War & Peace Turn This Grand Opera Night Into an Unforgettable Houston Affair

It was a grand soirée musicale that found more than 200 smartly-attired opera aficionados moving from Wortham Center’s intimate Cullen Theater to the stage of the Brown Theater for a seated dinner brimming with conversation inspired by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato‘s presentation of In War & Peace—Harmony Through Music.

As arranged by DiDonato, the recital of powerful works from Handel, Purcell, Monterverdi and others crashed through aural images of war only to land quietly and beautifully in the musical serenity of peace.

The internationally-renowned opera star began work on the presentation following the 2015 Paris attacks and has since presented it across the world, accompanied by Il pomo d’oro under the baton of Maxim Emelyanychev. On this night, she thrilled the audience with multiple encore performances including “Par che di giubilo” from Attilio Regolo by Jommelli and “Morgen!” by Richard Strauss, all of which earned standing ovations.

This was an opera-lover’s evening with HGO’s creative and artistic director Patrick Summers in the audience along with HGO’s managing directory Perryn Leech, composer and pianist Jake Heggie in from his home in San Francisco, and lead underwriters Sara and Bill Morgan and Janice Barrow. Sara Morgan served as honorary chair.

Many in the house are familiar with DiDonato, not only from her renowned career but also from her years (1996-98) in Houston as a member of the HGO studio. She also headlined HGO’s 60th anniversary celebration in 2015 and appeared in HGO main stage productions in such leading roles as Sister Helen in Dead Man Walking (2011) and the title role in Mary Stuart (2012) and was the lead in HGO’s celebration of the late Rudy Avelar in 2016.

Moving to the Brown Theater stage, guests were entranced with the magnificent setting created by The Events Company, whose stunning decor was backdropped by the theater’s dramatic deep red velvet seating.

Dinner by City Kitchen was no less enchanting. The menu included of red leaf wedge with edible flowers, crumbled goat cheese, toasted almonds, kumquats, crispy prosciutto and Champagne honey vinaigrette; beef tenderloin with madeira and thyme reduction, Napa cabbage stuffed with wild rice and leeks, warm celery root salad and jumbo asparagus; and flourless bittersweet dark chocolate torte with gooseberry compote, pistachio crème anglaise and spice cookie.

PC Seen: Anne and Albert Chao, Louisa Sarofim, Drs. Rachel and Warren Ellsworth, Drs. Ishwaria and Vivek Subbiah, Margaret Alkek Williams, Laura and Brad McWilliams, Glenn Rosenbaum, Beau Miller, Caroline Leech, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Elizabeth and Richard Husseini, Dian and Harlan Stai, Rebecca Rabinow, Sofia Adrogué, Barbara and Pat McCelvey, Anna Dean, Tony Bradfield, Jill and Allyn Risely, and Judy and Dick Agee.