Opera on the Upgrade at the U of A
In 2002, the opera department at the University of Arizona hit the jackpot with an endowment of $1,000,000. The funding came by way of Amelia T. Rieman, a trained concert pianist and soprano and a longtime supporter of the University and particularly of the opera program. She and Prof. Charles R. Roe, the Director of the The University of Arizona Opera Theater, had developed a friendship during the 1980s that lasted until Rieman’s passing in 2008 at the age of 102. Because of Rieman’s significant contribution, Roe now holds the Amelia T. Rieman Chair in Opera, adding national recognition to its growing reputation.
Two results of the school’s newfound glory are more full-time vocal scholarships – leading to better vocal training – and high quality productions, as evidenced by the operas Roe has produced beginning in 2006 with Mark Adamo’s Little Women and continuing with Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe in 2007. Both were well received and important steps in Roe’s long-range plan to present contemporary opera in English. Even bigger artistic successes were Benjamin Britten’s Rape of Lucretia and Robert Ward’s The Crucible in 2008 and 2009.
Another reason for the program’s artistic advancement has been Roe’s collaboration with Thomas Cockrell, the Orchestral Director of the University of Arizona’s Symphony. Their dedication has shown that the Opera Theater can produce works of the highest musical and dramatic caliber and is ready to compete with the best university opera programs around the United States.
But a successful opera program has to be able to offer its students a well-rounded musical education, and Roe’s answer to that was this April’s production of Domenico Cimarosa’s exuberant and melodically-inventive opera buffa, Il matrimonio segreto from 1792. The opera is in Italian and the six roles are double cast. “Our students are going out into an opera world that expects them to sing in other languages besides English,” Roe said, “and double casting gives more students an opportunity to perform, which is basic to their training.” And what about the 2010-11 season? The only commitment Roe made is that both he and Cockrell will continue with their opera-in-English program. Sounds like the future of their opera program is in good hands.
