SCENES: Celebrating opera: Opera New Jersey flies on wings of song

By CHRISTIAN KIRKPATRICK Special Writer
    “Celebrate Opera” galas are always musical feasts. Instrumentalists play during the cocktail receptions that precede these black-tie dinners, and Opera New Jersey stars sing between dinner courses. Taken altogether, these performances constitute a very tasty concert.
    Saturday’s benefit, however, offered something extra — a banquet for the eyes as well as the ears. Its large silent auction included about 25 works of art, some donated by local artists and others by the Brodsky Center for Art and Paper at Rutgers University. Related items included art books, signed photographs of movie stars and sports heroes, and whimsical cartoon cells.
    The ballroom of the Marriott Forrestal, where nearly 200 guests dined, was also a work of art. Festooned with garnet-and-white draperies and embellished with statuary and gorgeous floral arrangements, it was a perfect setting for romantic arias and duets.
    The 15 operatic selections the guests heard were drawn mostly from operas that the company performed last summer and that it will stage next year. Thus, this concert offered them a look back at the past season and an exciting glimpse of the one to come.
    Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand said she always enjoys this aspect of “Celebrate Opera” galas. “It’s wonderful to have the singers performing and mingling with the guests.”
    “It’s an exciting event,” declared Marie Matthews of Princeton, the gala patron committee chair. “These singers are extraordinary. You know they’ll go far,” she added.
    They’ve already done much to be proud of. For example, one of the evening’s performers, James Valenti, sang while in college with Opera New Jersey’s predecessor, Opera Festival of New Jersey. Since then he has performed throughout the world, including with the New York City Opera as Lt. Pinkerton in a production of “Madam Butterfly” that was recently broadcast on PBS’s “Live from Lincoln Center.”
    “It’s nice to be back,” said the tenor, “and to be appreciated in my home state.”
    Applauding the talent, imported as well as domestic, was former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, the gala’s honorary chair, who was the state’s No. 1 Opera Fan while in office, frequently attending operatic events at home as well as those at the Metriopolitan Opera.
    Opera New Jersey’s supporters are likewise enthusiastic.
    “I like where (the company’s) going,” declared Judy Zecher of Princeton, who praised the excellence of the company’s productions and the rising stars it brings in for its title roles.
    One place that the organization is going to is the Matthews Theater. After last year’s sold-out season, the company will, for the first time next summer, mount a major production on McCarter Theatre’s big stage. “This is a great evolution for the company,” said its executive director, Lisa Altman.
    The production will be Gilbert & Sullivan’s ever-popular “The Mikado.” Opera New Jersey’s other two productions, Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and Mozarts’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” will be held in the Berlind Theatre.
    All three operas will be staged between July 10 and 26. But local music lovers don’t have to wait until then to hear opera at McCarter. The company is staging “Die Fledermaus” at McCarter on Feb. 13. It will star Ruth Ann Swenson, an internationally acclaimed soprano who has appeared on all important opera stages. “She’s one of the greats,” proudly declared Scott Altman, Opera New Jersey’s general and artistic director. On Feb. 20, the production will appear at the Community Theatre in Morristown and on Feb. 22 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick.
    Although Opera New Jersey is headquartered in Princeton, its singers perform throughout the state. Upcoming performances include holiday concerts at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton on Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick on Dec. 14 at 3 p.m.
    Sponsors of the fourth annual “Celebrate Opera” Gala included Edward and Marie Matthews, Emil and Ann Herkert, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Johnson & Johnson, Philip and Susan Rinaldi and Steginsky Capital.
On the Web: www.opera-nj.org.