“Are you an opera virgin? We suggest how and where to make your own operatic debut. You can even go in jeans …”
Tempo is wild for first timers – we would love to introduce you to opera, the MN Opera community, and the fun that all young professionals have at Tempo!
Welcome back to posts with Mary! I am Mary Dibbern, Head of Music at Minnesota Opera and starting my third season with this amazing company. I spent the summer in my second home in Paris, France, where I gave a recital with the lovely couple Edmundas Seilius, tenor, and Kristina Zmailaite, soprano, from Vilnius, Lithuania. We performed excerpts from their newly released CD of art song duets by Massenet, as well as excerpts from Massenet’s Manon. At the same time, my book Manon: A Performance Guide was released from Pendragon Press (New York). My other recital offering was in Normandy, performing French vocal and instrumental music with baritone Kurt Ollmann, tenor William Lavonis and French violinist Marion Larigaudrie.
Mary Dibbern accompanies baritone Kurt Ollmann at the Atelier de la Main d’Or Concert Hall in Paris, France
A highlight of that concert was the first performance of my edition of Jacques Leguerney’s Sonata for piano and violin, soon to be published by Musik Fabrik. Another project was teaching at the University of Miami in Salzburg, Austria. During two weeks there, I heard many offerings from the Salzburger Festspiele, including the “Notturno for Baritone and String Quartet” by Othmar Schoeck, with Matthias Goerne and the Belcea Quartet. This Quartet is one of the most sensitive and sophisticated I have ever heard.
And speaking of sensitivity and passion, this week I heard the MPR Artist-in-Residence, violinist Chad Hoopes. More musical, more passionate, more moving ….one cannot find. He is from Minnesota and gives us one more reason to be proud of living and working here. The arts in Minnesota are flourishing! Come back next Monday to read some insider stories about Minnesota Opera’s season opener, Mozart and Da Ponte’s Così fan tutte.
