Jacquelyn Wagner returns to Minnesota Opera this week for her debut as Arabella, the beautiful woman torn between her desire to marry for love and her family's need for her to marry for money.
It's a romantic comedy, so the outcome is hardly a surprise, but along the way we enjoy some gorgeous music on a par with Strauss' masterpiece, Der Rosenkavalier.
It's a debut role for a soprano who's no stranger to Minnesota Opera (she sang Fiordiligi a few seasons ago in Cosi fan tutte), nor to opera stages from her home base in Berlin to stages throughout Europe.
Perhaps Jacquelyn Wagner's affinity for Richard Strauss is a family affair. Strauss' father was a famous French horn player in the Bavarian Court Opera; Jacquelyn Wagner's father is a famous French horn player from the Detroit Symphony.
Hear that affinity yourself: Jacquelyn and Minnesota Opera President Kevin Ramach came to Classical MPR to talk about the production and to sing a drop-dead-gorgeous aria — about a glass of water!
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