Autumn Valentine

About

Bodhi Tree Concerts presented the San Diego premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's updated chamber opera Autumn Valentine at UC San Diego Park & Market. The production used a seven-piece chamber ensemble led by pianist and music director Ines Irawati, with Angelina Reaux and Michael Sokol as the two vocal performers. The staging was directed by Rosina Reynolds. The production combined Gordon's music with dialogue, songs, and acted episodes based on Dorothy Parker's poems, short stories, and other writings. This version expanded the earlier Opera Omaha workshop version from 1994 into a fully orchestrated production. Gordon added music and text and removed the earlier Gershwin material so that the revised score would be entirely his own. A pre-show conversation with Gordon and music critic Ken Herman preceded the performance. The event was presented as a benefit for the NAACP, San Diego.