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MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE ANNOUNCESGROUNDBREAKING 2007-08 OPERA SEASON* * *07-08 Season Features World Premiere of Cyrano by MOT General Director David DiChieraDETROIT, Michigan, March 2, 2007…Michigan Opera Theatre announced details today of its highly-ambitious 37th opera season. The exciting line-up is highlighted by the greatly-anticipated world premiere of Cyrano, composed by the company’s founder and general director, David DiChiera.Michigan Opera Theatre’s 2007 Fall Opera Season, made possible by Ford Motor Company, begins in grand style with the world premiere of DiChiera’s Cyrano – October 13, 2007. The five performance run of Cyrano, October 13-28, begins with a special “Cyrano Festival Weekend”, which includes Michigan Opera Theatre’s 20th Annual Opera Ball. The exciting world premiere is followed, November 10-18, with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, a perennial favorite. Michigan Opera Theatre’s 2008 Spring Opera Season, sponsored by Cadillac, begins with the Company’s first-ever staging of Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) March 29-April 6; continues April 19-26 with Puccini’s La Rondine (The Swallow), which the company has not staged since its inaugural season; and concludes with Verdi’s beloved La Traviata, May 10-18, 2008. In response to the extraordinary success of Michigan Opera Theatre’s 2006-2007 subscription campaign, which generated more than 600 new subscribers, subscription ticket prices, packages and discounts will remain the same in the coming season. Single ticket prices, with the exception of the opening night of the world premiere performance of DiChiera’s Cyrano, October 13, will also remain the same. Complete performance schedule and ticket information Subscriptions Single Tickets Cyrano by Dr. David DiChiera Michigan Opera Theatre’s 37th anniversary Opera Season begins with Cyrano, a world premiere Opera by Company Founder and General Director David DiChiera. This highly-anticipated work will be born at the Detroit Opera House October 13th with a world premiere performance and celebration weekend. Beginning on Friday, October 12, the world premiere weekend begins with a world-class twist on Michigan Opera Theatre’s annual Opera Ball. The Cyrano World Premiere and Gala begins on Saturday, October 13 at 6 p.m., a new time to allow for an extended evening of Cyrano gala celebrations. Finally, a brunch with DiChiera and the artists of Cyrano concludes the weekend of premiere celebrations on Sunday, October 14. This three-act opera, DiChiera’s first-ever major opera, is based on Edmond Rostand’s celebrated stage drama of 1897, Cyrano de Bergerac, a romantic tragedy. Cyrano is a co-production with the Opera Company of Philadelphia and Florida Grand Opera. Over eight years in the making, Cyrano represents DiChiera in his debut as an opera composer, reuniting him with long-time colleagues, librettist Bernard Uzan and orchestrator/conductor Mark D. Flint. For more than 36 years, DiChiera has produced opera and musical theatre productions, in addition to salvaging the Detroit Music Hall in 1971, founding Michigan Opera Theatre, and establishing the Detroit Opera House in 1996. His enormous and well-documented contributions to the cultural life of Detroit, in addition to founding Opera Pacific in Orange County and providing artistic vision for Dayton Opera, have earned him a special place within the rarified world of the performing arts. Cyrano de Bergerac, Rostand’s most popular play, blends nostalgia for 17th century French life with swashbuckling heroism, romance, and lyrical verse. Cyrano, a nobleman with a larger than life personality, skilled in both the sword and the pen, is physically plain with a rather large nose. Despite his overwhelming love for the beautiful Roxane, Cyrano agrees to help his younger rival, the handsome Christian, to win her heart. From the renowned balcony scene to the moving climax, the triumph of the spiritual over the corporal is ultimately achieved. Cyrano, similar to Don Quixote and Don Juan, has become one of the world’s most enduring and popular literary figures. The opera features an international cast led by highly acclaimed Romanian baritone Marian Pop in the title role and American soprano Leah Partridge as Roxane, who will also appear in the role of Constanze in May 2007’s Abduction from the Seraglio. Casting for Michigan Opera Theatre’s presentation of Cyrano features a roster of talented artists, including Peter Volpe as Count DeGuiche, Gloria Parker as the La Duegne, and Gaetan Laperriere as Le Bret. Daniel Okulitch will essay the dual roles of Carbon and Inconnu, and Torrance Blaisdell will sing the roles of the Capucin and the Marquis de Cuigy. Celebrated English artist John Pascoe will design the lavish 17th century period scenery and costumes, and Donald Thomas will serve as lighting designer. Mark D. Flint, who has created the 70-piece Cyrano orchestration, will also conduct all five performances in Detroit. The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Michigan Opera Theatre is proud to present The Marriage of Figaro or “Le nozze di Figaro” in its 2007-08 opera season, as a part of the standard repertoire, but one of the most celebrated and delightfully amusing operas ever written. Last performed by Michigan Opera Theatre in 2002, The Marriage of Figaro was written by the “wunderkind” of music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto