Fifty years ago, a blind tasting in Paris changed the world’s understanding of California wine. On July 18, that story premiered as an opera presented in the Napa Valley–the region made famous by that dramatic contest.
Festival Napa Valley presented the world premiere of The Judgment of Paris at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, a one-act opera by composer local star Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, which was commissioned for the festival’s 20th Anniversary Season. Blending myth with modern history, the work brings Bacchus and Venus down from Olympus to 1970s Paris and Napa Valley, where they encounter the vintners who dared to defy tradition.
The production featured soprano Danielle De Niese, baritone Quinn Kelsey, tenor Nicholas Phan and mezzo-sopranos Simone McIntosh and Brenda Rae, joined by the Manetti Shrem Opera Program Fellows and the Festival Orchestra Napa under conductor Kent Nagano, with stage direction by Jean-Romain Vesperini…