Dallas Opera announces final 2008-2009 season at Fair Park Music Hall and inaugural 2009-2010 season at Winspear Opera House

by Shawn Parikh

The Dallas Opera still has 2 shows (Salome and Porgy & Bess) left in their current season, yet they are already gearing up for the next two years. Their 2008-2009 season, titled "Lovers & Scoundrels: The Boys Your Momma Warned You About," will mark their final time to perform at the Music Hall at Fair Park. The year 2009-2010 will mark the first time for the company to perform in the new Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. This 53rd season will be titled “High Notes and High Seas!”

Season subscribers may renew their seats today for the 2008-2009 season and a limited number of new subscriber seats are being offered to the general public. A subscription seat for all five productions ranges from $75 to $1,020, and you can call 214-443-1000 for more information. Here is the lineup for their 2008-2009 season:

• The Marriage of Figaro on November 14, 16, 19 & 22, 2008. By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The characters in The Barber of Seville are all grown up, with grown up problems that have to be resolved in one crazy day. Throw in a teenager with a major crush, a tipsy gardener, and schemers and dreamers looking for love and you have one of Mozart’s finest and funniest operas! Considered revolutionary – both musically and politically – this lively romantic comedy begins with Figaro and Susanna preparing for their wedding night, not realizing how many people they’ll have to maneuver around in order to fall into each other’s arms! Filled with one breathtaking aria after another, this is Mozart at his most moving. In Italian with English translations.
• Die Fledermaus on December 5, 7, 10 & 13, 2008. By Johann Strauss. The work that defined Viennese operetta at the height of its Golden Age. Marked by one memorable hit after another, you’ll be swaying to these much-loved melodies long after the performance is done. The Dom Pérignon of opera. Ah, to be independently wealthy, handsome and loved! Life looks pretty good to Gabriel von Eisenstein until he, his lovely wife, and their rambunctious maid are caught in a practical joke that exposes all their secrets! Mistaken identities, royal balls, and too much Champagne without a designated driver create merriment galore!
• Roberto Devereux on January 23, 25, 28 & 31, 2009. By Gaetano Donizetti. Fantastic singing and unforgettable personalities mix in this action-packed clash of British royals and rebels. Fiery, feisty, gripping – It doesn’t get better than this. She gave her name to the “Elizabethan Age,” but her heart went to the wrong man and heads must roll. This riveting drama pits England’s Queen Elizabeth I against the clever and ambitious Robert, Earl of Essex, his demure lady love – and her unsuspecting husband. Donizetti’s last and greatest opera for Teatro San Carlo is as passionate as it is political. Pick your side…carefully.
• La Bohème on February 13, 15, 18 & 21, 2009. By Giacomo Puccini. The starving bohemians of 19th century Paris learn how to make love, how to make friends and influence people, and how to survive in a cold, hard world. Picture dorm life without laundry privileges or a cafeteria card. It may be the most romantic opera of all time, set among the rooftops and cafés of the down-and-out Latin Quarter, (2 parts Soho, one part Deep Ellum). Puccini’s unforgettable music, poignant romance and a stellar cast will take you back to a time when hunger for success couldn’t hold a candle to one’s hunger for love.
• The Italian Girl in Algiers on March 6, 8, 11 & 14, 2009. By Gioachino Rossini. A masterful Italian comic gem by the man who gave us “The Barber of Seville.” The Turkish Bey of Algiers, bored with his harem, sends the captain of his guard to find a new bride. He seizes upon the lovely victim of a shipwreck, an “Italian girl” searching for her lost lover. But don’t think she’ll go quietly. It’s one of the greatest comedies in opera, sparkling with Rossini’s effervescent music and a keen understanding of just how far we’ll go to get the man or woman of our dreams! Featuring one of the most memorable comic villains who ever walked the stage and the mother of all culture clashes.

Dates will not be released until January 2009 for performances during the 2009-2010 season of "High Notes and High Seas!", but the 5 productions will include:

• Verdi's Otello in October 2009
• Mozart's Così fan tutte in February 2010
• Donizetti's Don Pasquale in February 2010
• Puccini's Madame Butterfly in May 2010
• World premiere of Moby-Dick by composer Jake Heggie & librettist Gene Scheer.