On August 31, September 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7, at 7 PM at Le Poisson Rouge, we presented our most recent production, Francesco Cavalli’s Giasone. Keeping with our production style, we presented the show in English, in a colloquial translation done by Paul C. Echols and Martin Morell for the Mannes Camerata in 1987 (you can read what the New York Times had to say about the opera and this edition’s premiere here).

Giasone, was premiered in Venice in 1649, firmly in the same style as Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea. It was perhaps the 17th century’s most popular opera, and in it we can see the 17th-century Venetian style in its full maturity, seamlessly mixing speechlike recitative with frequent short tunes (ariosi, for the musicologically inclined). We also see the typical 17th-century mixture of the serious with the absurd (think of Shakespeare’s comic characters for familiar dramatic examples), in this case interspersing a more-or-less serious plot that sees Jason delaying his quest for the Golden Fleece while he dallies with an unseen lover and is pursued by his abandoned wife with sub-plots involving amorous maids and a stuttering hunchback (no, really—there was a Venetian dwarf who was so skilled in his portrayal of this character that he was written into most of the Venetian operas of the time).

These Venetian operas, performed during Carnival, attracted mass audiences of the paying public. Much like Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the opera houses offered a range of high- and low-brow appeal, and might have represented about as close as opera companies have ever come to being able to support themselves on ticket sales (we, however, cannot, so please consider supporting us with a donation). They were, in fact, probably middle-brow entertainment for the audiences of their day, more akin in their accessibility to Gilbert and Sullivan than to Benjamin Britten (not that we don’t love Britten, of course!).

Opera Omnia seeks to update this aesthetic by presenting our opera in a fashion more akin to what audiences today expect from a play (or perhaps a musical) than most opera. Meanwhile, our historically-informed approach using period instruments will present Cavalli’s score in service of and partnership with the action on stage.

We were delighted to be back at Le Poisson Rouge, having presented our first production just as they were opening. The club has cemented its place as one of the city’s most exciting venues for music performance, and we hope we are beginning to establish ourselves as one of the most entertaining opera companies the city has to offer.

Francesco Cavalli’s Giasone
Fully staged, in English (translation by Paul C. Echols and Martin Morell)
September 1, 2, 3, 6, & 7 at 7:00 PM (Preview/open dress August 31)
at Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St.
Avi Stein, Music Director
Crystal Manich, Stage Director
Wesley Chinn, Producer

Cast
Cherry Duke, Giasone
Hai-Ting Chinn, Medea
Katharine Dain, Hipsipyle
Karim Sulayman, Delfa
Isai Jess Munoz, Demo
Sharin Apostolou, Alinda
Matthew Singer, Aegeus
Nathan Baer, Besso
Mark Uhlemann, Hercules
Cecilia Gault, Apollo
Dante Vega Lamere, Cupid

Designers
Lauren Brown, Set Designer
Evan Purcell, Lighting Designer
Emily Rosenberg, Costume Designer
Costume conception by Carla Bellisio and Emily Rosenberg

Orchestra
Avi Stein, Harpsichord
Robert Mealy and Daniel Lee, Baroque Violin
John Lenti and Daniel Swenberg, Theorbo and Baroque Guitar
Christa Patton, Baroque Harp
Motomi Igarashi, Gamba & Lirone