The Cincinnati Opera will return to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for a special concert on Tuesday, July 13 at 6pm. The free concert is open to the public thanks to the Marge & Charles J. Schott Foundation, and will bring the Cincinnati Opera back to the location where its first opera was presented in 1920.
“On June 27, 1920, Cincinnati Opera presented a production of Martha in an outdoor pavilion at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden,” event organizers stated in a prepared release sent to UrbanCincy. “For the next half-century, performances at the Cincinnati Zoo Pavilion filled a ten week season that regularly featured some of the most legendary singers of the 20th century including Plácido Domingo, Norman Treigle, Beverly Sills, Sherrill Milnes, Montserrat Caballé, James Morris, and Roberta Peters.”
Organizers state that the event will celebrate the Opera’s storied history at the Zoo through the performance of vocal selections from past productions, and feature Meghan Dewald, John Christopher Adams, Nathan Stark, and Carol Walker. The artists will perform “Che gelida manina” from La Bohème, “La Calunnia” from The Barber of Seville, “Sempre libera” from La Traviata, and the famous tenor-baritone duet from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.
“Back at the Zoo” is free and open to the public, but reservations are required and can be made calling the Cincinnati Opera Box Office at (513) 241-2742. The celebration will be taking place at the Wings of Wonder Theater at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (map), with a complimentary reception immediately following the concert at The Lodge. Free parking will be available at the Safari Camp parking lot on Dury Road after 5pm, but bicycle parking and Metro bus service (plan your trip) is also available.
