Opera, Symphony Seasons Give Glimpse Into Soviet Festival

A heavy dose of Russian music, visiting Soviet musicians, and a more adventurous sampling of modern musical styles will mark the 1989-90 seasons of both the San Diego Opera and the San Diego Symphony.

In addition to unveiling their more ambitious programming, recent announcements by the opera and symphony of their upcoming seasons have fleshed out the details about this fall’s San Diego Arts Festival, “Treasures of the Soviet Union.”

As previously announced, San Diego Opera’s production of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” will inaugurate the Soviet festival Oct. 21. Soviet bass Alexander Morozov will sing the title role opposite soprano Irina Bogacheva as Marina; both singers are from Leningrad’s Kirov Opera company.

The remainder of American and Soviet singers will be directed by American Nathaniel Merrill; Jansoug Kakhidze of the Tblisi State Theatre will conduct the opera orchestra. These five “Boris Godunov” performances also open the opera’s five-opera 1989-90 International Season, an increase of one additional production compared to the local company’s last several seasons.

Over the three weekends following the “Boris Godunov” opening, the San Diego Symphony will present an impressive variety of Soviet music. Utilizing Symphony Hall’s original function as a movie palace, the symphony will present Sergei Eisenstein’s classic silent film “Alexander Nevsky,” with Soviet conductor Evgeny Kolobov leading the orchestra and the San Diego Master Chorale in the landmark score that Prokofiev wrote for the movie.

On Nov. 2, guest conductor Pavel Kogan will conduct the West Coast premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Second Piano Concerto, with Nikolai Petrov as soloist. Shchedrin’s opera “Dead Souls” was one of the most respected works presented in last year’s Soviet-American arts festival held in Boston.

Vassili Sinaisky, the Moscow conductor who made his American debut with the San Diego Symphony in February, will return Nov. 10 to conduct Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and two world premieres commissioned by the San Diego festival. American composer Joseph Schwantner and Soviet composer Max Tarnopolsky will provide the new works. For this concert, the Soviet chamber orchestra, the Soloists of Leningrad, will join the San Diego Symphony, and the concertmaster of each orchestra will solo in J. S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins.

To sharpen its focus on contemporary trends, the symphony will inaugurate its Pulitzer Prize Series held at UC San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium. Starting next January, three American prize-winning composers--Charles Wuorinen, Stephen Albert, and Ned Rorem--will be featured in single concerts devoted to their music. Each composer will be present to discuss his works, and Wuorinen and Albert will also conduct their programs.

The accent on 20th-Century music in the arts festival is also reflected in San Diego Opera’s choice of Francis Poulenc’s “Les Dialogues des Carmelites.” Written in 1956, it will receive its first local performance Feb. 11, a new co-production with Houston Grand Opera designed by Gunter Schneider-Seimssen. Poulenc’s opera will be the company’s first offering of a major contemporary opera not from the pen of Gian-Carlo Menotti in over 15 years.

“Dialogues” will present Nova Thomas in her local debut as the main character, Blanche de la Force, as well as several returning singers: Maureen Forrester, Carol Neblett and Cheryl Parrish. Australian conductor Richard Bonynge will conduct, and Bliss Herbert will be responsible for the stage direction.

San Diego Opera’s new season will also include the reprise of Puccini’s “La Boheme,” opening Jan. 20, in a new production designed by John Conklin. Soprano Ilona Tokody) and tenor Dennis O’Neill will share the leads, with Edoardo Muller conducting and John Copley directing. Donizetti’s “La Fille du Regiment” will open March 3, starring Nova Thomas. Bonynge will again conduct, and Lou Galterio will return to direct this comic opera.

The company will conclude its season with Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote,” which will open April 14, 1990, with a cast that includes sopranos Hei-kyung Hong and Virginia Sublett, tenor Denes Gulyas, and bass Kenneth Cox. Karen Keltner, San Diego Opera’s associate conductor, will lead the orchestra, and Rhoda Levine will do the stage direction. The set, on loan from Houston Grand Opera, was designed by popular illustrator Maurice Sendak.