Jacobs School of Music announces ’07 to ’08 opera and ballet season

The Jacobs School of Music has announced its 2007 to 2008 Opera and Ballet Theater Season, and its opener, Rossini’s “Rigoletto,” doesn’t exactly have everyone thrilled.\n“Now every soprano is trying to learn ‘Caro Nome,’” said one voice professor with a groan, referring to one of the opera’s more prominent and oversung arias.\nBut there is still plenty to be genuinely excited about in the upcoming year, not the least of which is an entirely new production of Puccini’s classic “La Boheme.”\nLast performed by the Jacobs School in the fall of 2004, “Boheme” has been staged on the same set for over three decades, said faculty set designer David Higgins. Higgins, who is also chair of the Opera Studies Department, is currently in the process of designing a new set for next year’s production.\n“Traditionally, ‘Boheme’ is part of verismo,” he said, explaining that the opera is usually presented with realistic and true-to-life sets.\n“But (director) Tito (Capobianco) wanted to do something more cinematographic,” said Higgins. “We’re making the scenery kinetic, almost like it’s part of the action.”\nTito Capobianco, a renowned stage director for several decades, has been a frequent guest of the Jacobs School, most recently to direct last season’s “Don Giovanni.”\nTo achieve Capobianco’s vision, Higgins’ designs will make extensive use of turntables, on which the sets will rotate before and during the scenes.\n“The three-dimensionality of the space will reflect that of the characters,” he said.\nIn addition to “Rigoletto” and “La Boheme,” the season will also include productions of “Susannah,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Tales of Hoffman” and the collegiate premiere of William Bolcom’s “A Wedding,” an opera based on the 1978 film of the same name. \nAlso on the calendar are two ambitious ballet programs pieced together by Michael Vernon, the new department chair.\nThe fall ballet, which Vernon has dubbed “Perspectives 1900s,” will focus on what Vernon believes is a somewhat neglected period in the history of dance.\n“It’s a period not enough attention is paid to,” he said. “It was a very fertile period for ballet.”\nThe program will feature pieces created by such legendary choreographers as Vaslav Nijinsky, Michael Fokine, and Isadora Duncan.\nVernon said he believes such a historically oriented program will be of great importance to his students.\n“The dance majors are of a certain age when they have to learn from choreography,” he said. “Not only the technical aspect of steps that some great figure has choreographed … but also the artistry.”\nThe spring ballet, on the other hand, will explore not the history of ballet itself, but the presence of ballet in opera.\n“I was told in the interview process that the ballet department came about to meet the needs of the opera,” Vernon said. “I thought it would be nice to do tribute to the Opera Theater.\n“(The ballet season) will give audiences an eclectic yet organized view of ballet over the years.”\nThe ballet department will also present its annual production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.”