Richard Eyre’s classic production of Verdi’s most romantic opera returns to the Royal Opera House for its 14th revival since its premiere in 1994. This much-loved opera tells the story of a courtesan who sacrifices her one chance of true love to help her lover’s family, and movingly explores themes of love, scandal, generosity and forgiveness.
Alfredo Germont and the courtesan Violetta Valéry fall passionately in love. But Alfredo’s father Giorgio Germont disapproves of their relationship. Germont convinces Violetta that she must leave Alfredo, for his family’s sake – Alfredo’s sister’s engagement is jeopardized by Alfredo’s association with a courtesan. Violetta reluctantly agrees to leave Alfredo, without telling him why. Alfredo is distraught, believing that Violetta has left him out of self-interest, and takes impetuous revenge. Germont confesses all to his son, and Alfredo and Violetta are reunited at
her deathbed.
Italian conductor Maurizio Benini conducts all performances apart from 25 June. He appears regularly with The Royal Opera, most recently conducting Nabucco, Rigoletto, Faust and Tosca. He has also recently conducted Don Pasquale and Roberto Devereux for the Metropolitan Opera, New York. The performance on 25 June will be conducted by British conductor and Royal Opera music staff member Christopher Willis, who has most recently conducted Elektra and Le nozze di Figaro for the Company.
Russian soprano Ekaterina Bakanova (14, 17, 20, 23, 25 June) and American soprano Corinne Winters (27, 30 June, 4 July) share the role of Violetta Valéry.
Ekaterina Bakanova made her Royal Opera debut in 2015 as Violetta Valéry, returning in the same Season to sing Musetta (La bohème) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Micaëla (Carmen) for La Fenice, Venice, Violetta Valéry, Micaëla and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for Arena di Verona, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) for Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, and Lucia di Lammermoor for Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro Comunale di Modena.
Corinne Winters made her Royal Opera debut in September 2016 as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte). Recent engagements elsewhere include Mimì (La bohème), Teresa (Benvenuto Cellini) and Violetta Valéry for English National Opera, Katya Kabanova and Violetta for Seattle Opera, Desdemona (Otello) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for Opera Vlaanderen and Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande) for Zurich Opera.
Brazilian tenor Atalla Ayan returns to The Royal Opera to sing Alfredo Germont. He made his Royal Opera debut in 2013 singing Ruggero Lastouc (La rondine) and returned the following Season to sing Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Alfredo Germont for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) for Bavarian State Opera and La Scala, Milan, Rodolfo (La bohème) for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Gounod’s Faust, Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) and Rodolfo for Stuttgart Opera where he is a company member, Rodolfo and Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor) for Cologne Opera and Alfredo for Norwegian Opera.
Italian baritone Nicola Alaimo (14, 17, 20, 23, 25 June) and Romanian baritone George Petean (27, 30 Jun, 4 July) share the role of Giorgio Germont.
Nicola Alaimo makes his Royal Opera debut as Giorgio Germont. Recent engagements include Taddeo (L'italiana in Algeri) for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Neri Chiaramantesi (Giordano’s La cena delle beffe) and Sir John Falstaff (Falstaff) for La Scala, Milan, Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia) for Opéra National de Paris, Sancho Panza (Don Quichotte) for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Simon Boccanegra for Opera Vlaanderen and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and Giorgio Germont for Teatro Regio di Torino.
George Petean made his Royal Opera debut in 2003 as Silvio (Pagliacci) and has since sung Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Marcello (La bohème) and Giorgio Germont for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Giorgio Germont for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Sir Riccardo Forth (I puritani) and Giorgio Germont for Zurich Opera, Iago (Otello) and Sir Riccardo Forth for Teatro Real, Madrid, Anckarstrom (Un ballo in maschera) for Bavarian State Opera, Anckarstrom and Macbeth for Vienna State Opera, Macbeth for Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi di Salerno and Count di Luna (Il trovatore) for Teatro Regio di Parma and Israeli Opera.
British mezzo-soprano Sarah Pring sings the role of Annina. She made her Royal Opera debut in 1996 as Wellgunde (Gotterdämmerung) and has since sung Madame Larina (Eugene Onegin), Lisa (Cyrano de Bergerac), Berta (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Annina and Xenia’s Nurse (Boris Godunov) for the Company. She also created the role of Mrs Grantham (Ludd and Isis) for the Royal Opera House’s Learning and Participation department.
English mezzo-soprano and Jette Parker Young Artist Angela Simkin sings the role of Flora Bervoix. This Season for The Royal Opera she has sung the title role in Oreste (at Wilton’s Music Hall), Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), Flora Bervoix and Mlle Dangeville (Adriana Lecouvreur).
Hungarian baritone and Jette Parker Young Artist Gyula Nagy sings the role of Baron Douphol. This Season for The Royal Opera he has sung Fiorello (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Filotete (Oreste, Wilton’s Music Hall), Konrad Nachtigal (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) and the Imperial Commissioner (Madama Butterfly) and will sing Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo).
British bass and Jette Parker Young Artist David Shipley sings the role of Doctor Grenvil. This Season for The Royal Opera he has sung various roles in The Nose, Sergeant (Manon Lescaut), Doctor Grenvil and Nightwatchman (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) and will sing Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo).
Australian tenor and Royal Opera Company Principal Samuel Sakker sings the role of Gastone de Letorières. This Season for The Royal Opera he has sung various roles in The Nose, the Marschallin’s Major Domo (Der Rosenkavalier), Ruiz (Il trovatore) and Ulrich Eisslinger (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) and will sing Pang (Turandot). Engagements elsewhere include Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca) for English Touring Opera.
British bass Jeremy White sings the role of Marquis d’Obigny. He appears regularly with The Royal Opera. This Season with the Company he has also sung various roles in The Nose, Luther (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Notary (Der Rosenkavalier), Hans Schwarz (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) and Bonze (Madama Butterfly).
