I have recently received six new programme books published by opera theaters for performances of contemporary operas.
- Gerald Barry : Alice's Adventures Underground, Los Angeles (LA Phil), November 22, 2016 ;
- William Bolcom : Dinner at Eight, Saint Paul (Minnesota Opera), March 11, 2017 ;
- Alois Bröder : Unverhofftes Wiedersehen, Würzburg, June 24, 2017 ;
- Mohammed Fairouz : The Dictator's Wife, Washington (Kennedy Center), January 13, 2017 ;
- André Previn : A Streetcar Named Desire, Honolulu (HOT), January 27, 2017 ;
- Ravi Shankar : Sukanya, Leicester (Curve), May 12, 2017.
The first one is a 92 pages brochure for all concerts of November 2016, including 8 pages dedicated to Gerald Barry's new opera. It is entirely in English :
- complete cast ;
- Notes by John Henken ;
- Composer profile ;
- detailed biographies with B&W headshots.
The second one is a 32 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It contains :
- synopsis ;
- complete cast and creative team ;
- About the opera, by dramaturg David Sander ;
- Director's Notes, by stage director Tomer Zvulun ;
- detailed biographies of composer William Bolcom and librettist Mark Campbell with color headshots ;
- biographies of singers and team members, with B&W headshots ;
- Meet the artist, with soprano Brenda Harris ;
- The Making of 'Dinner at Eight'.
The third one is a 44 pages brochure. It is entirely in German. It contains :
- complete cast and crew ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- short synopsis ;
- Die Erde, by Johann Peter Hebel ;
- Im Spiegel der Geschichte, by Beate Kröhnert, personnal assistant to the General Director ;
- Anmerkungen zur Musik, by composer Alois Bröder ;
- Der Komet, by Johann Peter Hebel ;
- complete libretto ;
- biography of Alois Bröder.
The fourth one is a 52 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It is the January 2017 issue of Playbill for the Kennedy Center. 7 pages are dedicated to the opera Dictator's Wife :
- complete cast and crew ;
- A Letter from Robert Ainsley, director of the American Opera Initiative ;
- synopsis of the opera ;
- Meet the Artists, biographies with B&W headshots.
The sixth one is a 36 pages brochure. It is entirely in English. It contains :
- Introduction by director Suba Das ;
- color photos of rehearsals ;
- Programme notes by Michael Church ;
- Ravi Shankar timline ;
- Ravi Shankar in photographs ;
- cast, performers and production team ;
- synopsis ;
- biographies of artists, with B&W headshots.
I now have 482 programmes for conteporary operas. I have scanned and uploaded all the covers in this flickr album.
