Partenope

About

Opera Omaha’s 1988 production of Handel’s Partenope was presented as part of a fall season devoted to smaller-scale, less frequently staged works. Staged by artistic advisor Stephen Wadsworth, the production favored an approach that trusted Handel’s music and the da capo aria structure, avoiding intrusive conceptual overlays. Costumes referenced the composer’s era (circa 1730) but were worn with an intentionally relaxed, informal attitude, blending period style with an unvarnished stage presence. The intimate scale of Joslyn Art Museum’s 800-seat Witherspoon Concert Hall supported a chamber-like focus on text, musical detail, and comic-dramatic balance. Under Opera Omaha’s musical leadership of the period, contemporary accounts note clear, singer-centered music-making and a practical engagement with modern vocal technique in Handelian roles. The company positioned the production as a significant artistic statement in its fall initiative, and it has been cited as the U.S. premiere of Partenope.