This year Ars Minerva will celebrate its Tenth Anniversary. The occasion will be honored by what the ensemble has been doing since it presented its first performance. The program will present a “modern world premiere,” which usually means an opera that has not been performed since the seventeenth century.
The production will be the second staging of an opera by Domenico Freschi. Those that have followed the progress of the Ars Minerva repertoire may recall that the first Freschi opera to be staged was Ermelinda, which was performed in November of 2019. The title of this year’s production is Olimpia Vendicata (Olympia avenged). Freschi set a libretto by Aurelio Aureli, and there are signs that other composers, such as Alessandro Scarlatti, chose to work with the same text.
The narrative is one of many to have been appropriated from Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando furioso. The title character is a princess of Holland, who has been abandoned by her faithless lover Bireno. Left to her own devices, Olympia is captured by a band of pirates, who then sell her as a slave to the court of Hibernia (Ireland). Olympia then learns that she was jilted because Bireno was pursuing the Hibernian Princess Alinda. As might be expected, Olympia seeks revenge, thus setting into motion a narrative that may be as topsy-turvy as any script penned by W. S. Gilbert.
Soprano Leslie Katter in the title role of Olympia (photograph by Valentina Sadiul, courtesy of Ars Minerva)
The title role will be sung by soprano Leslie Katter. Mezzo Nina Jones will take the role of Bireno, and the role of Alinda will be taken by soprano Aura Veruni. Other key vocalists will be mezzo Deborah Rosengaus (Oberto), contralto Sara Couden (Osmiro), Sidney Ragland (Niso), and Nicolas Garcia (Araspe). Artistic Director Céline Ricci will direct, and Joe McClinton has prepared a translation of the text for the supertitles.
Adam Cockerham has prepared a performing version of the score. Matthew Dirst will direct from the harpsichord. Violinist Cynthia Keiko Black will serve as Concertmaster. The other musicians will be cellist Gretchen Claassen, Richard Savino on theorbo, and Steven Lehning on bass.
As has been the case with previous productions, there will be three performances taking place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 20, and Saturday, October 21, and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 22. The venue will be the ODC Theater, located in the Mission at 3153 17th Street on the southwest corner of Shotwell Street. Ticket prices are the “Gold” rate of $98 and the “Silver” rate of $79. Students will be admitted for $27 and there is a special VIP rate of $250 that includes a post-performance reception with the artists and a tax-deductible contribution of $130. Tickets may be purchased through the ODC Performance & Event Calendar. They will be available for purchase relatively soon, at which time reservations may also be placed by calling 415-863-9834. [updated 10/18, 8:15 a.m.: Tickets are now available for purchase.]
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