in Italian by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Today the opera is regarded as a cornerstone of the operatic cannon and is the sixth most performed opera in North America. A boisterous romantic comedy in four acts, The Marriage of Figaro involves a wildly entertaining parade of mistaken identity, cross-dressing and infidelity. The Marriage of Figaro is a “sequel,” to The Barber of Seville, which while written after Rossini’s Barber maintains the same characters and setting. The opera recounts a single “mad” day in the palace of Count Almaviva. While the Count’s wife Rosina is unhappy in her married life, Count Almaviva is pursuing his servant Susanna who is engaged to Figaro, the Count’s valet. The marital madness gets more confusing when the Count detects the interest of his young page, Cherubino, in his wife. The Count tries to get rid of Cherubino by promoting him in his own regiment. Meanwhile, Figaro, Susanna and the Countess conspire to embarrass the count and expose his infidelity. At the same time, Figaro is caught in a dispute with old Dr. Bartolo and an upper-class named Marcellina, which ends when he is revealed to be their son. At night, all find themselves on the palace grounds, where a hilarious series of cases of mistaken identity result in the Count’s humiliation and forgiveness by the Countess. The Marriage of Figaro’s famous overture will be conducted by internationally-renowned British conductor and scholar Jane Glover, Music Director of Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. Mark Streshinsky will re-create Colin Graham’s majestic production of the opera. The role of Figaro will be played by Daniel Okulitch, who will also appear in October 2007’s Cyrano, and feisty Susanna will be performed by Ying Huang and Ailyn Perez. Doctor Bartolo will be sung by Peter Strummer and the role of Marcellina will be performed by Kathleen Segar. La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini Making its Michigan Opera Theatre premiere is La Sonnambula, or The Sleepwalker. This will be Michigan Opera Theatre’s first production of this opera in their 37-year history. La Sonnambula, by Vincenzo Bellini is an opera about phantoms, hidden identity, love, and the strange things that happen at night. Bellini is most famous for his later operatic work, Norma, and this production is only the second of Bellini’s works that have been performed on the Detroit Opera House stage. Produced in two acts with libretto by Felice Romani, La Sonnambula is in Italian with English translation above the stage. La Sonnambula takes place during a time when innocence, feudal lords and superstition reigned over the hearts and minds of townspeople. Lisa, the proprietress of a local inn is consumed with jealousy as the betrothal procession of Amina and Elvino, who had once been betrothed to her, approaches. Elvino is a young farmer and Amina is the young maiden engaged to marry him. After the exchanging of Amina and Elvino’s vows, a stranger arrives, inquiring the whereabouts of the castle. Lisa informs him of the late hour and offers the stranger lodging at her inn. The stranger admits to having once stayed in the castle, whose lord had been dead for four years. As nighttime approaches, the villagers warn the stranger that it is time to be indoors to avoid the village phantom, but the stranger replies that he is not superstitious and assures them that they will soon be free of the ghost. The stranger is soon revealed to be Rodolfo, the long-lost son of the count, and he is warned that the village is preparing a formal welcome. Soon after learning this, Amina enters the room, sleepwalking. Rodolfo, realizing that her nocturnal wanderings have produced the legend of the village “phantom,” is struck by her innocence and lets her fall asleep on the sofa. Elvino, finding her asleep in a room with another man, believes her untrustworthy and rejects her in fury. The villagers, along with Amina approach the count to plead for an announcement of Amina’s innocence, but Elvino is not convinced and takes back the wedding ring. When Elvino finally decides to marry Lisa and stops trying to run from her advances, Rodolfo interrupts their journey to the church to explain that Amina is innocent because she is a sleepwalker, and had not come to his room awake. Elvino refuses to believe anyone, until Amina sleepwalks across the high, dangerously unstable mill bridge. Rodolfo warns that to wake her would be fatal, so all watch as she precariously walks across the bridge and finally reaches the other side in safety where Elvino calls to her and she wakes to find herself in his arms. Bursting with Bellini’s mesmerizing score, La Sonnambula is a veritable feast for the senses. The music of La Sonnambula is filled with raw emotion and tender arias including some of the most famous arias in the repertoire, “Come per me sereno,” “Prendi, l’anel ti dono,” and “A! non credea mirati.” The aria sung by Roldolfo “Vi ravviso, o lugohi ameni” is a haunting piece about his hidden identity and the family that considered him dead for years. To date, the cast of Michigan Opera Theatre’s production of La Sonnambula will feature performances by world-renowned international artists, including Ekaterina Siurina and Eglise Gutierrez alternating in the role of Amina and Charles Castronovo in the role of Elvino. The role of mysterious Rodolfo will be sung by Andrew Gangestad. Stage Director for the opera is Emmy Award-winning Renata Scotto, one of the most renowned