Elgin Opera goes to Hollywood and beyond
What do “Bugs Bunny” and many church weddings have in common?
According to Maestro Francesco Milioto, both have made American audiences familiar with music from operas.
Milioto, who will conduct the New Millenium Orchestra, the Elgin Choral Union, Elgin Children’s Chorus, and featured soloists in the upcoming production of “Elgin Opera Goes Hollywood,” said there are many more examples.
“There are all kinds. The ‘Marriage of Figaro Overture’ that we’re going to play is used all the time in commercials and in cartoons, and people have no idea that it’s the beginning of one of Mozart’s greatest operas,” he said.
“‘The Overture to the Barber of Seville,’ everybody can think of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd chasing each other with a bunch of axes.”
Solange Sior, founder of and performer with Opera Professional Entertainers Repertoire Association, adds the “Bridal March” is from a Wagner opera.
It’s hard to be intimidated by music that is heard alongside a cartoon rabbit, and that’s the point. All of the material used in the show should be instantly recognizable to most everyone, and the hope is that excuse for avoiding opera will be erased.
Sior is well aware that opera is considered an elite art by many, but she feels that can be overcome.
“They haven’t been initiated the right way,” she said. “You have to see the story because it’s a theater piece and the theater part of it is very important.”
Another bone of contention for audiences is the language issue. Many fear they won’t understand the lyrics and, therefore, can’t enjoy the art form. Sior has that covered as well.
“We have interns from Judson University preparing titles for us so at the same time that the song is being done, subtitles will appear over the stage in a PowerPoint presentation,” Sior said.
“As long as you’ve got good performers, good singers that can communicate with the audience and are excellent with what they do and are in good communication with their conductor and the orchestra, I don’t think there’s anyone I’ve met who has been bored or not amazed ... at the live performance,” Milioto said.
This weekend’s performance will mark O.P.E.R.A’s 10th anniversary show and the third consecutive collaboration with the Chicago-based New Millenium Orchestra. Milioto co-founded the orchestra in 2005 and is proud of the eclectic nature of the repertoire. Aside from the classics, the group has performed with jazz and hip-hop artists.
The show features seven professional soloists from throughout the Chicago area, along with the Elgin Children’s Chorus and Elgin Choral Union. Featured soloists will be soprano Solange Sior of Elgin; soprano Saira Frank of Waukesha, Wis.; soprano Susan Dennis of Bartlett; tenor Jonathan Burton of Minford, Ohio; tenor Cornelius Johnson of Chicago; baritone Aaron Wardell of Chicago; and baritone Ghibong Kim, an Arlington Heights resident and vocal instructor at Judson University in Elgin.
Frank will be performing with an orchestra for the first time, according to Sior.
“We try to launch, every show, somebody new,” Sior said. “(Frank) sang with us during the summer music festival and impressed everybody. We only have two orchestra rehearsals and they have to be perfect, so you have to test them before.”
Although Frank is new to orchestral accompaniment, she is not inexperienced.
“I have my undergraduate degree from Northwestern in voice and French, and then I studied in France at the National Conservatory for a year,” Frank said. “Then I got my masters in opera at UW at Madison.”
Frank currently tours throughout the Midwest with Opera for the Young in Madison, and performs with two local companies in Wisconsin. She said she is looking forward to her performance in Elgin.
“I do a couple of duets, the most beautiful duets in opera,” she said. “One is from ‘Don Giovanni’ and another is from ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ — that’s the one in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ — and a beautiful one from ‘La Traviata.’”
Milioto is eager to work with all of the performers. Although he has conducted in major and capitol cities, he delivers high praise to hardworking local performers.
“It’s the people that carry the culture and nurture it, and the majority of people who are doing opera are the suburbs and small towns in America and every country.”
The show is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Hemmens in Elgin. Tickets are $20-25. Call (847) 931-5900.
If you go
What: Elgin Opera Goes Hollywood
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12
Where: Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin
Tickets: $20-$25; purchase online at tickets.com or call the Hemmens box office at (847) 931-5900.
Details: elginopera.org