I Arts & Entertainment
r .
Giuseppe Verdi
Grand And Lavish from page 45
Allen Charles Klein's rendering
of 8ne of the sets for Aida
April 22-30, 2008
at the Detroit Opera louse
MICHIGAN
0 P E
THEATRE
ON
desperate divas of
35th Anniversary Season
David DiChiera, General Director
THE ULTIMATE OPERA EXPERIENCE!
Sat., April 22, 8:00 pm
Sun., April 23, 2:00 pm
Wed., April 26, 7:30 pm
Fri., April 28, 8:00 pm
Sat., April 29, 8:00 pm
Sun., April 30, 2:00 pm
PERFORMED IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUPERTITLE TRANSLATION
*EXTRAVAGANT SETS!
*GORGEOUS COSTUMES!
*LIVE ORCHESTRA!
*STAR STUDDED INTERNATIONAL CAST!
The Definitive Grand Opera... Perfect for first timers!
FOR TICKETS, CALL 313-237-SING
or visit www.michiganopera.org
OPERA.
free Opera Talk
• 1 hour prior to curtain
Michigan Council
for Arts and
Cultural Affairs
'of eadeeeae
The 2006 Spring Season is
sponsored by Cadillac
1105040
Skyline & The Back Street Horns
The Jerry Ross Band
Newsmaker
•Rumplestiltskth
•CUSA •Nightline
•Persuasion
•Cassens Murphy Band
•Simone Vitale Band
•intrigue
•Sun Messengers
•Radio City
with a general (Radames) at war with
her own people. Radames returns
Aida's affection, but he also is the
object of Egyptian Princess Amneris'
desires. The usual operatic love-tri-
angle complications follow, leading to
a tragic ending.
The role of Aida will be sung by
Indra Thomas on April 22, 26 and 29
• and by Lisa Daltirus'April 23, 28 and
30. Jewish opera star Irina Mishura,
born in Russia but a Michigan resi-
dent since immigiating to the United
States in 1992, will sing Amneris on
April 22, 26, 28 and 30, alternating
with Nancy Maultsby on April 23 and
29. Tenor Salvatore Licitra makes his
MOT debut as Radames on April 22,
26 and 29; Antonello Palmombi takes
over the role April 23 ; 28 and 30.
.Klein's partner in the Aida produc-
tion is Director Bliss Hebert, with
whom Klein has done 85 productions
over 42 years. The two have been life
partners for 44 years. Hebert, making
his MOT debut, has staged more than
200 productions altogether with 25
major opera companies.
Born Designer
"I barely scraped by and learned my
bar mitzvah by the skin of my teeth,"
says the Brooklyn-born Klein. "I'm
proud to have been born Jewish, but I
haven't been too religious ever since."
Klein, now 65, was surrounded by
many artists in his family, especially
his grandfather, a European immi-
grant who "set the tone for the fam-
ily" by aspiring to be a professional
painter.
"Actually, he ended up being a
home-interior painter, but he used
grand techniques for upper-class
home owners," explains Klein, who by
age 5 was living "a fantasy of design"
with the knowledge he would become
some type of artist.
After earning a degree in theater
design at Boston University in 1961,
.
Joyride
Hot Ice
LOAM ANS ST-EALING INTIATAIMERHT
Call for free video consultation
248-398-9 71 1
48
April 13 • 2006
J141
Since 1972
11012,10
he eventually decided to devote-his
career exclusively to opera design.
Klein admits his biggest break
was meeting Hebert in the 1960s.
The latter was then director of the
Washington Opera Society Together,
they did Don Giovanni in Houston,
then spent 16 years at the Santa Fe
Opera in New Mexico.
"Then we gave it all up and moved
to France for a long vacation, but we
couldn't quit altogether, and that led
to jobs in Berlin and Vienna," Klein
says. "We move back and forth now
from our homes in France and Miami.
I've designed operas for every major
company in the United States, Canada,
Mexico-and Scotland."
For Michigan Opera Theatre, Klein
designed productions of Rigoletto
in 2004, The Marriage of Figa . ro in •
2002 and Werther in 1999. He doesn't
have his own staff; instead, he relies
on the workers at the various opera
companies to complete his sets.
"My biggest challenge is feeling
adequate to the task at hand," he con-
fides. "But you really can't tell how any
opera will go until you see and hear
the orchestra; the opera must be a -
mirror to the music. That's when you
know you've done your job correctly."
Other Operas
Cinderella, which premiered in Rome
in 1817, plays on the DOH stage for
the first time. Set in the 18th century
with an Italian libretto by Jacopo
Ferretti, based on Etienne's French
libretto Cendrillon rather than the
story by Perrault, the opera lacks
several of the conventions generally
associated with the story: the glass
slipper, a fairy gOdmother and an evil
stepmother.
But it remains a poignant tale
of love transcending social classes.
Cinderella goes through enough tra-
vail to still be considered a desperate
diva.