Lyric Opera News - Vol 1 2015/16

6 / 31

through my first opera, with her profound
understanding of what the voice can
do within a single aria and in the whole
work. She has a global understanding of
the piece, knowing that how you shape
vocal lines can have an impact on the
dramatic effect or even the narrative, and
also how to tell the story through music
and through the voice.”
Director Kevin Newbury’s
involvement since early on has been
invaluable, says López, from determining
the musical time needed to move singers
around onstage to working out the
best way to end the opera. “When we
get to rehearsals in late October we’ll
have exactly what we need,” notes the
composer.
At the July 2014 workshop, with
Ryan Opera Center members singing
through the piano-vocal score, the
creative team and company finally heard
the work in progress. “It’s a macaronic
opera!” Sir Andrew proclaimed, referring
to its multiple languages. “It’s not a
play set to music, it is operatic in form,”
noted general director Anthony Freud.
Newbury compared Bel Canto to the
cable-TV hit Orange Is the New Black: “It’s
a show about an unplanned community
and confinement. No one gets to leave the
stage! There’s vacillation between public
captivity, private experience, and magic
realism. It’s a fantastic piece of music
theater.”
In December the team heard soprano
Danielle de Niese sing Roxane: “It’s
unusual to have the big star involved so
early, but she is our pillar,” says López.
“Roxane holds the whole opera together
so her character has to be flawless, and
has to suit Danni’s voice. We refined and
polished every little thing, made changes
and additions.”
With orchestration being completed
over the summer, along with David
Korins’s final sets, Greg Emetaz’s
projections, and Constance Hoffman’s
costumes, it’ll soon be time to put it all
together on Lyric’s stage. Bel Canto is sure
to astonish and enthrall Lyric audiences
musically, dramatically, visually, and
emotionally. The final result, says López,
is “the epitome of what collaboration is.
I feel that this project was made for us.”
Lyric Opera world premiere generously
made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation, Helen and Sam Zell, Ethel
and William Gofen, Ada and Whitney
Addington, the Walter E. Heller
Foundation, and Roberta L. and Robert
J. Washlow, with additional support from
the National Endowment for the Arts
and Prince Charitable Trusts.
SIR ANDREW DAVIS CONDUCTS
BEL CANTO’S SUMMER WORKSHOP
FEATURING SINGERS FROM THE
RYAN OPERA CENTER IN JULY 2014.
TODDROSENBERG
DANREST
A SCENE FROM BEL
CANTO DURING SUMMER
TECHNICAL REHEARSAL
BEL CANTO SETS DURING
CONSTRUCTION AT
RAVENSWOOD SCENIC
SIR ANDREW DAVIS, RENÉE FLEMING,
AND ANN PATCHETT DURING 2012
PRESS CONFERENCE.
TODDROSENBERG