Nice Opera presents modern-day version of Dvořák’s ‘Rusalka’

Poster courtesy Nice Opera

Rusalka, regarded as Antonin Dvořák’s most successful creation for stage, is the forthcoming production for Nice Opera. It stars Spanish-American soprano Vanessa Goikoetxea as the water nymph, Rusalka, with Korean tenor David Junghoon Kim taking role of the Prince. French mezzo-soprano Marion Lebégue reprises her role of the witch, Jezibaba, and direction, scenography and costumes are by Jean-Philippe Clarac and Olivier Deloeuil, with collaboration on scenography Christophe Pitoiset.

In early 1900, Antonin Dvořák was looking for a libretto for a new work for the theatre – preferably something based on Czech history. He was given a text written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil which bore the title Rusalka, (and was based on the story of Ondine – also known as Undine) – a traditional European mythological figure who, according to folklore, gave her love to a human prince at the risk of losing her life should he be unfaithful to her. Kvapil deliberately placed his libretto in the context of a Czech scenario, and the setting of Dvořák’s opera was almost certainly dictated by his well-known love of nature. Dvořák’s Rusalka premiered at the National Theater in Prague in 1901, and although his music was celebrated internationally during his lifetime, Rusalka is the only one of his operas to gain a following outside Bohemia.

In Dvořák’s original staging of the opera, the water nymph Rusalka falls in love with a human Prince when he comes to swim in her lake. Despite the warnings of her father, Rusalka longs to leave her watery world and marry him. She consults the witch Ježibaba who agrees to turn her into a mortal, but tells her that if she joins the world of humans, she will lose her voice. Rusalka accepts this sacrifice, but is soon disappointed, for the Prince leaves her for a foreign Princess.

In this production of Rusalka, Jean-Philippe Clarac and Olivier Deloeuil have brought the old Czech legend forward to the present day, in which the lake is represented by a swimming pool which becomes the focus of the moral dilemmas, broken promises and heartbreaking sacrifices.

Vanessa Goikoetxea is highly regarded in the world of opera as well as a concert performer. Recent operatic peformances include the title roles in Handel’s Alcina at Semperopera Dresden and Rusalka at Liceu de Barcelona, and she has appeared with the Basque National Orchestra and the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem. This current season will see Ms Goikoetxea take the role of Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at Opera Limoges and in the title role in Puccini’s Tosca at Fondazione del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

David Junghoon Kim has, in recent seasons, made a number of notable debuts at London’s Royal Opera House, with Zürich Opera, Stuttgart Opera and at the Glyndebourne Festival. He has also sung the roles of Rodolfo in Verdi’s Luisa Millar for English National Opera, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème for the Royal Opera, Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata for Cologne Opera, and he appeared in concert performances of Donizetti’s Lange de Nisida for Opera Rara.

Marion Lebégue made her debut at the Opéra National de Paris in 2016 as Ines in Verdi’s Il trovatore, going on to appear in Puccini’s Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi at the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz, Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová at the Opéra Grand Avignon, Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at the Opéra de Marseille, Massenet’s Manon at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and Bizet’s Carmen at Opéra de Nice, the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and the Bregenz Festival. She has also performed at numerous prestigious opera house across France.

Also in the cast are Vazgen Gazaryan as Vodnik the water goblin, Camille Schnoor as the foreign Princess, Clara Guillon, Valentine Lemercier and Marie Karall as three nymphs, Coline Dutilleul as the kitchen boy and Fabrice Alibert as the gamekeeper and hunter.

The Nice Philharmonic Orchestra and Nice Opera Choir are led by Elena Schwarz, who is developing regular partnerships with a range of orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Klangforum Wien, San Diego Symphony, Royal Philharmonique de Liège, Tasmanian Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.

Three performances – in Czech with surtitles in French and English – take place at Nice Opera Côte d’Azur between January 26th and 30th.   This SUD Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region initiative is a co-production Régie culturelle régionale, Nice Côte d’Azur Opera, Grand Avignon Opera, Toulon Provence Méditerranée Opera and City of Marseille – Opera.

Tickets are available online

Information sourced from:

Nice Opera programme notes
Rusalka
Ancient Origins
PBS

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Bartoli stars as Cleopatra in Monte-Carlo Opera’s first production of 2024

Poster courtesy Monte-Carlo Opera

Cecilia Bartoli, Director of Monte-Carlo Opera, stars as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt), opposite Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli who takes the title role. This new production for Monte-Carlo Opera is to be staged by Davide Livermore.

Giulio Cesare in Egitto, a dramma per musica in three acts, was written by George Friderick Handel to a libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, after a text by Giacomo Francesco Bussani.  It was the only opera that Handel composed for the 1723-24 season of his Royal Academy and was regarded as a masterpiece. It premiered at the King’s Theatre in Haymarket, London, on 20th February, 1724, where it was enthusiastically received, and ran for 13 performances.

It wasn’t performed at all during the 19th century, and was staged again, briefly, in Göttingen in 1922. After World War II, the opera made a comeback, but it was not until the 1970s that the score was reinstated in its entirety, with the original orchestration and tessitura. Largely due to the magnificence of the arias written for Cesare and Cleopatra, the work is now one of the most frequently performed Baroque operas.