CREDITS
Music Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto Francesco Maria Piave
Conductor Maurizio Benini (14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30
June, 4 July)
Christopher Willis (25 June)
Director Richard Eyre
Designer Bob Crowley
Lighting designer Jean Kalman
Director of Movement Jane Gibson
Violetta Valéry Ekaterina Bakanova (14, 17, 20, 23, 25
June)
Corinne Winters (27, 30 June, 4 July)
Alfredo Germont Atalla Ayan
Giorgio Germont Nicola Alaimo* (14, 17, 20, 23, 25
June)
George Petean (27, 30 June, 4 July)
Annina Sarah Pring
Flora Bervoix Angela Simkin†
Baron Douphol Gyula Nagy†
Doctor Grenvil David Shipley†
Gastone de Letorières Samuel Sakker
Marquis D’Obigny Jeremy White
Giuseppe Neil Gillespie
Messenger Dominic Barrand
Servant Jonathan Coad
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
*Royal Opera debut
†Jette Parker Young Artist
OTELLO
NEW PRODUCTION
Giuseppe Verdi
21 and 28* June at 7.30pm | 24 June at 7pm | 2 July at 2pm | 6, 8, 10, 12, 15 July at 7.30pm
https://roh.global.ssl.fastly.net/v2/images/b8dbb80.png?1455110038*The performance on 28 June will be relayed live to cinemas around the world, as part of the ROH Live Cinema Season. For more information visit: http://www.roh.org.uk/cinemas
Generously supported by Rolex
Generous philanthropic support from Lord and Lady Laidlaw, Mrs Susan A Olde OBE, Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet, Alfiya and Timur Kuanyshev, John G. Turner and Jerry G. Fischer, Ian and Helen Andrews, Mercedes T. Bass, Maggio Copus, Mrs Trevor Swete, Beth Madison, John McGinn, the Otello Production Syndicate and The Royal Opera House Endowment Fund
German tenor Jonas Kaufmann makes his role debut as Otello in Verdi’s passionate retelling of Shakespeare’s great tragedy of jealousy, deception and murder, conducted by Antonio Pappano and directed by Keith Warner. The treacherous ensign Iago sows the seeds of jealousy in Otello’s mind, fabricating a story of an affair between the handsome young captain Cassio (who Otello has promoted above Iago) and Otello’s young wife Desdemona. Convinced of the innocent Desdemona’s perfidy, Otello murders her. Almost immediately afterwards, Iago’s wife Emilia and Cassio (who has escaped Iago’s plans to have him murdered) inform Otello of the groundlessness of his suspicions and of Iago’s lies. Appalled by what he has done and unable to live without Desdemona, Otello kills himself.
English director Keith Warner made his Royal Opera debut in 2002 with Wozzeck (winner of an Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production). Subsequent productions at the Royal Opera House include Der Ring des Nibelungen for The Royal Opera, Peter Pan for Welsh National Opera and Rossi’s Orpheus for The Royal Opera at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe. In the 2016/17 Season WNO performs his production of The Merchant of Venice on the main stage at the Royal Opera House.
Antonio Pappano is Music Director of The Royal Opera, a position he has held since 2002. During his tenure he has conducted an extensive repertory, including works by Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Ravel, Berg, Shostakovich and Britten, as well as the world premieres of Birtwistle’s The Minotaur (2008) and Turnage’s Anna Nicole (2011) and several orchestral concerts. This Season he has conducted new productions of Norma and Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and revivals of Manon Lescaut, and Madama Butterfly for The Royal Opera.
German tenor Jonas Kaufmann (June; 2, 6, 10 July) and American tenor Gregory Kunde (8, 12, 15 July) share the role of Otello.
Jonas Kaufmann made his Royal Opera debut in 2004 as Ruggero Lastouc (La rondine) and has since sung Don José (Carmen), Alfredo Germont (La traviata), Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca), Don Carlo, Maurizio (Adriana Lecouvreur), Chevalier Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut) and Andrea Chénier for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Andrea Chénier and Walther von Stolzing (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) for Bavarian State Opera, Lohengrin and Faust for Opéra National de Paris and Mario Cavaradossi for Vienna State Opera.
Gregory Kunde made his Royal Opera debut in 2016 as Manrico (Il trovatore), a role he reprised this Season for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Otello, Pollione (Norma) and Roberto Devereux for Teatro Real, Madrid, Samson (Samson et Dalilia) for Mariinsky Opera, Saint Petersburg, Chevalier des Grieux (Manon Lescaut) for Grand Théâtre de Genève, Arrigo (I vespri siciliani), Idomeneo and Samson for Palau de les Arts, Valencia, Chevalier des Grieux and Roberto Devereux for Bilbao Opera and Samson and Chevalier des Grieux for Teatro Regio, Turin.
Italian soprano Maria Agresta (June; 2, 6, 10 July) and German soprano Dorothea Roschmann (8, 12, 15 July) share the role of Desdemona.
Maria Agresta made her Royal Opera debut in 2014 as Lucrezia Contarini (I due Foscari) and has since sung Violetta Valéry (La traviata) for the Company. This Season she has sung Leonora (Il trovatore) for The Royal Opera. Recent engagements elsewhere include Desdemona for Zurich Opera, Micaëla (Carmen) and Mimì (La bohème) for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Norma for Teatro Real, Madird, Marguerite (Faust) for the Salzburg Festival, Violetta Valéry for Bavarian State Opera and Opéra National de Paris and Mimì for Vienna State Opera.
Dorothea Roschmann made her Royal Opera debut in 2003 as Pamina (Die Zauberflote) and has since sung Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Desdemona for the Salzburg Festival and Semperoper Dresden, Donna Elvira, Countess Almaviva, Jenůfa and the Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier) for Vienna State Opera, Donna Elvira, Countess Almaviva and Agathe (Der Freischutz) for Berlin State Opera and Donna Elvira for Bavarian State Opera.
French baritone Ludovic Tézier (June; 2, 6, 10 July) and Serbian baritone Željko Lučić (8, 12, 15 July) share the role of Iago.
Ludovic Tézier made his Royal Opera debut in 2004 as Albert (Werther) and has since sung Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), Antonio (Linda di Chamounix in concert) and Enrico Ashton (Lucia di Lammermoor) for the Company. This Season he also sings Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa (Don Carlo) for The Royal Opera. Recent engagements elsewhere include Werther (baritone version), Count di Luna (Il trovatore), Ford (Falstaff), Posa and Macbeth for Vienna State Opera, Macbeth for the Liceu, Barcelona, Sir Riccardo Forth (I puritani) for Teatro Real, Madrid, and Count di Luna for Opéra National de Paris.
