For Virginia opera lovers, it’s a whole new scene

When Robin Thompson sat down to see a performance of Philip Glass’s opera “Orphée” at the Glimmerglass Opera in 2007, he had low expectations. “I thought, ‘God, that’s going to be endless ostinato,’ ” he said, referring to Glass’s signature musical phrases that repeat over and over and over and over.

But then the music started. “From the downbeat,” Thompson says, “I sat bolt upright in my chair. It had nothing to do with any Philip Glass music I had ever heard. And then the curtain went up, and the design was just amazing.”

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(David A. Beloff/David A. Beloff) - Baritone Matthew Worth and soprano Sara Jakubiak in Virginia Opera's production of Philip Glass' ‘Orphee.’

When he saw “Orphée,” Thompson was the artistic administrator at the New York City Opera, and he planned to snare the production for that company. Instead, City Opera went into a long, painful decline; the 2008-09 season, when Thompson had planned to stage “Orphée,” was cancelled; and Thompson, having left his post and written a book on “Porgy and Bess,” ended up at the Virginia Opera in the consulting post of artistic adviser, brought in to help guide that company after the firing of its long-time general and music director, Peter Mark.

But Thompson is loyal: He’s brought the production of “Orphée” that he saw at Glimmerglass, directed by Sam Helfrich, along with him. It opens at George Mason University’s Center for the Performing Arts on Friday night.

“It’s a leap,” Thompson concedes, to present a contemporary work that’s never been done in Virginia by a composer whose ostinatos strike fear into the hearts of many classical music traditionalists. “ ‘Orphée’ is a leap for this company and this audience, and I know that, but I felt it was very important to send a strong, loud signal that the company was changing. A number of things came together, and I said: ‘This is it. This is what they should do.’ ”

Opera in Virginia is changing, all right. For one thing, there’s more of it. This may not be immediately apparent from the Virginia Opera’s schedule, which, like that of the Washington National Opera and many other companies, has gradually shrunk in the current economic climate: fewer productions, fewer performances. But the company’s new management is working to rebuild. Next season will see three more performances, while the young-artist program is expanding with a new “Master Teacher” series of classes with notable artists, starting this month with the soprano Diana Soviero, whose “La Traviata” with the Virginia Opera in 1975 is still remembered vividly by many local opera-goers.

Meanwhile, there’s a new company in town: Peter Mark, not one to go gently into the good night, has founded Lyric Opera Virginia . In its first season, the troupe has drawn strong reviews for Verdi’s “La Traviata” (in September) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” (in January). Mark has laid out a template that reflects the mix of great ambition and popular touch he showed at the Virginia Opera: one opera from the standard repertory, often a huge assignment for a small company (next season is Puccini’s challenging “Fanciulla del West”); one American musical; and one “jewel box” production that Mark describes as “a carefully crafted shortened version . . . that has musical jewels from each work.” This season’s, scheduled to open in May, will be a 90-minute “Carmen.”