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Runnicles' Verdi "Requiem" Friday May 29: Heidi Melton steps up replacing Pat Racette
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Heidi Melton steps up for Runnicles farewell
SOPRANO HEIDI MELTON TO REPLACE
PATRICIA RACETTE IN MAY 29 VERDI REQUIEM
CONCERT CONDUCTED BY
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA MUSIC DIRECTOR
DONALD RUNNICLES
SFO just issued a press release tonight: Due to illness, soprano Patricia Racette has been forced to withdraw from San Francisco Opera’s Verdi Requiem concert conducted by Music Director Donald Runnicles on Friday, May 29, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. at the War Memorial Opera House. Soprano Heidi Melton will replace Ms. Racette in this special one-night only concert celebrating the illustrious 17-year tenure of Music Director and Principal Conductor Donald Runnicles.
Heidi just won ten thousand bucks in March at a George London competition in New York City. Don't I always say, You get what you pay for!
Here is a link to a feature on the event, Runnicles' only performance before he steps down after conducting La Traviata this summer.
Here from the requiem is Zubin Meta's Sanctus, elegant and brassy fanfare . . .
The Wikipedia entry includes history of the requiem as originally written to honor Rossini upon his death. However Verdi's requiem ended up as a tribute to a dead poet and played seven times at the Opera-Comique in Paris. However Lynne Dawson sang the requiem at the funeral of Princess Diana.
Throughout the work, Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts—much as he did in his operas—to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text. The terrifying (and instantly recognizable) "Dies Irae" that introduces the traditional sequence of the Latin funeral rite is repeated throughout for a sense of unity, which allows Verdi to explore the feelings of loss and sorrow as well as the human desire for forgiveness and mercy found in the intervening movements of the Requiem. Trumpets surround the stage to produce an inescapable call to Judgement in the "Tuba mirum" (the resulting combination of brass and choral quadruple-fortissimo markings resulting in some of the loudest unamplified music ever written), and the almost oppressive atmosphere of the "Rex tremendae" creates a sense of unworthiness before the King of Tremendous Majesty. Yet the well-known tenor solo "Ingemisco" radiates hope for the sinner who asks for the Lord's mercy. Verdi also recycles and reworks the duet "Qui me rendra ce mort? Ô funèbres abîmes!", from Act IV of Don Carlos, in the beautiful "Lachrymosa" which ends this sequence.
The joyful "Sanctus" (a complicated eight-part fugue scored for double chorus) begins with a brassy fanfare to announce him "who comes in the name of the Lord" and leads into an angelic "Agnus Dei" sung by the female soloists with the chorus. Finally the "Libera me," the oldest music by Verdi in the Requiem, interrupts. Here the soprano cries out, begging, "Free me, Lord, from eternal death ... when you will come to judge the world by fire."
Soprano Heidi Melton, a third-year Adler Fellow, was born and raised in Spokane, Washington and was a 2006 participant in the Merola Opera Program. She made her San Francisco Opera debut in 2007 as Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier, sang Diana in Iphigénie en Tauride, and created the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the world premiere of Philip Glass’s Appomattox.
In 2008, Melton made her debut at the Opera National de Bordeaux in the role of Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera. Melton’s 2009 engagements include Elisabeth in Tannhäuser with Opera National de Bordeaux and Chrysothemis in Elektra with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
She is also scheduled to perform the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos and Ada in Wagner’s rarely heard Die Feen with Frankfurt Opera, both in 2011.
Other operatic roles include the title role of Alcina, Lady Billows (Albert Herring) and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), all with Curtis Opera Theater. Her oratorio credits include Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater and Schubert’s Mass in A with the Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Melton graduated from Curtis Institute of Music, where she completed her master’s degree, and she holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music. In 2006, she was a national semi-finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as the winner of the Mario Lanza Competition. In 2007 Melton made her debut with Opera Company of Philadelphia as Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel.
Most recently, she took third place at the prestigious Belvedere International Vocal Competition in Vienna.
As Maestro Donald Runnicles concludes his remarkable tenure as San Francisco Opera’s music director and principal conductor at the close of the 2008-09 Season, he leads a special concert of Verdi’s Requiem.
The roster of soloists includes soprano Heidi Melton, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, tenor Stefano Secco, and bass Andrea Silvestrelli. This salute to Donald Runnicles marks a rare occasion when the San Francisco Opera Chorus and Orchestra will be showcased on the stage of the War Memorial Opera House under the baton of their renowned maestro. In a special presentation on stage after the performance, San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley, Chairman of the Board of Directors John Gunn, and President of the San Francisco Opera Association George Hume will present Maestro Runnicles with the San Francisco Opera Medal, the highest honor awarded by the Company to an artistic professional.
THE VERDI REQUIEM Honoring Maestro Donald Runnicles
Friday, May 29, 2009 at 8 p.m. War Memorial Opera House
* San Francisco Opera Debut †Current Adler Fellow
Donald Runnicles, conductor
Heidi Melton†, soprano
Stephanie Blythe*, mezzo-soprano
Stefano Secco*, tenor
Andrea Silvestrelli, bass
San Francisco Opera Orchestra
San Francisco Opera Chorus:
Here's a link to a video hosted by chorus master Ian, including tenor Siggy Siegel and baritone Fred Matthews.
Tickets for The Verdi Requiem are priced from $15 to $250 and may be purchased from the San Francisco Opera Box Office either in person or by phone at (415) 864-3330.
The War Memorial Opera House is located at 301 Van Ness Avenue at Grove Street. Patrons are encouraged to use public transportation to attend San Francisco Opera performances. The War Memorial Opera House is within walking distance of the Civic Center BART station and near numerous bus lines, including 5, 21, 47, 49, and the F Market Street. For more public transportation information, visit www.bart.gov and www.sfmuni.com. For further information, please visit www.sfopera.com.
For more info: www.SFOpera.com
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