Cristian Macelaru conducting Shostakovich/Photo provided by CSO
Besides great performances in Cincinnati, 2024 was a year of anniversaries, historic firsts, farewells and new beginnings. In some instances, there was news-making connected with these performances. In chronological order:
1) Last February, when he led a thrilling and revelatory performance of Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No. 11 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, we didn’t yet know that Cristian Macelaru would be announced as the 14th CSO music director. The conductor riveted listeners in Music Hall when he led Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, “The Year 1905.” He moved little as he led Shostakovich’s vast symphonic canvas, but the sheer visceral impact of this performance lingered long afterward. The orchestra’s musicians were impressed. For Macelaru, the feeling was mutual, he said in April, when his appointment was announced. Macelaru returns for his only performances with the CSO this season in February. And in other CSO leadership news, the CSO announced that President and CEO Jonathan Martin will retire Feb. 16. Robert McGrath, the CSO’s chief operating officer, will then step in as acting president and CEO.Read More »
Isabel Leonard will make her Cincinnati debut in recital on Dec. 1/photo by Sergio Kurhajec
Opera star Isabel Leonard has been wowing audiences and critics around the world. She’s about to make her Cincinnati recital debut.
The singer, a mezzo-soprano and New York native, was scheduled to perform one of her signature roles, Rosina, in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville during Cincinnati Opera’s 100th anniversary season in 2020. We all know what happened — Covid caused the whole season to be canceled. Nevertheless, she did a charming podcast with artistic director Evans Mirageas, available here.
Finally, we’ll have a chance to hear Leonard’s artistry in some of her signature operatic arias and much more when she performs a recital with collaborative pianist John Arida for Matinée Musicale Cincinnati on Dec. 1 at Memorial Hall. The concert is at 5 p.m.
Since making her Metropolitan Opera debut as Stéphano in Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette in 2007, she has sung on the world’s leading stages in a range of repertoire. This season (in June 2025), she’ll reprise Rosina in Damiano Michieletto’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Opéra National de Paris. She’s also performing Anita in a concert performance of Bernstein’s West Side Story, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.
In 2020, Leonard appeared with Louis Langrée and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a staged production of Ravel’s one-act opera, L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Sorceries). Here’s my review of her enchanting performance. (She also won a Grammy for the recording of this piece.)
Her Cincinnati program will show some of that versatility. Of course, we can’t wait to hear her sing “Una voce poco fa” from Rossini’s Barber of Seville, or “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” from Bizet’s Carmen. There’s also a set of Spanish songs.
But for many in this audience, the icing on the cake will likely be her final set of Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein and a song by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan often performed by Kristin Chenoweth, “The Girl in 14G.”
Leonard has won three Grammy Awards — for Michael Tilson Thomas’ From the Diary of Anne Frank on SFS Media; Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges on Decca; and The Tempest from The Metropolitan Opera on Deutsche Grammophon.
Her list of television and movie credits includes an appearance in the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, directed by Bradley Cooper, in the finale of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.” She was just nominated for another Grammy for her performance in Maestro, alongside the London Symphony Orchestra led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in the category Best Compilation Soundtrack.
Tickets: $15-$35; students $10. Call the box office at 513-977-8838 (Tues-Friday, 1-6 p.m.) or visit matineemusicalecincinnati.org.
Cincinnati Opera will revive its lavish production of Tosca in 2025. Philip Groshong , photo
For its 105th anniversary this summer, June 12-July 27, 2025, Cincinnati Opera will present the all-time favorite musical, “Fiddler on the Roof,” in a new production. The season also will include Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and Puccini’s “Tosca.” The 2025 Summer Festival, which will feature acclaimed casts, will include the return of the popular Studio Sessions, intimate, artist-curated concerts presented cabaret-style. All performances are in Cincinnati’s Music Hall.
