{"id":26861,"date":"2025-11-06T17:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/26861\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T17:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:15:07","slug":"opera-philadelphia-blends-art-and-science-in-a-reimagining-of-vivaldis-the-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/26861\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Philadelphia blends art and science in a reimagining of Vivaldi\u2019s ‘The Seasons’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Molly Given<\/p>\n

Opera Philadelphia<\/a> is merging art and science this winter to shine a spotlight on Antonio Vivaldi\u2019s string masterpiece, \u2018The Seasons.\u2019<\/p>\n

Happening for three nights only \u2014 Dec. 19, 20 and 21 \u2014 this will be Opera Philadelphia\u2019s first show at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts<\/a> since 2019.<\/p>\n

Vivaldi\u2019s \u2018The Four Seasons\u2019 first premiered in March of this year with the Boston Lyric Opera. With this new showcase in Philadelphia, however, audiences can expect additional arias and ensembles by the composer and a fresh libretto by Tony award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl (\u2019Eurydice\u2019).<\/p>\n

The show features six singers and six dancers, with Grammy-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo in his first Opera Philadelphia<\/a> starring role since being named general director and president.<\/p>\n

What ‘The Seasons’ ultimately explores is the connection between weather and emotion.<\/p>\n

Ruhl co-conceived the work with Costanzo, in collaboration with choreographer Pam Tanowitz and director Zack Winokur. Tony-winning set designer Mimi Lien will also brave the elements with a set formed largely by bubbles (created in collaboration with MIT and Materials Technologist, Jack Forman) to complete the visual package that audiences get to experience.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Four Seasons\u2019 imagines a world where the \u201cweather is turned upside down.\u201d The official plot follows a group of contemporary artists who embark on a rural retreat to reconnect with nature and hone their crafts. But the harmony they seek is disrupted by extreme weather events that \u201creshape their lives and their work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a release notes, Costanzo says he was creatively inspired by the \u201cincredible arias from rarely performed Vivaldi operas and thinking about how to weave the narrative and emotions they depict into a new story.\u201d He and Ruhl hit upon the idea of Vivaldi\u2019s ‘The Seasons’ as connective tissue for the piece.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose concerti create a sort of synesthesia,\u201d Costanzo says, \u201cin which Vivaldi was thinking about what it sounds like to feel cold or hot \u2013 to see a bird or feel a breeze.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the science side of the show, weather effects are created by using a sustainable alternative to traditional wood and steel construction, aka water and soap mixtures. Throughout the show, the materials take on various forms to evoke rain, smoke and even snowy mountains. \u00a0Forman has developed specialized soap formulas and built new machinery to animate and manipulate his unique substances for these specific performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you take Vivaldi too squarely or classically, it\u2019s going to feel wrong,\u201d Winkour adds. \u201cCollaborations like this one brings you to places you wouldn\u2019t get to alone.”<\/p>\n

Philadelphians can catch \u2018The Seasons\u2019 at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (300 S Broad St.) on Dec. 19, 20 and 21. More information can be found online at \u00a0operaphila.org\/whats-on\/2526-season\/the-seasons<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Molly Given Opera Philadelphia is merging art and science this winter to shine a spotlight on Antonio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[17570,17571,6161,69,71,70,17569],"class_list":["post-26861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-antonio-vivaldi","tag-kimmel-center","tag-opera-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-the-seasons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}