Festival season schedule

Operas are at 8 p.m. in Music Hall. Tickets $25-$130; $10 student rush. 241-2742; www.cincinnatiopera.org

Learn more in Opera Insights, 7 p.m. in Music Hall; free to ticket holders.

Thursday and Saturday - Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment, starring Celena Shafer and Lawrence Brownlee.

June 24 and 26 - Double Bill: The Emperor of Atlantis by Viktor Ullmann and the North American premiere of The Maids by Peter Bengtson. Directed by artistic director Nicholas Muni, with sets and costumes by Dany Lyne, and lighting design by Thomas C. Hase.

July 8, 10 and 16 - Mozart's Don Giovanni, starring New Zealand bass-baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes in his North American role debut. Josemaria Condemi directs; Xian Zhang conducts.

July 17, 20, 23 and 25 - Bizet's Carmen, starring soprano Catherine Malfitano and tenor Richard Leech. James Robinson directs the new co-production; Stephane Deneve conducts.

Special events

Several new partnerships will create unique events surrounding the opera season. Attend plays, concerts or lectures, or meet Mary GrandPre, the artist behind Cincinnati Opera's 2004 Carmen illustration (and the Harry Potter series).

Today - Opera Rap: The Interplay of History and Art

- A Double Bill preview with Nicolas Muni and Dr. Michael Meyer, Professor of Jewish History at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. 7 p.m., Yavneh Day School, Montgomery. Free. 744-3511.

Next Sunday - Opera Rap: The Musicality of Violence: The Aesthetics of Terror, with Dr. Lydia Goehr at HUC-UC Ethics Center. 5 p.m., Scheuer Chapel, Hebrew Union College, Clifton. 221-1875, Ext. 367 to reserve.

June 23 and 26 - The Maids, a play by Jean Genet, at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (ETC). Featuring Todd Almond; directed by Ruben Polendo. Mr. Polendo, ETC producing artistic director D. Lynn Meyers and The Maids composer Peter Bengtson will hold a "talk-back" session with the audience following the reading. 7 p.m. Wednesday; 2 p.m. Saturday, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, downtown. General admission: $15. 421-3555; www.cincyetc.com and www.cincinnatiopera.org.

June 25 and 27 - Beautiful and Forbidden: A Concert of Censored Opera. Excerpts from Gesualdo's Madrigals, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Verdi's Rigoletto, Strauss's Salome, Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer, and Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock and more, by members of Cincinnati Opera's Young Artist Program and University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music students. Co-directed by CCM Opera Department chair Sandra Bernhard and Graham Cozzubbo.

8 p.m. Friday; 3 p.m. Sunday, Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM. Tickets $15; 241-2742; www.cincinnatiopera.org and www.ccm.uc.edu.

June 25 and 27 - Workshop reading of The Emperor of Atlantis: A Play about an Opera, a new play by Calgary-based playwright Stephen Massicotte that tells the remarkable story of Viktor Ullmann and the creation of the opera. Directed by CCM faculty member Michael Burnham. 6:30 p.m. Friday; 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM. Free; reservations required. 241-2742.

June 27 - Orchestral Spectaculars from the Opera, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor. Violinist Karen Gomyo will perform Carmen Fantasy on Themes of Bizet by Sarasate and Massenet's Meditation from Thais.7:30 p.m., Riverbend. Cincinnati Opera subscribers receive discounted tickets. 381-3300; www.cincinnatisymphony.org.

July 7 - Cincinnati Opera and the Cincinnati Film Society present Karmen Gei, filmmaker Joseph Gai Ramaka's reinvention of the legendary Carmen, set in contemporary Senegal. 7:30 p.m., Cincinnati Art Museum Auditorium, Eden Park. Tickets: $8 general admission; $6 for CAM/CFS members and Opera subscribers. 721-2787; www.cincinnatifilmsociety.com and www.cincinnatiopera.org.

July 9 - Exhibit: Works by illustrator Mary GrandPre at Closson's Art Gallery. Meet the artist behind Cincinnati Opera's Carmen image at the Cincinnati premiere of illustrations by Mary GrandPre, the internationally acclaimed illustrator for the Harry Potter series.

It's her first partnership with an opera company. Cincinnati Opera commissioned the Carmen illustration and featured her work last season. 5 p.m. Closson's Art Gallery, Hyde Park. Free.

July 21 - Opera Rap: Meet the cast of Carmen, including Catherine Malfitano and Richard Leech. 7 p.m. Corbett Tower, Music Hall. Free, but reservations requested. 744-3511.