Performer Paul Hopper took on the role of Mario the postman, the title character in composer Daniel Catan’s “Il Postino,” which played in April 2011. | Photo courtesy of Moores Opera House
Last year’s production of “Il Postino” in the Moores Opera House recently garnered top honors from the National Opera Association.
The production, which took place in April 2011, was ranked first by the NOA in Division IV of the Opera Production Competition.
Representatives of the opera house attended a ceremony for the honorees on Jan. 7 in Memphis, Tenn.
“The recent award from the National Opera Association for the Moores Opera Center’s production of ‘II Postino’ spotlights our wonderful student singers, our fine opera orchestra and the terrific production that brought the opera to life,” said David White, director of the Moores School of Music at UH.
“In addition, such an award would not have been possible without the vision of Buck Ross, the director of the Moores Opera Center, the members of our tremendous voice faculty, Thom Guthrie, who designed the sets and lighting and Brett Mitchell, our opera orchestra conductor, along with everyone else who was involved with the project,” White said.
“II Postino” was the last production that UH collaborated on with Catán before his sudden death in early April.
UH began its relationship with Catán in the staging of “Florencia en el Amazonas,” which gave birth to the Moores Opera Center Daniel Catán project, where productions of his work were to showcase every other year in the Moores Opera House.
“Ultimately, without the support of the composer, Daniel Catán, who selected the Moores Opera Center to present the second American production of his masterpiece, based on his previous wonderful collaboration with our opera program, none of this would have happened,” White said.
Catán, the famed Mexican opera composer, had once noted that he believed the fate of opera in America was dependent on the work and the longevity of centers like Moores Opera House.
“I believe the future of opera in this country is tied to centers like the Moores Opera Center,” Catán quoted in a UH news release.
“They alone have the resources to train students and the flexibility and freedom to teach them a repertory that will soon be the staple of our opera houses,” Catán said.
