Arizona Opera scored a historical coup in 2017 with its first-ever commissioned and world-premiered opera β€œRiders of The Purple Sage.”

This weekend, they are bringing the piece back to the stage.

β€œThere is no magical number of performances of any opera. ... With β€˜Riders,’ we had in its world premiere in 2017 such an amazing level of community resonance that we felt that the piece had a place in our season in 2020,” said Arizona Opera President and General Director Joseph Specter.

Specter programmed Arizona composer Craig Bohmler’s β€œRiders” in a season that also includes Puccini’s β€œLa BohΓ¨me,” which the company mounted in early February; and Strauss’s β€œAriadne auf Naxos,” coming April 11-12 β€” the first time Arizona Opera has presented the piece in more than 25 years.

When it performed the world premiere of β€œRiders” three years ago, 8,204 people attended over five performances β€” two in Tucson, where it opened, and three in Phoenix. Single-ticket sales outpaced the hugely popular β€œCarmen” from the 2015-16 season and ranked in the top three or four operas the company has mounted in the past 20 years, Specter said.

β€œIt sits among β€˜BohΓ¨me,’ β€˜Butterfly’ and β€˜Carmen’ in terms of the level of single ticket sales,” he said. β€œEven in the remount, it’s selling significantly better than most of our traditional operas and I think that just goes to the staying power of the piece.”

Arizona Opera will perform β€œRiders of the Purple Sage” twice this weekend; it opened in Phoenix last weekend.

The opera is based on Zane Grey’s seminal novel of the same name and follows a devout Mormon woman trying to assert her independence as a rancher in a community that would rather she marry and let her husband do the man’s work. The story, which takes place in the late 1800s, includes murder, a love story, a gallant white knight and the ultimate operatic ending β€” a dramatic martyred death.

If you saw the world premiere in 2017, you’ll notice some differences this go-around, including a new cast, new projection designs that enhance the 1,300-square-foot video wall of dramatic Arizona landscapes created by Phoenix artist Ed Mell, and a beefed-up orchestra numbering 56.

β€œThis piece still has an incredible power to move,” Specter said, adding that ticket sales this time around are less robust but there is still incredible interest.

β€œI really think that what you see with any new work, the excitement and the newness, that goes away,” he said. β€œBut we believe that β€˜Riders’ has a place in the cannon in the longterm.”


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Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com or 573-4642. On Twitter @Starburch