RSS
Home
The Ring of the Nibelung: San Francisco Opera announces casting for 2011 cycles
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Der Ring des Nibelungen with it's Rheinmaidens and their cursed gold come to San Francisco in 2011
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
(THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG)
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ANNOUNCES CASTING FOR RING CYCLE JUNE–JULY 2011
THREE CYCLES OF RICHARD WAGNER’S DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
TO BE PRESENTED JUNE 14–JULY 3 AS PART OF BAY AREA RING FESTIVAL
CONDUCTOR DONALD RUNNICLES TO LEAD PERFORMANCES OF NEW PRODUCTION BY FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO OF WAGNER’S FOUR-OPERA CYCLE
SAN FRANCISCO (September 22, 2009)–– San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley today announced casting for the Company’s June–July 2011 presentation of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), the composer’s epic four-opera cycle widely considered as one of the greatest works ever conceived for the operatic stage.
Not to be outdone by Seattle Opera which just completed a triumphant Ring Cycle and plans another in an Olympic four years, San Francisco will stage all four operas. It's a new production by San Francisco Opera Artistic Adviser and internationally celebrated director Francesca Zambello. Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung will be presented for the first time as a complete cycle.
Here giants Fafner and Fasolt grapple with Freia.
Maestro Donald Runnicles, one of the world’s most acclaimed Wagner conductors and former San Francisco Opera music director, will lead the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
These performances feature an international roster of singers, including Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde), Anja Kampe (Sieglinde), Larissa Diadkova (Fricka), Mark Delavan (Wotan), Ian Storey (Siegfried), Brandon Jovanovich (Siegmund), Gordon Hawkins (Alberich) and David Cangelosi (Mime).
Heidi Melton will also sing Sieglinde and the Third Norn. Heidi, an American idol of opera, won $25,000 recently in Los Angeles. She's been an Adler Fellow.
Here are the heroes Siegfried and Brunnhilde.
Three complete cycles will be presented each in their entirety over the course of one week as the composer originally intended. These cycles each begin on a Tuesday evening and conclude on a Sunday afternoon, and they will take place June 14–19, June 21–26, and June 28–July 3, 2011. All performances are presented at the historic Beaux Arts style War Memorial Opera House. Preceding the Ring cycles, San Francisco Opera will present one performance of Siegfried on May 29, 2011 and one performance of Götterdämmerung on June 5, 2011. San Francisco Opera’s presentation of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried is a co-production with Washington National Opera; Götterdämmerung is a new production by the Company.
Pictured below Siegfried battles Fafner. The giant Fafner has taken the form of a dragon with the use of magic helmet, the tarnhelm. Siegfried uses his magic sword Notung.
“I’m very proud to share the casting for our forthcoming presentation of the Ring, arguably the most majestic operatic work ever created and one that clearly defines the capabilities of a top tier company,” stated General Director David Gockley. “I am excited that San Francisco Opera will premiere Francesca Zambello’s full production of the work in three complete cycles, as her sensitive interpretation reminds us that Wagner’s Ring is both timeless and relevant. And our Ring will welcome the return of former Company music director Donald Runnicles, conducting an extraordinary roster of singers along with the acclaimed San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The Company has a long and distinguished record as one of the world’s leading producers of Wagner’s Ring cycle, and I firmly believe our June 2011 Festival will contribute significantly to this legacy.”
In conjunction with the presentation of Der Ring des Nibelungen, San Francisco Opera will host various activities throughout the Bay Area as part of the Ring Festival, including lectures, musical performances, film screenings, exhibits, and other events for patrons who desire to connect with the work in new and compelling ways. The Festival will also provide opportunities to interact with fellow Ring cycle subscribers, those both new to the work and those who have experienced it before.
An internationally renowned cast featuring some of the greatest Wagnerian singers of our time has been assembled for San Francisco Opera’s highly anticipated new presentation of Der Ring des Nibelungen. The cast for this complete Ring cycle varies from that of San Francisco Opera’s previous production of Das Rheingold in June 2008 and the upcoming Die Walküre in June 2010.
Swedish soprano and Wagner specialist Nina Stemme sings Brünnhilde in her complete Ring cycle role debut; she previously performed the Brünnhilde of Siegfried at the Vienna State Opera in 2008. Baritone Mark Delavan returns to sing Wotan after his triumphant role debut with the Company in 2008’s Das Rheingold. Tenor Ian Storey makes his Company debut as Siegfried and Gordon Hawkins also makes his Company debut as Alberich, a role he sang to great acclaim at Washington National Opera.
Russian mezzo-soprano Larissa Diadkova appears as Fricka and David Cangelosi returns as Mime. Soprano Anja Kampe sings Sieglinde, which she recently sang in Die Walküre at Washington National Opera, and American tenor Brandon Jovanovich makes his role debut as Siegmund. Current Adler Fellow Heidi Melton will sing Sieglinde on the June 29 performance of Die Walküre as well as the Third Norn in Götterdämmerung.
