Calendar

Carmen returns to the Granada for the first time since 2016, in a sumptuous fully-staged production for Opera Santa Barbara's 30th Anniversary Season.

Georges Bizet’s verismo opera ‘Carmen,’ based on a French novella, is about a fiery young woman who seduces a soldier, ultimately leading to his demise.

Greek soprano Eleni Calenos, has portrayed Puccini and Verdi heroines throughout the United Stated in performances that were hailed as “for the ages, both vocally and dramatically”  by Opera News,  “searing…, mercurial, heart-on-the sleeve” by The Wall Street Journal, and “a true wonder” by the Houston Press.  

Metropolitan Opera Competition 2022 Grand Prize winner Jana McIntyre has performed with Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Arizona opera, in addition to several roles with Opera Santa Barbara.  Jana, whose repertoire includes baroque and bel canto operas, contemporary works, and musical theater, has been praised for her “dancer’s grace, mercurial wit, and vibrant soprano tone” by Opera News and her “…movie star looks and the poise to match” by Opera Wire.  

The program will include selections from Maria Callas’ signature repertoire, such as The Barber of Seville, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, and Norma.

Opera Santa Barbara in collaboration with the Argyropoulos Chair of Hellenic Studies at UCSB celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas with an evening of arias and ensembles from the repertoire of the great diva sung by sopranos Eleni Calenos and Jana McIntyre, accompanied by the Opera Santa Barbara Orchestra conducted by Kostis Protopapas.

Verdi’s dark historical melodrama Il Trovatore (“The troubadour”) is a story of superstition, revenge, and ill-fated love set in medieval Spain and contains some of Verdi’s most passionate melodies including the famous “Anvil Chorus”.

 

Hector Armienta’s swashbuckling adventure Zorro is based on the adventures of Johnston McCully’s legendary pulp hero, the dashing masked vigilante who defends the commoners and indigenous peoples of California against tyrannical officials.