If you’re someone who thinks opera is unexciting, you should probably think again. In celebration of their 40th anniversary, Utah Opera announced their 2017-2018 season performances including a 40-day extravaganza and the Utah debut of two in-house productions. The season will feature four extravagant main-stage productions, and in September ethereal soprano Renée Fleming will bless Utah with her presence.
Counting down to the new season, Utah Opera will put on 40 Days of Opera. Starting on September 1, they’ll host a new operatic event daily. In collaboration with various other companies, they’ll create pop-up performances and other events at community buildings, outdoor festivals, and even sporting events. Think flash-mob, and then add a little bit more planning-ahead to make room for critically acclaimed, timeless vocal performances. Thank goodness for smartphones.
On September 13, world-renowned Renée Fleming will perform with the Utah Opera Chorus and the Utah Symphony. Proceeds from this will be going to the Utah Opera education department. Each year, the department introduces more than 140,000 Utah kids to opera and orchestral music thanks to Resident Artist presentations and concerts at schools. Fleming is known as one of the greatest sopranos in all of operatic history and kids love music–we genuinely cannot think of any downside to this.
The season officially opens in October 2017 with Puccini’s La bohème, which was, in 1978, the first-ever production by Utah Opera. (We’ll give you a moment to wipe away your tears of nostalgia– then, read on.) Following this will be Utah’s inaugural performance of Moby-Dick, with brand new sets and costumes. After this is scheduled a double-whammy-bill of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, a classic pairing of tragedy and comedy. The season will conclude with Die Fledermaus, a production of ‘Waltz King.’ All of these performances will be housed in Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre, but only the last two performances (Moby Dick and Pagliacci/Schicchi) will be in-house productions. For a full schedule of this wildly exciting season, see below.
2017-18 SEASON PERFORMANCES
- An Evening with Renée Fleming
- at Abravanel Hall
- September 13, 2017 (7:30 PM)
- La bohème
- Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre
- By Giacomo Puccini
- October 7, 9, 11, 13, 2107 at 7:30 p.m. and October 15 at 2 p.m.
- Moby-Dick
- Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre
- By Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer
- January 20, 22, 24, 26, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. and January 28, 2018 at 2:00 p.m.
- Pagliacci / Gianni Schicchi
- Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre
- By Ruggero Leoncavallo (“Pagliacci”) and Giacomo Puccini (“Gianni Schicchi”)
- March 10, 12, 14, 16, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. and March 18, 2018 at 2 p.m.
- Die Fledermaus
- Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre
- By Johann Strauss Jr.
- May 12, 14, 16, 18, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. and May 20, 2018 at 2 p.m.
Complete casting and artistic teams for 2017-18 productions will be announced at a later date.
For more information, visit www.utahopera.org or call (801) 533-6683.
-Amy Whiting