sopranos of the post-war era and conductor of the hauntingly beautiful music is Richard Bonynge, a noted expert in bel canto singing, or “beautiful singing.” La Rondine by Giacomo Puccini La Rondine, or The Swallow, has not been performed by Michigan Opera Theatre since 1972, as part of its inaugural season at Music Hall, leaving a 36-year absence from the Detroit Opera House stage. Performed first in 1917, the opera by Giacomo Puccini has garnered significant praise, though it is a rare gem on the operatic stage. The opera is based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert and was inspired by Viennese operetta. With Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, translation in English will be projected above the stage. Paris, the City of Love is the setting for Puccini’s tragic-comic masterpiece. La Rondine begins with a declaration that “love is in the air,” but as it ends for one couple in the opera, love is forbidden and bittersweet. Magda de Cirvy is a “kept woman” of her rich protector Rambaldo, but longs for true love, which she has never possessed. Her thirst for passion is satisfied one night in the arms of the dashing young Ruggiero and she spreads her romantic wings. Keeping the details of her tryst with Ruggiero hidden from Rambaldo, Magda and Ruggiero flee to a seaside cottage. Ruggiero is ready to marry Magda, and asks his parents for her hand in marriage. Though touched by the act, Magda knows that she “can be a lover, but never a wife.” Magda reveals her deception to a heartbroken Ruggiero, and like a swallow, flutters home to her loveless life of privilege and despair. The music of La Rondine is pure Puccini, with lush melodies, but brilliantly and delicately scored, originally commissioned for theater. The opera’s most famous aria is the one sung by Magda, “Chi il bel sogno di Diretta,” a beautiful, soaring aria. Other noted arias in La Rondine are “Ore dolce e divine,” sung by Magda, and “parigi, e la citta dei desideri” and “Dimmi che vuoi seguirmi alla mia casa” sung by Ruggiero. The opera also contains roaring waltzes and dances. Casting for La Rondine to date includes a stunning cast, with international diva Pamela Armstrong in the role of Magda and Canadian tenor David Pomeroy debuts in the role of Ruggiero. The beautiful and brilliant Puccini score will be conducted by Steven Mercurio and the production will be directed by acclaimed director Lotfi Mansouri. La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi La Traviata, or The Fallen Woman is one of the most performed operas in the North America, with a timeless message that has resonated with viewers over a century. Michigan Opera Theatre has produced the opera previously, most recently in 2001. A romantic tragedy in three acts, La Traviata was written by Giuseppe Verdi with Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, adapted from the novel La dame aux Camelias by Alexander Dumas. The story of La Traviata has endured in numerous places in popular culture - Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film Moulin Rouge! was inspired by the opera. La Traviata begins with Violetta, a famed courtesan, throwing a lavish party to celebrate her recovery from Tuberculosis. At the party, she meets the young nobleman Alfredo Germont, who is mad about her. Unsure of her feelings for him, Violetta ponders the possibility of true love, but initially rejects the notion – she needs freedom to live life, night and day, from one pleasure to another. A few months later, Alfredo and Violetta together live an idyllic existence in a country house outside of Paris – Violetta has fallen in love with Alfredo in spite of herself. When Alfredo’s father comes to visit Violetta and tells her that her relationship with his son has ruined the family name, she is overcome with grief and leaves Alfredo, plunging deeply into dissipation. Alfredo, unaware of the reasons behind his Violetta’s quick departure, is overcome with jealousy and anger when he sees Violetta on the arm of another man at a party. Alfredo disgraces Violetta at the party and she is overcome with sickness and sorrow. A few months after the party, tuberculosis has confined Violetta to her bed, when she receives a letter from Alfredo’s father, stating that he has informed Alfredo of the sacrifice Violetta made for Alfredo. Alfredo soon hastens to her side, understanding at last that Violetta has sacrificed herself for his sake. He pleads for forgiveness as Violetta finally wilts in his arms, the illness taking its toll. The music of La Traviata is a beautiful tribute to the love story it entails. Violetta’s arias “Ah, fors’e lui” entertains the wistful thoughts of true love and “Amani, Alfredo,” her emotional plea to Alfredo before leaving him. Casting for La Traviata includes several returning stars to the Michigan Opera Theatre stage. Singing Violetta is Russian-American soprano Dina Kuznetsova, who will perform the role of Juliette in Romeo and Juliet May 2007. Another returning artist, in the role of Alfredo is Mexican tenor Arturo Chacon Cruz, who will perform the role of Romeo in May 2007’s Romeo and Juliet. With the guiding hand of director Mario Corradi, the cast will also feature the North American debut of Italian baritone Marco Di Felice and the Michigan Opera Theatre debut of tenor Valter Borin. Complete performance schedule and ticket information # # # |
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ContactRebekah Johnson |
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