The action, which tells the love story between Cesare and Cleopatra, takes place in Alexandria, Egypt, against a backdrop of war, political quarrels and domestic unrest. On the day after Giulio Cesare’s victory over Pompy, Cornelia, begs Cesare to spare her husband’s life, but Tolomeo – the king of Egypt and brother of Cleopatra – has him beheaded. Cornelia’s son, Sesto, is obsessed with killing Tolomeo as an act of vengeance, while Cleopatra uses her charms to win the support of Cesare and thus take sole control of the crown. Initially defeated by her brother’s army, she is rescued by Cesare. Tolomeo continues his pursuit of Cornelia, during which he is finally killed by Sesto, who, together with Cornelia, pledges his loyalty to Cesare and Cleopatra.

The general background of the story is historical, as are the characters – apart from Nireno, Cleopatra’s servant – but the details of Haym ’s story are fictional.

Cecilia Bartoli became Director of Monte-Carlo Opera in January 2023 and has been Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival since 2012, a contract which has been extended to 2026. This is her third portrayal of a Handelian character, following her memorable portrayals of Ariodante and Alcina for Monte-Carlo Opera. She will, of course be returning to Salzburg in May, before which she will appear in recital in Monte-Carlo with Lang Lang, and with John Malkovich in Their Master’s Voice as part of the Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo in April.

Following his performance of Tolomeo at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in May 2022, Forum Opera wrote: “Carlo Vistoli burst into pyrotechnic vocalizations and adorned his song with dazzling ornaments”. He most recently performed at the Wigmore Hall in London in a programme of Italian Arias and Duos with Hugh Cutting and Les Arts Florissantes, and following these performances as Giulio Cesare in Monte-Carlo, will return to Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris in a debut performance in the title role of Handel’s Rinaldo.

Croation countertenor Max Emanuel Cenčić who takes the role of Tolomeo, was described by Opernwelt as being “… blessed with the finest countertenor voice of our day” in 2008, and ever since has continued to stand out amongst counter tenors with the purity of his tone and his passionate presentation. He will appear in Handel’s Flavio in Vienna, and make further appearances as Tolomeo in a staged concert in Versailles, and in Giulio Cesare in Egitto in Vienna.

Grammy Award-winning Sara Mingardo has collaborated with major orchestras and illustrious conductors the world over. Her concert repertoire ranges through Pergolesi and Respighi to Dvořák and Mahler, and her operatic repertoire includes works by Gluck, Monteverdi, Handel, Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi, Mozart, Donizetti and Berlioz. Sara Mingardo’s next appearances include an orchestral concert featuring Mahler’s Symphony No 3 and Bach’s St John Passion in Zurich, Pamplona and Murcia.

Korean-American countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim who sings Sesto in this production, specialises in the Baroque, Mozart and contemporary music repertoire. He was one of OperaWire’s ‘Top 10 rising stars of 2019’ and was ‘Tipped for the top in 2020’ by Opera Now.

Also in the cast are Peter Kalman as Achilla, leader of the Egyptian army, Federica Spatola as Nireno and Luca Vianello as Curio, Cesare’s general.

This production is staged by Italian singer, stage designer and theatre director Davide Livermore, who has been directing operas since 1999. Among his most recent productions have been Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at San Carlo in Naples.

The conductor is Gianluca Capuano who will lead Monte-Carlo Opera in Brahms’ A German Requiem later this month, and Cecilia Bartoli and Lang Lang in recital in April. In this production of Giulio Cesare in Egitto he leads the Monte-Carlo Opera Choir and Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco – in four performances from 24th to 30th January at Monte-Carlo Opera. Tickets for all productions may be reserved on the Monte-Carlo Opera website.

Information sourced from:

Monte-Carlo Opera programme notes

Boston Baroque

This article first appeared in Riviera Buzz.

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Nice Ballet stages new production of ‘Giselle’

Poster courtesy Nice Opera

Nice Ballet Méditerranée presents a new version of what is regarded as the most famous of the Romantic era ballets – Giselle – staged and choreographed by Martin Chaix, with a sumptuous score by Adolphe Adam.

Giselle was the result of the collaboration of the three French artists – Ballet Masters Perrot and Coralli, and composer Adolphe Adam – who in 1841 were commissioned by the Ballet du Théâtre de l’Academie Royale de Musique to create a new work. Adam had previously composed for this company, and he co-opted librettists Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier to assist with the storyline.

It was Gautier who initially started working on the story, drawing inspiration from two sources – the poem Fantômes from Victor Hugo’s Les Orientales, which told of a Spanish girl who died after a night of frenzied dancing, and a passage in prose entitled L’Allemagne by German poet, writer and literary critic Heinrich Heine, about a Slavic tale of supernatural maidens called Wilis, young brides-to-be who die before their wedding day. Perrot and Coralli were then brought in to choreograph the work, and Giselle premiered at the Théâtre de l’Academie Royale de Musique in Paris on 28th June, 1841, with Carlotta Grisi in the title role.

The ballet tells of a frail young peasant girl who is betrayed by her beloved, the aristocratic Count Albrecht, as a result of which she dies of a broken heart. Giselle finds herself in a moonlit glade surrounded by the supernatural Wilis and their queen, Myrtha. Albrecht enters the glade to lay flowers on Giselle’s grave, and is summoned by Myrtha and her Wilis to dance to his death. The spirit of Giselle – ever forgiving, and touched by his exhaustion – pleads for mercy on his behalf, and Myrtha ultimately frees him from the vengeance of the Wilis.

Martin Chaix says of the work: “Giselle is the perfect example of a ballet from the romantic era which, beyond its ethereal and magical dimension of the second act, speaks to us in the foreground of the romantic and social-cultural relationships of the time in which it was created.” In his version of Giselle Chaix has set the ballet in our time, balancing pointe with modernity, questioning the place of women and committing himself to restoring the balance of power.

