One of the ideas of “Opera Rap” sessions, says artistic director Nicholas Muni, “is to create dialogue with our audience.”

        “We try to foster a situation of, tell us what do you hate and what do you like? It doesn't matter if it's positive or negative. What's important is that you feel, and take the time to come down and express it.”

Nicholas Muni

        Cincinnati Opera presents the kickoff to preview the 2001 season of “Opera Raps” — an interactive lecture series — at 7 p.m. today in Corbett Tower at Music Hall. Today's theme: the company's double bill of Bela Bartok's one-act Bluebeard's Castle and Arnold Schoenberg's monodrama Erwartung. (June 28 and 30).

        Nowadays, the pairing of these short operas occurs nearly as often as the more familiar Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci. Both Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung are early 20th-century operas in expressionist style, and are intense psychological dramas. For those unfamiliar with Schoenberg's Erwartung, Mr. Muni says “It's 35 minutes long, it's very dramatic and very lyrical. It's just before he went full-fledged into 12-tone music.”
       

Months of meetings

        Mr. Muni leans back in his office chair at Music Hall and muses about his schedule between summer opera seasons. “I have meetings and meetings and some meetings. And did I say meetings?” he says, laughing.

        He's just returned from three months in Europe, where he talent-scouted for future productions, attended an opera conference in Barcelona, saw lots of opera, networked — and had meetings — specifically with German designer Peter Werner who will design Nabucco (July 19 and 21).

IF YOU GO

What: Opera Rap, “Bela Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and Arnold Schoenberg's Erwartung,” Charles Parsons, speaker.     When: 7 p.m. today.     Where: Corbett Tower, Music Hall, Over-the-Rhine.     Admission: Free.     Information: 744-3511 or www.cincinnatiopera.com     Nic Muni's recommended recordings: Bluebeard's Castle, Pierre Boulez, conductor, with Jessye Norman and Laszlo Polgar (DG 447-040). Erwartung, conducted by James Levine with Jessye Norman (Philips 426-261).

        He also made a stop in Dublin, Ireland, where he will direct Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) in March.

        “My typical European trip sounds very glamorous, but. . .,” he says, launching into a daily diary that begins with a 6 a.m. flight and ends at midnight at an opera house in another city. He prefers to hear singers and conductors in performance, and is sometimes surprised when another special talent surfaces unexpectedly.

        On this trip, he was impressed with a production of Prokofiev's War and Peace designed by Francesca Zambello at the Paris Opera, he says, pulling up a computer spread sheet full of notes. (Ms. Zambello is the designer for Cincinnati Opera's Madama Butterfly, June 21, 23 and 29.

        “It was terrific, and I heard a tremendous soprano there named Olga Gouriakova, who I hope we can get to sing for us.”

        As he travels, he gets a picture of opera trends around the world. He saw a “scandalous” but otherwise forgettable Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera in Barcelona — scandalous because it opened with a scene showing 12 men sitting on toilets, reading newspapers.

        “I thought it was the most interesting moment in the whole piece, because something was happening,” he says.

        A boring Carmen in Geneva starred, nevertheless, a talented singer named Sara Fulgoni. “We'll try to bring her here,” he says. And in Berlin, he saw Elektra, conducted by Sebastian Weigle and starring Cincinnati-trained Deborah Polaski. “She was spectacular,” he says, not revealing whether he will nab this renowned star for Cincinnati Opera's Elektra in 2002.

        The future — which could include Jake Heggie's cutting-edge new opera Dead Man Walking — is always on his mind.

        “We're continually modeling out plans into the year 2010, checking them against our vision,” he says. That vision means “something that will make us unique, nationally recognized and indispensable to the Cincinnati community and beyond.”

        Part of making Cincinnati Opera a destination will be the chance to see two operas on one weekend, as the company did with Aida and Pelleas et Melisande last year. In 2002, Elektra will be paired with Dead Man Walking, the opera based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean. (It's too soon to say, but members of the original cast of Dead Man Walking could turn up in Cincinnati, he hints.)

        In the long run, the company is looking to the next generation for its cues — their tastes, their visual and emotional language.

        “It's vastly different from ours, and we're relatively young,” he says. “This generation is coming up (soon). So what's that landscape in 10 years?”

        As the company changes, he wants to give people a chance to voice their opinions.

        “I always ask, why do you feel that way? To me, that's my favorite aspect, to hear what people have to say.”
        The next Opera Rap will be 7 p.m. March 22 at Walnut Hills High School. Naomi Lewin will discuss The Magic Flute (July 12, 14 and 20). Opera ticket information: (513) 241-2742.
       

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