Monday, November 21, 2022

West Edge Opera 2023

Photo. The back of a large, circular auditorium with white columns two stories tall.

Scottish Rite Temple
Rear of auditorium
Photo by Lisa Hirsch
Summer, 2022

Gosh, I am surprised to see that I never posted anything about West Edge Opera's 2022 operas and the performances. They were all good! Giulio Cesare, Coraline, and, best of all, Dukas's extremely rare Ariane et Barbe-Bleu, with truly powerhouse performances by Renée Rapier as Ariane and Sara Couden as her nurse. I loved Turnage's Coraline, too; a quirky opera based on a quirky book and film.

The 2023 festival was originally announced as the new (commissioned by WEO) opera  Bulrusher, but that has been postponed to 2024. Instead:

  • Monteverdi, The Coronation of Poppea (aka L'incoronazione di Poppea)
  • Schoenberg, Erwartung and Stravinsky, Le Rossignol
  • Martinez, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna
Casts haven't been announced yet. WEO has performed Poppea before, ten or so years back when they were performing in El Cerrito. 

Next year's festival will presumably again be at the Oakland Scottish Rite Temple's cavernous theater, which seats 1200 and where you need to be careful on the stairs.

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