He has created a number of ballets in different styles and techniques, from classical to modern. As a dance student he was accepted at the École de Danse de l’Opéra National de Paris in 1993, and joined the Paris Opera Ballet six years later, where he made his choreographic debut. From there he moved to the Leipziger Ballet, as a soloist, and then to the Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg where he was a soloist until 2015, in which year he became a freelance choregrapher.

This production of Giselle by Ballet Nice Méditerranée takes place at Nice Opera from December 21st to December 29th. Adolphe Adam’s score, supplemented by the music of Louise Farrenc, is played by the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra led by Beatrice Venezia. Information on tickets and times of performance are available on the Nice Opera website.

Information sourced from Ballet Nice programme notes

Artists’ websites

This article first appeared in Riviera Buzz

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Monte-Carlo Ballet continues celebration of Centenary of HSH Prince Rainier III

Poster courtesy Monte-Carlo Ballet

As part of the Centenary Celebrations of HSH Prince Rainier III, Monte-Carlo Ballet presents Jean-Christophe Maillot’s new interpretation of George Balanchine’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. The programme opens with another of Balanchine’s works, La Valse – both ballets being set to the lovely music of Maurice Ravel.

A friend of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III, Balanchine choreographed La Valse in 1925 to a commission by Sergei Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes. The impresario rejected the work, however, regarding it as “untheatrical”. Nevertheless when Balanchine created waltzes for the Metropolitan Opera in 1934, he choreographed a ballet to music from Die Fledermaus, and finding the work too short, he preceded it with Ravel’s Valse Nobles et Sentimentales.
The ballet, of which Prince Rainier was very fond, features a number of couples waltzing in a cavernous ballroom where a woman in white is both horrified by, and attracted to, a mysterious uninvited stranger – who ultimately lures her to her death.

In 1915, Jacques Rouché, director of the Paris Opera, commissioned the French writer Colette – whose 150th anniversary is being celebrated this year – to write the text for a fairytale ballet, L’enfant et les sortilèges. Maurice Ravel was actually the third choice of composer, and as he was on active duty on the Western Front during the First World War, he didn’t receive the commission until 1917, and therefore started work on it after the War had ended. The completed work was ready for publication and production in 1925, and L’enfant et les sortilèges, with choreography by a young George Balanchine, was premiered on March 21st of that year by Opéra Monte-Carlo. It was a triumph, and the score was also a favourite of HSH Prince Rainier III. It is now one of the most beloved of French operas.

Jean-Christophe Maillot rehearses a dancer in ‘L’Enfant et les Sortilèges’ © Alice Blangero

In 1952, Jean-Christophe Maillot choreographed his first version of the ballet based on the opera, following which he met HSH Prince Rainier who praised the work. Now, thirty years later, Mr Maillot has created a new version of it.
A story based on the wonder of childhood imagination, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges tells of a young boy, consigned to his bedroom for bad behaviour, who wreaks havoc with everything in his room. Falling into a deep sleep, he dreams that the objects of his rage come to life and turn against him – the armchair, the grandfather clock, the teapot and cup, the fireplace, the characters on his wallpaper and even his arithmetic homework. Out in the garden, and still in his dream, the boy exacts his revenge on the tree, a dragonfly, a frog, a bat, a nightingale, and even his pet squirrel, but after an act of mercy in which he binds up the squirrel’s paw with a ribbon, the creatures take pity on him and lead him back to the house, leaving the garden bathed in the magic of moonlight. Full of regret on waking, he turns to his mother for forgiveness.

This production, led by David Molard Soriano, Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre National de France, will feature 240 artists in all. The Monte-Carlo Ballet and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra will be joined by an Academy of young singers – created for this occasion by Cecilia Bartoli – and The Children’s Choir of the Rainier III Academy.

La Valse and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges will be staged in the Salle des Princes, Grimaldi Forum, from 20th to 23rd December. Tickets may be obtained from the Ballets de Monte-Carlo website.

Information sourced from:
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo programme notes
The Balanchine Trust
Artists’ websites

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Angela Gheorghiu stars in LPO’s Operatic Gala

Angela Gheorghiu – photo courtesy London Philharmonic Orchestra

Angela Gheorghiu is the star of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Operatic Gala in which the Romanian soprano sings a selection of lovely songs and arias interspersed with some wonderful pieces of symphonic music. The London Philharmonic is led by Gergely Madaras.

The programme features arias such as Puccini’s Un bel di, vedremo from Madame Butterfly and Boito’s L’altra notte in fondo al mare from Mefistofele, as well as pieces of music like Tchaikovsky’s Polonaise from Eugene Onegin and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor.

Angela Gheorghiu – described by the New York Sun as “The most glamorous and gifted opera singer of our time” – has been delighting audiences since she debuted at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1952. That was the year in which she also made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Vienna State Opera. In 1994 Angela Gheorghiu made her first appearance as Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata – a performance for which the BBC cleared its schedules in order to broadcast the opera live, the first time this had taken place in television and operatic history.

According to The Sunday Times, she is “…. the most instantly recognisable and interesting soprano voice of our time, a liquid instrument of great lyrical beauty with gleaming ‘spun gold’ high notes, but a dark, vibrant contralto range ….”. Ms Gheorghiu has appeared in opera houses and concert halls the world over during her career, her next performance being the role of Mimi in Puccini’s La bohème at the Royal Opera House in January 2024.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra with Emeritus Conductor Vladimir Jurowski
© Benjamin Ealovega

Conductor Gergely Madaras, currently Music Director of Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, was formerly Music Director of the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne, and Chief Conductor of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra in his native Hungary, having held both positions for 6 years. He has appeared with many of the major symphony orchestras in Europe, as well as with the BBC Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Future plans include appearances with the the City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hungarian State Opera, Oslo Philharmonic and Gürzenich Orchestra Köln.

