Seattle Opera returns with ‘Die Fledermaus’

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, January 12, 2006

Seattle Opera pops the cork Saturday night on its effervescent production of “Die Fledermaus,” Richard Strauss’ most popular operetta.

Strauss, “The Waltz King,” wrote a lilting score of memorable waltz tunes and wrapped it around a comedy of romantic intrigue told in three acts. More than a century later, “Die Fledermaus” (The Bat) remains a hugely popular opera that both first-timers and serious opera veterans relish.

Seattle Opera’s production, last seen in 1999, recreates the opulence of 19th century Vienna with lavish sets and costumes.

But in a change from past productions, this “Die Fledermaus” has a Wagnerian tilt for an opera associated with lighter voices.

That’s because the company has cast a number of the major roles with artists associated with the operas of Richard Wagner, including Jane Eaglen, one of the world’s great Wagnerian dramatic sopranos. She sings the central role of Rosalinde, and is joined on stage by Wagner veterans Alan Woodrow, Richard Berkeley-Steele and Nancy Maultsby.

Going up against all that vocal heft is no problem for Sarah Coburn, the young soprano who sings the role of the maid Adele in “Die Fledermaus.”

“I don’t have to push. I can make some noise,” she said in a telephone interview, her ever-so-slight accent identifying her Oklahoma roots.

“Fledermaus,” she said, “is fun and fabulous,” and she’s having a great time rehearsing with some of opera’s leading singers.

The music is tricky to sing, she said, although to the listener it may sound easy. “It just doesn’t float out of the mouth.”

Coburn gets some of the biggest vocal fireworks in the role of Adele, the spirited maid in this comedy of drink, mistaken identity and lover’s spats, firing off the coloratura runs that opera fans go crazy for.

Her silvery pure voice has been the power behind her career’s meteoric rise since she joining the Seattle Opera Young Artists in 2001-2002. She’s also startlingly pretty, but makes it firmly clear that opera singers should be known for their voice and the quality of their singing.

She left Seattle after her stint as a Young Artist for her first major opera role in Florida, signed with an agent and never looked back, performing in opera houses around the country.

She’s already taken on one of the biggest coloratura roles in opera, starring in a production of “Lucia di Lammermoor.”

Her performance led one critic to praise her characterization of this famous mad woman as easy to appreciate “since one did not have to waste time wondering if she would reach the notes: She has them, and to spare. …”

Coburn figured out early on in life that she could sing.

“My grandmother was a jazz singer. My family is very musical. I grew up singing.” (Her father is U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn from Oklahoma.)

Coburn went to school to become a music teacher, but her natural gifts combined with hard work and belief in her abilities propelled her into opera.

She’s amazed at how quickly her career took off and feels blessed to be working.

Coburn, who is in her twenties, is still developing as a singer with a sound she describes as focused and with brightness.

“My voice changes all the time. It’s not my prime, but it’s a good age to be singing what I am singing,” she said.

And sing she will in “Die Fledermaus.”

“I begged to sing in all nine performances so now I am going to have to take my vitamins,” she said.

Bill Mohn photo

Sarah Coburn sings the role of Adele in Seattle Opera’s “Die Fledermaus.”