Aug9

Get To Know Our 2023-24 Artists in Residence

Opera Colorado travels to all corners of its home state through touring productions and other educational programs, in addition to the operas on stage at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Throughout the season, you might begin to recognize the...

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Mar27

Turandot 101—Characters and Plot

By: Betsy Schwarm and Angelica DiIorio We close our 40th Anniversary Season with Puccini’s larger-than-life fantastical drama, Turandot, from May 6 to 14.  This opera features some of the most gorgeous arias in the repertoire, including “Nessun dorma.”Before you head...

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Oct13

OC Stories—Mike Griebl Scenic Supervisor

By: Angelica DiIorio Neither snow nor rain nor heat has kept Scenic Supervisor Mike Griebl from ensuring the sets of Rigoletto are ready for opening night. In a career spanning more than twenty years, Mr. Griebl has supervised the...

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Oct11

Rigoletto Was a Banned Book

By: Angelica DiIorio and Bethany Wood Art and literature can be very provocative. The arts can challenge people to look at the world around them in new ways and ask questions. While this very trait is what makes art...

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Oct6

Rigoletto 101—Musical Style

By: Betsy Schwarm Many performing arts fans are familiar with the tales of Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885). From Les Miserables to The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Le roi s’amuse (The King’s Diversions), the stories are well-known. If...

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Sep29

Top Ten Italian Words in Rigoletto

By: Angelica DiIorio Rigoletto is one of composer Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpieces. He was Italian, if you couldn’t tell by the name. Rigoletto is performed in Italian and set in Mantua, Italy—a city between Milan and Venice. While Italian is...

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Sep27

Meet the Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave

By: Bethany Wood The modern American librettist Mark Campbell likens the role of an opera librettist to an architect. A librettist uses words to create the foundation and structure upon which the composer creates a masterpiece. Campbell says, “A...

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Aug23

Cavalleria rusticana 101—Musical Style

By: Betsy Schwarm In 1888, Pietro Mascagni (1863 – 1945) heard of a competition for one-act operas. With four complete operas to his name, the Italian composer was on the verge of submitting one excerpted act of his historical...

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