Gergely Madaras leads Angela Gheorghiu and the London Philharmonic in an Operatic Gala on Saturday, 2nd December at the Southbank Centre. Tickets and information on forthcoming events at the LPO may be obtained on the LPO website.

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Monte-Carlo Opera stages new production of Verdi’s ‘Don Carlo’

Post courtesy Monte-Carlo Opera

Monte-Carlo Opera presents Don Carlo, in a new production by Davide Livermore of Giuseppe Verdi’s dramatic and moving story of passion, betrayal, political intrigue and conflict between father and son.

The opera stars Russian tenor Sergey Skorokhodov in the title role, with Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov as his father, Filippo II, king of Spain. Elisabetta di Valois, with whom Don Carlo has fallen in love, is sung by Lebanese-Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury, and the role of La Principessa Eboli who is in love with Don Carlo, is taken by Armenian mezzo-soprano Varduhi Abrahamyan. Polish baritone Artur Ruciński is Rodrigo, marquis of Posa and Carlo’s friend, and Russian bass Alexey Tikhomirov is Il Grande Inquisitore. The production is led by Massimo Zanetti.

Verdi started writing his five-act opera in 1867, with a French libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on Friedrich Schiller’s play Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien, which Schiller completed in 1787. The opera was commissioned and produced by the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra, Paris, and premiered at the Académie impériale de musique on 11th March 1867. Don Carlos – as it is known in the French version – was then translated into Italian as Don Carlo, in the first of a number of revisions set to both French and Italian librettos. This is the second version of the opera, compressed into four acts, and sung in Italian. It premiered at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 10th January, 1884.

Set in France and Spain between 1567 to 1568, the time of the Spanish Inquisition, the opera is largely fictional, although it features actual historical figures. Don Carlo is the son of King Philip II of Spain and therefore heir to the Spanish throne. Carlo is in love with Princess Elisabetta di Valois of France, but his hopes of marrying her are thwarted by his father, who – as part of a peace treaty signed between Spain and France – takes Elisabetta as his own wife. Undaunted, Carlo comes up against the conspiracies and intrigues of the royal court, and – with everyone under the watchful eye of the Grand Inquisitor – tension and paranoia abound, leading the king to suspect his wife of infidelity with Carlo.

Ultimately, Carlo has to make a choice between loyalty to his father and his love for Elisabetta. In actuality, Philip and Elizabeth apparently had a happy marriage, and the love story between Elizabeth and her stepson was invented by writer Friedrich von Schiller and exploited by Verdi for maximum dramatic impact.

The four acts of this drama are all located in Spain, however Monte-Carlo Opera has placed the prologue of the original version in Fontainebleau, and this is sung in French.

Sergey Skorokhodov comes to Monte-Carlo directly from the Bolshoi Theatre where he appeared in the title role in Don Carlo at the end of October. With a repertoire which includes those of Lenski in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Nemorino in Donizetti’s Lelisir d’amore, Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth, Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata, Cavarodossi in Puccini’s Tosca, Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot and the tenor role in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, he has also appeared on the stages of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, most of the major opera houses in Europe, and in the Glyndebourne and Edinburgh festivals. He was last seen in Monte-Carlo in Tchaikovsky’s Ioalanthe in 2015. Future appearances include a concert performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at Carnegie Hall and the role of Ivan in The Nose – both works by Shostakovich – at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.

Ildar Abdrazakov, regarded as one of the greatest interpreters of the role of Filippo II, has become a firm favourite at the Metropolitan Opera, and is also a regular visitor to the Paris National Opera, the Vienna State Opera and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera. The Independent refers to him as a “sensational bass … who has just about everything – imposing sound, beautiful legato, oodles of finesse”. Having recently appeared as a soloist with Monte-Carlo Opera in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, he will also participate this season in the Gala Verdiano at the Ravenna Festival, appear as Mustafa in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri at Opernhuis Zurich, and at another performance in Verdi’s Messa da requiem at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

According to Presto Classical, Joyce El-Khoury is “Blessed with old-school vocal and physical glamour and a richly coloured flexible soprano that shines particularly brightly in Verdi, Bellini and Donizetti.” Immediately following this performance of Don Carlo, Joyce will appear in an Italian Opera Gala with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, as Christine, Queen of Sweden in Julien Bilodeau and Michel Marc Bouchard’s La Reine-garçon with Opéra de Montreal, and Maria Boccanegra in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at Finnish National Opera.

Following Varduhi Abrahamyan’s performance in Handel’s Ariodante in 2016, Plays to See wrote that as Polinesso, she “…. was sinister and chillingly violent while demonstrating a vocal mastery that was terrifyingly precise”. She last appeared with Monte-Carlo Opera in January of this year as Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina and also in concert in Rossini’s oratorio Stabat Mater. Following this appearance in Don Carlo, Ms Abrahamyan will perform the title role in Bizet’s Carmen at Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona and at Oper Frankfurt, and in concert in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie in Paris.

