Great Barrington — Berkshire Opera Festival (BOF) has been staging world-class opera productions in the Berkshires since 2016. The word is out, and the verdict is in: BOF’s productions rival those of much larger companies, and they equal many of the best. The BOF orchestra and chorus are always top notch, the cast first rate, the direction brilliant, the sets elegant, and the costumes gorgeous. “La bohème” exceeded expectations in 2023, as did “Don Giovanni” the year before, “Falstaff” the year before that, and so on. These people are batting a thousand, and we’ve really had to pinch ourselves to make sure all of this first-rate artistry is really occurring 150 miles from New York City—with ticket prices anyone can afford.
In BOF’s early days, one could be forgiven for wondering aloud: “Holy moly! Where did they get these singers? How did they attract top singing talent to a production held in a 680-seat venue in a small New England town?”
And the answer, as it turned out, had something to do with the fact that BOF founders Jonathon Loy and Brian Garman each have decades of experience, in New York City and elsewhere, directing or conducting opera. Mr. Loy has been a guest director for the Metropolitan Opera since 2009, winning an OPERA America Fellowship in 2002, and Mr. Garman is a minor celebrity in Seattle after creating and directing the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program for five years. Additionally, Garman has worked with opera companies in Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, and many other cities. For his direction at Wolf Trap of Verdi’s “Un Giorno di Regno,” Garman earned high praise from Wall Street Journal critic Greg Sandow: “One of the best bel canto conductors I’ve ever heard.”
Gounod’s opera is based loosely on the original story by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, so it leaves out a lot of stuff that would be too boring in an opera. But it is basically about a morally conflicted old man who, feeling the existential buzz, decides to forfeit his soul in pursuit of trivial pleasures, destroying the life of an innocent young woman and damning himself to hell. (Don’t try this at home.)
The cast of BOF’s production is of characteristically high quality; Garman and Loy having again exercised seemingly unerring judgment in their selection of singers who are at the peak of their creative and physical powers.
For example, tenor Duke Kim takes the role of Faust. Kim made debuts this season playing Faust with the Irish National Opera and Alfredo for the Pittsburgh Opera’s production of “La Traviata.” He played Roméo in a return to Washington National Opera’s “Roméo et Juliette” and Almaviva in productions of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” in Seattle and Des Moines.
Soprano Raquel González, who appeared at BOF’s June gala, will portray Marguerite. Her engagements this season include debuts with Houston Grand Opera as Madama Butterfly and Austin Opera as Micaëla in “Carmen,” as well as a return appearance at The Metropolitan Opera for Catán’s “Florencia en el Amazonas.” Ms. González won the Sphinx Organization’s Medal of Excellence Award in 2019.
Bass-baritone Justin Hopkins will appear as Méphistophélès. Recent roles include Rugby in Vaughan Williams’ “Sir John in Love,” at the Bard Music Festival; Un Mèdecin/Un Berger in Debussy’s “Pelléas et Mélisande,” at the Enescu Festival; Narumov in Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” and Gralsritter in “Parsifal” at La Monnaie; Colline in “La Bohème” at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen; and Publio in Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” at Wiener Festwochen.
Baritone Jarrett Porter will appear in the role of Marguerite’s brother Valentin. As an ensemble member of Oper Frankfurt this past season, Mr. Porter sang Borov in Giordano’s “Fedora,” the Sprecher in “Die Zauberflöte,” Curio in “Giulio Cesare,” and Barbavano in Offenbach’s “Die Banditen.”
Mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce plays Siébel. Engagements this season included Cherubino in “Le Nozze di Figaro” at New Orleans Opera, Siegrune in “Die Walküre” with the Dallas Symphony, Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at Des Moines Metro Opera, Suzuki in “Madama Butterfly” at Houston Grand Opera, and Bertarido in Handel’s “Rodelinda” at Hudson Hall. Ms. Pierce made her Metropolitan Opera debut this spring as Suzy, in a live-in-HD broadcast of “La Rondine” that was seen around the world.
Bard College Conservatory graduate mezzo-soprano Abbegael Greene plays Marthe Schwerlein, and Peabody Institute graduate baritone Kyle Dunn plays Wagner. Mr. Dunn most recently sang as Germano in Rossini’s “La scala di seta” and Presto in Poulenc’s “Les mamelles de Tirésias” with Peabody Opera Theater. Other recent roles include Rambaldo in Puccini’s “La Rondine,” Mr. Wickham/Mr. Bennet in Kirk Mechem’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the Hunter in Dvorak’s “Rusalka,” and Antinoo in Monteverdi’s “Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria.”
BOF will hold a pre-performance talk for ticket holders on Saturday, August 24, 12 p.m., with dramaturg Cori Ellison.
See Berkshire Opera Festival’s production of Gounod’s “Faust” on Saturday, August 24, at 1 p.m.; Tuesday, August 27, at 7:30 p.m.; or Friday, August 30, at 7:30 p.m., at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes, including one intermission. Sung in French with projected English translations. Tickets are available here.
