Drop it like it's hawt!
Last summer, OC traveled to the gorgeous deserts & hills of the Land of Enchantment, nesting in Santa Fe for a few nights to experience the unique beastly beauty that is the Santa Fe Opera. After chillaxing thru Tan Dun's American premiere of Tea and La Boheme, OC dropped some well-spent $$$ on Lucchese boots, and went back to Milan rawking the whole saddle-slicker style. You know...a Givenchy fringed leather vest, Lacroix spurs (with little crucifixes), and obviously, Jean Paul Gaultier pink leather chaps.
Speaking of leather chaps, this summer, the 2008 Santa Fe opera line-up boasts Teddy Tahu Rhodes in Britten's Billy Budd, and Joseph Kaiser (who we last saw via p2p as Tamino in the Branagh Magic Flute...and suck it, h8rs...we loved Branagh's opera4tehpeople, fairytale reading of the tale for the big screen, especially the animated, endearing performance of Benjamin Jay Davis as Papageno) in the American premiere of Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater. But we think we'll save our frequent flier miles for the stellar 2009 season, which the SFO announced yesterday.
The 2009 season opens July 3 (and runs through August 29)
with the world premiere of a SFO commission, The Letter, composed by Paul
Moravec (his first opera evar) with English libretto by Terry Teachout. The big
draw, especially for OC, is that Santa Fe native Tom Ford (who single-handedly glam-ified the house of Gucci and
Yves Saint Laurent, but now designs solo) is premiering/moonlighting as a SFO costume designer, supplying the sartorial treasures to The Letter.
Singing the lead as Leslie Crosbie is Patricia Racette, and frankly, we can wait to see what Ford does to/with her.
We also can't wait for Natalie Dessay's first Violetta evar
in the new Laurent Pelly directed production
(with Chantal Thomas sidekick) of Verdi's La Traviata, and a never before performed Gluck's Alceste, with Christine Brewer in the title role.
Donizetti's L'elixir d'amore is also in a new production, and boasts the 5x Tony Award winning William Ivey-Long as costumiere. Conductor Corrado Rovaris (who we heard during our visit to Santa Fe last summer for La Boheme) joins the team with Dimitri Pittas as Nemorino and Jennifer Black as Adina.
We're so there...for a season that offers glam, secks, and Dessay in the middle of the desert.