Having seen Artur Ruciński in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burina, the late music journalist Karl Löbl wrote: “Baritone Discovery at Vienna Musikverein – take note of the name Artur Ruciński and go to every opera in which you can hear this singer…”. Future plans include appearances at the Italian Opera Gala with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, as Renato/Count Ankarström in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschero at Teatro Regio di Parma in Barcelona and as Lord Enrico Ashton in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Alexey Tikhomirov, he of the “…powerful vocal volume and the impressive interpretation”, according to Bachtrack, has appeared on the stages of many European and wider Asian concert halls and opera houses. Following these performances in Monte-Carlo, he returns to the Helicon Opera in Moscow where he will sing the role of Timur in Puccini’s Turandot, then to Frankfurt for performances as Chub in Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Christmas Eve.

Also in the cast are Reinaldo Macias as Il Conte di Lerma, Madison Nonoa as Voce Dal Cielo, Salvo Vitale as Frate and Mirjam Mesa as Tebaldo.

Davide Livermore has been artistic director of the Teatro Baretti in Turin since 2002 where he focuses on experimental music theatre. He describes this production of Don Carlo as “A show that displays historical aesthetics with all modern technology”. Before returning to Monte-Carlo to direct a production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, he will fly to Brisbane where Opera Australia will stage his production of Verdi’s Aïda for which he will also do the choreography.

Massimo Zanetti has worked regularly with the Staatskapelle Berlin, for whom he will lead performances of Don Carlo and La bohème in the new year. Codelario describes him as an “electrifying and energetic conductor, who also understands how to charm with the most evocative lyricism”.

Maestro Zanetti leads the Monte-Carlo Opera Choir (choirmaster Stefano Visconti) and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra in three performances of Verdi’s Don Carlo on 22nd, 24th and 26th November, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. For further information and booking details, see the Monte-Carlo Opera website.

Information sourced from

Monte-Carlo programme notes

A version of this article first appeared in Riviera Buzz

Artists’ websites

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New production of Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’ for San Francisco Opera

Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera closes its Fall Season with a new co-production, with Lyric Opera of Chicago, of Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. The West Coast Premiere of this opera buffo stars tenor Pene Pati as the young peasant Nemorino who is in love with Adina, soprano Slávka Zámečníková as the cool and aloof object of his love, baritone David Bizic as Belcore, the sargeant who hopes to marry Adina, baritone Renato Girolami as the charlatan Dulcamara, and soprano Arianna Rodriguez as Giannetta, Adina’s friend.

The production was conceived by Director Daniel Slater with Associate Producer and Choreographer Tim Claydon, who have brought this delightful romance of 1832 forward to an Italian village in the early 19th century. The conductor is Ramón Tebar, making his Company debut.

Donizetti wrote L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love) in 1832 on commission from Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan – an opera in two acts which he completed in six weeks. The libretto was written by Felice Romani after a French libretto by Eugène Scribe for Daniel-François-Esprit Auber’s Le Philtre, which was written in 1831. The opera premiered in Milan on May 12th 1832.

Pene Pati as Nemorino in Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Samoan tenor Pene Pati’s international career began at San Francisco Opera with his debuts as ll Duca di Mantova in Verdi’s Rigoletto in 2017, and as Richard Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at Opéra National de Bordeaux. He returned to San Francisco in 2019 as Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and debuted as Nemorino in the Paris Opera staging of L’elisir d’amore in 2021. Pati was selected as the Opera Awards Reader’s Choice Award Winner in 2022, and Opera-Online hailed him as “the most exceptional tenor discovery of the last decade”. Much in demand this season, his appearances include those of Germont in Verdi’s La traviata at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Orombello in Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda at Opéra de Paris, des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon at the Staatsoper Hamburg, and Il Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto with State Opera Berlin.

Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’ with Slávka Zámečníková as Adina.
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Slovak soprano Slávka Zámečníková makes her American debut in the role of Adina. Having frequently appeared with the Vienna State Opera and Berlin Staatsoper, her roles during the past season include Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen and Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio in Vienna, at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and Poppea and Dircé Cherubini’s Médée. In concert, she has performed in Haydn’s Creation with the Orchestre national de France. Future appearances include those of Musetta in La bohème at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, and Donna Anna for Vienna State Opera where she will also sing the roles of Micaëla in Carmen and Donna Anna at Théâtre de Champs-Elyseés in Paris.

Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’ with Slávka Zámečníková as Adina and David Bizic as Belcore.
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Serbian baritone David Bizic celebrated his 50th performance for the Met last year with his appearance as Marcello in La bohème. Recent performances include the roles of Escamillo in Carmen for Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Marcello in La bohème for the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Tokyo and Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte for Opéra de Saint-Etienne in Toulon.

Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’ with Renato Girolami as Dulcamara.
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Renato Girolami received critical praise for his portrayal of Dulcamara earlier this year at Glyndebourne, and following this appearance with San Francisco Opera, he appears as Don Bartolo in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviligia for the Staatsoper Berlin and Don Magnifico in Rossini’s La Cenerentola for Den Norske Opera in Oslo.

Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’ with Arianna Rodriguez as Giannetta
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Soprano Arianna Rodriguez takes the role of Adina’s friend, Gianetta. As a first-year Adler Fellow soprano, she adds this role to her repertoire. American tenor Jonah Hoskins, an ensemble member of the St. Gallen Theater in Switzerland, makes his house debut at San Francisco Opera at the November 29th performance. He sings Nemorino, a role in which he will appear at Santa Fe Opera next year.

Donizetti’s ‘The Elixir of Love’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Spanish conductor Ramón Tebar, of whom Opera World wrote that he “… once again demonstrated the material from which good directors are made”, leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Director John Keene) in these performances of The Elixir of Love. Sung in Italian with English supertitles, it will be staged at the War Memorial Opera House between November 19th and December 9th. For performance tickets and further information, visit the San Francisco Opera website.

