The Santa Fe Opera was the first professional company in the U.S. If a full-length opera with a 9:00 pm curtain is too much of a good thing, don’t forget about the Opera’s Apprentice Concerts, taking place this year on August 15 and August 22, both with an 8:30pm curtain and both without the commitment to three or four acts. Very able assistance from the rest of the cast and chorus earned an immediate, lengthy and well-deserved standing ovation for a great performance punctuated at dramatic moments by equally dramatic lightning and thunder. As Cio Cio San, poor Butterfly, Kelly Kaduce never faltered in this demanding and heart-felt role, despite the arrival of wind-driven rain drifting onto the stage from the southern end of the theater, which must have been a challenge. He is just NOT a nice guy, although the terrific vocal fireworks by Brandon Jovanovich made one really want to like this well-cast, well-built lieutenant. Naval officer, that leads to the opera’s tragic ending. Pinkerton’s nature as a person, not his position as a U.S. Given the upstanding character of Sharpless, the American consul, in this Puccini masterpiece, it seems to be Lt. Military, return to Santa Fe for the premiere of the Tim Hetherington/Sebastian Junger film Restrepo, on Friday, July 30 at the Lensic). The background history for this sad tale reveals some of the more uncomfortable aspects of occupying forces, a sentiment particularly felt at a time when our nation is currently embroiled abroad. The casting of this year’s production boasts strong voices all around, and Butterfly has been a standard of many companies for good reason. My good friend’s mother, Christine, always says, “There is only one opera, and it’s Italian,” and certainly any production of Puccini’s work fulfills this requirement.
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