Željko Lučić made his Royal Opera debut in 2005 as Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) and has since sung Giorgio Germont (La traviata), Carlo Gérard (Andrea Chénier) and Count di Luna (Il trovatore) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Iago for Zurich Opera, Rigoletto, Nabucco, Jokanaan (Salome), Scarpia (Tosca) and Iago for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Sir John Falstaff (Falstaff), Michele (Il tabarro) and Gianni Schicchi for Frankfurt Opera, Giorgio Germont for Opéra National de Paris and Nabucco for Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Canadian tenor Frédéric Antoun sings the role of Cassio. He made his Royal Opera debut in 2014 as Tonio (La Fille du régiment). This Season he also sings Raúl (The Exterminating Angel)
for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Ferrando (Così fan tutte) for Opéra National de Paris and Opéra de Marseille, Raúl for the Salzburg Festival, Tonio for Opéra de Lausanne and Nadir (Les Pêcheurs de perles) for Zurich Opera.
New Zealand tenor and Jette Parker Young Artist Thomas Atkins sings the role of Roderigo. This Season for The Royal Opera he has sung Pilade (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall), Faninal’s Major Domo (Der Rosenkavalier), Poisson (Adriana Lecouvreur) and Enrique (The Exterminating Angel).
Estonian mezzo-soprano Kai Ruutel sings the role of Emilia. She was a Jette Parker Young Artist from 2009 to 2011, singing roles including Flora Bervoix (La traviata), Rosette (Manon), Second Lady (Die Zauberflote), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Dorothée (Cendrillon). Since leaving the Programme she has returned to the Royal Opera to sing Meg Page (Falstaff) and Wellgunde (Der Ring des Nibelungen). She has recently sung Emilia for Opera Vlaanderen.
South African bass and Jette Parker Young Artist Simon Shibambu sings the role of Montano. This Season he has sung Toante (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall) and Quinault (Adriana Lecouvreur) for The Royal Opera, and in May 2017 will sing Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo).
Korean bass In Sung Sim sings the role of Lodovico. He made his Royal Opera debut in 2016
as Phorbas (Oedipe) and this Season will also sing Timur (Turandot) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Alvise (La Gioconda) for Malmo Opera, Talbot (Maria Stuarda), Leone (Attila) and Stromminger (La Wally) for Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Banquo (Macbeth) for Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi di Salerno, Oroveso (Norma) for Aalto Music Theatre, Essen, and Nourabad (Les Pêcheurs de perles) for Israeli Opera.
CREDITS
Music Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor Antonio Pappano
Director Keith Warner
Set designer Boris Kudlička
Costume designer Kaspar Glarner
Lighting designer Bruno Poet
Movement Director Michael Barry
Fight Director Ran Arthur Braun
Otello Jonas Kaufmann** (June; 2, 6, 10 July)
Gregory Kunde (8, 12, 15 July)
Desdemona Maria Agresta (June; 2, 6, 10 July)
Dorothea Roschmann (8, 12, 15 July)
Iago Ludovic Tézier (June; 2, 6, 10 July)
Željko Lučić (8, 12, 15 July)
Cassio Frédéric Antoun
Roderigo Thomas Atkins†
Emilia Kai Ruutel
Montano Simon Shibambu†
Lodovico In Sung Sim
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
**Role debut
†Jette Parker Young Artist
INSIGHT EVENT
Thursday 8 June at 7.15pm | Clore Studio Upstairs
Met with immediate critical acclaim, Verdi’s great penultimate opera Otello is a thrilling response to Shakespeare’s play. Join The Royal Opera’s Music Director Antonio Pappano, director Keith Warner and members of the cast as they add the final touches to The Royal Opera’s new production of this masterpiece, its first in 30 years. Please note this Insight will be filmed.
MITRIDATE, RE DI PONTO
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
26, 29 June, 1, 7 July at 6.30pm
Generous philanthropic support from Hélène and Jean Peters
Mozart’s rarely staged early opera Mitridate, re di Ponto returns this Summer in a revival of Graham Vick’s beautiful Royal Opera production. Mozart’s astonishing, virtuoso score is performed by a superb cast under the baton of Baroque and Classical specialist and renowned harpsichordist Christophe Rousset, who makes his Royal Opera debut. The production, with designs by Paul Brown and movement by Ron Howell, draws on imagery and gestures of Baroque and Oriental theatre in a stylized fusion that is wonderfully compelling. Conspiracy, passion and jealousy are the key ingredients of the drama, based on the last days of the tyrant emperor Mithridates VI.
When Mitridate is presumed to have been killed in battle, his eldest son, the dangerously ambitious Farnace, makes a move for Mitridate’s fiancée Aspasia. She is horrified – her heart secretly belongs to Farnace’s younger brother, Sifare. To complicate matters further, Mitridate turns up alive – with Ismene, who he intends Farnace to marry – and is incensed at what he discovers. And with the Romans threatening the kingdom, there are consequences for everyone. The passions of the story and the detail of Mozart’s music are wonderfully realized through this production’s expressive synthesis of historical theatrical conventions and contemporary stagecraft and through the supreme artistic talent of the performers.
French conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset makes his Royal Opera debut conducting Mitridate, re di Ponto. Recent engagements as an opera conductor include The Fairy Queen for Theater an der Wien, La clemenza di Tito for Teatro Real, Madrid, Alceste for Vienna State Opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto for La Monnaie, Brussels, and Les Horaces, Actéon, Dido and Aeneas, Tamerlano and Armide with Les Talens Lyriques, the ensemble he founded in 1991.
American tenor Michael Spyres sings the role of Mitridate. He made his Royal Opera debut in 2013 as Rodrigo (La donna del lago). Recent engagements include Tempo (Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno) for Festival d’Aix en Provence, Opéra de Lille and Théâtre de Caen, Rodrigo for Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, Mitridate for La Monnaie, Brussels, and Opéra de Dijon and Camille de Rosillon (Die lustige Witwe) for Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova sings the role of Aspasia. She made her Royal Opera debut in 2013 as Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflote) and has since sung Donna Anna (Don Giovanni, including on tour in Japan) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Donna Anna and the Queen of the Night for Vienna State Opera, the Queen of the Night for Opéra National de Paris, Donna Anna and Lucia di Lammermoor for Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Lucia di Lammermoor for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Donna Anna, the Queen of the Night and Konstanze (Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail) for Bavarian State Opera, Konstanze for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, the Queen of the Night for San Francisco Opera and Violetta Valéry (La traviata) for Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow.