Stefan Margita returns to the Company as Loge following his critically acclaimed performances of the role in 2008’s Das Rheingold. German bass-baritone Gerd Grochowski appears as Gunther and Andrea Silvestrelli returns to San Francisco Opera as Fasolt and will also sing the role of Hagen. Merola Opera Program alumni Ronnita Miller (Erda and the First Norn) and Melissa Citro (Freia and Gutrune) make their Company debuts. Former Adler Fellow and Merola alumnus Daniel Sumegi sings Fafner and Hunding, and 2009 Adler Fellow Daveda Karanas sings Waltraute as well as the Second Norn.
Director Francesca Zambello and set designer Michael Yeargan use imagery from various eras of American history to illuminate Wagner’s legend in which human virtue and nature’s sanctuary fall prey to greed and lust. The talented creative team also includes costume designer Catherine Zuber, lighting designer Mark McCullough, projection designerJan Hartley, and dramaturg Cori Ellison.
“The themes in the Ring—greed, corruption, love and destruction of the environment—are integral to the work and to each character’s journey in matters that relate deeply to human nature and human instinct,” commented Ring director Francesca Zambello. “My challenge was to set Wagner’s themes into a visual world that parallels our own. The production has both a realistic edge and a fantastical dimension. My hope is the audience will intuit the connections to the world today while fully entering into the realm of myth.”
“It is best to come to the Ring with a sense of and desire for adventure,” said conductor Donald Runnicles. “In the unfolding of this remarkable odyssey, the mythological story of the Ring illuminates so many things—true love, greed, power, possession, parenthood and moral maturity. In common with all great works of drama, Wagner’s epic can touch each of our lives profoundly and unforgettably.”
San Francisco Opera has long been regarded as one of the world’s leading companies to present the entire Ring cycle, with past acclaimed presentations at the War Memorial Opera House in 1935, 1972, 1985, 1990 and 1999. The Company presented a partial Ring cycle in 1936, omitting Siegfried. The City of San Francisco played host to two other presentations of the Ring in 1900 by the Metropolitan Opera at the Grand Opera House, led by famed conductor Walter Damrosch, and a partial Ring cycle in 1931 (omitting Das Rheingold) by the Grand German Opera Company in Civic Auditorium.
About Der Ring des Nibelungen
The plot of Wagner’s epic music-drama Der Ring des Nibelungen revolves around a ring made from gold stolen from the Rhine River—the ring can only be forged by one who renounces love forever, and it gives its possessor unlimited power. The ring carries a deadly curse that determines the destiny of all who come in contact with it. Throughout the cycle, various mythic figures struggle to obtain the ring; chief among them is Wotan, ruler of the gods. Wotan strives to undo the curse by fathering a pure of heart hero, but events spin out of control as his offspring—the half-mortal twins Siegmund and Sieglinde and the Valkyrie Brünnhilde—defy his will. The ring is eventually won by the hero Siegfried, son of Siegmund and Sieglinde, and he braves a circle of fire to awaken the sleeping Brünnhilde, after which the two fall ecstatically in love. Siegfried gives the ring to Brünnhilde as a sign of their union and leaves for new adventures, but he is ultimately slain and Brünnhilde sacrifices herself to return the ring to its natural home in the Rhine, thus ending the rule of the gods.
Composed from 1853 to 1874, Richard Wagner’s epic masterpiece, Der Ring des Nibelungen, is arguably the pinnacle of operatic art. The composer, who also wrote the libretto, drew inspiration for his magnum opus from early Germanic and Norse mythology and from the poem Nibelungenlied, which was written by an anonymous German poet in the 13th century. In 1848 Wagner drafted a prose outline for his drama, and throughout the next five years he wrote the librettos for Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in reverse order. While Das Rheingold and Die Walküre received their premieres in Munich in 1869, the first performance of the complete Ring cycle was in 1876 in Bayreuth, Germany.
Der Ring des Nibelungen is regarded by many as the artistic ancestor of such 20th-century epics as The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. Common themes such as the lust for power, the lure of wealth, the sacred beauty of nature and the destructive force of man remain relevant today.
Tickets and Information
Tickets for Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen are currently offered in complete four-opera cycles only and are currently available for purchase to current San Francisco Opera subscribers and donors only. Complete cycles are priced from $120 to $2,800 and may be purchased through the San Francisco Opera Box Office. To become a 2009–10 Season subscriber or donor, contact the San Francisco Opera Box Office [301 Van Ness Avenue (at Grove Street), or by phone at (415) 864-3330] or visit sfopera.com to purchase a subscription or make a contribution. Tickets to the non-subscription performances of Siegfried (May 29, 2011) and Götterdämmerung (June 5, 2011) will be available for purchase to renewing subscribers and donors to the 2010–11 San Francisco Opera season and will go on sale in Spring 2010.
All Ring cycle subscribers will receive a Festival packet with details about all Ring Festival activities, lectures and events. Additionally, San Francisco Opera will work with partner hotels and a partner airline to accommodate out-of-town subscribers, as well as Bay Area patrons who wish to get away and experience complete immersion in the Ring Festival. Complete details about the Ring Festival will be announced in Spring 2010.
