Friday, DCist went to the symphony, and we told you about the National Symphony’s first concert and the schedule for the rest of their 75th anniversary season. September is also the time when our minds start to turn to thoughts of opera in Washington. Wouldn’t it be great if there were some way to hear an opera and at the same time help suffering people?
OPERA THIS WEEK:
>> This Wednesday (September 14 at 7 p.m.), you could do just that by attending the dress rehearsal of Washington National Opera‘s new production of I Vespri Siciliani by masterful Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (shown here). If you want to attend this event, you don’t need a ticket, but donations (suggested as $100 per seat but not limited to that amount, of course) will be collected for the American Red Cross’s efforts directed toward Hurricane Katrina relief. WNO director and opera superstar Plácido Domingo will conduct a cast headed by soprano Maria Guleghina, a high-octane Ukrainian soprano whom opera blogger Sieglinde’s Diaries dubbed the Oceanliner and the Sonic Boom, during her appearance as Abigaille in last season’s Nabucco at the Met. For more information on attending the dress rehearsal, call (202) 295-2420, on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. This DCist will be attending the opera’s fabulous premiere performance this Saturday (September 17 at 7 p.m.), and we will give you our impression. As of today, no performance is sold out, which hopefully means that there will be lots of tickets made available to members of Generation O, the reduced-price ticket program for students and young professionals, ages 18 to 35. We’ve said this before, but go sign up, people: opera does not have to be as expensive as you think.
>> A little local company called Opera Bel Cantanti will present four staged and complete performances of Donizetti’s comic opera La Fille du Régiment over the next couple weeks. This highly entertaining work makes or breaks tenors, as it did for a young Luciano Pavarotti before he became a superstar, because of Tonio’s famous aria “Ah! Mes Amis,” with its incredible series of high C’s. Performances this week are on Friday (September 16 at 7:30 p.m.) in North Bethesda United Methodist Church (10100 Old Georgetown Rd.) and Sunday (September 18 at 7:30 p.m.) at Christ Lutheran Church (8011 Old Georgetown Rd.), both in Bethesda. Tickets: $30 (students, $20).
