble. But in my first comprimario role in Madame Butterfly in 2004, one of my chorus colleagues, who is a MNOP veteran, always came to visit me on stage right before I was supposed to sing my lines as Butterfly’s cousin. He would hand me some random object that he was hiding up the sleeve of his kimono. One night it was a plastic eyeball, the next night an ENTIRE role of gaffers tape. But the last night he handed me a piece of chocolate that, god forbid, was going to melt all over the $1000 silk kimono if I didn’t eat it right away. Luckily I was able to gobble it up and clear my throat just before singing my line. Hope I don’t get banned from the costume shop for breaking the #1 commandment—NO EATING IN COSTUME!

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

Husband Seth, baby Miles and our 7lb rescue mutt, Stevie. But do you think I could get a bonus item in the form of a case of a good red wine for being such a good mom?

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Nixon in China at Minnesota Opera. You are just flying by the seat of your pants, concentrating on the challenging and unpredictable rhythmic patterns for 3 hours. It was thrilling and exhausting, but we always wondered if the audience realized how hard it was for the performers.

Besides opera, do you have any other favorite genres of music? What are some of your favorite artists from that genre?

I really listen to anything and everything. It helps me stay in touch with the kiddos I visit in the schools, as well as hold on to my youth. But our collection of music spans from Medieval Chant to LCD Soundsystem, or from Willie Nelson and Jonny Cash, to William Shatner’s “Has Been” album. You just never know what you’re gunna get if you shuffle our iTunes library.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

Me? No. I’m just all talk and no walk. Anyway, I work with kids! However my alter-ego, Sergeant Keeton, is a different story. To find out more about her, you have to attend Tempo’s annual Opera Boot Camp.

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

www.angelakeeton.com

Do you speak any languages besides English? What are they?

Typical singer’s working knowledge of French and Italian but my conversation skills are best auf Deutsch!

Gabriel Preisser (baritone, Lieutenant Gordon, Resident Artist)

Where are you based when not performing?

Gabriel Preisser (baritone, Lieutenant Gordon, Resident Artist)

Orlando

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

Stay out of debt and follow your passion.

Where do you feel you delivered your strongest performance?

Figaro in Barber of Seville with Owensboro Symphony.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing?

Making new and fresh every time.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

I love to have a fun time, let’s leave it at that.

Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share?

Tenors… Agh…! “Where is the Count for his entrance?” Holds the show… Oh turns out he is taking a shower backstage. He thought he had enough time between scenes and was getting sweaty the poor thing… Tenors!

What are your top three favorite operas?

Falstaff, Giovanni, Il Pagliacci

What is your dream role?

Rigoletto

How long have you been working with opera?

About 8 years

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Postcard from Morroco, complex music and subject matter.

Mary-Lacey Rogers (Resident Artist Administrator)

How has music changed your life?

Mary-Lacey Rogers (Resident Artist Administrator)

It’s made me more self-aware and forced me to redefine the word “perfect.” It’s a brutal career path and staying grounded is a talent not maintained by all.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

Everyone here cares about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what they can do to make you or it better. Since I’ve been here I’ve been helped through running resident artist auditions to being offered winter clothes for my first winter ever… It’s an all around support system.

 Is there any “haute” backstage gossip you would like to share from this or previous performances?

The Cosi cast liked eating potato chips with pickles…. In the same bite. Gross.

What do you typically order when you go out for coffee?

“The largest coffee you have plus a shot.”

Besides opera, do you have any other favorite genres of music? What are some of your favorite artists from that genre?

Country, Jazz, Blues, Pop—anything with a good story and a good beat.

Name your top five favorite movies.

Peter Pan

The Wedding Date

Sleepless In Seattle

Anything with “James Bond” in the title

The Proposal (#5 changes out depending on my mood and the weather)

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

I’ve heard rumor that behind my back, fellow employees call me a “kitten with a whip.” I’m not ashamed…

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

I have a blog! The Rustic Stiletto : http://therusticstiletto.wordpress.com/

Do you speak any languages besides English? What are they?

I speak Southern. Just you try and tell me it’s not a language. Try.

What do you like to do when you aren’t busy creating great opera?

