The Santa Fe Opera

Skip to main content Skip to search
1993production photo from The Tsar Haas His Photograph Taken

The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken 1993

July 31 - August 13, 1993

Intrigues abound…

…in Weill’s first opera buffa during the photo shoot of the young Tsar. Delight in the Tsar’s capricious pursuit of the fashionable photographer Angèle (really a revolutionary in disguise), who escapes his advances with a seductive Tango.

(presented as a double bill with The Protagonist)

Music By
Kurt Weill
Libretto By
Georg Kaiser

Synopsis

Synopsis

This production is set in Paris of the 1920s. Paris in the chic and hectic twenties. The Tsar is visiting. Terrorists take over the studio of Angèle, a fashionable lady photographer, and lure in the Tsar to have his portrait taken. The Tsar is tired of the trappings of his position, its public exposure, the attempts on his life and the ever-present secret police. He wants to enjoy Paris in privacy, as a common man might – and perhaps enjoy a liaison with a chic Parisienne. So he agrees to have his photograph taken provided it be a portrait of the man and not the public functionary. It must be a private affair.

Is he aware that the luscious (false) Angèle means to assassinate him? The political act is played out as an intense personal confrontation, an intimate drama of perverse attraction, dark eroticism, unspoken fear, and nail-biting suspense.

Artists

David Malis headshot

David Malis

Baritone

The Tsar

Angelina Reaux headshot

Angelina Réaux

Soprano

The False Angèle

Santa Fe Opera

Julia Anne Wolf

Mezzo-soprano

The Boy

Bradley Diamond headshot

Bradley Martin Diamond

Tenor

The Assistant

Kathryn Gamberoni

Kathryn Gamberoni

Soprano

Angèle

David Rampy headshot

David Rampy

Tenor

The Leader

Julia Bentley headshot

Julia Bentley

Mezzo-soprano

The False Boy

Darren Keith Woods headshot

Darren Keith Woods

Tenor

The False Assistant

Wilbur Pauley

Wilbur Pauley

Baritone

The Tsar's Equerry

Matthew Chellis headshot

Matthew Chellis

Tenor

Conspirator

Jamie Offenbach headshot

Jamie Offenbach

Bass-baritone

Conspirator

Gregory Schmidt headshot

Gregory Schmidt

Tenor

Conspirator

Tim Smith headshot

Tim Smith

Baritone

Conspirator

Nathan Wight headshot

Nathan Wight

Baritone

Conspirator

Michael Chioldi headshot

Michael Chioldi

Baritone

Detective

Gerald Seminatore headshot

Gerald Seminatore

Tenor

Detective

William Gorton headshot

William Gorton

Tenor

Officer

Craig Montgomery headshot

Craig Montgomery

Tenor

Officer

Marcus Nance headshot

Marcus Silvanus Nance

Bass-baritone

Officer

George Manahan headshot

George Manahan

Conductor

Jonathan Eaton headshot

Jonathan Eaton

Director

Robert Perdziola headshot

Robert Perdziola

Scenic Designer

Craig Miller headshot

Craig Miller

Lighting Designer

Daniel Pelzig headshot

Daniel Pelzig

Choreographer

Gary Wedow headshot

Gary Wedow

Chorus Master