The pandemic’s devastating effect on live, real-time culture has taken a particular toll on opera, that grand, four-century-old tradition reliant on closely intertwined and interactive parts, close quarters, and the multifaceted art of “being there” — for audiences and artists alike. Even so, opera may be down, but it is hardly out. In December, Opera Santa Barbara went to the drive-in model, with Carmen, A Live Drive-in Opera, at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
On Friday, February 26, local opera strikes again, when UCSB’s Opera Theatre presents an ambitious virtual production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The production, which will be permanently available on the program’s YouTube channel following its online premiere, is directed by renowned soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, and features a cast of music students recorded remotely from various locations.
“In an ideal world,” Bayrakdarian commented, “we would’ve come together, rehearsed in person with an accompanist, and then staged it for a live performance with an orchestra. However, as Carl Sagan says, ‘We live in an extraordinary age.’