Orpheus|PDX's Brings Third Season To A Close with the West Coast Premiere of THE ROSE ELF

OrpheusPDX completes its 2024 season with The Rose Elf, an opera based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale with music and libretto by the acclaimed American composer David Hertzberg. Jerry Mouawad, the artistic director of Imago Theatre, will direct the action, joined by conductor Deanna Tham, the associate conductor of the Oregon Symphony.

Performances will be held on Saturday, August 17, at 7:30 pm and Sunday, August 18, at 3 pm. Performances will take place at Lincoln Performance Hall. Tickets are available at OrpheusPDX.org. 

“Following our production of Handel’s sublime  Acis, Galatea & Polyphemus, I’m particularly thrilled to be presenting the West Coast premiere of  The Rose Elf by David Hertzberg, which has received ecstatic press since its world premiere in 2018,” said Mattaliano.

"I'm also delighted to present two OrpheusPDX debuts with this production: Lisa Marie Rogali in the title role and Jerry Mouawad as stage director," he continued. "Lisa is one of the most exciting singers working today, and the tour-de-force role of the Elf is a perfect fit for her amazing talents. I've admired Jerry's work at Imago Theatre for years, and we’ve collaborated on several exciting opera productions at Portland Opera. I can't imagine an artist better suited to bring the fantastical world of this opera to vivid life on stage." 

Asked to reflect on his approach to the opera, Mouawad said, "The Rose Elf offers a wild look at love from two vastly different vantage points: The first is the world of the elf, a surreal setting where fairy-like creatures make mini-homes inside flowers; the second is the emotionally fraught landscape of a trio of star-crossed humans. Lust, jealousy, fury, grief, longing, and confusion eventually rock both realms. I want audiences to experience both the botanical beauty and tumultuous emotions in this dark and wonderful Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale."

Hertzberg has said of the opera, “In a time when many of us are living sub rosa, watching unfathomable devastation unfold from a distance, in which the pain of loss and separation can be difficult to bear, it is my hope that this love-woven work of collective imagination can speak to the transformative power of nature and perhaps, in turn, offer a glimmer of hope." 

OrpheusPDX’s production will be the fourth presentation of this new opera. The world premiere of The Rose Elf was named “The Opera Event of 2018” by WQXR. A commercial recording was subsequently released and named as one of the “Best of 2021” by Opera News. 

THE ROSE ELF

David Hertzberg

Saturday, August 17, 2024, 7:30 pm 

Sunday, August 18, 2024, 3 pm

Libretto by David Hertzberg, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson

Sung in English with English surtitles; 65 minutes with no intermission.

A tiny elf, who lives within a rose in a large garden, witnesses a violent murder. Forever changed—moved, bewildered, affected—the elf strives to give comfort and closure to the victim’s beloved. The incredibly rich world of Hans Christian Andersen’s fantastical tale is brought to vivid life by the music of David Hertzberg, hailed as “an absolute phenomenon. Such lush, decadent musical passages and ecstatic vocal lines I’ve rarely heard from a young composer. Hertzberg gave us splendid moments when I was sure I was hearing something straight out of the late Romantic period”(Parterre).

TICKET INFORMATION

All performances are at the Lincoln Performance Hall on Portland State University’s campus (1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR). Tickets are on sale now and start at $50. Season Subscribers save 10%. Students can purchase up to two tickets for $15 each. Tickets can be purchased at OrpheusPDX.org or by contacting the box office at (503) 308-4828 or boxoffice@orpheuspdx.org.  

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