Vive la France! Season Opening Spectacular

BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture
GOUNOD from Faust: "Le veau d'or" and "Waltz"  
MASSENET from Werther: "Va! laisse couler mes larmes" and "Pourquoi me réveiller?" 
MASSENET from Thaïs: "Méditation" 
SAINT-SAËNS from Samson et Dalila: Act III, Scenes 2 and 3  
BIZET L'Arlésienne Suite No. 1, "Carillon"  
BIZET L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2, "Farandole" 
OFFENBACH from Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Act II: "Entr'acte," "Barcarolle," "Scintille, diamant," "Malheureux! tu ne comprends donc pas!," "Hélas! mon coeur s'égare encore!" 
OFFENBACH from Orphée aux enfers: "Galop" 
SCHÖNBERG/BOUBLIL from Les Misérables: "I Dreamed a Dream," "Stars," "Bring Him Home" 
BERLIOZ (arr.) "La Marseillaise" 

LAYNA CHIANAKAS mezzo-soprano WEBSITE 
JONATHAN BURTON tenor WEBSITE 
WAYNE TIGGES* bass-baritone WEBSITE 
MELISA BONETTI mezzo-soprano WEBSITE 
MARK HANSON tenor
BRADLEY R. MATTINGLY baritone

*Dayton Opera debut 

DAYTON OPERA THOMAS BANKSTON artistic director, event producing director WEBSITE 
DAYTON PHILHARMONIC NEAL GITTLEMAN artistic director, conductor WEBSITE 
DAYTON OPERA CHORUS JEFFREY POWELL chorus master WEBSITE 
DAYTON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA CHORUS HANK DAHLMAN director WEBSITE 
DAYTON BALLET KAREN RUSSO BURKE artistic director, choreographer WEBSITE 

OPERA EXCERPTS PERFORMED IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES 

Dayton Opera kicks off the 2016–2017 Excite Season with a Season Opening Spectacular that pays homage to the beautiful country of France. The powerful forces of all three art forms of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance—Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, and Dayton Philharmonic—will honor the great French composers who have written some of the most exquisite music ever. 

Vocalists from Dayton Opera will perform excerpts from such magnificent French operatic works as Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah and Gounod’s Faust. Dayton Philharmonic will electrify the audience with orchestral excerpts from some of the most prominent French composers, including Berlioz, Massenet, and Bizet. And Dayton Ballet will take the stage alongside Dayton’s finest musicians and singers to dance to some of the greatest French music that moves the soul, including a first-half finale fantastique—the famous “Bacchanale” from Samson and Delilah. 

The second half of the Season Opening Spectacular will explore a little of the lighter side of the French repertoire, including music from Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, and in a continued nod to all things French, Dayton Opera vocalists will perform a few favorites from the hit musical Les Misérables. Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, and Dayton Opera invite you to a very special tour de force of performing arts that will have everyone raving “Vive la France!”