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Aspen opera season shaping up

Aspen Times Staff Report
Aspen, CO Colorado

ASPEN ” The Aspen Music Festival and School’s Aspen Opera Theater Center will present three staged operas during the 2008 summer season. All three are tied to the Music Festival’s season theme, Once Upon a Time, involving an exploration of folklore, mythology and fairy tales.

The Opera Theater Center will present two versions of the classic Cinderella tale: Rossini’s Italian language farce, “La Cenerentola,” and Massenet’s French language “Cendrillon.”

Rossini’s opera, conducted by Bruno Cinquegrani and set for July 8, 10 and 13, gets a trailer-park setting, with pink flamingos, barbecue and Astroturf. Massenet’s version, conducted by Patrick Summers and scheduled for Aug. 12, 14 and 16, is a purely 19th-century French telling of the story.



Also on the schedule is Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel,” based on the dark German fairy tale as adapted by the Brothers Grimm. The opera, set for July 24, 27 and 28, will be conducted by Richard Bado.

All three operas will be directed by Edward Berkeley, director of the Aspen Opera Theater Center.




In addition the Opera Theater Center will perform a workshop version of “California Fictions,” a new opera by Aspen Music School alumnus Mason Bates, on July 24. The opera is set in the tech-boom decadence of San Francisco of the late ’90s.

The Aspen Music Festival 2008 season runs June 19-Aug. 17, with daily events including orchestral concerts, chamber music, master classes, lectures and more. For tickets, season passes and further information, go to http://www.aspenmusicfestival.com, or call 925-9042.