German soprano Anett Fritsch makes her Royal Opera debut as Sifare. Recent engagements include Philidel, Cupid and Venus (King Arthur) for Berlin State Opera, Alice Ford (Falstaff) for Theater an der Wien, Pamina (Die Zauberflote), Adina (L’elisir d’amore) and Zdenka (Arabella) for Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where she is a company member, Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) for the Salzburg Festival, Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) for Bavarian State Opera, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Ginevra (Ariodante) for Dutch National Opera and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) for Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse.
American countertenor Bejun Mehta sings the role of Farnace. He made his Royal Opera debut in 2003 as Medoro and Orlando (Orlando) and has since sung Orlando and Angel 1/The Boy (Written on Skin) for the Company. Recent engagements include Bertarido (Rodelinda) for Teatro Real, Madrid, Hamor (Jephtha) for Dutch National Opera, Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice) for Berlin State Opera and Stephan (the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Stilles Meer) for Hamburg State Opera.
English soprano Lucy Crowe sings the role of Ismene. She made her Royal Opera debut as Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) in 2009 and has since sung Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Gilda (Rigoletto), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Adina (L’elisir d’amore) and Eurydice (Orphée et Eurydice) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Rodelinda for Teatro Real, Madrid, Pamina (Die Zauberflote) for English National Opera and Adele (Die Fledermaus) for the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
English tenor Andrew Tortise sings the role of Marzio. He made his Royal Opera debut in 2011 in James MacMillan’s Clemency in the Linbury Studio Theatre and has since sung Spirit of the Masque (Gloriana), Yurodivy (Boris Godunov) and, this Season, Kunz Vogelgesang (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) for The Royal Opera. Recent engagements elsewhere include Lurcanio (Ariodante) for Dutch National Opera and Acis (Acis e Galatea), Telemaco (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) and Arnalta (L'incoronazione di Poppea) with the Academy of Ancient Music.
Irish soprano and Jette Parker Young Artist Jennifer Davis sings the role of Arbate. She joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2015/16 Season. This Season she has also sung Ifigenia (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall) and Ines (Il trovatore) for The Royal Opera, and in Les Enfants Terribles and Flight Pattern for The Royal Ballet.
CREDITS
Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor Christophe Rousset
Director Graham Vick
Designer Paul Brown
Lighting designer Nick Chelton
Choreography and movement Ron Howell
Mitridate Michael Spyres
Aspasia Albina Shagimuratova
Sifare Anett Fritsch*
Farnace Bejun Mehta
Ismene Lucy Crowe
Marzio Andrew Tortise
Arbate Jennifer Davis†
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
*Royal Opera debut
†Jette Parker Young Artist
TURANDOT
Giacomo Puccini
5, 11, 14* July at 7.30pm | 8, 12, 15 July at 12.30pm | 9 July at 6.30pm | 16 July at 11.30am
*The performance on 14 July will be relayed live to outdoor venues across the UK for free, as part of BP Big Screens. For more information visit: http://www.roh.org.uk/about/bp-big-screens
Andrei Serban’s striking Oriental staging of Puccini’s final opera returns to the Royal Opera House for its 16th revival, conducted by Dan Ettinger. Princess Turandot has sworn that no man shall marry her unless he can correctly answer three riddles. Prince Calaf, captivated by Turandot’s beauty, takes up the challenge, even though he realizes that it means placing his own life and those of his aged father Timur and Timur’s devoted attendant Liù in danger. And even when Calaf solves the riddles (calling himself ‘the Unknown Prince’) his struggles are not over. As he wishes Turandot to marry him of her own volition, he himself sets her a test – if she can discover his name by dawn, he will die; if she fails, she must marry him. Who will succeed in this battle of wills?
American sopranos Christine Goerke (5, 9, 12, 15 July) and Lise Lindstrom (8, 11, 14, 16 July) share the role of Princess Turandot.
Christine Goerke made her Royal Opera debut in 2002 as Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and has since returned to sing Elektra for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Brunnhilde (Der Ring des Nibelungen) for Houston Grand Opera and Canadian Opera Company, Cassandre (Les Troyens) for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Turandot for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Opera Philadelphia and Leonore (Fidelio) for Cincinnati Opera.
Lise Lindstrom made her Royal Opera debut in 2013 as Princess Turandot. Recent engagements elsewhere include Turandot for Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Brunnhilde (Der Ring des Nibelungen) for Opera Australia, Salome for Vienna State Opera, and in Genoa and La Coruña and Elektra for Opéra de Montréal.
Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko (5, 9, 12, 15 July), French tenor Roberto Alagna (8, 11, 14 July) and Korean tenor Alfred Kim (16 July) share the role of Calaf.
Aleksandrs Antonenko made his Royal Opera debut in 2011 as Luigi (Il tabarro) and has since sung Otello, Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca), Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana), Canio (Pagliacci) and Chevalier Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Otello for Zurich Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del West) for Vienna State Opera, Mario Cavaradossi for Deutsche Oper Berlin and Vienna State Opera, Samson (Samson et Dalila) and Radames (Aida) for Opéra National de Paris and Pollione (Norma) for Bavarian State Opera.
Roberto Alagna made his Royal Opera debut in 1992 as Rodolfo (La bohème) and has since appeared regularly with the Company and in gala events at the Royal Opera House. His most recent roles for the Royal Opera include Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Radames (Aida), Manrico (Il trovatore), Don José (Carmen) and Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca). This Season he also sings Nemorino for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Don José and Nemorino for Opéra National de Paris, Manrico and Mario Cavaradossi for Vienna State Opera, Eléazar (La Juive) for Bavarian State Opera, Nemorino, Don José and Vasco da Gama (L'Africaine) for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) and Canio (Pagliacci) for Zurich Opera and B.F. Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Chevalier Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut) and Canio for the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Alfred Kim made his Royal Opera debut in 2008, singing the title role in Don Carlo for one performance, and has since sung one performance of Don Carlo in 2009 and Calaf for the Company. Recent engagements include Ernani for Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse and Franfurt Opera, Radames (Aida) for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Otello for Tetro Real, Madrid, Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca) for Seoul Arts Center, Korean National Opera and Daegu Opera House, Enzo Grimaldi (La Gioconda) and Jacopo Foscari (I due Foscari) for Opéra Nacional de Chile and Manrico (Il trovatore) for Israeli Opera.
Abkhazian-Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava (5, 9, 12, 15 July) and Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak (8, 11, 14, 16 July) share the role of Liù.