The price of tickets available at this time includes a tax-deductible portion that provides additional funding to support this production. Seating priority is based on subscription history, contribution history and order date, with greater consideration given to contributions and Ring Circle membership.
San Francisco Opera has created a special Ring Circle for patrons who wish to make a special contribution to this production. Chaired by Kristina Flanagan, Mary and Nicholas Graves and Betty and Jack Schafer, Ring Circle members will enjoy a wide variety of benefits for each donor level such as priority seating and behind-the-scenes events and social opportunities with the artists, production team, and fellow sponsors. Members may also purchase Ring tickets without the contribution portion of ticket prices. San Francisco Opera has also created a National Patron Program for patrons traveling from outside Northern California who wish to make a special contribution to this production. Chaired by the Honorable and Mrs. George P. Shultz, patrons will receive special attention and VIP service while in town for their Ring experience. For additional information about Ring Circle and National Patron programs, contact Marissa Axell at (415) 551-6239 or maxell@sfopera.com.
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 bart.gov and sfmuni.com.
Casting, programs, schedules and ticket prices are subject to change. For further information about Der Ring des Nibelungen and San Francisco Opera, please visit sfopera.com/ring.
# # # # #
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN: CALENDAR AND PRODUCTION INFORMATION
ALL PERFORMANCES JUNE 14–JULY 3, 2011
* San Francisco Opera Debut
DAS RHEINGOLD by Richard Wagner June 14 (8 p.m.), 21 (8 p.m.), and 28, 2011 (8 p.m.)
Co-production with Washington National Opera
Libretto by Richard Wagner
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes with no intermission
Sung in German with English supertitles
Cast:
Wotan Mark Delavan
Loge Stefan Margita
Alberich Gordon Hawkins*
Fricka Larissa Diadkova
Erda Ronnita Miller*
Mime David Cangelosi
Fasolt Andrea Silvestrelli
Fafner Daniel Sumegi
Freia Melissa Citro*
DIE WALKÜRE by Richard Wagner June 15 (7 p.m.), 22 (7 p.m.), and 29, 2011 (7 p.m.)
Co-production with Washington National Opera
Libretto by Richard Wagner
Approximate running time: 4 hours, 30 minutes with two intermissions
Sung in German with English supertitles
Cast: :
Wotan Mark Delavan
Brünnhilde Nina Stemme
Siegmund Brandon Jovanovich
Sieglinde Anja Kampe*
Heidi Melton (6/29)
Fricka Larissa Diadkova
Hunding Daniel Sumegi
SIEGFRIED by Richard Wagner PRODUCTION NEW TO SAN FRANCISCO
Co-production with Washington National Opera Non-subscription performance on May 29, 2011 (1 p.m.)
Libretto by Richard Wagner June 17 (6:30 p.m.), 24 (6:30 p.m.), and July 1, 2011 (6:30 p.m.)
Approximate running time: 4 hours, 50 minutes with two intermissions
Sung in German with English supertitles
Cast: Production Team:
Siegfried Ian Storey*
Mime David Cangelosi
Brünnhilde Nina Stemme
Alberich Gordon Hawkins*
Wotan Mark Delavan
Erda Ronnita Miller*
Fafner Daniel Sumegi
Forest Bird Stacey Tappan*
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG by Richard Wagner NEW PRODUCTION PREMIERE
Libretto by Richard Wagner Non-subscription performance on June 5, 2011 (1 p.m.)
Approximate running time: 5 hours, 15 minutes with two intermissions June 19 (1 p.m.), 26 (1 p.m.), and July 3, 2011 (1 p.m.)
