In This Issue



THE OPERA WALTZ
By Wayne Lee Gay

Vienna had all the outward appearances, in 1874, of the capital of a great empire. New, magnificent governmental buildings lined the Ringstrasse; Emperor Franz Joseph, whose dominions officially stretched over a huge patch of Central Europe, had reigned for a quarter of a century, and would sit on his throne for forty more years.

But anyone in touch with the reality not visible on the maps knew that the days of political glory and military might were over for Austria and Vienna. A wave of defeats, retreats, and withdrawals had reduced Austria to a minor player on the continental scene; within the empire itself, various ethnic groups loudly demanded greater autonomy and freedom. And, across the ocean, in an ultimate humiliation of the once-mighty Hapsburg dynasty, the emperor’s younger brother Maximilian, installed by the French as Emperor of Mexico, had fallen to a firing squad just a few years earlier.

The Viennese themselves, however, continued to enjoy life as if the empire would last forever. Paris, London, and Berlin had their colonies and regiments; Vienna, once home to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, had Sacher-Torte and the waltzes of Johann Strauss, Jr.

A VERY MOVING PERFORMANCE:
An Interview with Die Fledermaus Choreographer Candace Evans
By: Suzanne Calvin

It’s not often that a stage director, making their company debut earns the sort of “ga-ga” critical accolade as director Candace Evans. After the opening of the Dallas Opera’s 2007 production of The Merry Widow, even the publication Opera News sat up and took notice of her quote: “flawless sense of timing.” Ms. Evans was already well known by fans of The Dallas Opera for her stellar choreography in such shows as Ariadne auf Naxos, Puccini’s La Rondine, and later on, our new production of Salome. She has also made a name for herself in this area as a superb Shakespearean director, teacher, and coach. So sufficed to say that wherever she goes and whatever she does, Candace Evans brings an ample supply of intelligence, patience, vision, and enthusiasm to the task.

S: Well you’re going to be returning to The Dallas Opera this coming season. You’ll be serving as choreographer for Die Fledermaus, by Johann Strauss Jr.—opening on December 5th. But before we get into all that, let’s talk just a little bit about your background. You are not from Texas, but as the saying goes, you got here as quick as you could. Tell us about that.

C: That’s absolutely true. When I look back on it I think, what did take me so long—mainly thinking about the snow. I was born in Wisconsin and raised there. My father was a designer and my mother an artist. So I had a fairly artistic start in life. Lived in Wisconsin, studied in Canada, in London, I worked in New York, and then came down here to teach at Southern Methodist University.

S: Well, you were trained really across the board as an opera singer, as well as a dancer, I would imagine that’s a pretty rare combination in the arts.


NASHER PERFORMING ARTS SERIES: OVERTURES WITH THE DALLAS OPERA

The Dallas Opera is pleased to take a leading role in a new performing arts series sponsored by the Nasher Sculpture Center; the first significant effort to unite the major resident performing arts groups of the soon-to-be-completed Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in a single artistic endeavor.

“Overtures with The Dallas Opera” will feature free live performances in the intimate setting of the 180-seat Nasher Hall by internationally renowned opera artists, in addition to lively panel discussions with Dallas Opera General Director George Steel and key members of the artistic and production teams hosted by Associate Director of Marketing Suzanne Calvin (“Inside The Dallas Opera”).

“I am delighted to be partnering with the Nasher Sculpture Center on this wonderful series,” says General Director George Steel. “The Dallas Opera is planning to significantly expand its cross-disciplinary partnerships with its peers.

“The company will be moving to the heart of the Arts District in October 2009, with the completion of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts,” Mr. Steel adds. “I hope this is the first of many dynamic new collaborations between the organizations destined to work and create art, side-by-side, for all the world to see.” The first “Overture with The Dallas Opera” will take place at the Nasher Sculpture Center (next to the DMA) on Sunday, November 2nd at 2:00 PM and the special guest artist will be bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch, who recently created the title role in the world and American premieres of David Cronenberg’s The Fly in Paris and Los Angeles to popular and critical acclaim.

Mr. Wolfgang Holzmair will be performing selections from Die Fledermaus in which he will star as Eisenstein. (December 5-13, 2008).

"Overtures with The Dallas Opera" is free with your regular admission to the Nasher Sculpture Center ($10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for students).

