-

MOT Opens
Its Spring Season

An MOT director
encourages Jewish
audiences to
appreciate the artistry
of Wagner, despite
the composer's
reputation for
anti-Semitism.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

he Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT) has
opened its spring season with Verdi,
schedules May with Mozart and con-
cludes in June with Wagner, who might
seem controversial to some Jewish opera enthusi-
asts.
Mitchell Krieger, director of artistic resources at
MOT, spoke about the season at the Detroit Opera
House and the reasons for the choices: Rigoletto,
April 5-13; The Marriage of Figaro, May 3-11; and
The Flying Dutchman, May 31-June 8.
"Each work is a masterpiece in its own right,"
Krieger said. "Rigoletto hasn't been done here since
1990, and it's been even longer since The Marriage
of Figaro. We were anxious to do a Wagner opera
in the new opera house because we couldn't handle
it before."
Krieger, speaking both as an opera expert and a
Jew, would like to see audiences suspend any neg-
ative feelings toward Wagner as being anti-Semit-
ic and focus on the artistry of his work.
`There is no anti-Semitism in the opera The Fly-
ing Dutchman," said Krieger, who will lecture about
u) it starting one hour before each performance.
LLJ
"I hope those not familiar with Wagner or those
Z who have held him at a distance will give the per-
= formance a chance. It's an uplifting story with great
music and great singing, and I think people will find
themselves captivated."
Finding great singers is one of Krieger's foremost
— responsibilities as he scouts the talent for the MOT
CD
er
stage. Besides traveling to watch performers, he
1--
w searches the Internet to learn about artists and their
current projects.
▪
"We enjoy featuring people early in their careers
- and balancing them with very well-known per-
formers," Krieger said. "I first knew Richard Bern-
stein, who plays Figaro, when he was a young artist

114

with the Los Angeles opera. In the last two or three
years, his career has exploded."
Janet Williams, a former Detroiter, plays Su-
sanna in the same production, a struggle between
servants and masters. Since appearing with MOT
in the 1993 performances of The Barber of Seville,
she has made her Metropolitan Opera debut as
Adele in Die Fledermaus.
"We always like a Michigan presence in our op-
eras, and that can be done regularly through the
smaller roles, the chorus and the orchestra," said
Krieger, who explained that the larger roles are dou-
ble-cast to avoid vocal cord injuries during the in-
tense schedule of six performances in nine days.
Krieger reports that interest in the Detroit Opera
House is reaching to ever-widening circles, and tick-
ets are being sold to out-of-town agents interested
in experiencing the facility for themselves.
The draw of international artists is obvious in
Rigoletto, which features Korean coloratura sopra-
no Sumi Jo, Russian-born soprano Darina Tako-
va and Chinese-born baritone Haijing Fu. The opera
is a tale of corrupted power, seduction and revenge.
'We've already begun engaging people for the '98-
'99 season," Krieger said. ❑

Rigoletto, the opening opera in

MOTs spring season, will be per-
formed at 8 p.m. Friday and Sat-
urday, April 11 and 12, and 2
p.m. Sunday, April 13, at the De-
troit Opera House, 1526 Broad-
way. The Marriage of Figaro will
be performed May 3-11; The Fly-
ing Dutchman, May 31-June 8.
For information, call (313) 874-
SING-( 7464 ).

Above left: Richard Bernstein will perform the role of Figaro.

Above: The Marriage of Figaro will be performed during May.

Below: Mitchell Krieger: Give Wagner a chance.