Sung in German with English supertitles
Cast:
Siegfried Ian Storey*
Brünnhilde Nina Stemme
Gunther Gerd Grochowski
Hagen Andrea Silvestrelli
Alberich Gordon Hawkins*
Waltraute Daveda Karanas
Gutrune Melissa Citro*
1st Norn Ronnita Miller*
2nd Norn Daveda Karanas
3rd Norn Heidi Melton
Woglinde Stacey Tappan*
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
NINA STEMME made her San Francisco Opera debut in 2004 as Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) and appeared later that season in a concert in honor of Donald Runnicles’s fiftieth birthday. She recently performed Brünnhilde (Siegfried) with the Vienna State Opera, a role that she reprises with that company this season, and she will make her Ring cycle role debut as Brünnhilde with the Company in the summer of 2011. Stemme sings the Brünnhilde of Die Walküre in San Francisco Opera’s production later this season. A former winner of the Plácido Domingo Competition and finalist of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, the Swedish soprano regularly sings with the world’s leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Paris Opera; the Vienna State Opera; Frankfurt Opera; Zurich Opera; Stockholm’s Royal Opera; Madrid’s Teatro Real; and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Roles in her extensive repertoire include Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera), Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Katerina (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Marguerite (Faust), Agathe (Der Freischütz), and the title roles of Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Jen?fa, Aida, Arabella, Rusalka, and Ariadne auf Naxos. Her Wagner repertoire includes Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser), Elsa (Lohengrin), Sieglinde (Die Walküre), and Isolde (Tristan und Isolde). Upcoming engagements include Isolde, Senta, and Rusalka with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and at Covent Garden; the title role of Salome in Madrid; and Ariadne at the Met. Stemme was appointed a Swedish Royal Court Singer in 2006 and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music; she was awarded the “Litteris et Artibus” medal by H.M. the King of Sweden in 2008. Her broad discography includes recordings of Tristan und Isolde with Plácido Domingo (EMI), Der Fliegende Holländer (Chandos), Zemlinsky’s Der König Kandaules (Andante), an all-Strauss album (Four Last Songs and final scenes from Salome and Capriccio, EMI), and a lieder album (Phaedra); Stemme can be seen on DVD recordings of Aida, Tristan und Isolde, Der Rosenkavalier, Jen?fa, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Baritone Mark Delavan made his role debut as Wotan in San Francisco Opera’s 2008 production of Das Rheingold, a role that he sings throughout the presentation of Company’s new Ring cycle. The Merola Opera Program alumnus and former Adler Fellow has appeared with the Company in fifteen productions ranging from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin to Puccini’s Tosca. His recent credits include Iago (Otello) and Michele (Il Tabarro) with Los Angeles Opera; Amonasro (Aida) at both the Metropolitan Opera and Spain’s Bilbao Opera; Scarpia (Tosca) at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera; Germont, Thoas (Iphigénie en Tauride), Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana), Tonio (Pagliacci), Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), and Count di Luna (Il Trovatore) at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Jokanaan (Salome) at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu; the title role of Der Fliegende Holländer at Atlanta Opera; Jack Rance (La Fanciulla del West) at Danish National Opera; and Carlo Gérard (Andrea Chénier), Tomsky (The Queen of Spades), and Alfio at the Met. No stranger to the German dramatic repertoire, he has sung the Dutchman at New York City Opera and Opera Pacific; Amfortas (Parsifal) at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Jokanaan at Berlin State Opera and New York City Opera; Altair (Die Aegyptische Helena) at the Santa Fe Opera; and the Spirit Messenger (Die Frau ohne Schatten) at the Met. Delavan is a past winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. His upcoming engagements include the title role of Falstaff with Pittsburgh Opera; Amonasro with Atlanta Opera; Scarpia and Wotan (Das Rheingold and Die Walküre) with Deutsche Oper Berlin; and the Wotan of Die Walküre with San Francisco Opera later this season.
IAN STOREY makes his San Francisco Opera debut in the Company’s Ring cycle of 2011, which also marks his Ring cycle debut as Siegfried following a concert performance of the role in Götterdämmerung with Washington National Opera this season. The British tenor’s career highlights include Cavaradossi (Tosca), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Manrico (Il Trovatore), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Boris (Kát'a Kabanová), and Florestan (Fidelio) with Scottish Opera; Cavaradossi, Boris, and Erik (Der Fliegende Holländer) with Welsh National Opera; Erik for Milan’s La Scala and Washington National Opera; Števa (Jen?fa) and Tristan (Tristan und Isolde) at La Scala; Tristan at Deutsche Oper Berlin and in Zurich; the title role of Otello with Los Angeles Opera and in Naples and Wroclaw, Poland; Samson (Samson et Dalila) in Genoa; Don José (Carmen) at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and in Cagliari; the title role of Tannhäuser with Frankfurt Opera; and Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) in Venice and Lisbon. He has performed Calaf in Turandot, one of his signature roles, at the Torre del Lago Puccini Festival; the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Berlin’s Linden Opera; the Arena di Verona; and in Genoa, Bari, Trieste,and Mexico City. Upcoming engagements include Bacchus with Washington National Opera, Aegisth (Elektra) at London’s Barbican Centre, and Tristan in Düsseldorf.
