DALLAS OPERA 2010 2011

DON GIOVANNI (October 22, 24(m), 27, 30, Nov. 5 & 7(m), 2010)

Soprano Georgia Jarman, described by Opera News as a singer who performs “with glittering precision and high-flying ease” will appear as the obsessed Donna Elvira in her company debut. She will be joined by soprano Claire Rutter, who makes a welcome return to the Dallas Opera as Donna Anna. Ms. Rutter was lauded by Rupert Christiansen in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.) for possessing “an ease, command and tonal splendor I haven’t heard equaled for a generation.” Tenor Bruce Ford will sing the role of the courageous Don Ottavio, a characterization described by Rodney Milnes of The Times (London) as “unusually intense.” Baritone and international heart-throb Mirco Palazzi will make his American debut as the harried Leporello, and soprano Ailyn Perez (Zerlina) and Ben Wager (Masetto) make their first bows on the Dallas Opera stage as young lovers on their way to the altar – who unexpectedly find themselves the targets of a master schemer! The all-important role of The Commendatore will be sung by one of the most interesting basses performing today: Morris Robinson in his Dallas Opera debut. According to the Washington Times, his “chilling return as the Stone Guest (in this production) is the highlight of a marvelously graphic finale.” Mozart’s 1787 masterpiece, thought by many to be his finest work, will be conducted by Romanian Maestro Nicolae Moldoveanu, who made his Dallas Opera debut in 2004 conducting a double bill of works by composer Manuel de Falla. It is both directed and designed by John Pascoe, with lighting design by Jeff Davis in his company debut. The Dallas Opera Chorus will be prepared by Chorus Master Alexander Rom. DON GIOVANNI was last performed at the Dallas Opera in 2003.

ANNA BOLENA (October 29, 31(m), November 3, 6, 12 & 14, 2010)

As the Dallas Opera renews its commitment to a semi-repertory format which will permit visitors to experience two different operas on consecutive days, the second production of the “Dangerous Desires” Season, Gaetano Donizetti’s Lyric Tragedy ANNA BOLENA, opens Friday, October 29, 2010 in a new production conducted by Music Director Graeme Jenkins and staged by director Stephen Lawless. This compelling 1830 drama, the chapter of the “Tudor Trilogy” that details the final days of Anne Boleyn (the controversial second wife of England’s King Henry VIII), stars Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian (Queen Elizabeth I in the Dallas Opera’s 2009 production of Roberto Devereux), a powerful stage presence in the title role. The tyrannical King Henry will be portrayed by Brooklyn-born bass Oren Gradus, a favorite of Metropolitan Opera audiences. Boleyn’s rival for the King’s affections, Jane Seymour, will be sung by renowned American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, “a vital artist, a beautiful woman, (and) a regal presence” (The Washington Post). Tenor Stephen Costello, “one of the brightest rising U.S. stars” (The Sunday Times), who returns to the Dallas Opera this spring in the key role of “Greenhorn” in the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick, portrays the tragic Lord Percy. American bass Mark McCrory sings the role of Anne’s brother – Lord Rochefort, with mezzo-soprano Elena Belfiore in her American debut as the misguided Smeton and California-born tenor Aaron Blake as the secretive Hervey. The production team includes Scenic Designer Benoit Dugardyn, Costume Designer Ingeborg Bernerth, Associate Costume Designer Julia Müer and Lighting Designer Mark McCullough. The Dallas Opera Chorus will be prepared by Chorus Master Alexander Rom. ANNA BOLENA has only been performed twice at the Dallas Opera, in 1968 and 1975.

ROMEO & JULIET (February 11, 13(m), 16, 19, 25 & 27(m), 2011)