SMU Partnership – Emerging Artists

The Dallas Opera Emerging Artist Program contributes to the season this year with “Follow Your Dreams,” a program based on the personal stories of each cast member and their anticipation and excitement for the new Winspear Opera House. Justin Fvala, UNT Arts Management Graduate Student will mentor students this season and coordinate social networking.

With the season lasting from March 2nd through the beginning of May, four SMU students (Dee Gavin Donasco, Juan Jose de Leon, Soowon Seo, and Selby Hlangu) will perform throughout the metroplex. The variety of venues will include local museums, libraries, churches, retirement communities, recreation centers, music organizations, and schools.

The program is still accepting reservations.

A Closer Look at our Partners

The Dallas Opera expresses our deepest gratitude to Chubb for their generous support of our Opening Night Celebration. It was a truly wonderful night! For more than 120 years, innovation, quality protection and unparalleled service have been the hallmarks of Chubb. Discriminating individuals, families and their advisors choose Chubb Personal Insurance not only because Chubb offers higher limits and broader coverages than standard insurers but also because of Chubb’s outstanding claims service and financial strength. Chubb receives consistently high ratings for financial stability from A.M. Best, and for claim-paying ability from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. As a measure of Chubb’s reputation, more than 60 percent of the Forbes 400 wealthiest people in the United States, more than ½ of the Fortune 500 CEOs and 60% of the U.S. collectors on The ARTnews 200 top collectors list have chosen Chubb Personal Insurance. www.chubb.com


The great American actor Charles Nelson Rylie was stage director AND played Frosch in our 1999 production of Die Fledermaus.

OPERAtion HQ: Building a Home in Winspear

The move into the new opera house is less than a year away, but there’s still time for you to help build the company’s new offices. OPERAtion HQ is your special opportunity to help build the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House and directly support The Dallas Opera. By contributing to the construction of the company’s offices, you help eliminate future rental expenses which in turn boosts the opera’s long-term financial health. Four partners – David M. Crowley Foundation, Phyllis and Tom McCasland, James R. Seitz, and Strasburger and Price, LLP – have made significant gifts to get the campaign rolling. These partners now challenge you to also make a contribution and bring the campaign to completion. Gifts of any size make a difference, gifts over $25,000 get permanent recognition. Naming opportunities are also available.

After two consecutive seasons as Seattle Opera resident stage director, Israeli born Tomer Zvulun is currently on the directing staffs of the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera. In addition to directing our production of Die Fledermaus this season, Mr. Zvulun will direct Der Fliegende Holländer for Atlanta Opera and a new production of The Elixir of Love for Sugar Creek Festival. We asked him about the music on his iPod and found out he has 2. Here’s what he said:

I actually have 2 iPods: the old, clumsy 40 GB - the only way I can fit all this music... Lately I have added the smaller, “iPod shuffle” which contains only 1 GB of music. It’s very compact and is great to take along to the gym or for jogging. The stuff I have on my iPod is quite eclectic and can be divided into a few separate categories.

Musicians I admire for their music but more importantly for their lyrics:
Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Sondheim’s musicals, David Sylvian, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, The Smiths.

Music that was the soundtrack for my years in the army and school:
As you can see, I was an opera virgin for many years… Pink Floyd, Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Queen, U2, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, David Bowie, Deep purple, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Guns and Roses, Metallica.

Music I love listening to just to wind down:
Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Louis and Ella, Ain’t misbehavin’, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Etta James, James Brown, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder

Courses in German, Italian, French and Russian – I am constantly working on my languages.

Israeli music for when I miss home:
Arik Einstein, the 16 lamb, Ehud Banay, Machina. But also Gypsy music: Goran Bregovic, Emir Kustarice - And French music: Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, George Bressens

Oh yes, opera - A combination of operas that I am preparing for, that I have already worked on and that I really WANT to do:
Lucia di Lammermoor, La Rondine, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, The RING cycle, Der Fliegende Holländer, Die Meistersinger Von Nurenburg, L’Italiana in Algieri, La traviata, Aida. And of course Die Fledermaus (3 different versions), Salome, Rosenkavalier, Falstaff, Otello, La Fanciula del West, Il Trittico, The Rake’s Progress, Peter Grimes, A Midsummer night’s Dream, The Rape of Lucretia, Kaiser von Atlantis

Other classical music: Chopin Piano Sonatas, Beethoven symphonies, Brahms symphonies, Mozart Piano Concertos and Requiem.