As COVID-19 restrictions continue, Chicago Opera Theater announces an update to its digital production slated for April 24, 2021. Instead of the previously announced Il Postino, COT will now offer the Chicago premiere of La hija de Rappaccini, also by Daniel Catán, based on a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
This staged Spanish-language opera will feature native Spanish speakers in principal roles and on the creative team, with Latinx director Crystal Manich and conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez, both making company debuts, at the helm.
With remarkably timely plot threads like scientific innovation and love at a distance, La hija will be live-streamed from the Field Museum, world-renowned for its work in the natural sciences. The stunning hanging gardens in the main hall will be lowered to create the setting for this tale of botanical experimentation.
Brief synopsis: Dr. Rappaccini isolates his daughter Beatriz in an exotic garden overflowing with remarkable, but deadly, flowers. After glimpsing her beauty from his apartment window, a young medical student falls in love – but a dark secret threatens their romance. Rappaccini has been testing his toxic botanicals on Beatriz, and she has become poisonous to the touch.
Starring Levi Hernandez as Rappaccini, alongside COT debutants Daniel Montenegro as Giovanni and Megan Pachecano as Beatriz. Composed by Daniel Catán (1949-2011), with a libretto by Juan Tovar, based on the play by Octavio Paz and the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Performed in Spanish with English subtitles, La hija de Rappaccini premieres April 24, 2021, at 7:30pm via Valhalla Media Live. Tickets are available for purchase until 7:30pm on Tuesday, April 27, at cot.org/hija. Ticket-holders will have 72 hours to stream the opera.
Chicago Opera Theater is a company laser-focused on living its values: expanding the tradition of opera as a living art form, producing high-quality works that are new to Chicago audiences, identifying top-tier casts and creative talent, and following through on its commitments to equity and access – behind the scenes, on the stage, and in the audience. Since its founding in 1973, in a city where storefront theaters and global icons thrive side by side, COT has grown from a grassroots, community-based company to a national leader in an increasingly vibrant, diverse, and forward-looking art form. COT has staged over 147 operas, including 75 Chicago premieres and 43 operas by American composers. In addition to its mainstage season, COT is devoted to the development and production of new opera in the United States through its Vanguard Initiative, launched in 2018. The Vanguard Initiative trains emerging opera composers, invests time and talent in new opera at various stages of the creative process, and opens up opportunities for Chicago audiences to become part of the development of new work, in dialogue with the creators themselves.