Hibla Gerzmava made her Royal Opera debut in 2008 as Tatyana (Eugene Onegin) and has since returned to sing Mimì (La bohème), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra) for the Company. She is a member of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre in Moscow where recent roles include Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Donna Anna and Lucia di Lammermoor. Elsewhere recent appearances have included Donna Anna for Vienna State Opera and Desdemona (Otello) and Liù for the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Aleksandra Kurzak made her Royal Opera debut in 2005 as Aspasia (Mitridate, re di Ponto) and has since sung Norina (Don Pasquale), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Matilde (Matilde di Shabran), Fiorilla (Il turco in Italia), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Gilda (Rigoletto) and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor for The Royal Opera. This Season she also sings Adina. Recent engagements elsewhere include Micaëla (Carmen) and Adina for Opéra National de Paris, Mimì (La bohème) for Berlin State Opera, Rachel (La Juive) for Bavarian State Opera, Nedda (Pagliacci) and Norina for Zurich Opera, Adina for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Gilda for Vienna State Opera.
Korean bass In Sung Sim (5, 9, 12, 15 July) and British bass Brindley Sherratt (8, 11, 14, 16 July) share the role of Timur.
In Sung Sim made his Royal Opera debut in 2016 as Phorbas (Oedipe) and this Season also sings Lodovico (Otello) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Alvise (La Gioconda) for Malmo Opera, Talbot (Maria Stuarda), Leone (Attila) and Stromminger (La Wally) for Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Banquo (Macbeth) for Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi di Salerno, Oroveso (Norma) for Aalto Music Theatre, Essen, and Nourabad (Les Pêcheurs de perles) for Israeli Opera.
Brindley Sherratt made his Royal Opera debut in 2001 as Plutone (L’anima del filosofo) and has since sung many roles for the Company, including Sarastro (Die Zauberflote), Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Ramfis (Aida), Narbal (Les Troyens) and Oroveso (Norma). Recent engagements elsewhere include John Claggart (Billy Budd) for Teatro Real, Madrid, Geronte de Revoir (Manon Lescaut) for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin) for Garsington Opera, Arkel (Pelléas et Mélisande) for Zurich Opera and Doctor (Wozzeck) and Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro) for Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Brazilian baritone Michel de Souza (5, 9, 12, 15 July) and Croatian baritone Leon Košavić (8, 11, 14, 16 July) share the role of Ping.
Michel de Souza was a Jette Parker Young Artist from 2012 to 2014, singing roles including Schaunard (La bohème), Cesare Angelotti (Tosca), City Crier (Gloriana), Servant (Capriccio), Mandarin (Turandot), Moralès (Carmen), Nightwatchman (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Baron Douphol (La traviata) and Second Commissary (Dialogues des Carmélites). This Season he also sings Aswini Twin (Sukanya, world premiere) for the Company. Recent engagements elsewhere include Schaunard, Starveling (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Leuthold (Guillaume Tell) for Grand Théâtre de Genève, Gonzales (Il Guarany) for Palácio das Artes, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Guglielmo (Così fan tutte) for Teatro Argentino de La Plata and Sonora (La fanciulla del West) for Grange Park Opera.
Leon Košavić makes his Royal Opera debut as Ping. Recent engagements include Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and Dottor Malatesta (Don Pasquale) for Finnish National Opera, Pisandre (Pénélope) for La Monnaie, Brussels, Ping for Split Summer Festival and Marullo (Rigoletto) for Teatro Filarmonico, Verona.
Welsh tenor Aled Hall (5, 9, 12, 15 July) and Australian tenor Samuel Sakker (8, 11, 14, 16 July) share the role of Pang.
Aled Hall made his Royal Opera debut earlier this Season as Dancing Master (Manon Lescaut). Recent engagements elsewhere include Spoletta (Tosca) and Duke of Dunstable (Patience) for English Touring Opera, Maintop (Billy Budd) and Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier) for Opera North and Beadle Bamford (Sweeney Todd) for Welsh National Opera.
Samuel Sakker is a Royal Opera Company Principal. This Season for The Royal Opera he has also sung various roles in The Nose, the Marschallin’s Major Domo (Der Rosenkavalier), Ruiz (Il trovatore), Ulrich Eisslinger (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) and Gastone de Letorières (La traviata).
Belarusian tenor Pavel Petrov (5, 9, 12, 15 July) and Korean tenor David Junghoon Kim (8, 11, 14, 16 July) share the role of Pong.
Pavel Petrov makes his Royal Opera debut as Pong. Recent engagements include Alfredo Germont (La traviata) and Prunier (La rondine) for Graz Opera, Pong, Licone (Orlando paladino), Coryphée (Le Comte Ory) and First Armed Man (Die Zauberflote) for Zurich Opera and Lensky (Eugene Onegin) for Bucharest National Opera.
David Junghoon Kim is a Jette Parker Young Artist. This Season he has also sung Flavio (Norma), Nathanaël (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Lamplighter (Manon Lescaut), Ruiz (Il trovatore), Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier), Gastone de Letorières (La traviata) and Augustin Moser (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) for The Royal Opera. In May 2017 he sings Count of Lerma (Don Carlo) for the Company.
English tenor Robin Leggate sings the role of Emperor Altoum. He made his Royal Opera debut in 1977 as Cassio (Otello) and was a Royal Opera Company Principal until 2001. He has since returned regularly to sing with The Royal Opera, his most recent roles including Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro), Herod (Salome), Monsieur Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Goro (Madama Butterfly) and Serano (La donna del lago).
Yuriy Yurchuk is a Royal Opera Company Principal. This Season he has also sung various roles in The Nose, Schlemil (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Baron Douphol (La traviata) and Prince Yamadori (Madama Butterfly) for The Royal Opera. In May 2017 he sings Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo) for the Company.
