CCM Opera Series presents 'Rappaccini’s Daughter' on April 4-6

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's Opera Series transforms the stage into a treacherously alluring garden in a masterful production of Rappaccini’s Daughter (La hija de Rappaccini) on April 4-6, 2024, in CCM’s Cohen Family Studio Theater. Get your tickets now through the CCM Box Office!

Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s original book, and Octavio Paz’s play adaptation, this beautiful opera by Daniel Catán and Juan Tovar was first premiered in 1991 in Mexico City. A major success, Rappaccini’s Daughter received its U.S. premier with the San Diego Opera in 1994, becoming the first work by a Mexican composer to be produced by a major U.S. opera house. Catán’s music has been lauded across the globe for its lush orchestrations and captivatingly beautiful vocal lines. The reduced orchestration used in CCM’s performance was first workshopped by Mark Robinson in the inaugural Opera Fusion: New Works with CCM and Cincinnati Opera in 2008.

“It is a vocal tour de force,” director Robin Guarino, a CCM Professor of Opera, says of this production. “[It] has a beautifully dense symbolist poetic Spanish text set in a magical, romantic and impressionistic musical world.” Highlighting Catán’s prominence as a 21st century composer, Guarino states “The orchestration demands virtuosic musicianship and features two pianists, percussionists and solo harp on stage, creating a lush and nuanced garden of sound.”

A deeply poignant tale of forbidden love, morality and the dangers of unchecked ambition, Rappaccini’s Daughter tells the tragic story of Beatriz, a girl trapped by her father’s botanical experiments. Exposed to the toxic flora of Dr. Rappaccini’s gardens, Beatriz has become poisonous to all living things, isolating her from the human experience. Hope, however, arrives in the form of Giovanni, a young medical student infatuated with her beauty and set on assisting in her escape. Together with the all-too eager help of Dr. Baglioni and the mysterious insights of the secretive Isabela, Giovanni finds a way to simultaneously cure Beatriz and save himself from her loving, yet lethal, touch. Ending with a startling twist, audiences are forced to reconsider motives, meanings and morals, deciding for themselves how far they would go for a chance at freedom.

“This project has brought CCM singers and musicians on stage together,” Guarino says, “It’s exciting to see the musicians as part of mise en scène. The design process has also been extremely collaborative will an all-student design team creating a performance environment for the magic of this piece to enfold. The audience will undoubtedly be seduced as the lover, Giovanni, is by the ecstatic and evocative dreamscape of Rappaccini’s Garden.”

The opening night performance on Thursday, April 4, was sold out, but tickets are still available for the performances on April 5-6. Get your tickets now through the CCM Box Office!

Composed by Daniel Catán
Libretto by Juan Tovar based on the play by Octavio Paz and the 1844 short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Reduced orchestration by Mark Robson
Presented under license by Associated Music Publishers, Inc. copyright owners

Rappaccini’s Daughter by Daniel Catán and Juan Tovar presented under license from G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.

The performance run time is 90 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. 

• 8 p.m. Thursday, April 4* SOLD OUT
• 8 p.m. Friday, April 5 
• 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6
• 8 p.m. Saturday, April 6 

Cohen Family Studio Theater, CCM Village 
University of Cincinnati

Tickets: $25 adult, $15 student, $15 UC faculty/staff, $10 UC student, $5 CCM student; group discounts available.

Experiencing the magic of CCM OnStage has never been easier! Purchase your tickets:

• Online at ccmonstage.universitytickets.com
• Over the phone at 513-556-4183
• In person at the CCM Box Office in the Atrium of UC's Corbett Center for the Performing Arts 

CCM’s Box Office hours are 1-5 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, and one hour prior to curtain for ticketed performances. Hours subject to change based on the University of Cincinnati calendar. Our Box Office staff is always ready to answer your questions by phone at 513-556-4183 or email at boxoff@uc.edu. 

CCM is located on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. For detailed driving directions, visit ccm.uc.edu/directions.

Parking is available in UC's CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Effective July 1, 2023, all University of Cincinnati Parking Services locations will become cashless. Pay for parking securely with your credit/debit card. All major credit cards accepted.

CCM OnStage patrons can add pre-paid parking to their checkout carts when purchasing tickets. Pre-paid parking is date/performance specific. CCM Garage parking rates for a performance or special event is usually available for $10-15. Learn more about parking at UC's CCM Garage.

For additional information on parking at UC, please visit uc.edu/about/parking.

There's more to explore — view CCM's full schedule of major events at ccm.uc.edu/onstage. 

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All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events, please visit ccm.uc.edu/onstage. 

Featured image at the top: A promotional graphic for CCM's production of Rappaccini's Daughter. Graphic Design by Mikki Graff.