La Cenerentola begins with a radical act of kindness. In the opening scene, Alidoro, tutor to the prince Don Ramiro, knocks on the door, dressed as a beggar and asking for food. While her stepsisters want to send him away, Angelina (Cinderella) gives him bread and coffee. In the fairytale world, we’d all do the same. But what does this act look like in our modern world? If a stranger knocked on your door, begging for something to eat, what would you do?  Set in modern-day Boston, our new production of La Cenerentola allows us to explore the traditional themes in Cinderella [...]

There are approximately 3,000 different versions of the Cinderella story from many cultures worldwide, dating back over 2,000 years with roots in ancient Greece and China. In fact, it follows one of the seven major basic story arcs: “rags to riches.” In this archetype, described in a book by Christopher Booker, the protagonist is poor, in that they lack wealth, beauty, love, or power. They find what they seek, lose it, and then gain it back again. In the case of the Cinderella story, the society within which the story is set is defined by a social stratification that [...]

The halls of BLO’s rehearsal space have been filled with music and laughter since our cast and creative team arrived, and we can’t wait to share La Cenerentola with you! Rossini’s sparkling music requires immaculate comic timing and vocal fireworks from the entire cast, and our singers are up to the challenge. A true ensemble cast, this team of internationally acclaimed artists will wow you with their voices, make you laugh, and warm your heart. Let’s meet them! Cecelia Hall as Angelina (Cinderella) Cecelia Hall sings leading roles as a member of Oper Frankfurt's prestigious ensemble and appears regularly [...]

The cast and creative team of La Cenerentola are hard at work, and our rehearsal halls are filled with laughter, high notes, and sparkling coloratura. There’s nothing not to like about spending a month with the music of one of opera’s greatest stars: Gioachino Rossini.  Rossini is most known for his operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. Though he retired from large-scale composition while still in his thirties - at the height of his popularity - his work set many standards for both comic and serious opera. Opera fans know [...]

We’re still riding high on the success of our Butterfly, but there’s no rest for the weary in opera! We’re already hard at work on our next production: Rossini’s charming take on Cinderella, La Cenerentola.  The story of Cinderella has inspired writers, poets, artists, playwrights, and composers for thousands of years. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BC and AD 23, about an enslaved Greek woman who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known version of the Cinderella story. The Chinese fairy tale Ye Xian, in which the main character [...]

Welcome to Boston Lyric Opera’s 47th Season! On behalf of all of us at Boston Lyric Opera, I extend a hearty welcome to the beginning of our 2023/24 season. This season, we embark on a journey of love – exploring the idea “All I have, I give for love.” This quote comes from our closing opera of the season, Eurydice, a new work by Boston-born composer Matthew Aucoin, based on the famous play by Sara Ruhl, and has become a theme that has resonated as we prepare these productions for the stage. Each story this season asks the question, [...]

Amid the familiar sounds of Puccini, we are taken from the nightlife of San Francisco's Chinatown to the fallout from Pearl Harbor, as told through voices and perspectives of Asian Americans during a critical time in American culture and history. The Chinese American nightclub scene peaked during World War II when Asian Americans of all backgrounds were commanding nightclub stages while defying racial and cultural barriers. Many performers presented publicly as Chinese American due to growing anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States. In this new production, Butterfly works as a singer in a nightclub while contributing to the war [...]

Our new Madama Butterfly is directed by choreographer, dancer, author, and co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface Phil Chan. This new production moves the story to 1940s San Francisco on the eve of Pearl Harbor. When Butterfly, a nightclub performer contributing to the war effort, meets Pinkerton, a young soldier, an unstoppable series of events is set in motion. Through the eyes of Butterfly, audiences will follow her journey from San Francisco to a Japanese incarceration camp, a journey many Japanese Americans lived during a critical moment in U.S. history. Today's deeper dive focuses on Japanese incarceration during WWII. [...]