CREDITS
Music Giacomo Puccini
Conductor Dan Ettinger
Director Andrei Serban
Designer Sally Jacobs
Lighting designer F. Mitchell Dana
Choreography Kate Flatt
Choreologist Tatiana Novaes Coelho
Turandot Christine Goerke (5, 9, 12, 15 July)
Lise Lindstrom (8, 11, 14, 16 July)
Calaf Aleksandrs Antonenko (5, 9, 12, 15 July)
Roberto Alagna (8, 11, 14 July)
Alfred Kim (16 July)
Liù Hibla Gerzmava (5, 9, 12, 15 July)
Aleksandra Kurzak (8, 11, 14, 16 July)
Timur In Sung Sim (5, 9, 12, 15 July)
Brindley Sherratt (8, 11, 14, 16 July)
Ping Michel de Souza (5, 9, 12, 15 July)
Leon Košavić* (8, 11, 14, 16 July)
Pang Aled Hall (5, 9, 12, 15 July)
Samuel Sakker (8, 11, 14, 16 July)
Pong Pavel Petrov* (5, 9, 12, 15 July)
David Junghoon Kim† (8, 11, 14, 16 July)
Emperor Altoum Robin Leggate
Mandarin Yuriy Yurchuk
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
*Royal Opera debut
†Jette Parker Young Artist
JETTE PARKER YOUNG ARTISTS SUMMER PERFORMANCE 2017
Giuseppe Verdi | Jules Massenet | Pietro Mascagni | Richard Strauss | Gioachino Rossini | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
16 July at 6.30pm
Generously made possible by Oak Foundation
The annual summer showcase given by the Jette Parker Young Artists is a highlight of the calendar for anyone interested in experiencing the skills of some of the most talented young performers working in opera today. The Young Artists are already highly trained professionals when they are selected for the Programme, which lasts for two years, and they join a scheme that has proved invaluable to the Young Artists and to The Royal Opera since it began almost fifteen years ago.
The performance will be staged by British stage director Gerard Jones. He joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2015/16 Season. In the 2015/16 Season he assisted the directors of Orphée et Eurydice, Morgen und Abend, Eugene Onegin, Boris Godunov and 4.48 Psychosis and directed the 2016 Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Performance. This Season for The Royal Opera he directed Oreste at Wilton’s Music Hall and assisted the directors of Così fan tutte, Written on Skin, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and La traviata.
The performance is conducted by the Head of Music for The Royal Opera, British conductor and accompanist David Syrus. He joined the Company in 1971 as a répétiteur and was appointed to his current position in 1993. He has conducted numerous works for the Company, including Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote, Der fliegende Holländer, Salome, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos, La traviata, Falstaff, Kát’a Kabanová, The Turn of the Screw, The Midsummer Marriage,
Carmen, Don Pasquale and Fidelio.
David conducts alongside two young artists: British conductor and répétiteur James Hendry and British conductor Matthew Scott Rogers.
James Hendry joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2016/17 Season as Conductor/Répétiteur. Engagements in his first Season include conducting Oreste at Wilton’s Music Hall, and joining the music staff for Der Rosenkavalier, Adriana Lecouvreur,
Madama Butterfly, Otello and Turandot for The Royal Opera and Les Enfants Terribles for The
Royal Ballet.
Matthew Scott Rogers joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2016/17 Season as Ballet Conductor. Engagements in his first Season include working as assistant conductor with The Royal Ballet on La Fille mal gardée, Anastasia, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude/Tarantella/Strapless/New Liam Scarlett and The Dream/Symphonic Variations/Marguerite and Armand and joining the music staff of The Royal Opera for La traviata and Madama Butterfly.
Russian soprano Vlada Borovko joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2015/16 Season. In her first Season she sang Frasquita (Carmen), Xenia (Boris Godunov), Anna (Nabucco) and Violetta Valéry (La traviata). Her roles for the 2016/17 Season are Clotilde (Norma), Ermione (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall), Mlle Jouvenot (Adriana Lecouvreur) and Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore).
American soprano Francesca Chiejina joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2016/17 Season. In the 2016/17 Season she sings Ines (Il trovatore) and Voice from Heaven (Don Carlo) for The Royal Opera and in Flight Pattern for The Royal Ballet.
Irish soprano Jennifer Davis joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2015/16 Season. In her first Season she sang Euphrosyne/Lachesis (Orpheus) at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, Nursing Sister (Suor Angelica) and Ines (Il trovatore) on the main stage and in the world premiere of 4.48 Psychosis at the Lyric Hammersmith. In the 2016/17 Season she sings Ifigenia (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall), Ines (Il trovatore) and Arbate (Mitridate, re di Ponto) for The Royal Opera and in Les Enfants Terribles and Flight Pattern for The Royal Ballet.
Australian mezzo-soprano Emily Edmonds joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2015/16 Season. In her first Season she sang Aglaea/Atropos/Bacchus (Orpheus) at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, Alms Sister (Suor Angelica) and Käthchen (Werther) on the main stage and in the world premiere of 4.48 Psychosis at the Lyric Hammersmith. In the 2016/17 Season she sings Musician (Manon Lescaut), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and Tebaldo (Don Carlo) for The Royal Opera and in Les Enfants Terribles for The Royal Ballet.
English mezzo-soprano Angela Simkin joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2016/17 Season. Her roles for the 2016/17 Season are the title role in Oreste at Wilton’s Music Hall, Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), Flora Bervoix (La traviata) and Mlle Dangeville (Adriana Lecouvreur).
New Zealand tenor Thomas Atkins joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2016/17 Season. His roles for the 2016/17 Season are Pilade (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall), Faninal’s Major-Domo (Der Rosenkavalier), Poisson (Adriana Lecouvreur), Enrique (The Exterminating Angel) and Roderigo (Otello).
Korean tenor David Junghoon Kim joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2015/16 Season. In the 2015/16 Season he sang Ballad Seller (Il tabarro), Arturo Bucklaw (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Ruiz (Il trovatore). His roles in the 2016/17 Season are Flavio (Norma), Nathanaël (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Lamplighter (Manon Lescaut), Ruiz, Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier), Gastone de Letorières (La traviata), Augustin Moser (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg), Count of Lerma (Don Carlo) and Pong (Turandot).
Hungarian baritone Gyula Nagy joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2016/17 Season. This Season his roles are Fiorello (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Filotete (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall), Konrad Nachtigal (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg), Imperial Commissioner (Madama Butterfly), Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo) and Baron Douphol (La traviata) for The Royal Opera. He has also sung in Les Enfants Terribles for The Royal Ballet.
South African bass Simon Shibambu joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2016/17 Season. This Season his roles are Toante (Oreste, at Wilton’s Music Hall), Quinault (Adriana Lecouvreur), Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo) and Montano (Otello).
British bass David Shipley joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the start of the 2015/16 Season. In the 2015/16 Season he sang Arthur/Officer (The Lighthouse, as part of Meet
the Young Artists Week) in the Linbury Studio Theatre and Captain (Eugene Onegin), Sciarrone (Tosca), Guccio (Gianni Schicchi) and High Priest (Nabucco). In the 2016/17 he sings various roles in The Nose, Sergeant (Manon Lescaut), Doctor Grenvil (La traviata), Nightwatchman (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) and Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo).
