PHILADELPHIA – Brenda Rae was driving with her husband and children from their home in Minneapolis to visit her father in Appleton, Wisconsin, last Thursday night when her phone rang with an intriguing offer: Could she travel ASAP and take over the lead soprano role in Mozart’s “Mitridate” at Opera Philadelphia’s opening night?
Rae said yes and replaced Lauren Snouffer, joining tenor Lawrence Brownlee and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo on Wednesday night. She beamed as the audience applauded during curtain calls at the Academy of Music.
“It’s kind of a funny feeling,” Rae said. “It’s almost like: What just happened? Or did we really do it?”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the opera in 1770 when he was just 14 and gave it the full title of “Mitridate, re di Ponto (king of Pontus).” Brownlee sang the title character, a tyrannical leader who spreads rumors of his death to discover if his sons are in love with his fiancée Aspasia. He tries to kill them all and eventually commits suicide.
Vacation Plans Turned Opera Debut
Rae was originally scheduled for a break between the July 18 world premiere of Jake Heggie’s “The Judgment of Paris” at Festival Napa Valley and the September 21 start of rehearsals for her role debut in Richard Strauss’ “Salome” at Seattle Opera. The 44-year-old soprano had only performed as Aspasia twice before, with Brownlee at Boston Lyric Opera in September 2024.
Rehearsals for “Mitridate” had started on August 13, and Rae received the call about Snouffer’s departure last Thursday.
“Everything was a very collaborative decision-making process,” said Costanzo, who is entering his third season as the company’s general director. “I think we just wanted to make sure that everyone was doing what was best for them.”
The Last-Minute Call
Michael Eberhard, Opera Philadelphia’s director of casting and artistic administration, called Rae on Thursday morning to see if she was available for the performance run, which included three shows through September 13.
“I kind of had the impression that they wouldn’t need me,” Rae said, but she packed her score just in case. After receiving a follow-up call later that night, Rae decided to spend Friday with her dad, marking her first trip home since her mother’s passing last spring.
Philadelphia didn’t have cover singers, and the company couldn’t arrange a U.S. visa for another soprano from Europe in time. If Rae had declined, Costanzo said they might have had to cut Aspasia’s arias or find an inexperienced singer.
“It was a scary situation,” Costanzo admitted.
Travel Challenges and Quick Preparations
Rae booked her flights for Saturday, but a cancellation forced her to reroute through Minneapolis. She arrived at the Academy of Music just in time for the Saturday night orchestra dress rehearsal, quickly fitting in costume and wig adjustments during breaks.
Aspasia wore an off-white Oscar de la Renta pantsuit that was sourced from The RealReal online site. Rae recalled Brownlee’s supportive words: “Anything you need, I’m here for you. Thank you for saving the show.”
Intensive Rehearsals
Sunday involved two hours of musical rehearsal with conductor Corrado Rovaris, followed by four hours with director Emma Griffin. The final dress rehearsal took place on Monday night, with Rae spending time on Tuesday with Grant Loehnig, the opera company’s head of music staff, to review the recitative.
Rae noted that this experience was quite different from when she filled in for Diana Damrau in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” in 2012. “I’ve done jump-ins in the past, but they’ve always been for roles that I’ve done fairly often,” she explained. “This one has been especially stressful just because it’s a Mozart opera, so there are lots of recitative and just all those words.”
A Reality Check Before Performance
In the hours leading up to opening night, Rae wasn’t living the glamorous opera star life. Eberhard arranged for her accommodation at the ROOST Midtown hotel and even organized a tofu delivery for her dinner on Saturday night.
By Wednesday, Rae had a common concern before taking the stage: “I don’t have all my normal singing things,” she admitted. “I just had a little suitcase packed with three changes of clothing, and so I’m doing laundry right now in my apartment because I’ve literally run out of everything.”