Well the first time I wasn’t involved in an opera, I biked across America, a 4,000 mile, 62 day, Baltimore to San Francisco bike ride. Then I became a PADI certified Open Water, Advanced, and Rescue Diver and moved to Key Largo to restore Coral Reefs. Then I went into the wilderness in Utah to learn canyoneering, white water rafting, and how to safely remove scorpions from your sleeping bag while you’re still inside. Then I got Wilderness Medicine certified and obtained my Wilderness First Responder so that I could save myself (and others) in the wilderness. I assisted in Pediatric Pulmonary Cancer research study, and picked up blogging. (“creating great opera” is a really stable thing for me to keep doing…..)

They trade booze, tell stories, play soccer, and do other fun things to cut the tension of wanting nothing but to murder each other moments before.

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I Remember Thursday

“The work, based on a true incident from WWI, tells of three troops- one Scots, one German, and one French- who agree to a truce for Christmas eve, and find themselves unable to fight thereafter. The music and acting were stunning in their beauty. I was moved to quiet tears more than once.” -Diana Green 

Diana Green

Diana Green

Diana Green

“Once again, the MN Opera put on an amazing performance. As usual, it’s difficult to draw when the action is so amazing, you want to just lose yourself in what’s going on on-stage, but add to that the incredible sets and music this time around, and I had the most difficult time yet trying to draw what was going on and not just watch. Thanks again to everyone who made this possible! ” -Jeremiah Halonie

Jeremiah Halonie

Jeremiah Halonie

Jeremiah Halonie

“Until last Thursday evening and the world premiere of Silent Night, an operatic rendition of the 2005 movie Joyeux Noel. It relates the tale of British, French, and German soldiers during World War I who disobeyed orders and spent the holiday not killing each other. The experience was, in a word, big. The staging, production and vocals were brilliant.” -Joel Vollmer

Joel Vollmer

Joel Vollmer

“I’m always amazed by the strength and simplicity of the sets at MN Opera, but Silent Night went way beyond previous shows. I was amazed by how viewpoint and sympathy could shift as the stage rotated, and how dropping a window onto the battlefield could transform it into a mansion while retaining the sense of lonliness and fragility.” -Kate Saturday

Kate Saturday

Kate Saturday

“The MN Opera company was kind enough to let myself and several other comic artists in to yet another of their final full dress rehearsals this past week, so we could sketch, and tell you all how awesome it was. Thankfully, it was, as usual, pretty dang awesome. In fact, it was one of my favorites so far. The show was brand new, and commissioned by the opera company and was one of only 3 new, premiering operas in the US this whole year. It was called Silent Night, and was about the Christmas eve truce in WWI, between the French, the Germans, and the Scotts. It was surprisingly light on religious overtones, and focused more on the very human and earthy motivations and interactions of the men and women involved.” -Lee Blauersouth

Lee Blauersouth

Lee Blauersouth

“All the soldiers convene and mingle.  They trade booze, tell stories, play soccer, and do other fun things to cut the tension of wanting nothing but to murder each other moments before.  Horstmayer finds Audebert’s wallet and gives it to him, solidifying their friendship.” -Thomas Boguszewski

Thomas Boguszewski

Thomas Boguszewski

 

 

“The largest coffee you have plus a shot.”

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Feature Friday

Angie Keeton (Teaching Artist)

What made you decide on a career in the arts?

Angie Keeton (Teaching Artist)

I don’t know if you really get to decide. Many talented folks try so hard for so long and still never get the chance to make this their full-time job. Hard work, sacrifice and luck all play into the equation when it comes to any non-profit work in the arts. Originally I was going to study medicine, but caught the performing bug in High School. With a LOT of encouragement from my teacher and even MORE counseling for my parents, I was lucky enough to get to study music in college and have been ten times as lucky to be able to make a living performing and teaching.

How long have you been working with opera?

I hadn’t even seen an opera until I was 18 years old. It was La traviata at Opera Theater of St. Louis. I wept my eyes out and decided that THAT was what I wanted to do. But I performed in my first opera 3 years later as a junior in college (Faust).

My first time in a show with Minnesota Opera was as a supernumerary in Rigoletto in 2003. I started as the Teaching Artist in early 2004. My 2 sad years away makes this my 6th FULL season serving as Teaching Artist.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

I have never felt part of a work “family” more than with Minnesota Opera. Although the company produces opera and opera education programs that are world-class, there is still a small-company charm about it. Everyone is so committed to making a great experience for the artists and partrons. I am very proud to say that I work for this company.

