Opera Festival presents La Boheme at Cultural Center

Recommend

Comment

Email this article

Print this article

Get news alerts

RSS Feeds

Share Digg Mixx Linked In Facebook Twitter Delicious

Cast members prepare for the Opera of the Hamptons production of "La Boheme" at the Southampton Cultural Center of Saturday, August 1.

By her own account, opera is everything to Barbara Giancola, a former dramatic mezzo-soprano and the founder and artistic director of Opera of the Hamptons.

“Opera brings together all of the components of the arts,” she said in an interview last week. “Opera is dance. Opera is music. Opera is acting, singing and composition.”

“Opera is everything,” she said with a smile.

Not surprisingly, Ms. Giancola said she finds much joy in bringing the beloved art form to the East End each summer under the auspices of Opera of the Hamptons, the company she co-founded, which is currently in its 18th season. The company already presented “Tosca” at the Duck Walk 
North vineyards in June this year. Upcoming performances include 
Puccini’s “La Boheme” on Saturday, August 1, and Verdi’s “Aida” on August 
29, both at the Levitas Center for the Arts at the Southampton Cultural Center.

Though she is a full-time resident of Brooklyn, Ms. Giancola has visited family on the East End for more than 40 years. And for much of that time, she said, there were few musical opportunities or performances in the area.

“Twenty years ago, there weren’t many music events out here,” she said, so even in its early stages, Opera of the Hamptons offered the community something new and different.

The productions have long relied on long-distance networking, she said, as costumes, sets, and even performers are often imported from New York City and other metropolitan areas.

Ms. Giancola said that over the years many of the Opera of the Hamptons performers have come to the East End boasting experience with such esteemed companies as the New York City Opera or the Metropolitan Opera. Interestingly enough, she added, other performers have traveled the performance path in reverse: starting out with Opera of the Hamptons with little professional experience, they have gone on to join groups like City Opera or the Met.

“We feature both major artists and emerging artists,” she said, “which is integral to our excellence.”

Though Opera of the Hamptons productions are smaller in scale than traditional grand opera—a pianist takes the place of a pit orchestra, and the opera chorus is often replaced by a handful of supporting performers—Ms. Giancola said performers are nonetheless eager to work with the company.

“Performers can join us to refresh a role or learn a new role, all the while working in a legitimate company,” she explained.

And Ms. Giancola said her openness to drawing on the talents of new or emerging artists does not translate into lower expectations or inferior quality.

“We believe in the drama,” she said, “You can’t just have the voice. You need to have the whole package.”

Saturday’s cast of “La Boheme” will feature soprano Kristin Elena Sampson as Mimi and tenor Roman Garcia as Rodolfo, along with Rosa D’Imperio as Musetta, Chad Armstrong as Marcello, Eddie Peterson as Schaunard, and Stephan Kirchgraber as Colline, among others.

Ever the enthusiast and opera fan, Ms. Giancola described this season’s cast members as “to die for,” adding that audience members “will not be disappointed.”