WCPE Features: Opera




 

WCPE offers 2 wonderful opportunities each week to hear the best in opera... Thursday nights at 7pm, and Saturday afternoons at 1:30 (when the Met is in season.) The WCPE Opera House has been a regular Thursday night feature at WCPE since April of 1980. On Saturday afternoons during the Met season, tune in for live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera.

On December 4th, 2008, Bob Chapman became only the third host in the history of the WCPE Opera House, succeeding Robert Galbraith. An opera singer himself, Chapman has been the weekend host of Sleepers, Awake! since September 2006.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Bob of the show founded and nurtured by the legendary Al Ruocchio, who hosted the Opera House from its inception in April 1980 until his death in February 2007. “Al’s enthusiasm for opera was infectious, and he deserves much of the credit for creating an audience for opera in central North Carolina.” The WCPE Opera House is aimed at two distinctive audiences: those who already know and love the art form, and those who’ve only recently discovered opera and are anxious to learn more about it.

“Al Ruocchio created a format that worked very well, and Robert Galbraith expanded upon it, introducing more contemporary works. We’ll continue to play works from the core Italian, French, German, Czech and Russian repertoires while introducing newer masterpieces by contemporary American and English composers,” says Chapman.

If you wish to email Bob Chapman, please click here!

WCPE Opera House Schedule for Spring 2010:

Thursdays at 7pm with host Bob Chapman

September 2 — Cornelius’s Der Barbier von Bagdad and Lortzing’s Die Opernprobe
The barber, Abdul Hassan (Czerwenka), conspires with Nureddin (Gedda) to arrange a meeting with the caliph’s daughter, Margiana (Schwarzkopf). Lortzing’s last opera involves a row over the marriage of a young baron (Gedda) and rehearsals for the performance of an opera hosted by a count (Hirte).

September 9 — Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino and La Scala di Seta
Sofia (Battle), ward of Gaudenzio (Ramey), is being forced to marry the son (Arévalo) of Bruschino (Desderi), whom she’s never seen. Her lover Florville (Lopardo) passes himself off as Bruschino’s son. In The Silken Ladder, the ladder is used nightly by Dorvil (Matteuzzi) to rejoin Giulia (Serra), to whom he’s secretly married, but who is living in the house of her father (Di Credico).

September 16 — Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles
Zurga (G. Quilico) is chosen as chief by his tribe of Ceylon fishermen. He and his friend Nadir (Aler) are initially estranged because they’re both in love with the same priestess, Leila (Hendricks), who is under a vow of chastity—punishable by death if she breaks it. (From the Ruocchio Archives.)

September 23 — R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos
A wealthy gentleman hires an opera company and a commedia dell’arte troupe, led by Zerbinetta (Streich), to provide entertainment. The majordomo (Neugebauer) says they must perform simultaneously, but the composer (Seefried) protests cuts in the opera. Ariadne (Schwarzkopf) complains that Theseus has abandoned her and believes that Bacchus (Schock) is the god of death.

September — 30 Britten’s Peter Grimes
In a Suffolk fishing village, Grimes (Vickers) has lost an apprentice at sea in suspicious circumstances and is warned not to take on another. Schoolmistress Ellen Orford (Harper) stands by Grimes, despite the town’s general disapproval.

October 7 — Gomes’s Il Guarany
The Guarany Indian prince Peri (Domingo) rescues Cecilia (Villarroel) from the Spaniards, who have planned to hand her over to the rival Aymoré tribe. Cecilia’s father, Antonio (Tian), rescues them. The lovers reach safety and freedom, but Antonio is killed—along with the Spanish villains.

October 14 — Fall Membership Drive
Enjoy a delightful evening of opera highlights and show your support for WCPE’s Opera House in our Fall Membership Drive. Bob Chapman features selections from Cecilia Bartoli’s Maria, her tribute to the famed mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran. It is one of our fall thank-you CDs.

October 21 — Fall Membership Drive
We’ll bring you highlights from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, a DVD starring Rolando Villazon and Nino Machaidze as the star-crossed lovers, along with lots of your favorite arias and choruses as our Fall Membership Drive continues. This DVD is one of our thank-you gifts.

October 28 — Joseph Haydn’s Armida
To prevent the crusading knights of Godfrey of Bouillon from recovering Jerusalem, the Prince of Hell has sent the enchantress Armida (Norman) to ensnare the knights with her magical powers. She captivates Rinaldo (Ahnsjö) but cannot bring herself to destroy the knight, with whom she’s fallen in love.

November 4 — Massenet’s Don Quichotte
A gentle, melancholy, and autumnal work, whose title role (Ghiaurov) has attracted great basses, Massenet’s opera contains a number of episodes from Cervantes, but Dulcinée (Crespin) is changed into a beautiful courtesan. The knight errant is faithfully served by Sancho Pança (Bacquier).

November 11 — Verdi’s I Masnadieri
Carlo (Bergonzi) is disinherited by his father, Massimiliano (Raimondi), through the machinations of his younger brother, Francesco (Cappuccilli). Carlo forms a robber band, is reunited with his beloved Amalia (Caballé), saves his father from death in prison, and stabs Amalia to death rather than allow her to become a bandit.

November 18 — Beethoven’s Fidelio
Florestan (Kollo) has been imprisoned for political reasons by Don Pizarro (Sotin). His wife, Leonore (Janowitz), disguised as a young man, is hired by the jailer Rocco (Jungwirth), whose daughter Marzelline (Popp) quickly falls in love with “him.” When Pizarro attempts to murder Florestan, Leonore saves him. (From the Ruocchio Archives.)

November 25 — Smetana’s Dalibor
The 15th-century Czech knight Dalibor (Vodic¢ka) has killed a burgrave in revenge for killing his friend Zdene¢k and is sentenced to prison for life. The burgrave’s daughter, Milada (Urbanová), moved to pity and then love, disguises herself as a boy and gets a job in the prison, where they plan Dalibor’s escape. As opposed to Fidelio, there is no happy ending.

Find out more at the Met Opera Information Center.

Find out more about the Metropolitan Opera.

Find study guides and more at the Metropolitan Opera Guild's Learning Center.