GORDON HAWKINS makes his San Francisco Opera debut as Alberich, a role he has previously performed at Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and in performances with the BBC Symphony. A former winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, his recent engagements include Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana) with Washington National Opera; Tonio (Pagliacci) at Seattle Opera; the title role of Rigoletto with Arizona Opera; Renato (Un Ballo in Maschera) with Montreal Opera; and Porgy (Porgy and Bess) with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Dallas Opera. The baritone’s other career highlights include Marcello (La Bohème) and Silvano (Un Ballo in Maschera) at the Metropolitan Opera; Amonasro (Aida) with Houston Grand Opera and Cincinnati Opera; the title role of Macbeth with Seattle Opera; Tonio at Atlanta Opera; Porgy at Washington National Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre; the High Priest (Samson et Dalila) with Opera Ontario; and the four Villains (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) in Tokyo. Hawkins’s discography includes the premiere recording of Floyd’s Of Mice and Men (Albany) and the title role of Simon Boccanegra with the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. On the concert stage, he has performed with the Saint Louis Symphony, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony (Washington D.C.), the Cincinnati Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic, among others. Hawkins’s upcoming engagements include the title role of Falstaff with Washington National Opera; Count di Luna (Il Trovatore) with Seattle Opera; Thoas (Iphigénie en Tauride) at the Met; Alberich (Der Ring des Nibelungen) and Friedrich von Telramund (Lohengrin) at Deutsche Oper Berlin; and Amonasro with Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Russian mezzo-soprano LARISSA DIADKOVA (Fricka) made her 1994 San Francisco Opera debut as the Fortuneteller and Mother Superior in The Fiery Angel and returned to sing the Duenna (Betrothal in a Monastery, 1998) and Amneris (Aida, 2001). She studied at the Leningrad Conservatory before joining the Mariinsky Theatre’s Kirov Opera, where her repertoire includes Ratmir (Ruslan and Lyudmila), Konchakovna (Prince Igor), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Marfa (Khovanshchina), Nezhata (Sadko), Paulina (The Queen of Spades), Lyubov (Mazeppa), Kashcheyevna (Kashchey the Immortal), and the Duenna, in addition to two of her signature roles: Azucena (Il Trovatore) and Amneris. Since 1996 Diadkova has been a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera where she made her debut as Madelon (Andrea Chénier), and she has since performed Azucena, Amneris, Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera), Fricka (Die Walküre), and Herodias (Salome) with that Company; she recently appeared as Lyubov and Babulenka (The Gambler) at the Met. Diadkova’s other recent engagements include Babulenka in Vienna; the Countess (The Queen of Spades) and Marfa at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Ulrica at Berlin’s Linden Opera and Florence’s Teatro Comunale; Amneris at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu; the Princess (Suor Angelica) in Los Angeles Opera’s production of Il Trittico; Azucena in Las Palmas; and Ježibaba (Rusalka) at the Glyndebourne Festival. Upcoming engagements include Solokha (Mussorgsky’s Cherevichki) at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Madelon at Madrid’s Teatro Real. Diadkova can be heard on recordings of The Love for Three Oranges, Betrothal in a Monastery, Iolanta, Ruslan und Lyudmila, The Fiery Angel, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, and Shostakovich’s Krilov Fables and From Jewish Folk Poetry, among others.
Tenor David Cangelosi (Mime) made his Company debut in 1999 as Sellem in The Rake’s Progress and has since appeared as Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier) in 2007 and Mime (Das Rheingold) in 2008. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Mime and also sang the role throughout the entire Ring cycle at Lyric Opera of Chicago and in Siegfried on the CD recording Domingo: Scenes from the Ring (EMI Records). The tenor’s other Met credits include Don Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro), Spoletta (Tosca), L’Incredibile (Andrea Chénier), Goro (Madama Butterfly), and Il Tinca (Il Tabarro). Cangelosi is a former member of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Center for American Artists (now the Ryan Opera Center) and has sung a wide range of roles at Lyric Opera of Chicago, including Valzacchi, Goro, Pang (Turandot), the Ballet Master (Ariadne auf Naxos), Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), Bardolfo and Dr. Caius (Falstaff), Spoletta, Le Dancaïre (Carmen), and Tobias Ragg (Sweeney Todd). He also created the role of Uncle Donato in that company’s world premiere of William Bolcom’s A Wedding. Recent career highlights include Spoletta at the Dallas Opera; Monostatos, Horace Adams (Peter Grimes), and Pang at the Santa Fe Opera; Dr. Caius at Los Angeles Opera; his Carnegie Hall debut as Torquemada in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole; Guillot (Manon), Goro, and Spoletta at Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Noctambulist (Louise) at the Spoleto Festival (U.S.); and Beppe (Pagliacci) at Washington National Opera, which was telecast on PBS’s Live from Kennedy Center. Upcoming engagements include Bardolfo with Washington National Opera and and a return to the Met as Il Tinca in that company’s production of Il Trittico.
ANJA KAMPE makes her San Francisco Opera debut as Sieglinde, a role she has performed at Los Angeles Opera and Washington National Opera. The German soprano’s recent engagements include the title role of Jen?fa in Antwerp; Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Tokyo’s New National Theatre, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Isolde (Tristan und Isolde) and Leonore (Fidelio) at the Glyndebourne Festival; Leonore and Giorgetta (Il Tabarro) with Los Angeles Opera; Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with Washington National Opera; and Liza (The Queen of Spades) with Frankfurt Opera. Engagements this season include the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos at Bavarian State Opera, Carlotta Nardi (Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten) at Los Angeles Opera, and Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) with the Vienna State Opera.
