OPERA PHILADELPHIA – FESTIVAL O22

For the first time since 2019, Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O is set to paint the town opera, unleashing 12 days of more than 40 live performances, film screenings, recitals, and cabaret nights.

[Photo credit: Khanyiso Gwenxane as Otello and Rina Hirayama as Desdemona in a production from Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen. Photo by Sascha Kreklau.]

Festival O22 kicks off this Wednesday, Sept. 21, with the company premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s The Raven, a monodrama inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and Noh theater, starring mezzo-soprano Kristen Choi, directed by Aria Umezawa, and conducted by Eiki Isomura, with an interactive pre-show experience co-produced with Philadelphia’s Obvious Agency.

“Each pathway that the audience might go on will be a different version of this experience, a different artists’ take … that will then inform how they are seeing the opera,” said Obvious Agency co-founder Joseph Ahmed.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, audiences will be treated to an appearance by Le Gateau Chocolat  at Late Night Snacks, the mixed plate pop-up cabaret bar that’s 50% Philadelphia flavor, 50% neighborhood jawn, and 100% good to the last bite. Voted by Time Out London as one of its Top 10 Cabaret Stars, the six-and-half foot tall, six-inch heeled, wig-clad wonder swings wildly from one end of the musical spectrum to another, from disco, opera, musicals, and pop. As a technically gifted and celebrated baritone, Le Gateau Chocolat has been invited to perform at prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, Bayreuth Festival, and Sydney Opera House.

On Friday, Sept. 23, South African tenor Khanyiso Gwenxane makes his U.S. debut in the title role of Rossini’s Otello at the Academy of Music, alongside Opera Philadelphia favorites Lawrence Brownlee as Rodrigo, Daniela Mack as Desdemona, and Alek Shraderas the villainous Iago. Emilio Sagi’s stately and elegant production evokes the gilded world of Downton Abbey. Mack’s Desdemona receives a unique focus in Sagi’s production, as a woman whose acts of rebellion and loyalty position her as the moral center of a changing world, and Shrader takes on the role of the vengeful Iago. Rising stars Sun-Ly Pierce, Christian Pursell, and Aaron Crouch also make their company debuts in the production.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, at 10:30 a.m., families with young children can enjoy Opera Storybook Time featuring Jillian Pirtle, CEO of the National Marian Anderson Museum & Historical Society, for a reading of When Marian Sang by Pam Muñoz Ryan, a story about the Philadelphia-born contralto Marian Anderson. This event at the Marian Anderson Recreational Center in South Philadelphia will be repeated on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 10:30 a.m. at Wharton-Wesley United Methodist Church.

Saturday afternoon brings the first of two Afternoons at AVA at the Academy of Vocal Arts, featuring the “warm rich bass-baritone” (Washington Post) of André Courville in recital with current students of the renowned institution. On Saturday, Oct. 1, the “richly talented” (New York Times) soprano Latonia Moore leads a recital.

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the first Opera on Film series opens with the first theatrical screening of Opera Philadelphia’s GRAMMY-nominated 2021 film of David T. Little’s Soldier Songs. Baritone Johnathan McCullough directs and stars as the Soldier. This theatrical premiere of the film the New York Times called “a worthy addition to the far-too-slight catalog of opera presented in cinematic form” will be followed by a talk with the artists. The screening kicks off a weeklong series of opera films, culminating with the Oct. 1-2 world premiere of Little’s new industrial rock opera film, Black Lodge, produced by Beth Morrison Projects and featuring live musical accompaniment by Timur and the Dime Museum and a string quartet from the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra.