A still from 2012's "Tosca." Courtesy of Winter Opera St. Louis
This Friday, November 8, 2013, Winter Opera St. Louis opens its seventh season. This year, they have chosen to stick with the classics, kicking off with Charles Gounod’s Faust, followed by Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff in February and Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti in March. All performances will be at the Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade (425 S. Lindbergh).
Winter Opera’s general director/founder/occasional leading lady Gina Galati chooses the productions herself, along with music director Steven Jarvi, who is also the new resident conductor of the St. Louis Symphony.
Galati says of their choices, “We wanted more traditional operas. These all have really tragic characters. [Faust] is about good and evil, but people can relate it to their everyday lives…it’s about temptation, jealousy, all things we know.”
Faust tells the story of an old man (played by Clay Hilley) who becomes disillusioned with life. He turns away from God, and prays to the Devil instead. When the Devil, who goes by the name of Méphistophélès (Timothy J. Bruno), offers him power, glory, or wealth, Faust asks only for his youth, which he is given in exchange for his servitude in the afterlife. Faust then begins his pursuit of his love, the young Marguerite (Julia Ebner), with horrible consequences.
Through their extensive casting process, Galati feels that they have a truly well-cast season. Every year, they hold auditions in New York, looking for “seasoned performers, good singers and musicians, and getting around 300 to 350 applications every season. We weed them out and then have auditions. We heard about 150 people in New York and maybe 100 here in St. Louis.”
Galati wears many hats at Winter Opera. She says she began the opera seven years ago because “for a long time, there were just the summer operas here. We’re just hoping to enrich the St. Louis community the most we can.” Along with being the general director, Galati performs in one production every season, often as the leading soprano—she will play Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor this spring. Though she says it gets hectic having so many duties, her passion for opera clearly drives her.
For those who have never been to the opera, Galati encourages them to visit Winter Opera and have a moving experience. She says, “Opera involves all of the different arts. It has the visual, it has the music, and it has great stories. Something that I notice that people really like is that we don’t use microphones. We also always have the supertitles. It’s just the perfect repertoire because it’s got everything. Even dancing. If you like the theatre, if you like classical music, if you like literature (Faust is based on Goethe’s work), you will love the opera.”
For more information on Winter Opera St. Louis’ upcoming season, visit winteroperastl.org.
