About
The Illumination Opera Company
The Illumination Opera Company is a Massachusetts-based Opera Company that focuses on Intergenerational projects to bring the opera experience to the community, involving performers of all ages.
An Intergenerational Opera Production does not just mean that we expect adults and children in our audience. Illumination Opera's goal is to not only produce operas for our community, but to also give children and adults in our community the opportunity to take part in creating this ephemeral work of art, an opera production.
In this season we present the opera Hansel & Gretel.
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008 - 2:00pm
Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008 - 2:00pm
Performing Arts Center at Chelmsford High School,
120-200 Richardson Road
Chelmsford, MA
Coming Soon!
February 21, 2009
Carnevale di Venezia!
Celebrate the Carnival Season with the Illumination
Opera Company in masque performing the music of Venice.
8:00 pm
All Saints' Episcopal Church
10 Billerica Road
Chelmsford, MA 01824
February 5 and 6, 2010
Die Fledermaus in English
Join us for the original Champagne music
by Johann Strauss
About Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel
No, the famous British pop singer from the 1960s -- real name
Arnold Dorsey -- did not compose this opera. The Engelbert
Humperdinck who wrote Hansel and Gretel was born in Germany
in 1854. In the 1890s, his sister, Adelheid Wette, had written
a libretto based on the Grimm fairy tale, and asked her brother
to set it to music as a Christmas entertainment for her children.
Later, Engelbert and Adelheid decided to turn this modest home
project into a full-scale opera. Hansel and Gretel premiered on
December 23, 1893 at Weimar. It was an instant hit and remains
an everlasting masterpiece. The composer Richard Strauss, who
was the assistant conductor for the premiere, called it "a
masterwork of the first rank."
Click Here for the plot synopsis of
Hansel & Gretel.
Hansel & Gretel doesn't have a huge cast, only seven named roles. However,
when you add up all the people it takes to actually be able to
bring up the curtain, we are at 101 and counting. This includes
the co-producer, orchestra, lead singers, chorus, dancers, conductor,
director, choral directors, choreographer, costumer, set builders,
stage hands, video crew and ushers (so far). Not a small undertaking.
Because this is an introduction to opera for our community, we
thought it would be best to sing in English.. Our conductor suggested
contacting the Welsh National Opera and the English National Opera.
We did, and the Welsh National Opera referred us to David Pountney
who was gracious enough to license his libretto to us. We are
very lucky because it is the same libretto used by the Metropolitan
Opera!
As for the orchestration, we were in need of something considerably
smaller than a 90-piece orchestra, but more than a simple piano
accompaniment to do justice to the work. Michael Withers came
into our lives when our conductor, Dan Rowntree, met him in England.
Maestro Rowntree was looking for a reduction of Carmen for Westford
Chorus and as it happened Michael had orchestrated the opera for
chamber orchestra. When we began thinking about Hansel & Gretel,
we wrote to Michael. Michael graciously agreed to the commission
of the orchestration for Hansel & Gretel and his orchestration
absolutely shimmers!
A Sneek Peek, Courtesy Of The Metropolitan Opera
On January 1, 2008, the Metropolitan
Opera production of Hansel and Gretel will be simulcast in movie
theatres across the country. We are sure there will be many more
than 101 people behind the scenes at the Met! All the MET simulcasts
we have seen have been breathtaking and we highly recommend them.
We will be there to see their H&G and to hear the very same
translation we will be singing here in Massachusetts. Every time
we attend an opera we learn more about the art of singing. It isn't
just hearing, but seeing too.
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