“Leon Botstein, the conductor and tireless champion of overlooked works, considers Julietta an operatic masterpiece that at least deserves a place in the repertory…He has done his part by bringing a worthy and original opera to attention.” —The New York Times

PROGRAM ELEVEN: The Opera of Dreams: Martinů’s Julietta

Many consider Martinů’s eighth opera to be his finest work. Based, like Ariane, on a French play by Georges Neveux, Julietta is a surreal psychological drama that explores the intersection of dreams and reality. In 2019, Leon Botstein helmed the opera’s overdue American premiere at Carnegie Hall, where he led “a winning cast and the American Symphony Orchestra in a vibrant concert performance” that was selected as a “Critic’s Pick” by The New York Times. Now, the Festival presents the conductor and ASO in a semi-staged revival of the opera, featuring three members of that same winning cast: tenor Aaron Blake and bass-baritones Philip Cokorinos and Alfred Walker, who also appears in this year’s mainstage SummerScape opera. So too does soprano Erica Petrocelli, who headlines Julietta, lending her “searing intensity” (Los Angeles Times) to the opera’s title role. Anchored by Botstein and the ASO, their performance draws the Bard Music Festival—and all seven weeks of Bard SummerScape—to a gripping close.

2 pm • Preconcert talk: Marina Frolova-Walker
3 pm • Semi-staged opera performance