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ince its first production in 2013, Cincinnati Chamber Opera has carved out its own unique identity among local fledgling opera companies. University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music alums Autumn West and Shawn Mlynek founded Cincinnati Chamber Opera to stage and perform works they wanted to do, especially rarely heard Baroque works by Haydn and Monteverdi.
The chamber opera also presents Contemporary operas, and its fourth season opens with The Little Prince (Dec. 17-20), a 2003 work based on French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved novella. Originally commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, the opera was composed by Rachel Portman, a British composer best known for film scores. West says the decision to stage it grew out of the company’s evolving approach to programming.
“We don’t do mainstream, but we started looking at more accessible works,” she says. “Shawn (Mlynek) was in Opera Fayetteville’s production of The Little Prince last year and he told me, ‘We’ve got to do this!’ ”
“I fell in love with it, just like Shawn had,” West continues. “The score is extremely accessible, and it’s a fantastic story that so many people know.”
And it’s in keeping with Cincinnati Chamber Opera’s mission to engage opera enthusiasts and draw new audiences to an often-intimidating art form. “It was a huge draw for us because it’s not just for kids,” she says.
No, it isn’t. From the opening lines, the unnamed pilot’s encounter with the tousle-haired ruler of Asteroid B-612 continues to defy definition. To most readers, it’s a meditation on the loss of childhood innocence and the emergence of adult awareness.
The opera’s score is sweet and lyrical, but the production’s demands are anything but child’s play. West acknowledges the challenges in terms of scale and management, as well as financial demands. There are 12 singing roles, a children’s chorus and an orchestra of 18, not to mention scenic design and lighting.
Craft is equally significant for West, and she defines it as a means of serving the art form. “It starts with hiring the best artists we can and trusting them to exceed expectations,” she says. Fortunately, CCM has a wealth of young artists eager to take on new projects.
One of company’s first hires was Yael Front, a CCM doctor of musical arts student who conducted three previous Cincinnati Chamber Opera productions. Front says that craft and art are intertwined, beginning with the story, which she first read as a kid in Israel.
“From there, I began working with the score. I sing a lot,” she says, laughing, “so I sing orchestral parts with the piano. For me, the craft is communicating what I hear to the musicians.”
“You need to be flexible,” she continues. “If I don’t get what I want, I always have to think: What words or conducting gestures can I use? How can I be a more effective communicator?”
In addition to leading the chamber orchestra’s largest orchestra to date, Front will work with members of the Cincinnati Children’s Choir making their Cincinnati Chamber Opera debuts as the chorus of birds and stars.
“It’s always a challenge to work with kids but I hope that my experience singing in youth choirs will help me to help them,” Front says.
Stephen Variames returns this season as vocal coach and rehearsal accompanist; he holds an artist diploma in opera coaching from CCM. Baritone Harry Greenleaf, a CCM master’s student, sings the role of the pilot, bass Jacob Kincaide sings the role of the king and four singers will double smaller roles.
Director Frances Rabalais is a second-year artist diploma candidate with impressive stage credentials. While production details are still in the works, West and Front have confidence in what Rabalais will accomplish. “She has very good ideas and a great work ethic,” Front says.
For the first time, the chamber opera cast two leading roles with singers from outside Cincinnati.
Soprano Rose Sawvel, who sang the Little Prince in Fayetteville, reprises the role, and Alisa Jordheim, a CCM alumna now based in Wisconsin, is the Little Prince’s temperamental Rose. “They are both extremely talented singers,” West says. “Both were chosen for San Francisco Opera’s Merola program, and Alisa also sang with Central City Opera in Colorado.”
When asked why Cincinnati Chamber Opera chose an adult rather than a boy soprano to sing the Prince, West says that stamina had a lot to do with it.
“This is a difficult role, and since our rehearsal schedule is so crunched, and with three performances, we needed a pro we could trust completely,” West says.
Both West and Front view collaboration as essential to the craft of creating art, and trust plays a major role. Cincinnati Chamber Opera’s brief history is noteworthy for working with the Cincinnati Early Music Festival and the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education.
Community support is growing, too, and Cincinnati Chamber Opera just received a major grant from The Charles H. Dater Foundation.
For West, craft includes spotting talent and providing performance opportunities — even if it means she herself doesn’t sing. “That’s the teacher in me,” she says. “I love seeing other people succeed.”
With its reflections on responsibility and seeing what is essential with the heart, The Little Prince is in synch with Cincinnati Chamber Opera’s growth chart.
West is running the company while Mlynek is in Germany singing with the chorus of the Stadttheater Gießen, but West says he’s actively involved. Echoing The Little Prince’s fox’s statement of being responsible for what you tame, she says, “The CCO is our baby. This is so much a part of both of us.” ©
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2015.