This will also mark Evans Mirageas‘ 20th season as Cincinnati Opera’s artistic director.Read More »
Former Beatle Paul McCartney will not be attending the July 18 opening night performance of “Liverpool Oratorio,” the world premiere of it’s first-ever staged version presented by Cincinnati Opera in Music Hall. But he will send a personal message to Cincinnati opera audiences, officials said on July 15.
“While we’ve just learned that Sir Paul is unable to travel to Cincinnati for opening night, he wanted to be with us at Music Hall however he could. He’s shared an exclusive message intended just for Liverpool Oratorio audience members—only those in attendance at Music Hall will have the chance to experience it,” said artistic director Evans Mirageas, in a note to attendees of “To Sir with Love,” a party taking place after the opening night show.
An audio of Sir Paul’s message will be played for the opening night audience.
Don’t give up — McCartney could potentially appear for another performance during the run, which includes four addditional shows through July 27. That is not confirmed, however.
A city-wide “Get Paul to Music Hall” campaign has been mounted to invite him to the premiere. Tickets are nearly sold out for opening night, but some remain for the rest of the run.
McCartney — along with composer Carl Davis — penned the oratorio for the 150th anniversary of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society in 1991. It’s a love letter to Liverpool, with personal remembrances from McCartney’s boyhood there. The oratorio has never been presented with opera-style staging, sets, lighting and costumes before. There will even be ballet dancers.
You’ll find more information about the production here: I interviewed the creative team and two of the leading cast members. (Cincinnati Business Courier arts stories are free to read.)
For the full synopsis, performance times and tickets, click here.
A review of La Traviata is coming… It’s a gorgeous production and a must see. Unfortunately, there was an incident at Music Hall last night just as we were arriving. Here’s the statement from Chris Milligan, general director and CEO, just released:
As you may be aware, there was a police incident outside Music Hall on Thursday, June 27, just as our opening night performance of La Traviata was about to begin.
Police Chief Teresa Theetge offered a public statement that police officers had been in pursuit of a suspect accused of attacking a woman in a neighborhood west of downtown. The chase ended near Music Hall, where the armed suspect was shot by police. The suspect died at the scene.
In recent years, Cincinnati Opera has kicked off its season with a free concert in Washington Park, OTR
Passing on this notice regarding tonight’s outdoor opera concert in Washington Park:
Due to the ongoing threat of inclement weather, and out of concern for the safety of our audience, artists, crew members, and staff, the outdoor Opera in the Park concert scheduled for Sunday, June 11, at 7:30 p.m. has been canceled.
The CSO Brass Institute performance will go on as scheduled at 6:00 p.m. but will take place indoors at First Lutheran Church located adjacent to Washington Park at 1208 Race Street.
I recently received the news that former Cincinnati Opera general director and artistic director James “Jim” de Blasis has passed away at the age of 91. His daughter writes:
“During his career, which spanned nearly 50 years, Jim worked with and gave opportunities to many young opera singers, who went on to become famous in their field. He was ahead of his time in staging productions of rare operas and set the level of expectation of his casts very high. The result was always thrilling!”
De Blasis with Patty Beggs and James Morris Photos provided
Some of those “young rising stars” included James Morris, Tom Fox and Barbara Daniels. During his tenure, a “Who’s Who” of the opera world crossed Cincinnati’s stage — Beverly Sills, John Alexander, Kathleen Battle, Sherrill Milnes, Renata Scotto, Richard Leech and many more.
Mr. de Blasis worked with Cincinnati Opera for about 28 years. He was named Cincinnati Opera’s Resident Stage Director in 1968. He served as its General Director from 1973 to 1987. In 1988 he became its Artistic Director, a post he held until 1996.
In his 25th anniversary in 1993, it was reported that his record was only surpassed by Fausto Cleva. He’d directed 93 productions, including 15 company premieres. He oversaw the move of the Summer Festival from its longtime home outdoors at Cincinnati Zoo to Music Hall in 1972.
His innovations included the Cincinnati Opera Ensemble, which toured area schools, and the Young American Artists Program.
