Charles Parsons: A Retrospective

Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director Evans Mirageas calls Charles Parsons a “lifelong ambassador to the Opera.” Parsons began attending Cincinnati Opera productions in 1952, when the company was called Cincinnati Summer Opera and performed at the Cincinnati Zoo, at the age of eleven. Later in his life, he wrote A Celebration of Cincinnati Opera, a book which chronicles the history of this company from its very beginnings. This episode is in memory of Charles Parsons, who passed away on July 20, 2018 at the age of 77.

Show notes:

• Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello

• Aida, Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville were featured in the 1952 season

• Parsons references Samson et Delilah with Claramae Turner & Kurt Baum

• Parsons tells a legend involving Kurt Baum in a Metropolitan Opera production of Il Trovatore

• Parsons references Act II of Tosca (“Quanto?”)

• Fausto Cleva was the conductor of Cincinnati Summer Opera for 29 years at the Zoo

• Lucia di Lammermoor was performed in Cincinnati Opera’s 1954 season

• Parsons mentions The Medium by Gian Carlo Menotti

• Alms Hotel is a historic Cincinnati hotel (and now a residential apartment building)

• Parsons mentions the Vienna State Opera Ballet performing Bartok’s The Miraculous Mandarin with the Cincinnati Symphony during the Opera’s season at the Cincinnati Zoo

• Sherrill Milnes, baritone

• The tenor Parsons criticizes is named Eddy Ruhl

• Sea Thorn by Henry Humphreys is based on the story of Phaedra

• Parson quotes a section from George Santayana’s A Sense of Beauty

• Nell Rankin, mezzo-soprano

• Anthony Stivenelo provided costumes for many Opera productions in the Zoo days

• The Magic Flute at the Zoo featured sets from Indiana University

• L'amore dei tre re ("The Love of the Three Kings") is an opera by Italo Montemezzi

• Parsons’ recommended operas:

  • Best opera to start: Carmen

  • Best opera for its simplicity: Madama Butterfly

  • Best opera to portray everyday life: La Bohème

• Parsons is currently rereading the complete works of T.S. Eliot

• Parsons enjoys watching the National Geographic, SyFy and Food Network channels

• Parsons enjoys Thanksgiving at The Golden Lamb in Lebanon, OH

• Cleo Laine’s recording of “Send in the Clowns”

• Parsons enjoyed learning Gregorian chant at CCM (University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music)