This co-production of San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago was originally created by Opera North in the United Kingdom.

The production on Sunday, November 26th will be live-streamed, and the opera will also be available to watch on demand for 48 hours beginning on Monday, November 27th at 10.00 am PT. For tickets and more information about livestreams, visit sfopera.com/digital.

Information sourced from:

San Francisco Opera program notes

Artists’ websites

ArtsPreview home page

Barenboim conducts Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ in Monte-Carlo

Giuseppe Verdi by Bice Lombardini – courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Daniel Barenboim leads the Monte-Carlo Opera Chorus and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic in a Choral Concert featuring the Messa da requiem by Giuseppe Verdi, with guest artists Marina Rebeka, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Michael Spyres and Ildar Abdrazakov.

Among the most well-known settings of the Catholic funeral mass, this masterpiece by Verdi was composed in 1868 for the first anniversary of the death of the greatly admired poet Alessandro Manzoni, a firm supporter of Italian reunification – as was Verdi. The work was inspired by a requiem, on which Verdi had collaborated in honour of Gioachino Rossini. This requiem was however never performed.

Verdi had written the final movement, Libera me, and although he did not use the exact version of it as written for Rossini, he did retain the spirit of the work. The premiere of the Messa da requiem – conducted by the composer – was held at the church of San Marco in Milan, on 22nd May, 1874 – a year after Manzoni’s death. This stirring homage to the Creator was a resounding success. The Requiem was subsequently performed at La Scala, Milan, followed by performances in Paris, New York, London and Vienna. For the English premiere on 15 May 1875, Verdi presented a new version of the Liber scriptus (Sequence) whereby instead of a fugue for choir and orchestra, a solo for the mezzo-soprano was introduced – the version that we know today.

Internationally acclaimed Daniel Barenboim was initially a solo pianist, regularly touring the United States, Europe, South America, Australia and the Far East. He made his conducting debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London in 1967, was chief conductor of the Orchestre de Paris and made his debut as an opera conductor at the 1973 Edinburgh Festival. He frequently led the Bayreuth Festival, was Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was for many years General Music Director of Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, and Music Director at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. In 2000 the Staatskapelle Berlin voted him conductor-in-chief for life.

Perhaps one of Barenboim’s finest achievements was in 1999 with the establishment – together with Palestine literary scholar Edward Said – of the West-Eastern Divan Workshop which brought together young people from Israel and Arab countries to make music, thereby promoting coexistence and intercultural dialogue. As the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the ensemble today performs across Europe, the United States and Asia.

Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka is well known for her interpretation of the bel canto repertoire, as well as for music from the Baroque era and Verdi heroines, through to the works of Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. A regular guest at some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and opera houses, Ms Rebeka will this season be appearing in the Messa da requiem with the Munich Philharmonic, as Mathilde in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell at Teatro alla Scala, as Lucrezia Contarine in Verdi’s Il Due Foscari in Piacenza, Italy, and again performs in the Messa da requiem at both Teatro alla Scala and at L’auditori in Barcelona.

Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk has been hailed as a magnificent interpreter of Verdian roles. She has a repertoire which includes the roles of Azucena in Il trovatore, Princess Eboli in Don Carlo, Amneris in Aïda, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Federica in Luisa Miller, Preziosilla in La forza del destino and the mezzo-soprano solo in the Requiem. Still to come this year are performances in the title role of Puccini’s Turandot at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo at Teatro alla Scala, and Amneris in Verdi’s Aida at Teatro Verdi del Salerno.

Baritenor Michael Spyres – described by Opera as “A tenor who has the world at his feet” – has a wide-ranging repertoire. His career has taken him from Baroque to Classical to 20th century music, while he has become an expert within the bel canto repertoire and French Grand Opera.  Most recently he has appeared in Verdi’s Messa da requiem at the Volks Oper in Berlin, and in Mahler’s Song of the Earth with the Wiener Symphoniker. Following this appearance in Monte-Carlo, he takes the role of Erik in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Staatsoper Hamburg, a concert appearance with Joyce DiDonato at the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin at Opera National de Rhin.

Bass Ildar Abdrazakov has become a firm favourite at the Metropolitan Opera, and he is a regular visitor to the Paris National Opera, the Vienna State Opera and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera. The Independent refers to him as a “sensational bass … who has just about everything – imposing sound, beautiful legato, oodles of finesse”. This current season includes appearances as Filippo II in Verdi’s Don Carlo at Monte-Carlo Opera, he will participate in the Gala Verdiano at the Ravenna Festival, appear as Mustafa in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri at Opernhuis Zurich, and another performance in Verdi’s Messa da requiem at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Daniel Barenboim leads the soloists, and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus (director Stefano Visconti) in a performance of Verdi’s Messa da requiem at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 2nd November, 2023. Tickets may be booked online, and further information is available on the Monte-Carlo Opera website.

Information sourced from:

Monte-Carlo Opera programme notes

Artists’ websites

ArtsPreview home page

Met Opera brings Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ to the international screen

Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean and Ryan McKinny as Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

The opening work in the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of Live in HD productions is Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s compelling masterpiece Dead Man Walking, starring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen, bass-baritone Ryan McKinny as death-row inmate Joseph De Rocher, soprano Latonia Moore as Sister Rose and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham as De Rocher’s mother. Direction is by Ivo van Hove and the conductor is Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean in a scene from Act I of Jake Heggie’s
‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Dead Man Walking is the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years. With a libretto by the late Terrence McNally, a leading American playwright, screenwriter and winner of numerous Tony and Drama Desk Awards, it is based on the memoir of Sister Helen Prejean about her ministry to condemned murderers on death row. Subtitled The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty that Sparked a National Debate, the book was described by The Washington Post Book World as “An immensely moving affirmation of the power of religious vocation… Stunning moral clarity.”

