FanFaire
began its video album of "Scenes from Acclaimed LA Opera Productions"
- presented in cooperation with Los Angeles Opera - as the 2007-08 season
drew to a close. In the age of video—and broadband—it only
makes sense to use the medium as a vehicle for bringing opera to an increasingly
visually-oriented generation, in the hope of eventually seducing viewers
to the art form that, like no other, unites all the arts - music, poetry,
drama, painting/sculpture, dance.
FanFaire thanks Los Angeles Opera for making this possible.
As the video series advances, the excitement of opera cannot but rub off
on viewers—who will sooner than later realize that these are scenes
from productions of only the highest artistic quality (in terms of both
music and stagecraft) that can only be forthcoming from the top-tier opera
company that LA Opera, one of the youngest in America, has become under
the artistic leadership of PLACIDO DOMINGO.
This video clip
draws from the LA Opera production of Franz Lehar's popular and beloved
fin-de-siècle masterpiece and a staple of today's standard repertoire
- the operetta THE MERRY WIDOW. The highlights include some of
the work's most popular "hit tunes".
The scenes are from the opulent San Francisco production which was staged
by LA OPERA in 2007 and starred FanFaire-featured artists mezzo-soprano
SUSAN GRAHAM and baritone
ROD GILFRY.
The production, directed by LOTFI MANSOURI, with music conducted by SEBASTIAN
LANG-LESSING, features art nouveau-inspired sets by MICHAEL YEARGAN and
dazzling costumes reflecting turn-of-the-century Paris designed by Thierry
Bosquet.
