The Dallas Opera 2021-2022 - Madame Butterfly/Flight

4 Q&A WITH MUSIC DIRECTOR EMMANUEL VILLAUME After such a long stretch away from live performances, how does it feel to be back with TDO for fully staged productions? There is nothing like live music—there are such exceptional and magical moments in operas that only an in-person performance can offer. What we do best is music, so being back together brings such joy! What makes Madame Butterfly special? I love Madame Butterfly . It was one of the first operas I ever conducted, and it’s close to my heart since it’s where my love for opera started. It was also my Metropolitan Opera debut. Of all the Puccini operas, Madame Butterfly is the most complete. Puccini’s music speaks directly to the heart, and if I had to pick a favorite moment, I just can’t find one; there isn’t a moment that doesn’t work. What should someone who is either new to opera or to Madame Butterfly listen for? For someone listening for the first time, I would tell them listen for “Un bel dì” which is the moment that Cio-Cio-San is expressing her faith in the fact that Pinkerton will come back, and she describes that moment in incredible detail. And we know that she is lying to herself—or we suspect that she is not seeing the truth—but the way she talks about it is unbelievable. It’s poetry and art that speaks to who we are as human beings. The opera catalogue is so rich, why is it important to perform new works? Opera should not be a museum where you only go to hear the great works of the past. Opera reflects our culture and society—repertoire from earlier centuries reflect those times—so creating new work is essential to keep the art form vibrant and relevant for today’s audiences and artists. The Dallas Opera has an important history both commissioning and performing contemporary opera, and I’m thrilled to be able to contribute to that expanding catalogue of repertoire for the art form. How do you approach an opera like Flight , that you’re conducting for the first time? It’s always exciting for me to do a new piece, I can study the score and build my own interpretation. The plot and theatrical aspect play a big part in preparation, and the music for Flight is very accessible—it’s melodic and serves the theatrical parts of the piece well—so I study both of these simultaneously. Before rehearsals even start, I prepare in layers, from the overall piece down to deciding tempos and interacting with the cast and crew. The process is very exciting for me and the result is as well. There’s a buzz backstage as well as with audiences when you perform a new work; they all know that something special is happening. • PHOTO: MARCO BORGGREVE THE DALLAS OPERA | 2021/2022 SEASON