Cincinnati Opera’s 2024 season spans three centuries with Mozart’s 1787 masterpiece Don Giovanni , followed by Verdi’s La Traviata . The season concludes with the first staged production of Liverpool Oratorio , composed by Paul McCartney and American composer Carl Davis, which had its world premiere in 1991.
The intimate studio sessions in Music Hall’s Wilks Theater offer cabaret-style performances by three of this season’s leading artists. Jacqueline Echols McCarley’s program features spirituals, gospel and jazz. Elliot Madore reflects on juggling the demands of family and career. Jessica Rivera offers a program reflecting her Latina heritage.
Mozart’s bad boy leads off in a traditional production with one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Mozart, Dame Jane Glover, on the podium and a cast that features University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) faculty and alumni. Director Alison Moritz, who staged last season’s powerful, stunning production of The Knock , takes on the challenge to broaden the troubling character of Don Giovanni, a notorious womanizer.
“Having a woman directing this was intentional,” says Evans Mirageas, Cincinnati Opera’s artistic director. “Alison has been doing a lot of research, noting how Don Giovanni often comes off as a predatory man, a serial rapist who gets dragged off to hell at the end.”
“After several discussions, we saw him as a shapeshifter who sees what his target wants and turns himself into that character. It doesn’t make him any better but he’s not someone who randomly seduces and preys on women.”
“You alter a person’s life forever when you abuse them,” Mirageas adds. “We had patrons and board members who asked why do this? But it’s so close to real life and, even with a few laughs, it’s a cautionary tale. I’m loving that Alison has taken us into the Edwardian era and run with this story.”
Grammy Award-winning baritone Madore makes his Cincinnati Opera debut in the title role. An acclaimed artist with credits in opera, musical theater and solo recitals, Madore joined CCM’s voice faculty in 2021 and maintains a busy international career.
“My first choice for the Don was Elliot, whose career I’d been following for many years,” says Mirageas. “Then there were other CCM alumni I’d been following: Christian Pursell, who’s singing the Don’s servant Leporello, Erin Keesy, our Zerlina, and Jessica Faselt as Donna Anna. What a wonderful way to show what our connection with this great institution can be!”
Tenor Aaron Blake and soprano Jessica Rivera return as Don Ottavio and Donna Elvira.
Verdi’s La Traviata is perhaps his most personal opera, based on Alexandre Dumas’s novel, The Lady of the Camellias , inspired by the life of his one-time mistress Marie Duplessis, a beautiful Parisian courtesan who was 23 when she died of tuberculosis.
Verdi himself was living with his mistress (and second wife), Giuseppina Strepponi, a woman very much an outsider like his heroine Violetta. “It’s Verdi’s only opera about real people in real time,” says Mirageas, noting that the opera premiered in 1853.
The score is one of Verdi’s most appealing: heartbreaking melodies, of course, but also raucous drinking choruses and virtuosic arias.
This production marks Cincinnati Opera debuts for Italian soprano Gilda Fiume, Argentinian/Italian tenor Santiago Ballerini and conductor Lorenzo Passerini. Fiume has performed Violetta throughout Italy and is noted for her lyric coloratura. Ballerini has been heard in leading roles in North and South America and in Europe.
Mirageas says he hopes the traditional production will be enhanced by director Trevore Ross’s exploration of secondary characters who can be seen as Violetta’s family. “You’re going to hear every word and all the music but the adjacent characters are more focused, more believable.”
In July, McCartney is topping the bill as the company presents the world premiere of a staged version of his Liverpool Oratorio , co-written with Davis.
Written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the oratorio had its premiere in Liverpool Cathedral, where McCartney had failed to make it into the boys’ chorus.
When a board member asked Cincinnati Opera General Manager and CEO Chris Milligan about a follow-up to the successful 2018 production of Another Brick in the Wall , Milligan immediately turned to the recording of Liverpool Oratorio and shared it with Mirageas.
“After listening to it and reading through the score, I realized this is an opera,” he recalls. “I contacted Paul’s American rep, who told me there had been interest in staging it, but it never happened. He said, ‘Paul will be very interested; send information on the creative team.’”
Mirageas says he had barely sent off an email when he received “a ringing endorsement” from the man himself:
“I am writing to express my wholehearted support for this project,” McCartney wrote in a letter to the Cincinnati Opera. “I believe that the Cincinnati Opera is uniquely positioned to bring this work to life in a new way, and I have no doubt that your production will be an inspiring experience for all who see it.”
Liverpool Oratorio follows Shanty from his youth in war-torn Liverpool into middle age. There are references to McCartney’s life but the story itself is original.
There are beautiful orchestral passages written by Davis, and the arias and choruses are pure Paul: simple, poignant words set to music that enhances the text. You can watch the premier performance on YouTube.
To ensure a Liverpool atmosphere, the company engaged British designer Leslie Travers and director Caroline Clegg, a Manchester native. “They understand the sensibilities of the people and the language,” says Mirageas. “It’s going to be a really, really beautiful production.”
American tenor Andrew Owens portrays Shanty; McCarley sings his wife, Mary Dee. Joseph Young conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s contribution to the opera.
Ticket demand led to the scheduling of a fifth performance of Liverpool Oratorio , but will McCartney attend? My early inquiries got this response: “His rep said that if he’s not dead or on tour, he’ll be here.”
But Cincinnati Opera is doubling down to make it happen, announcing a region-wide campaign, “Come Together, Cincy! Get Paul to Music Hall!” In addition to performances and activities, fans can create videos that will be shared with Paul’s team.
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“He’ll be most welcome, and I’ll gladly save him a seat,” laughs Mirageas. “Nothing would make me happier than to have him see his dream come true in such a spectacular fashion.”
Cincinnati Opera’s 2024 season runs from June 13-July 27. More info: cincinnatiopera.org .
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