Opera Saratoga 2020 Summer Festival: Madama Butterfly

Saratoga Springs, NY – Opera Saratoga announced today the three operas that will be featured at the center of the company’s 2020 Summer Festival, to be presented at The Spa Little Theatre in Spa State Park, from June 20th through July 5th, 2020.

The 2020 Summer Festival will feature new productions of two audience favorites, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, alongside the New York premiere of a riveting new opera by Lembit Beecher and Hannah Moscovitch, Sky on Swings, which received its critically acclaimed world premiere in 2018.

The Festival will also feature multiple concerts and public master classes highlighting the exceptional members of Opera Saratoga’s Young Artist Program, under the direction of Laurie Rogers, who celebrates her tenth anniversary as the program’s director in 2020. These additional events will culminate in a complete performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, conducted by Maestra Rogers, on the final day of the Festival, July 5, 2020.

“The 2020 Summer Festival continues Opera Saratoga’s commitment to present masterworks from the operatic canon, works that introduce family audiences to the excitement of lyric theater, and important contemporary works,” said Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson. “We also remain committed to showcasing leading international artists alongside the next generation of gifted emerging artists. At Opera Saratoga, audiences have the opportunity to hear truly exceptional singing and theatrically compelling productions in an intimate space that creates a truly visceral experience. There are few theaters in the world where you enjoy this caliber of performance as up-close-and-personal as you can at Opera Saratoga.”

MADAMA BUTTERFLY
Japanese Director Izumi Ashizawa, whose work explores global diplomacy through physical story-telling, unconventional puppetry and object animation, will make her debut with Opera Saratoga next summer, creating a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Ashizawa brings her unique approach to theater, based on Japanese physical performance techniques, to the heartbreaking story of hope, devotion, and betrayal amidst the cherry blossoms of Nagasaki. Cio-Cio-San, a young wife and mother, waits for the return of her beloved B.F. Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the United States Navy. When his ship comes in, her dreams for the future meet his — with tragic results. South African soprano Kelebogile Besong, who has recently enthralled audiences at Festival d’Aix en Provence, Teatro Regio di Torino, The Edinburgh International Festival and Bayerische Staatsoper, will make her company and role debut as Cio-Cio-San. Conductor Dean Williamson, Music Director for Nashville Opera who has led productions for Seattle Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Minnesota Opera, will also make his company debut leading the production.

“Madama Butterfly is one of the most beloved of Puccini’s operas, but is also a work that presents challenges for contemporary audiences,” Edelson explained. “As a historically white and European art form, opera has a history of using cultural appropriation to tell stories. There is no questioning the glory of the score, but Madama Butterfly’s popularity has perpetuated and reinforced many stereotypes of Japan, and Asian women in particular. In considering how we might produce Madama Butterfly today, three things were very important to me. First, we eliminate all hints of yellowface – the offensive and outdated tradition of making non-Asian singers look Asian through makeup – in the production. Second, that we have a diverse cast who can honor the vocal demands of the opera, and ensure we are focused on creating characters, not caricatures. And third, that we have a director who can create a production that will allow us to look at the story through a different lens than we have in the past. I am thrilled that the brilliant Japanese director Izumi Ashizawa will create a production for us that will allow us to enjoy this exquisite score and story with new perspective.”

Complete casting, additional concerts, symposia and public master classes for the 2020 Summer Festival will be announced in the coming months.

Subscriptions will go on sale October 1, 2019. Along with Choose Your Own Subscription Packages, two Getaway Weekends in late June and early July – during which it will be possible to see all three Festival productions – will be available as subscriptions with discounted accommodations available for out of town visitors.

Single Tickets will go on sale February 15, 2020.

For more information, please visit www.operasaratoga.org

2020 OPERA PRODUCTIONS
ALL OPERA PERFORMANCES TAKE PLACE AT: THE SPA LITTLE THEATER, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY
Opera Tickets: $125 / $100 / $75 / $50
Subscriptions: Discount Packages Available

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE (1879)
Music by Sir Arthur Sullivan; Libretto by Sir W.S. Gilbert

Performance Dates:
Friday, June 19, 2020 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, June 21, 2020 @ 2pm
Monday, June 29, 2020 @ 2pm
Saturday, July 4, 2020 @ 2pm

Conductor: Brian DeMaris (debut)
Director and Choreographer: Eve Summer
Featuring: Opera Saratoga Festival Artists

SKY ON SWINGS (2018) – New York Premiere
Music by Lembit Beecher; Libretto by Hannah Moscovitch

Performance Dates:
Saturday, June 20, 2020 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, June 27, 2020 @ 2pm
Thursday, July 2, 2020 @ 7:30pm

Conductor: Emily Senturia (debut)
Director: Lawrence Edelson
Featuring: Susanne Mentzer (debut) and Marietta Simpson (debut)

MADAMA BUTTERFLY (1904)
Music by Giacomo Puccini; Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa

Performance Dates:
Friday, June 26, 2020 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, June 28, 2020 @ 2pm
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 @ 7:30pm
Friday, July 3, 2020 @ 2pm

Conductor: Dean Williamson (debut)
Director: Izumi Ashizawa (debut)
Featuring: Kelebogile Besong (debut)

ABOUT OPERA SARATOGA
Opera Saratoga, formerly known as Lake George Opera, began with a production of Die Fledermaus at the Diamond Point Theatre on July 5, 1962, playing to an audience of 230. The Company now calls Saratoga Springs home and performs for more than 25,000 people annually. Opera Saratoga serves the communities of Saratoga Springs, the Lower Adirondack and New York State Capital areas by providing access to world-class opera through the production of an annual Summer Festival, as well as year-round activities including extensive educational programs, mentorship of emerging operatic artists, and unique opportunities for the public to experience opera in both our home theater and non-traditional venues that leverage and embrace the unique cultural, historic, and natural resources of the area. To date, the company has performed 104 different fully staged works by 65 different composers, including 42 works by American composers and 14 premiere productions. In 2014, the Board of Directors appointed Lawrence Edelson Opera Saratoga’s Artistic and General Director. Edelson’s leadership has marked a new chapter in the company’s history, with increased emphasis on community partnerships throughout the year, diversification of the company’s repertoire, and a reaffirmed commitment to both the presentation of American opera and the mentorship of emerging artists as core activities in the company’s programs each season. The 2020 Summer Festival marks the sixth season under his leadership. For more information, visit www.operasaratoga.org.