Third-year Adler Fellow HEIDI MELTON (Sieglinde, Third Norn) made her San Francisco Opera debut in 2007 as Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier. The Merola Opera Program alumna also sang Diana (Iphigénie en Tauride), created the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the world premiere of Philip Glass’s Appomattox, and was the soprano soloist in the Company’s gala performance of the Verdi Requiem this past May. She also appeared as the Nursing Sister (Suor Angelica) in this season’s production of Il Trittico. Other career highlights include Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera) and Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) in Bordeaux, Chrysothemis (Elektra) with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Gertrude (Hänsel und Gretel) with Opera Company of Philadelphia. Upcoming engagements include several roles at Deutsche Oper Berlin; the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos and Ada (Wagner’s Die Feen) with Frankfurt Opera; and her Metropolitan Opera debut in Elektra. 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. Most recently, she took third prize at the prestigious Belvedere International Vocal Competition in Vienna and second prize in the José Iturbi International Music Competition.
Winner of the 2007 Richard Tucker Award, BRANDON JOVANOVICH (Siegmund) made his San Francisco Opera debut as Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) in 2007 and returned this season as Luigi (Il Tabarro) in the Company’s production of Il Trittico. He has previously performed the role with New York City Opera, Stuttgart State Opera, National Opera of Bordeaux, Toulon Opera, and the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse. The American tenor’s recent credits include Cavaradossi (Tosca) with Seattle Opera and in Nice; the title roles of Candide and Peter Grimes with Teatro di San Carlo in Naples; Turiddu (Cavalleria Rusticana) with Palm Beach Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and New York City Opera; Števa (Jen?fa) with Angers/Nantes Opera; Hoffegut (Die Vögel) with Los Angeles Opera; Pollione (Norma) at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste; Levin in the world premiere of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina with Florida Grand Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Don José (Carmen) at the Glyndebourne Festival and Washington National Opera; and the Prince (Rusalka) with Minnesota Opera and at Glyndebourne. Other career highlights include Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas) and the title role of Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Milan’s La Scala; Turiddu and Macduff (Macbeth) with the Dallas Opera; Sergei (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) with Austin Lyric Opera; and the title role of Werther with Lille Opera. A native of Billings, Montana, he was a founding member of Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program in 1998 and a member of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program in 1996–97; he has since returned to that company as Paris (La Belle Hélène) and Baron Lummer (Intermezzo). Upcoming engagements include Števa in Munich, Don José at the Metropolitan Opera, Boris (Kát'a Kabanová) with Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Pinkerton in Dallas and Santa Fe.
A native of the Czech Republic, STEFAN MARGITA (Loge) made his San Francisco Opera debut as Walther von der Vogelweide in the fall 2007 production of Tannhäuser, and he made his critically acclaimed role debut as Loge in the Company’s 2008 production of Das Rheingold. Margita has performed Laca Klemen (Jen?fa) to great acclaim at opera houses and festivals around the world, including the Glyndebourne Festival, the Saito Kinen Festival, Berlin’s Linden Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Houston Grand Opera, and in Antwerp, Tel Aviv, and Lyon. The tenor began his international career as Vá?a Kudrjáš (Kát'a Kabanová) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, where he returned in 2004 as Luka Kuzmi? (From the House of the Dead)—a role he has also performed at the Vienna Festwochen and the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and which he will reprise for his Metropolitan Opera debut. Margita’s other notable appearances include Walther von der Vogelweide at Milan’s La Scala and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; the Drum Major (Wozzeck) in Lisbon and with Paris Opera; Zinovy (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) with Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Grigory (Boris Godunov) at Houston Grand Opera; Edrisi in Szymanowski’s King Roger at Paris Opera; Dimitri (Boris Godunov) with Dresden’s Saxon State Opera; Laca Klemen at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera; and Luka Kuzmi? at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, a role that he performs at the Metropolitan Opera and Milan’s La Scala this season.
German bass-baritone GERD GROCHOWSKI appears as Gunther in the Company’s 2011 Ring cycle, a role he recently performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Career highlights include Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde) at Milan’s La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam; Scarpia (Tosca) and Orest (Elektra) at Bavarian State Opera in Munich; Šiškov (From the House of the Dead) at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and in Vienna; Orest at Netherlands Opera; Kurwenal and Don Pizarro (Fidelio) at Berlin’s Linden Opera; the title role of Busoni’s Doktor Faust in Stuttgart; Don Pizarro in Hamburg and Vienna; Friedrich von Telramund (Lohengrin) with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Linden Opera; and the Music Master (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Welsh National Opera. Grochowski has performed a number of roles with Frankfurt Opera, including Scarpia, the Spirit Messenger (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Amfortas (Parsifal), Balstrode (Peter Grimes), Kurwenal, and Klingsor (Parsifal). Engagements this season include Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper (Lulu) at Madrid’s Teatro Real, Friedrich von Telramund at Linden Opera, and Orest at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels.
