To be able to hear 2 new American operas — and — Cherubini’s dramatic masterpiece in one season is remarkable. It is a small price to pay, when you are asked to sit through what will probably be a great production of Carmen (horrors!) As for “Annie Get Your Gun”, if the alternative is an operatic pot-boiler that we can hear by driving 50 miles in either direction, we’ll take Annie every time.

BTW, we are especially looking forward to seeing Tender Land and Tolomeo, with star counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, this season. Tosca and Figaro are so well cast, we can’t miss those either.

Dan Carno and Kate McCaffrey

Look at Glimmerglass FESTIVAL’s 2011 season: 1 world premiere, 1 professional premiere, and 1 rarely performed French masterpiece. Seems like it is still the adventurous company we have all come to love. Yes, less numbers of performances, but in the challenging world of arts non-profits it is exciting to see Glimmerglass making plans to increase its education efforts to begin building a new and engaged audience, ensuring Glimmerglass’ future.

Glimmerglass may have tweaked its name, but it hasn’t abandoned the qualities that make it one of our nation’s most charming, unique and irreplaceable summer music festivals.

It is extremely disappointing that Glimmerglass has decided to remove “Opera” from its name and also reduce the number of operas that will be produced each summer. It is a short-sighted act that will only exacerbate Glimmerglass’ problems by diluting its identity and alienating its core audience: opera-goers.

Your decision means that Glimmerglass will go from 44 opera performances this summer to 28 next year. Consequently, there will be 16 fewer opportunities to see exciting productions of operas that often are performed nowhere else in the country. Throughout its short but distinguished history, Glimmerglass has tried to break ground by mounting new productions that have received national attention, sparking other opera companies to follow its lead. There will be 16 fewer times that will be happening next year.

American musicals have their own proud tradition – but it is a tradition and a craft that is distinct from opera. It is also a tradition that is carried on in many more theaters and “festivals” across the country than opera. I am certain that attendance at “Annie, Get Your Gun” next year will be high – leading some at Glimmerglass to think that the decision to produce a musical annually is the way to go. But couldn’t a stronger and more aggressive marketing campaign also increase attendance? While next year’s double bill certainly looks adventurous, is another production of “Carmen” really needed? Again: I realize that Glimmerglass is on a see-saw, trying to balance artistic innovation with productions that will attract novices but I think that management is precariously pushing down too hard on one side, sacrificing artistic achievement for a small boost in revenue.

In an era where an artistic medium is struggling to survive, the solution shouldn’t be amputation. Removing “opera” from Glimmerglass’ name and reducing the role of opera at Glimmerglass is an unwise move that only muddles your artistic mission.

Sincerely,
Bob Hardt