Is there any “haute” backstage gossip you would like to share from this or previous performances?

Well, I don’t want to get in trouble. But in my first comprimario role in Madame Butterfly in 2004, one of my chorus colleagues, who is a MNOP veteran, always came to visit me on stage right before I was supposed to sing my lines as Butterfly’s cousin. He would hand me some random object that he was hiding up the sleeve of his kimono. One night it was a plastic eyeball, the next night an ENTIRE role of gaffers tape. But the last night he handed me a piece of chocolate that, god forbid, was going to melt all over the $1000 silk kimono if I didn’t eat it right away. Luckily I was able to gobble it up and clear my throat just before singing my line. Hope I don’t get banned from the costume shop for breaking the #1 commandment—NO EATING IN COSTUME!

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

Husband Seth, baby Miles and our 7 lb. rescue mutt, Stevie. But do you think I could get a bonus item in the form of a case of a good red wine for being such a good mom?

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Nixon in China at Minnesota Opera. You are just flying by the seat of your pants, concentrating on the challenging and unpredictable rhythmic patterns for 3 hours. It was thrilling and exhausting, but we always wondered if the audience realized how hard it was for the performers.

Besides opera, do you have any other favorite genres of music? What are some of your favorite artists from that genre?

I really listen to anything and everything. It helps me stay in touch with the kiddos I visit in the schools, as well as hold on to my youth. But our collection of music spans from Medieval Chant to LCD Soundsystem, or from Willie Nelson and Jonny Cash, to William Shatner’s “Has Been” album. You just never know what you’re gunna get if you shuffle our iTunes library.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

Me? No. I’m just all talk and no walk. Anyway, I work with kids! However my alter-ego, Sergeant Keeton, is a different story. To find out more about her, you have to attend Tempo’s annual Opera Boot Camp.

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

www.angelakeeton.com

Do you speak any languages besides English? What are they?

Typical singer’s working knowledge of French and Italian but my conversation skills are best auf Deutsch!

Gabriel Preisser (baritone, Lieutenant Gordon, Resident Artist)

Where are you based when not performing?

Gabriel Preisser (baritone, Lieutenant Gordon, Resident Artist)

Orlando

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

Stay out of debt and follow your passion.

Where do you feel you delivered your strongest performance?

Figaro in Barber of Seville with Owensboro Symphony.

What tends to be the most challenging element of performing?

Making new and fresh every time.

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

I love to have a fun time, let’s leave it at that.

Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share?

Tenors… Agh…! “Where is the Count for his entrance?” Holds the show… Oh turns out he is taking a shower backstage. He thought he had enough time between scenes and was getting sweaty the poor thing… Tenors!

What are your top three favorite operas?

Falstaff, Giovanni, Il Pagliacci

What is your dream role?

Rigoletto

How long have you been working with opera?

About 8 years

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Postcard from Morroco, complex music and subject matter.

Mary-Lacey Rogers (Resident Artist Administrator)

How has music changed your life?

Mary-Lacey Rogers (Resident Artist Administrator)

It’s made me more self-aware and forced me to redefine the word “perfect.” It’s a brutal career path and staying grounded is a talent not maintained by all.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

Everyone here cares about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what they can do to make you or it better. Since I’ve been here I’ve been helped through running resident artist auditions to being offered winter clothes for my first winter ever… It’s an all around support system.

 Is there any “haute” backstage gossip you would like to share from this or previous performances?

The Cosi cast liked eating potato chips with pickles…. In the same bite. Gross.

What do you typically order when you go out for coffee?

“The largest coffee you have plus a shot.”

Besides opera, do you have any other favorite genres of music? What are some of your favorite artists from that genre?

Country, Jazz, Blues, Pop—anything with a good story and a good beat.

Name your top five favorite movies.

Peter Pan

The Wedding Date

Sleepless In Seattle

Anything with “James Bond” in the title

The Proposal (#5 changes out depending on my mood and the weather)

Are you really as scandalous as they say you are?