The performance also features Concert Master of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House,
Bulgarian violinist and conductor Vasko Vassilev. He joined the Orchestra as Concert Master
in 1993, the first person to hold the position. Vassilev’s wide discography includes, with Laureate, Total Immersion and Virtuoso Vivaldi; with Covent Garden Soloists, Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet and Andersen’s Fairytales; with Vanessa Mae The Original Four Seasons; and Voodoo Violin and Viva Vivaldi.
Programme:
Verdi: I due Foscari, Act II (excerpt)
Conductor: David Syrus
Lucrezia Contarini: Vlada Borovko
Jacopo Foscari: David Junghoon Kim
Massenet: Cendrillon, Act II (excerpt)
Conductor: Matthew Scott Rogers
Cendrillon: Emily Edmonds
Prince Charmant: Angela Simkin
Mascagni: L’amico Fritz, Act I (excerpt)
Conductor: David Syrus
Suzel: Francesca Chiejina
Fritz: Thomas Atkins
Strauss: Arabella, Act III (excerpt)
Conductor: David Syrus
Arabella: Jennifer Davis
Mandryka: Gyula Nagy
Rossini: Le Comte Ory, Act II (excerpt)
Conductor: James Hendry
Countess Adèle de Formoutiers: Francesca Chiejina
Isolier: Angela Simkin
Count Ory: David Junghoon Kim
Interval
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act II (excerpt)
Conductor: David Syrus
Fortepiano continuo: Nick Fletcher
Donna Anna: Vlada Borovko
Donna Elvira: Jennifer Davis
Zerlina: Emily Edmonds
Don Ottavio: Thomas Atkins
Don Giovanni: Gyula Nagy
Leporello: David Shipley
Ensemble: Francesca Chiejina, Angela Simkin, David Junghoon Kim
CREDITS
Conductors James Hendry
Matthew Scott Rogers
David Syrus
Director Gerard Jones
Sopranos Vlada Borovko
Francesca Chiejina
Jennifer Davis
Mezzo Sopranos Emily Edmonds
Angela Simkin
Tenors Thomas Atkins
David Junghoon Kim
Baritone Gyula Nagy
Basses Simon Shibambu
David Shipley
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
NEW PRODUCTION
Welsh National Opera
André Tchaikowsky
19 and 20 July at 7.30pm
Co-production with Bregenzer Festspiele, Austria, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music programme and Teatr Wielki, Warsaw
Supported by the Getty Family as part of British Firsts
Welsh National Opera present their new production of The Merchant of Venice on the Royal Opera House main stage. English director Keith Warner directs this Shakespeare-inspired opera, which is considered to be a deeply personal response by composer André Tchaikowsky to his experiences as a child in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Bassanio borrows some money from his friend Antonio so he can court the beautiful heiress Portia. Antonio is expecting a returning shipment of merchandise and so is short of ready cash; he in turn borrows from the moneylender Shylock. Shylock has previously been much abused by Antonio and only agrees to the loan on the promise that if Antonio defaults, Shylock may take a pound of his flesh. Bassanio wins Portia’s love – but Antonio’s ships are reported lost, and Shylock insists on his penalty. In court, the disguised Portia proves that it is impossible for Shylock to take his pound of flesh without also drawing blood, not stipulated in the contract.
The court forces the defeated Shylock to convert from Judaism to Christianity.
English director Keith Warner made his Royal Opera debut in 2002 with Wozzeck (winner of an Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production). Subsequent productions at the Royal Opera House include Der Ring des Nibelungen for The Royal Opera, Peter Pan for Welsh National Opera and Rossi’s Orpheus for The Royal Opera and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe. This Season he directs a new production of Otello for The Royal Opera.
British conductor Lionel Friend conducts these performances. He has previously conducted Die Zauberflote, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La traviata and La bohème for Welsh National Opera. Recent engagements as an opera conductor include The Cunning Little Vixen and The Little Green Swallow for British Youth Opera, where he is Music Director, Porgy and Bess and Die Teufel von Loudun for Royal Danish Opera, The Merchant of Venice and Die Teufel von Loudun for Polish National Opera, Les Contes d’Hoffmann for West Australian Opera, Le nozze di Figaro for New Zealand Opera, Grendel for Los Angeles Opera, Arabella for Opera Australia and Hänsel und Gretel for South Australian Opera.
American baritone Lester Lynch sings the role of Shylock. He makes his Welsh National Opera debut in this production. Recent engagements include the title role in Doktor Faust and George Wilson (The Great Gatsby) for Semperoper Dresden, Crown (Porgy and Bess) for La Scala, Milan, Porgy (Porgy and Bess) for Spoleto Festival USA, Count di Luna (Il trovatore) for Opera San Antonio, Lescaut (Manon Lescaut) for Baden-Baden Festival and Amonasro (Aida) for Bergen National Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and Dallas Opera
German countertenor Martin Wolfel sings the role of Antonio. He makes his Welsh National Opera debut in this production. Recent engagements include Fool (Wozzeck), Nurse (L’incoronazione di Poppea) and Prince Orlofsky and Frosch (Die Fledermaus) for Frankfurt Opera, Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas) for Frankfurt Opera and Edinburgh International Festival, Edgar (Lear) for Frankfurt Opera and Komische Oper Berlin, Helicon (Caligula) for Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, and Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and Artemis (Phaedra) for Berlin State Opera.
American tenor Bruce Sledge sings the role of Lorenzo. He has previously sung Leicester
(Maria Stuarda) and Macduff (Macbeth) for Welsh National Opera. Recent engagements include Paolo Erisso (Maometto II) for Canadian Opera Company, Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) for Vancouver Opera, Duke of Mantua, Monsieur Vogelsang (The Impresario), Fisherman (Le Rossignol) and Paolo Erisso for Santa Fe Opera, Leicester for Royal Swedish Opera and King of Naples (The Tempest), Tamino (Die Zauberflote) and Ferrando (Così Fan tutte) for the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Hungarian bass-baritone Miklós Sebestyén sings the role of The Duke of Venice. He has previous sung Banquo (Macbeth) and the title role in Mosè in Egitto for Welsh National Opera. Recent engagements include Hans Folz (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) and Scientist (CO2, world premiere) for La Scala, Milan, Lord Gualtiero Valton (I puritani) for Teatro Real, Madrid, Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola) for Israeli Opera, Timur (Turandot), Publio (La clemenza di Tito) and Old Man (Aleko) for Opéra National de Lorraine, Colline (La bohème) for Malmo Opera, Leporello (Don Giovanni) and Alter Bankier (Die Flut) for Bavarian State Opera, King of Egypt (Aida) and Monk (Don Carlo) for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and King of Egypt, Sparafucile (Rigoletto) and Colline (La bohème) for Hungarian State Opera.