During his tenure, Cincinnati Opera programmed rare operas such as Maxwell Davies’ Resurrection and Weinberger’s Schwanda the Bagpiper. It also added musicals to its repertory — H.M.S. Pinafore, South Pacific and The Music Man — in an effort to broaden the audience base.
One of early highlights of the de Blasis era was a new interpretation of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, which changed the setting from Spain in the 1820s to the “Wild West” of 19th-century Texas. The production was later filmed by WCET and nationally televised on PBS in 1980.
Mr. de Blasis was preceded in death by his wife Ruth — who often delivered pre-performance lectures and provided narrations — and leaves his daughter Blythe de Blasis Watkins, son-in-law Brad Watkins, and grandchild Brenna Watkins.
The family wishes memorial contributions be made to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.
With thanks to Eldred Theirstein’s Cincinnati Opera: From the Zoo to Music Hall.
Cincinnati Opera returned to its Music Hall stage this summer after a two-year hiatus due to Covid. I’m sure there was trepidation in the company about whether the audience would return, just as new variants were emerging. Happily, audiences came. In fact, the total attendance for three grand operas in Music Hall and two new operas in a smaller venue at SCPA was higher than that of the 2019 season before the pandemic hit.
“We count our ‘return to Music Hall’ season a great success,” said general director and CEO Chris Milligan.
The company saw extraordinary national media coverage with reviews in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and a story on NPR’s All Things Considered. Here’s a column about the international buzz surrounding this production.
Attendance exceeded that of the 2019 Summer Festival at 20,747, compared to 19,736 pre-pandemic.
The company met its revised revenue goal with $1.65 million in ticket sales.
Attendees from 42 states came to see performances.
There were zero canceled performances thanks to Covid-safety protocol.
Cincinnati Opera’s 2019 production “Blind Injustice” was by the same creative team. Photo provided.
Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) announce the next workshop in their groundbreaking joint program, Opera Fusion: New Works.
The featured opera currently has the working title of ROBESON Opera and includes music by Scott Davenport Richards and a libretto by Richards and David Cote, with CCM Professor Robin Guarino as dramaturg. Guarino will also serve as stage director. ROBESON Opera will receive a 10-day workshop culminating in a public performance of excerpts on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at 3 p.m. in Music Hall’s Wilks Studio.
Inspired by historical events, ROBESON Opera also resonates with today’s ongoing fights for social justice.
ROBESON Opera (working title) is the latest work from the creative team behind the critically acclaimed 2019 opera Blind Injustice. ROBESON Opera is an epic and inspiring examination of Black singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson (1898–1976). A global superstar, Robeson leveraged his fame to fight on the frontlines for equality. His heroic and uncompromising efforts against fascism and racism worldwide led Robeson to be entangled in the tragic power struggle between the two superpowers of the twentieth century—the United States and the USSR—with his own life and career hanging in the balance.
Funded through a gift from the Mellon Foundation, Opera Fusion: New Works (OF:NW) is a partnership between Cincinnati Opera and CCM dedicated to fostering the development of new American operas. This collaboration is jointly led by Evans Mirageas, The Harry T. Wilks artistic director of Cincinnati Opera, and Robin Guarino, professor of opera at CCM.
Admission: FREE; reservations are required and seating is limited. Contact Cincinnati Opera Box Office (513) 241-2742 M-F, 12-5 p.m.
Marco Panuccio in Donizetti’s “Lucie de Lammermoor”/photo by Philip Groshong
I always looked forward to hearing the latest program that tenor Marco Panuccio was planning for his popular “O Holy Night” concert for the holiday season. This year, as I compiled my list of holiday shows, I didn’t hear from Marco, and I missed him. I didn’t know, like many of you, that he was battling a terrible virus named Covid-19. He died last weekend.
This Friday, Cincinnati Opera artistic director Evans Mirageas will devote his weekly segment at around 6:30 p.m. (right after the 6 O’Clock Symphony) to Marco’s memory. He’ll play excerpts from Marco’s performance as Edgard in Cincinnati Opera’s “Lucie de Lammermoor” (in French) in 2008.
