2 1-act operas for twice the weeping
Women’s stories come to a tragic end in both halves of the double bill that opens this season at the Phènix Opera Company, the scrappy little Pacifica outfit founded and led by Osvaldo de León.
In Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” the Carthaginian princess (sung by mezzo-soprano Jessica Winn) discovers too late that falling in love with an empire builder is not the path to happiness. And the title character in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica” (sung by soprano Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai) finds that not even the cloister can protect her from the misfortunes of a cruel world.
Mezzo-soprano Sonia Gariaeff is featured in both casts, and de León accompanies at the piano.