The Santa Fe Opera: An international star right in our own back yard
Season begins with Madame Butterfly, a timeless classic
O
pera is a performance venue that carries a lot of assumptions. If you’ve never been to an opera it’s easy to assume it is too pricey, too uppity, too dated, and way outside your comfort zone. For some opera is an acquired taste; for others it is like mother’s milk. As an art form it not only stimulates the senses with lush staging and stirring dramatic performances, the music of voice stops you in your tracks. When you open your ears and heart to the beauty of the operatic tonality and range of the performers, it matters not whether you like Madame Butterfly, the opera, what you appreciate is the music created by the human instrument playing at its highest level. The Las Vegas Opera Guild reminds us that this venue is right in our own backyard. The Santa Fe Opera is recognized world wide as one of the best opera festivals around, right up there with the Met in New York. Why don’t more Las Vegans take advantage of this stunning resource? That’s a complex question and the answer is somewhat imbedded in dollars. The belief is that opera seats are outrageously expensive. To say that the best seats in the house are cheap would be false, but Opera Guild member Ursel Albers said she has never paid more than $30 for a ticket. Is she sitting in the orchestra seats section? No. Does she care? No. “It’s about the music and you can hear that from anywhere in the house,” she said. In some cases, maybe most cases, sitting back from the stage gives a better picture of the overall production. Instead of a microscope you have a telescope, you can narrow the perspective or widen it. Certainly the staging is better viewed from a bit further back. There are benefits to Opera Guild membership, some of which include ushering at a youth performance, which means you get to see the opera for free, and having access to Santa Fe Opera resources for educational purposes. Other benefits include receiving the Guild newsletter, a discount at the Opera Shop (a simply magnificent place to stimulate the shopper in you!), backstage tours, and an opportunity to volunteer at events. The base membership is $35 per year ($60 for a couple). The greater the membership level the greater the benefits.
Las Vegas is one of nine guilds in New Mexico that support the Santa Fe Opera. While funding is part of it, the other role of the Guilds is to promote interest in and attendance at the opera. Youth are a particular area of focus and one nearly every Guild struggles with. “We have fifty tickets for youth night and we’re having trouble getting all the slots filled,” Ursel said. “Thirty of the tickets are committed to the Pecos schools, but that leaves twenty. Louise (Drlik) is working to get students lined up, but it takes time and we must have the reservations in on deadline.” Youth performances are among several activities developed to attract a younger audience, but there are plenty of events to pique the interest of a wide range of opera lovers or the merely curious. “In the summer for the thirteen-week season, each Saturday morning beginning at 8:30 the Opera opens its doors for Opera Insider,” Ursel said. There is a brief talk about the history of the opera, a continental breakfast and a backstage tour. “Usually there will be someone backstage—the props
Happenstance • April 16, 2010 • Page 6