I’ve heard rumor that behind my back, fellow employees call me a “kitten with a whip.” I’m not ashamed…

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

I have a blog! The Rustic Stiletto : http://therusticstiletto.wordpress.com/

Do you speak any languages besides English? What are they?

I speak Southern. Just you try and tell me it’s not a language. Try.

What do you like to do when you aren’t busy creating great opera?

Well the first time I wasn’t involved in an opera, I biked across America, a 4,000 mile, 62 day, Baltimore to San Francisco bike ride. Then I became a PADI certified Open Water, Advanced, and Rescue Diver and moved to Key Largo to restore Coral Reefs. Then I went into the wilderness in Utah to learn canyoneering, white water rafting, and how to safely remove scorpions from your sleeping bag while you’re still inside. Then I got Wilderness Medicine certified and obtained my Wilderness First Responder so that I could save myself (and others) in the wilderness. I assisted in Pediatric Pulmonary Cancer research study, and picked up blogging. (“creating great opera” is a really stable thing for me to keep doing…..)

Rumblings from the Opera Troops!

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Feature Friday

Liam Bonner (baritone, Audebert)

Where are you based when not performing?

Liam Bonner (baritone, Audebert)

New York City.

What advice do you offer aspiring artists?

Be yourself.

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

My personality wouldn’t allow me to survive on a deserted island; Castaway was very traumatizing for me

What is your dream role?

Germont in La traviata

 Are there any favorite backstage stories/moments you would like to share from this or previous performances that our audience might enjoy?

Ewa Podles and I were doing Ballo together in Houston and since we were both finished at the end of the first act, we hung out in the dressing room on opening night drinking the bottle of champagne given to us as a gift until it was time for the curtain call. She told me her life story.

What are your top three favorite operas?

Marriage of Figaro, Don Carlo, Billy Budd

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

I have had “hot dish”, but in Pittsburgh (where I’m originally from) it’s just called a casserole. My favorite is zucchini casserole.

Where do you feel you delivered your strongest performance?

As the title role in Halmet with Washington National Opera.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Stravinsky’s ‘Les Noces’  – besides the fact that it’s musically challenging, it’s also in a rural Russian dialect that even my Russian speaking colleague had trouble learning.

How has music changed your life?

I never planned to make a career in music, but I can honestly say that I can’t imagine it any other way. I am aware of how blessed and fortunate I am to be making a living in this profession.

Jamie Andrews (Community Education Director)

What made you decide on a career in the arts?

Jamie Andrew (Community Education Director)

I was not good enough to play for the Twins.

How long have you been working with opera?

Since 2002.

What is your favorite Twin Cities destination?

-My house

-West River Road, on my bike, at sunrise in the fall.

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

Eight Pieces for Four Timpani by Elliot Carter

Besides opera, do you have any other favorite genres of music? What are some of your favorite artists from that genre?

Jazz (Miles Davis and Esperanza Spalding)

Name your top five favorite movies.

Goodfellas

Enchanted April

Mediterraneo

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

The Godfather

How has music changed your life?

It opened so many doors, like the opportunity to travel and meet incredible people, that I could never had imagined growing up in a very small town in WI.

What are your top three favorite operas?

Der Rosenkavalier, Ring Cycle, Falstaff

What do you like to do when you aren’t busy creating great opera?

Going to graduate school.

Have you ever had hot dish, and if so what is your favorite variety?

Tator-tot! What else?

Philip Ostrander, trombone

What made you decide on a career in the arts?

My parents are music educators and I tried to do anything and everything else and couldn’t.

How long have you been working with opera?

5 Seasons.

What do you think makes Minnesota Opera unique from other companies?

The Twin Cities community financial support for the arts, great marketing, costumes, sets.  It’s a great show.

What is your favorite Twin Cities destination?

XCEL center for hockey games!

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring three things, what would they be?

My bible, wife and children.  Maybe some water.

Where do you get your news?

Local Eau Claire newspaper.

What is your favorite thing about Minnesota?

Hockey.

What are your top three favorite operas?

Boheme, Magic Flute, Ring Cycle

What has been the most challenging piece you have worked on and why?

A concerto I’m performing by Gunnar De Frumerie.  Technical and range expectations are very difficult.

Do you have Twitter, a Facebook page or website fans can follow?

http://www.uwec.edu/Mus-The/faculty/ostranpa.htm