Italian bass Andrea Silvestrelli made his San Francisco Opera debut as Oroveso in Norma (1998) and returned as Fasolt (Das Rheingold) in 2008 and as the bass soloist in the Verdi Requiem this past May. He returned this season as Il Talpa (Il Tabarro) and Simone (Gianni Schicchi) in Company’s production of Il Trittico. His recent engagements include Simone and Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) with Los Angeles Opera; Osmin (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Sparafucile (Rigoletto) with Houston Grand Opera and Washington National Opera; Hunding and Fasolt in Seattle Opera’s Ring cycle; and Colline (La Bohème), Ferrando (Il Trovatore), and Timur (Turandot) with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Other career highlights include Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte) with the Santa Fe Opera; Caronte (Orfeo) and Gofreddo (Il Pirata) at Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet; Oroveso and Fafner (Das Rheingold) in Turin; Lodovico (Otello) and the Commendatore (Don Giovanni) with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, the later of which was recorded and received a 1995 Grammy Award; Hermann (Tannhäuser) in Naples and Japan; and Titurel (Parsifal) at Florence’s Maggio Musicale Festival. Silvestrelli’s future engagements include Sarastro and Osmin with the Santa Fe Opera; Fafner with Deutsche Oper Berlin; Basilio and Sparafucile in Los Angeles; Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro) in Chicago; the Verdi Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony; and his Metropolitan Opera debut next year.
Florida native RONNITA MILLER (Erda, First Norn) is in her second season at Los Angeles Opera's Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program and makes her San Francisco Opera debut in the 2011 Ring cycle. Her appearances with Los Angeles Opera include the Abbess (Suor Angelica) and Schwertleite (Die Walküre); she sings Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with that company this season. An alumna of the Merola Opera Program, Miller is a graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center, where she appeared as Háta (The Bartered Bride), the Mother (L'enfant et les Sortilèges), Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and Public Opinion (Orpheus in the Underworld). With Wolf Trap Opera, she has appeared as Ascalax in the North American premiere of Telemann's Orpheus, Ragonde (Le Comte Ory), Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro), the Prison Matron (Musto's Volpone), and the Third Lady (Die Zauberflöte). At Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall she appeared as the alto soloist in Mozart's Requiem with the New York Symphonic Ensemble and performed the role of Mrs. Horn in the world premiere of Richard Owen’s Rain. Miller holds a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida.
A former Adler Fellow and alumnus of the Merola Opera program, DANIEL SUMEGI (Fafner) made his San Francisco Opera debut in 1992 as Snug (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and has appeared with the Company in a number of roles, including Colline (La Bohème), the King of Egypt (Aida), Faust (The Fiery Angel), and Biterolf (Tannhäuser), among others. The bass-baritone’s recent engagements include Hagen and Fafner in Seattle Opera’s Ring cycle, Daland (Der Fliegende Holländer) at the State Opera of South Australia, and Hagen (Götterdämmerung) at Tokyo’s New National Theatre. Other career highlights include Hobson (Peter Grimes) and a Police Officer (Boris Godunov) at the Metropolitan Opera; Orest (Elektra), Lodovico (Otello), the Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlos), Goffredo (Il Pirata), Giorgio (I Puritani), and Varlaam and Shchelkalov (Boris Godunov) with Washington National Opera; Banquo (Macbeth), Ramfis (Aida), and the Commendatore (Don Giovanni) with Houston Grand Opera; Ratcliffe (Billy Budd) with Paris Opera; the title role of Macbeth with Frankfurt Opera; Escamillo (Carmen) and Scarpia (Tosca) with Welsh National Opera; and Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten) and Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) with Hamburg State Opera. He has also performed numerous roles in his native Australia, including Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Boris Ismailov (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Landgraff Hermann (Tannhäuser), Zaccaria (Nabucco), Escamillo, Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), and Jacopo Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra) with Opera Australia. His future engagements include returns to Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, and Strasbourg’s Rhine Opera.
Soprano MELISSA CITRO (Freia, Gutrune) makes her San Francisco Opera debut in the Company’s 2011 Ring cycle. As a participant in the 2001 Merola Opera Program she performed Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. A former winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Citro made her international debut in the title role of Jen?fa at Stuttgart Opera in 2008. Other career highlights include Magda (The Consul) with Glimmerglass Opera; the High Priestess (Hippolytus and Aricia) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; and the Nursing Sister (Suor Angelica) in Los Angeles Opera’s production of Il Trittico. On the concert stage, she recently performed Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. Her engagements this season include Ortlinde (Die Walküre) and the Third Norn (Götterdämmerung) in Los Angeles Opera’s upcoming Ring cycle. The Illinois native’s awards have included the George London Award, the Richman Award from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and first place in the Mario Lanza Competition.
Louisiana native Daveda Karanas (Second Norn) is a second-year Adler Fellow who made her Company debut as the Nurse (Boris Godunov) last season and returned as the Mistress of the Novices (Suor Angelica) in the Company’s production of Il Trittico this season. An alumna of the Merola Opera Program, she sang the role of Tisbe in Merola’s 2007 production of La Cenerentola. Karanas made her professional debut in 2006 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron. The mezzo-soprano’s recent credits include Ericlea (Il Ritorno D’Ulisse in Patria) with Chicago Opera Theater; Lady with a Hat Box (Argento’s Postcard from Morocco) and the Princess (Suor Angelica) with Boston University Opera Institute; Marchesa Melibea (Il Viaggio a Reims) with Music Academy of the West; Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites), Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle), Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), and the title role of The Rape of Lucretia with Arizona State University; and Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Mme. Pernelle (Mechem’s Tartuffe), and Baba (The Medium) with Southeastern Louisiana University. Karanas’s awards include the grand prize in the Arizona Opera League competition and the Encouragement Award at the Marilyn Horne Foundation competition. She is a former international semi-finalist in the German Neue Stimmen (“New Voices”) Competition and most recently a grand prize winner at the 2008 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. She holds degrees from Arizona State University and Southeastern Louisiana University.
