Sequoia Symphony, opera company stage ‘The Little Prince’ to open the season
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“The Little Prince” is an opera for people who don’t like opera.
That’s what Sequoia Symphony music director Bruce Kiesling says about the opera that will kick off the orchestra’s 2023-24 concert season on Saturday, June 24, at the Visalia Fox Theatre.
It’s an enchanting children’s story that appeals to all ages because it explores love, identity, and loss themes.
The family-friendly opera is performed in conjunction with the University of California Santa Cruz Opera Program and members of the university orchestra.
Kiesling directs the UCSC orchestra and constantly collaborates on the university’s year-end opera. Last year, he added members of the Sequoia Symphony to their orchestra to perform in Santa Cruz. Then he brought the entire company to Visalia to test the waters for an opera performance here.
The experiment worked, and the opera will open the symphony’s season this year.
The plot
The opera, written by Rachel Portman, is based on the mysterious fable by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry about a pilot who crashes in the desert where he makes the acquaintance of a prince from a far-off planet. They encounter strange and fascinating creatures, including a fox and a slithering, mysterious snake. All the characters appear in fun costumes.
The prince visits many different planets, each home to a strange grown-up.
Many of the characters seem based on those from Saint-Exupéry's real life. Saint-Exupéry was himself, a pilot who crashed in the Sahara Desert.
Portman is known for her outstanding film scores: “The Cider House Rules” (1999) and “Chocolat” (2020), both nominated for an Oscar and “Emma” (1996), for which she won an Academy Award. The composer was commissioned to write “The Little Prince” for the Houston Grand Opera in 2007.
New production
“The UCSC Opera presented this work previously, in 2015,” said Sheila Willey, opera director. “I had the pleasure of being an associate director for that project and had a wonderful time assisting with character development and staging.
“This 2023 production is all-new, inspired by Saint-Exuéry's original illustrations and a major focus on the characters' emotions. Our production explores how the story revolves around the central, grounding figure of the pilot and the fever dream that is the mysterious prince and his quest to discover how to love.”
UC Santa Cruz's Music Department has one of the only university opera programs in the United States to feature almost entirely undergraduate casts. Graduate students dominate most opera programs.
Both the pilot and little prince are double-cast. The casts will change for the second half.
“Our program gives undergraduate singers a rare opportunity to gain experience and grow in their craft by performing in leading roles. Our spring opera is fully staged with live orchestra, costumes, lighting, wigs, and makeup,” Willey said.
“Even though, on the surface, this is a story about an alien child and his adventures with sentient stars, roses, water, and other animals and plants, the real pith of it is a connection, love, hope, and even sorrow. It's cathartic to work through that so close on the heels of so much separation during the pandemic.”
A look at the season
The rest of the Sequoia Symphony season brings films, classic repertoire, and even ballet to the Fox.
The season resumes Oct. 20 & 21 with “The Empire Strikes Back,” which Kiesling, a big film fan, calls the best film in the Star Wars series.
“We want to focus on concerts that engage our audiences. Several years ago, we realized our October concert wasn’t selling well, so we started opening with big film hits, with the orchestra playing the music,” he said.
“John Williams created some of the most fantastic music of the nine films for this specific score.”
Nov. 18—Power to the Piano Audience favorite Dominic Cheli returns to perform Gershwin’s “Second Rhapsody.” Plus, Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” made famous in the film “Somewhere in Time.”
Dec. 1 & 2—“Elf” Last year’s holiday film “Home Alone” was such a success that the symphony is following it up with “Elf” starring Will Farrell and Bob Newhart on the 20th anniversary of this film classic.
Feb. 10—“Giselle” Ballet Two years ago, the State Street Ballet from Santa Barbara performed “Appalachian Spring” with the symphony. This year they return with “Giselle,” a romantic tale of innocent love and betrayal, complete with a philandering count and a peasant maid who loves to dance.
March 9—Banned & Boycotted This is a program of music that their governments first banned. Music by Sibelius, Bartok, and Shostakovich.
April 20—American Icons This is the third and last year the symphony finishes its season with all Americana music. Time for Three—a unique string trio two years ago—wowed the audience with their music. They return with music from their Grammy-winning recording.
Sequoia Symphony Orchestra
“The Little Prince Opera" 7:30 p.m. June 24 T at the Visalia Fox Theatre. Season tickets are still available. Or buy individual tickets Information: 559 732-8600 or www.sequoiasymphonyorchestra.com
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Sequoia Symphony, opera company stage ‘The Little Prince’ to open the season