Ryan McKinny as Joseph De Rocher and Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

American composer and pianist Jake Heggie is – according to The Wall Street Journal – “Arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer…”. He has written nine full-length operas and nearly 300 art songs, as well as chamber, choral, and orchestral works. A frequent collaborator with educational institutions and other performing arts organizations, he undertakes artist residencies, and offers mentorship services and master classes to performers and creators.

A scene from Act I of Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ with Raymond Aceto as Warden George Benton, Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean, and Christopher Job as a Prison Guard. Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Sister Helen Prejean became a nun in the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph at the age of 18, and began her ministry to convicts awaiting execution in 1982, which she chronicled in the book Dead Man Walking.  The opera concerns her fight for the soul of a condemned murderer, Joseph De Rocher, sentenced to death for his role – with his brother Anthony – in the brutal murder of two teenage girls. He asks for Sister Helen to visit him in prison, and she urges him, during her visits, to admit his guilt and find forgiveness.

Dead Man Walking was written in the late 1990s and given its world premiere by San Francisco Opera, at the city’s War Memorial Opera House in 2000.  It was based on real-life events from the late 1970s and early 1980s, but Heggie set his opera in contemporary times, as questions about the value and morality of the death penalty remain relevant.

Ryan McKinny as Joseph De Rocher and Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Multi-Grammy Award winner and 2018 Olivier Award winner for Outstanding Achievement in Opera Joyce DiDonato has been described as “perhaps the most potent female singer of her generation” by The New Yorker, and The Times refers to her voice as “nothing less than 24-carat gold”. She returns to the Met later in the season to reprise her critically acclaimed appearance as Virginia Woolf in Kevin Puts’ The Hours, appears with her hometown Kansas City Symphony Orchestra for a series of subscription concerts, performs in Istanbul, Strasbourg and Paris and also appears in recital at Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Musikverein and Carnegie Hall.

Ryan McKinny as Joseph De Rocher and Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Following Ryan McKinny’s appearance as Joseph De Rocher for Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune wrote: “An indelible performance… McKinny proves at once menacing and charismatic. An acting tour de force buttressed by a warmly inviting voice.” This season, McKinny returns to Houston Grand Opera with appearances as Amfortas in Handel’s Parsifal and Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He closes the season with a three-city tour of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s new opera Before It All Goes Dark, commissioned by Music of Remembrance, with world premiere performances in Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago.

Latonia Moore as Sister Rose and Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Latonia Moore has a wide-ranging repertoire which includes the title role in Verdi’s Aïda – for which she has received international acclaim – Serena in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Cio Cio San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the title role in Puccini’s Tosca, Elisabeth in Mozart’s Don Carlo, Mimi in Puccini’s La bohème, Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen and Princess Liu in Puccini’s Turandot. She also performed in the 50th Anniversary Gala of the Metropolitan Opera.

Jonah Mussolino as the Younger Brother, Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean, and Susan Graham as Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Grammy Award-winning Susan Graham, described by the New York Times as “an artist to treasure”, originated the role of Sister Helen in the opera’s premiere in 2000 – a role which was written specifically for her. Ms Graham is a frequent performer at the Met, as well as maintaining her links with Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with Santa Fe Opera and the Hollywood Bowl. She is known for her repertoire of French vocal music, and won her Grammy for her collection of songs by American composer, Charles Ives.

Gary Halvorson will direct the Live in HD presentation for cinemas, with Grammy Award–winning musician, MacArthur recipient, and Pulitzer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens as host.

Ryan McKinny as Joseph De Rocher, Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean, and Raymond Aceto as Warden George Benton in Act II of Jake Heggie’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the soloists, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, as well as the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (Artistic Director Francisco J Nunez) in a transmission live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking.

The transmission will also include an intermission feature filmed at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Led by Sister Helen and DiDonato, and in association with Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program, members of the opera’s cast and music staff, together with some of the resident men at Sing Sing, rehearsed and presented an abridged concert version of Dead Man Walking at the correctional facility.

Following the debut performance at the Met, amongst the rave reviews was this one from The Washington Post: “WILD APPLAUSE AND STANDING OVATIONS… Dead Man Walking makes its arresting Met debut … The finest and most engaged work I’ve ever seen or heard from Joyce DiDonato … Ryan McKinny sang the role of De Rocher with figurative and literal muscular force … Revelatory singing … Commandingly conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.”

The transmission takes place on Saturday, October 21 at 12.55 pm ET. To find your nearest theatre, search this link.

Further information is available on the Metropolitan Opera website.

The Met offers the following content advisory: Dead Man Walking contains a depiction of a rape and murder, as well as other adult themes and strong language.

Information sourced from Metropolitan Opera program notes

Artists’ websites

ArtsPreview home page

San Francisco Opera continues Fall Season with Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’

Act III of Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

New to San Francisco Opera, David Alden’s production of Wagner’s Lohengrin is onstage at the War Memorial Opera House, starring tenor Simon O’Neill as the mysterious knight Lohengrin. Soprano Julie Adams is Elsa, the princess of Brabant, wrongly accused of a wicked crime, and baritone Brian Mulligan is Telramund – both making role debuts. Mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi takes the role of Ortrud, making her American debut as the scheming wife of Telramund, and that of King Heinrich is sung by Kristinn Sigmundsson. The conductor is Eun Sun Kim, Music Director of San Francisco Opera, leading this production of Lohengrin for the first time.
 
