When old-world elegance calls to mind both opera and fine wine, “Opera Uncorked” answers with both. On Saturday, Aug. 8, at Stissing Center in Pine Plains, carefully curated wines from Fulton and Forbes Wine and Spirits in Ancram will be paired with classical arias from beloved operas.
The wines will mostly be drawn from the regions where many famous operas were born.
Both Germany and Austria share a claim to one of the most formidable opera composers of all time. In 1791, at Schikaneder’s theatre in Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” first graced the ears of music enthusiasts. Since then, Germany has produced countless additional operatic masterpieces, including Carl Maria von Weber’s romantic “Der Freischütz,” and Richard Wagner’s epic “The Ring Cycle.”
During his lifetime, Wagner dominated the opera scene. His prolific work is known to have inspired French composer Claude Debussy to write his only opera, “Pelléas et Mélisande.” But Debussy’s work is overshadowed by the crown jewel of French opera: Georges Bizet’s “Carmen.”
Jacopo Peri was an Italian composer and vocalist working in the late 16th century, during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. In 1597, his opera “Dafne” premiered in Florence. It is widely recognized as the first opera ever created and performed. Since then, composers such as Puccini and Rossini have kept Italy at the forefront of opera with works like “La Bohème” and “The Barber of Seville,” respectively.
The fourth wine region is home to a majority of the performers at “Opera Uncorked”: California. Emily Gallagher, of Los Angeles, is a soprano whose work has been described as “harmonically appealing and splendiferous.” Devony Smith is a California-born, Grammy-nominated mezzo-soprano whose voice has been called “sensual” and “strong” by The New York Times.
Rounding out the performers are award-winning Puerto Rican-American baritone Brian James Myer, who has worked with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and Peter Lake, who recently wrapped up a tour as Old Deuteronomy in the hit Broadway classic, “Cats.”
The program will be led by accompanist and conductor Caleb Yanez Glickman, also of Los Angeles, alongside Fulton and Forbes’ Rachelle Merriam, who has carefully selected the wines.
With wine and opera paired so expertly together, there seems to be only one thing missing. But fear not: cheese and crackers will be provided by local favorite Chaseholm Farm, bringing this international evening right back to its center in Dutchess County.
For tickets, visit thestissingcenter.org
