The Manitoba Opera is celebrating its 40th anniversary by marking another important milestone in the opera world: the bicentennial of the birth of composer Giuseppe Verdi.

The opera company is presenting two of Verdi’s most famous works, which also happen to be two of the best-known operas ever, as their 2012-2013 season.

Rigoletto, the tragic story of the hunchbacked jester and his beautiful daughter, starts things off Nov. 24, Nov. 27 and Nov. 30, while Aida runs in April of next year.

Opera is one of the lesser-explored art forms, and certainly one that has many stigmas and stereotypes attached to it.

However, Darlene Ronald, director of marketing for Manitoba Opera, says that if there were a time to get into opera, it’s now.

The company is trying to break down the stereotypes, one breastplate at a time.

So who is a typical opera-goer?

Ronald says that while on any given night the audience is made up of a diverse range of ages, it is typically skewed towards the 40- to 50-year-old bracket, which is not unique of Winnipeg, but is experienced by opera companies elsewhere.

“We certainly do have university students who attend,” Ronald says, attributing student nights and student-only ticket deals to drawing in the younger crowd.

By planting the seeds when people are younger, Ronald says they then tend to return to the art form as adults.

“The students who actually come to the opera always find it so different from the technology that we are bombarded with in our lives,” she says.

People often don’t realize that the singers are not using microphones.

Ronald says opera is the hardest art form to sell.

“Before you even say the name of a show you want to promote, people start to back away from you.”

In most cases, people have never attended a production, but have formed their opinions on opera based upon what they have seen or heard portrayed by other mediums.

“There are a lot of misconceptions out there,” she says, one being that people will not be able to understand it.

While most opera is sung in a language other than English, most contemporary operas provide surtitles, which function like movie subtitles and are projected above the stage.

She also recommends that opera-goers read up on the story line or check out the free events prior to the show to have a more fulfilling experience at the opera. The company is bringing in opera expert William Berger from the Metropolitan Opera to present on the genius of Verdi on Nov. 10.

Ronald says not to fret about a dress code.

“We’ve had people come in shorts, we’ve had people come in long dresses and tuxes, and everything in between.”

And the fat lady is done singing.

“What people find when they come to opera nowadays is that the singers are quite fit, because they need to be fit to maintain the lives they have.”

Manitoba Opera presents Rigoletto Saturday, Nov. 24 at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. and Friday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 204-957-7842, online at www.manitobaopera.mb.ca and at the box office, lower level of the Centennial Concert Hall.

Published in Volume 67, Number 10 of The Uniter (November 7, 2012)