What to know about Austin Opera's next season, like world's first mariachi opera
While its triumphant revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" still plays at the Long Center for the Performing Arts through Feb. 5, Austin Opera just released its plans for the 2023-2024 season. They include a new staging of "Cruzar la Cara de la Luna," the world's first mariachi opera, as well as a novel residency for a Hispanic opera-writing team.
Does the season include any familiar operas?
Indeed it does. The season opens with "Pagliacci" by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It's the familiar tragedy about the vengeful Italian clown who sings the famous aria, "Vesti La Giubba," which audiences of a certain age might have first heard played for laughs in old cartoons, or in a cereal ad, "No more Rice Krispies!" (It's actually a sad, dark opera.)
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Later in the season, audiences can return to one of the most popular operas of all time: Georges Bizet's "Carmen," directed by operatic great Denyce Graves, who in the past made the role her own. This will serve as her directorial debut. To prepare, why not see Bizet's less frequently presented opera, "The Pearl Fishers," as staged this season by Austin Opera from April 29-May 7 at the Long Center? The score is gorgeous.
What's new this coming season?
For one, "Cruzar la Cara de la Luna," the mariachi opera by José "Pepe" Martínez and Leonard Foglia. The title can be translated to English as "Crossing the Face of the Moon." It's the second big public project staged by the new Butler Fund for Spanish Programming, created in 2022 with a gift of $3.3 million by Austin super-backers Sarah and Ernest Butler. It's also a part of an ongoing partnership with Ópera de Bellas Artes (the national opera company of Mexico) and Austin Opera.
First, though, see "Bella Noche de Música," a concert in Waterloo Park this April.
Meanwhile, Opera ATX, general director and CEO Annie Burridge's ongoing campaign to project opera beyond the Long Center's walls, will put bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green in concert at Austin PBS' new Media Studio. Grammy Award-winner Green starred in Terrence Blanchard's groundbreaking "Fire Shut Up in My Bones" at the Metropolitan Opera. The Austin concert will be recorded live for national play on public television.
You said something about a new residency?
Titled "Opera ATX Residency for Latinx Creatives," this new program will allow opera-writing teams to workshop new projects here.
“Opera ATX has given us a glimpse of the many ways in which the operatic experience can evolve to reach more people,” Burridge said in a statement. “Through immersive experiences, unexpected performance sites and genre-defying works, we’ve been able to engage an entirely new group of experience-seeking Austinites. (These residencies) will serve as an important next step in supporting the creative teams responsible for driving these works and will ensure that our storytelling reflects the community that we serve.”
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How can I buy tickets?
Subscriptions for the 2023-2024 season are already on sale. Subscriptions must be purchased by April 14 to secure last season’s pricing. Individual tickets will be available on Sept. 6. Subscriptions and single tickets can be purchased at austinopera.org.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: How to get tickets for Austin Opera's 2023-2024 season