The third production of the “DANGEROUS DESIRES” Season is Charles Gounod’s ROMEO & JULIET, one of the most successful stage adaptations of a work by William Shakespeare. This 1867 opera swiftly propels us into the heart of one of the world’s best-loved (although doomed) romances. Maestro Marco Zambelli, in his Dallas Opera debut, conducts the Dallas Opera Orchestra and a tremendous, international ensemble directed by Michael Kahn, artistic director of Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company. Starring in the title roles are Russian soprano(Juliet), whose recent appearance with the Dallas Opera in The Marriage of Figaro prompted Classical Music Critic Scott Cantrell to write: “Petrova is an adorable dynamo of a Susanna, as sweet as she is feisty and playful…Her soprano can blaze but also lap teasingly and glow warmly;” and one of the most sought-after performers working in opera today: American tenor Charles Castronovo (Romeo), a frequent guest artist of the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera and many other prestigious companies and venues – now making his thrilling Dallas Opera debut. The remainder of the cast includes a host of international stars: British bass Robert Lloyd as Friar Lawrence; baritone Joshua Hopkins as Mercutio; mezzo-soprano Jane Bunnell as Gertrude; tenor Aaron Blake as Tybalt; bass Stephen Morscheck as Capulet; baritone Stephen LaBrie as Paris; and mezzo-soprano Roxana Constantinescu in her American debut as Stephano. This production, originally designed for Montréal Opera and never before seen in Dallas, is the creation of Production Designer Claude Girard and Lighting Designer Mark McCullough. The first of six performances will take place on February 11, 2011 in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House. Chorus preparation is by Dallas Opera Chorus Master Alexander Rom. ROMEO & JULIET was last performed by the Dallas Opera in 1995.

RIGOLETTO (March 25, 27(m), 30, April 2, 7 & 10(m), 2011)

One of the most popular works in the repertoire will return to the stage the evening of Friday, March 25, 2011, when the Dallas Opera presents the revival of Giuseppe Verdi’s RIGOLETTO, for its first performances in the Winspear Opera House. Conducted by Maestro Pietro Rizzo, who elicited excitement from local audiences when he made his American operatic debut conducting our most recent revival of La bohème, this powerhouse drama will be staged by director Harry Silverstein with sets by Tony Award-winning designer Michael Yeargan, costumes by the legendary Peter J. Hall and lighting by Steven Strawbridge. RIGOLETTO will star Bulgarian baritone Vladimir Stoyanov, a Verdi specialist making his company debut in the title role, Texas-born coloratura soprano Laura Claycomb will make her long-awaited Dallas Opera debut as Gilda and tenor James Valenti, who wowed North Texas audiences as Rodolfo in the 2009 production of La bohème and won that season’s “Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award,” now portrays the magnetic but malevolent Duke. Bass Raymond Aceto (who last appeared in Otello as the Venetian Ambassador) returns to the Dallas Opera stage as the cold-blooded assassin, Sparafucile. This production also stars mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chavez in her Dallas Operadebut as Maddalena. Tenor Aaron Blake (this year’s Dallas Opera Emerging Artist)appears in the role of Matteo Borsa. Chorus preparation is by Dallas Opera Chorus Master Alexander Rom. RIGOLETTO was last performed by the Dallas Opera in 2001.

BORIS GODUNOV (April 1, 3(m), 6, 9, 15 & 17(m), 2011)

It’s an historic season finale, as the Dallas Opera presents, for the very first time, Modest Mussorgsky’s towering masterpiece BORIS GODUNOV. Originally completed in 1869 and subsequently revised by Mussorgsky, BORIS GODUNOV holds a special place in the repertoire and is the single most recorded Russian opera. The Dallas Opera will perform this work – absent from any stage in Dallas since a Metropolitan Opera tour in 1978 – in a stunning production from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The Dallas Opera Orchestra and ensemble cast will be under the direction of Music Director Graeme Jenkins, with chorus preparation by Chorus Master Alexander Rom. The huge, ensemble cast includes internationally acclaimed bass Mikhail Kazakov, a highly regarded star of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, in his Dallas Opera debut in the title role; mezzo-soprano Elena Bocharova, hailed for a voice that “blooms at both top and bottom” in her company debut as Marina; and Kazakhstan bass Vitaly Efanov making his company debut as Pimen. It also marks the return of one of the world’s most renowned bass voices to the Dallas Opera stage: Sergei Leiferkus, who gave searing performances in our earlier productions of Beethoven’s Fidelio and Wagner’s Lohengrin, in the role of Rangoni. “To produce BORIS for an opera company is like doing the Russian Ring,” says Dallas Opera Music Director Graeme Jenkins. “It’s one of the biggest pieces in the repertoire and it’s a fantastic opportunity to bring new audiences into the Winspear to see this epic, enormous piece.” BORIS GODUNOV, never before performed by the Dallas Opera, opens on Friday, April 1, 2011 in the Winspear Opera House.