Verdi and Attila the Hun? Huh?
The Washington Concert Opera, which specializes in rarely heard full-length operas, will perform Verdi’s “Attila” on Friday September 9 at 7:30 PM at Lisner Auditorium.
Although vastly overshadowed today by Verdi’s numerous popular operas, “Attila” became a huge favorite after its first performance in 1846 at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice.
By the second performance, it “created a furor”. And after its third performance, Verdi was “escorted back to his apartment with a torchlight parade, led by a military band,” wrote Mary Jane Phillips-Matz in “Verdi: A Biography”.
In Florence, “the performance was brought to a stop as the audience shouted for him, even trying to get him brought from his hotel.”
It has not caused a furor in the few recent productions: last year, the Metropolitan Opera mounted its first production of “Attila”, and in 2008, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw staged it.
Still, “Attila” is regarded as one of Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi’s most dramatic and compelling operas. After all, A. the H. was one of history’s most fierce conquerors, but a woman conquered him by marrying him, and then killing him.
The Hun will be sung by bass-baritone John Relyea. “His generous throat produces great torrents of autumnal tones with apparent ease,” raved “Opera News” about Relyea.
Attila’s nemesis Odabella will be sung by Brenda Harris. “Her soprano seemed voluminous,” said “Opera News” in one review. In another, "This was a performance for the ages."
Washington Concert Opera's (WCO) "Attila" cast also includes Jason Stearns as Ezio; James Flora as Uldino; and Arthur Espiritu as Foresto.
WCO artistic director and conductor Antony Walker, fresh from his conducting debut at the Met, conducted the WCO in Massenet’s “Werter” last May. “The Washington Post” in its "Werter" review said “Antony Walker deserves great credit for drawing out the roiling emotion and Wagnerian ambition in a score that can too easily lapse into saccharine mush.”
The 25-year-old WCO presents internationally acclaimed singers, professional musicians and choruses in concert versions of operatic works.
“Opera News” has termed Washington Concert Opera’s “…performances of the highest order”, and “The Washington Post” has called the company “integral to the musical fabric of this city”.
Washington Concert Opera’s slogan is “It’s all about the music”. The WCO explains, ”There are no sets, costumes or (usually) props to distract the eye -- and ear -- from the operatic score. The focus is entirely on the performers and their dynamic interaction with their audience.”
So, join the audience September 9 at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium, 21st and H Streets, NW, Washington, DC.
For more info and tickets: Washington Concert Opera, www.concertopera.org, 202-364-5826, info@concertopera.org, 1808 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 101, Washington, DC. Tickets. “Attila”. Performance at Lisner Auditorium, 21st and H Streets, NW, Washington, DC.
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