Wagner wrote Lohengrin – libretto and music – between 1848 and 1850. It was based on an old German legend of Lohengrin, Son of Parsifal, which featured in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival (written around 1210) and the novel Lohengrin written by Nouhuwius, a follower of von Eschenbach.

Julie Adams as Elsa in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

The story revolves around Elsa, the princess of Brabant, who faced charges of murder regarding the disappearance of her brother, heir to the duchy of Brabant. Her savior, a mysterious knight who arrives to defend her, marries Elsa on condition that she never ask his name nor his origin. Later, Elsa forgets this promise, and he leaves her, never to return.

Lohengrin – described as a romantic opera in three acts – was premiered in Weimar on August 28th, 1850, a performance supervised by Franz Liszt. Wagner was absent from the premiere, as he’d been forced to flee Germany because of his revolutionary sympathies, however Lohengrin, with its epic score, was one of his earliest triumphs.

New Zealand-born Simon O’Neill is known for his performances of Wagnerian heroes such as Lohengrin, Siegmund, Siegfried, Tristan and Parsifal. He is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program, and made his San Francisco Opera debut in 2012 as Mao Tse-Tung in the Company premiere of John Adams’ Nixon in China. The Houston Chronicle wrote: “O’Neill’s golden tenor, with its easeful command and sweetness of tone, projects Lohengrin’s superhuman nobility”, and reviewing a concert performance of Verdi’s Otello with Sir Colin Davis and the LSO, the Telegraph described him as “the best heroic tenor to emerge over the last decade”.

Simon O’Neill as Lohengrin and Julie Adams as Elsa in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, Julie Adams was praised by The New York Times for her voice that is “rich, full and slightly earthy in an expressive way”. She has appeared as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème for San Francisco Opera, and as Freia and Gerhilde in the Company’s 2018 performances of Wagner’s Ring cycle. More recently she was praised for her performance as Elisabeth in Wagner’s Tannhäuser at Wuppertal Opera, which Die Deutsche Bühne described as “vocally brilliant, sensitive and expressive”.

Judit Kutasi as Ortrud and Julie Adams as Elsa in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Romanian-Hungarian mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi makes her American debut – and role debut – as Ortrud. This season, she will make several more major debuts, including the role of Preziosilla in Verdi’s La forza del destino at the Metropolitan Opera. Ms Kutasi makes her house debut at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen with Verdi’s Requiem, and appears for the first time with the Salzburg Easter Festival performing the same masterpiece.

Brian Mulligan as Telramund, Kristinn Sigmundsson as King Heinrich, and Simon O’Neill as Lohengrin in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Brian Mulligan – with a “voice that is rich, secure and really really big” according to the New York Times – makes his role debut as Telramund, Ortrud’s husband. Having made his San Francisco Opera debut in 2008, he has been a frequent collaborator with the Company. Highlights of the current season include his role and house debuts as Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and at Teatro Regio di Torino in the title role of Der fliegende Holländer.

Kristinn Sigmundsson as King Heinrich and Julie Adams as Elsa in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

This year, Icelandic bass Kristinn Sigmundsson has appeared as Fasholt in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at Atlanta Opera and as Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera. His collaboration with San Francisco Opera goes back to 2019 and his appearance as the Water Gnome in Dvořák’s Rusalka, and he looks forward to appearances in a double bill of W G Still’s Highway 1, USA, and von Zemlinsky’s Die Zwerg at Los Angeles Opera.

Thomas Lehman as the Herald in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Also in the cast is baritone Thomas Lehman as the Herald, making his first appearance with San Francisco Opera.

David Alden is one of the most influential opera directors today, having won two Olivier Awards and the South Bank Show Award, as well as the Bavarian Theatre Prize for Individual Artistic Achievement to mark his long-time relationship with the Bavarian State Opera. He has brought this version of Lohengrin forward from medieval Germany to a mid-twentieth-century European state at war.

Judit Kutasi as Ortrud, Simon O’Neill as Lohengrin, and Julie Adams as Elsa in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

A co-production with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Opera Vlaanderen, this production of Lohengrin was premiered at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden on April 30, 2018, following which the Express wrote: “ Altogether, this was perhaps as perfect an example of opera at its best as I have ever seen”.

The set designer is Paul Steinberg, costumes are by Gideon Davey, the original lighting designer was Adam Silverman and the production will be relit in San Francisco by Simon Bennison. The projection designer is Tal Rosner and choreography is by Maxine Braham.
 
Eun Sun Kim leads the soloists, San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Director John Keene) in performances of Wagner’s Lohengrin until November 1st. The opera is sung in German with English supertitles.
 
 San Francisco Opera offers livestreams for each of its productions during the 2023–24 Season. The Saturday, October 21 performance of Lohengrin will be livestreamed at 7.00 pm PT. The performance will also be available to watch on demand for 48 hours beginning on Sunday, October 22 at 10.00 am PT. Tickets for the livestream and limited on-demand viewing are $27.50. For tickets and more information about livestreams, visit sfopera.com/digital.
 
 

Information sourced from:

 San Francisco Opera program notes 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lohengrin-German-legendary-figure

https://www.opera-online.com/en/articles/lohengrin-metaphor-of-the-artist

Artists’ websites

ArtsPreview home page