General music director for Deutsche Oper Berlin and chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony, DONALD RUNNICLES served music director and principal conductor for San Francisco Opera from 1992 until July 2009. He celebrated his fourth season as music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival this past summer. He also serves as principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, where he conducts four to six weeks each season and participates fully in the artistic planning of the orchestra. Maestro Runnicles first led the Company in two Ring cycles in 1990 and has since conducted more than sixty productions here, including the world premieres of Adams’s Doctor Atomic and Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons; the West Coast premiere of Wallace’s Harvey Milk; and the North American premiere of Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise. He appears regularly at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival, and he has built strong relationships as a guest conductor with the Bayreuth, Salzburg, and Glyndebourne festivals, as well as the Vienna State Opera. Born in Scotland, Runnicles studied at St. John’s College, Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh. He began his career as a répétiteur in Mannheim, becoming general music director at Freiburg State Theater in 1989. He made his North American debut in 1988 conducting Berg’s Lulu at the Metropolitan Opera. He has also conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, BBC Symphony, North German Radio Orchestra Hamburg , and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, among others. His broad discography includes vocal and symphonic works ranging from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and highlights of Wagner’s Ring cycle, to Mozart’s Requiem. Maestro Runnicles was named Officer of the British Empire in 2004.
San Francisco Opera Artistic Adviser FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO began her long association with the Company in 1983 as assistant stage director for Ariadne auf Naxos and has since been involved in seventeen productions here. The Company produced the first installment of her “American” Ring cycle, Das Rheingold, in 2008 and will present Die Walküre in 2010 and the complete cycle in 2011. Among Zambello’s most recent operatic productions are the world premiere of An American Tragedy, Cyrano, and Les Troyens for the Metropolitan Opera; Porgy and Bess, Siegfried and Die Walküre for Washington National Opera; La Bohème at London’s Royal Albert Hall; The Fiery Angel for the Bolshoi Theatre; Salome at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Carmen and Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; and Boris Godunov, War and Peace, Billy Budd, and Guillaume Tell at the Paris Opera. Zambello was awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contribution to French culture and the Russian Federation's medal for service to culture. Recent musicals include Disney’s The Little Mermaid on Broadway; Showboat at the Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall; The Little House on the Prairie, by Rachel Portman and Rachel Sheinkin at the Guthrie Theater; and the world premiere of Rebecca at Vienna’s Raimund Theater. She directs The First Wives Club, a musical by Rupert Holmes and the Motown Kings, later this year at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater.
# # # # # # #
The Ring of the Nibelung is made possible, in part, by Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation, Kristina Flanagan, Mary and Nicholas Graves, The Bernard Osher Endowment Fund and Betty and Jack Schafer.
San Francisco Opera is sponsored, in part, by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn, Franklin and Catherine Johnson, Mrs. Edmund W. Littlefield, Bernard and Barbro Osher and by a grant from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax. Wells Fargo is San Francisco Opera's Season Sponsor. San Francisco Opera is proud to recognize its corporate partners: United Airlines, the Official Airline of San Francisco Opera, and Chevron, fueling great performances everywhere.
Photos: Terrence McCarthy and Robin Cooper
Runnicles says Auf Wiedersehen
Heidi Melton, American idol of opera wins $25,000
Donald Runnicles Verdi Requiem May 29: Heidi Melton steps up to replace Patricia Racette
Mark Delavan: Wotan shares his dressing room
Mark Delavan: Feeling strangely threatened by Greer Grimsley
Maestro Donald Runnicles to be honored before stepping down
Francesca Zambello to direct Die Walkure (conducted by Runnicles)
Ring of Fire: Women need heroes and protection from cowards
Seattle Opera's Ring Master Speight Jenkins concludes 2009 Ring Cycle
Seattle Opera's Ring an entrancing fairytale, transcending with childlike moments of joy
Seattle's triumphant Ring Cycle 2009 and who is more Wagnerian than thou?
Seattle Opera predicts 9.5 million in economic benefits from Ring Cycle 2009
Seattle and Wagner inspired by Scandinavian myths and heroes
Mountains of Seattle, Grand Tetons, Yosemite: natural wonders inspire
Stephanie Blythe as Fricka: When does the wife get the last word?
Stephanie Blythe a goddess for our times in Seattle's "Ring Cycle"
Stephanie Blythe who sings Fricka in Ring Cycle sang at Verdi Requiem for Runnicles
Yosemite's Ahwahnee and the 84th Bracebridge Dinner, Renaissance Festival at Christmas
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
