SANTA FE – In 2016, the year of its 60th anniversary, the Santa Fe Opera will stage five new productions, including two operas that had not been performed here before – but no national or international premieres. This year, representatives from 38 opera companies, as well as artist managers and other music presenting organizations, were present for the showcase.The Santa Fe Opera.

During the first week in August, the members of the Apprentice perform a showcase, each singing an aria in quasi audition format. 44 young singers are in residence throughout the season, singing in the chorus, filling the smaller roles and covering the principal roles.

Santa Fe’s young artist program is the oldest in the country and is celebrating its sixtieth year. Many of the smaller comprimario roles were taken by members of the Santa Fe Opera apprentices program. Solomon Howard was an imposing Duke, and Raymond Aceto brought gravitas to the role of Friar Lawrence, although it was unclear why his cell had been transformed into a hospital ward. Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez were perfectly matched in the title roles, effortlessly gliding through the challenges of the music. The ballet sequences in Act, which were obligatory for the Paris Opera of the time, were reinstated here, as well as the Wedding Scene in Act 2, where Juliet is to marry Paris, but collapses from the poison she has consumed. This production of Romeo and Juliet included parts of the opera that are often omitted in performance.

The red shirts of the Montagues and the blue shirts of the Capulets were easy to distinguish! Ashley Martin-Davis’ set is a forbidding mausoleum-like structure which foreshadows the story’s tragic end. The HOT Take From The Santa Fe Opera Festival – Gounod’s Romeo & Julietĭirector Stephen Lawless sets his production of Romeo and Juliet “in the time of Gounod” rather than Shakespeare’s time.

Santa fe opera 2016 season