Armida


TULSA OPERA & MINNESOTA OPERA (1992)
US Premiere

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ARMIDA by Gioacchino Rossini
Conductor: Richard Bradshaw/Ransom Wilson
Cast: C.Weidinger/B. Harris, T. Young/J. Francis
Production: J. Boesche (scenery/projections), C. Zuber (costumes), D. Schuler (lighting)

“The North American celebration of the Rossini bicentenary was launched on the composer’s birthday to stunning effect by Tulsa Opera, which staged the world premiere of a new critical edition of Armida, an opera first performed in Naples in 1817. Nicholas Muni was a probing stage director, achieving strong dramatic tension.”
– Joseph Kestner, OPERA CANADA (April, 1992)

“The Tulsa Opera put on a memorable spectacle Saturday night, combining film, dance, innovative scenery and brilliant singing to create an important new rendition of Rossini’s Armida. The acting of the entire cast was excellent especially in view of the many other innovative aspects of the production.
– Doug Kim, The Tulsa World (March, 1992)

“Tulsa Opera artistic director Nicholas Muni has performed a bit of operatic alchemy in bringing the North American premiere of Armida to the Tulsa stage. He has transformed what could have been a leaden lump into a piece of almost pure gold. As he did with his innovative stagings of La Traviata and Il Trovatore, Muni has created a thoroughly modern production that does not destroy the work’s original spirit. Muni’s method here is to strip away the non-essentials. The opera takes place on a mostly bare, sharply raked stage. Changes in scene and mood are conveyed by background projections. The result is that the characters have no place to hide, literally or figuratively. By the same token, the audience is not allowed to distance itself from the action. It helps put a very human face on this bizarre wisp of a tale.”
– James Watts, The Tulsa Tribune (March, 1992)

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