English tenor Mark Le Brocq sings the role of Bassanio. His performances at the Royal Opera House have included in Will Tuckett’s The Seven Deadly Sins for The Royal Ballet and Smee (Peter Pan) and Sergeant Snell (In Parenthesis) for Welsh National Opera. He has previously sung in the world premiere of Iain Bell’s A Christmas Carol, Painter/Client (Lulu), Aron (Moses und Aron) and Le Médecin (La Chute de la maison Usher) for WNO. Recent engagements include Méphistophélès (Doktor Faust) for Semperoper Dresden and Froh (Das Rheingold), Siegmund (Die Walkure) and Steersman (Der fliegende Holländer) for Opera North.
Welsh baritone Gary Griffiths sings the role of Solanio. A former Associate Artist with Welsh National Opera, his roles with the Company include Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Cecil (Maria Stuarda), Masetto (Don Giovanni), Claudio (Béatrice et Bénédict) and Marcello and Schaunard (La bohème). Recent engagements include Marcello (La bohème) and Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) for New Zealand Festival Opera, Doctor Malatesta (Don Pasquale) for Longborough Festival Opera, Ned Keen (Peter Grimes) for Grange Park Opera and Ford (Falstaff) and Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) for Hesssches State Theatre, Wiesbaden.
Australian baritone Simon Thorpe sings the role of Salerio. He has previous sung Escamillo (Carmen), Herald / Telramund (Lohengrin), Melot (Tristan and Isolde), Fritz Kothner (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg), Belcore (L’elisir d’amore)‚ Foreman (Jenůfa)‚ Marcello (La bohème)‚ Scarpia (Tosca)‚ Ford (Falstaff) and Donald (Billy Budd) for Welsh National Opera. Recent engagements include Manfredo (L’amore dei tre re) and Jack Rance (La fanciulla del West) for Opera Holland Park, Scarpia (Tosca) and Sir John Falstaff (Falstaff) for Longborough Festival Opera, Amonasro (Aida), Scarpia and Don Pizarro (Fidelio) for Opéra de Baugé, Amonasro for Lyric Opera, Dublin, Herald (Lohengrin) for Opéra de Toulon, Escamillo for State Opera of South Australia and Michele (Il tabarro) for English Touring Opera.
British baritone David Stout sings the role of Gratiano. He made his Royal Opera debut in 2009 as Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo) and has since returned to sing Baron Douphol (La traviata) and Selby (The Virtues of Things, world premiere). He has previously sung Papageno (Die Zauberflote), Dr Falke (Die Fledermaus), Ping (Turandot), Le Dancaire (Carmen), Harašta (The Cunning Little Vixen), Buddha (Wagner Dream) and Figaro (Figaro Gets a Divorce) for Welsh National Opera. Recent engagements include Posa (Don Carlo) and Sancho Panza (Don Quichotte) for Grange Park Opera, Count Douglas (Guglielmo Ratcliff) for Wexford Festival and Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) and Fritz Kothner (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg) for English National Opera.
American soprano Lauren Michelle sings the role of Jessica. She makes her Welsh National Opera debut in this production. Recent engagements include Musetta (La bohème) for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) for Teatro Romano di Fiesole, Papagena (Die Zauberflote) for Teatro Malibran and Irina (Lost in the Stars) for Washington National Opera.
New Zealand mezzo-soprano Sarah Castle sings the role of Portia. She made her Royal Opera debut in 2001 as Tisbe (La Cenerentola) and has since returned to sing Flosshilde and Siegrune (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Dryad (Ariadne auf Naxos), Page (Salome), Mlle Dangeville (Adriana Lecouvreur) and Flora Bervoix (La traviata) for the Company. She has previously sung Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen) for Welsh National Opera. Recent engagements include the title role in La Cenerentola for New Zealand Opera and Flosshilde and Siegrune for Opera North.
Austrian mezzo-soprano Verena Gunz sings Nerissa. She made her Royal Opera debut in 2015
as Aegea (Orpheus, at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe). She makes her Welsh National Opera debut in this production. Recent engagements include Innkeeper’s Daughter (Konigskinder) for Semperoper Dresden, Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) for Polish National Opera, Second Lady (Die Zauberflote) for Bregenz Festival and Flowermaiden and Second Esquire (Parsifal) and Ninon The Devils of Loudon for Royal Danish Opera.
CREDITS
Music André Tchaikowsky
Conductor Lionel Friend
Director Keith Warner
Designer Ashley Martin-Davis
Lighting designer Davy Cunningham
Movement director Michael Barry
Associate Director Amy Lane
Shylock Lester Lynch
Antonio Martin Wolfel
Lorenzo Bruce Sledge
The Duke of Venice Miklós Sebestyén
Bassanio Mark Le Brocq
Solanio Gary Griffiths
Salerio Simon Thorpe
Gratiano David Stout
Jessica Lauren Michelle
Portia Sarah Castle
Nerissa Verena Gunz
HATCH
NEW PRODUCTION
Adriano Adewale
7 July – 27 August (mornings and afternoons), Press performance 8 July (time TBC)
Polka Theatre, 240 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1SB
Co-commission and co-production between Polka Theatre and The Royal Opera
Suitable for children aged two to five years old.
The inspiring, specialist children’s theatre company Polka Theatre and The Royal Opera have created a wonderful new sensory experience for children aged two to five. With a vibrant musical score by Brazillian percussionist and composer Adriano Adewale, Hatch is a journey through worlds bursting with a mesmerising blend of sights and sounds influenced by samba and jazz. From flowing water and whistling winds to the beautiful call of a bird, new sounds are discovered in unlikely places and imaginations set alight with evocative, rich rhythms. Hatch,
co-directed by Adewale and Polka’s Artistic Director Peter Glanville, runs in Polka’s intimate Adventure Theatre throughout July and August.
OTHER EVENTS
PROGRAMME OF INSIGHT EVENTS AND PRE-PERFORMANCE TALKS
LA TRAVIATA
INSIGHT EVENT Big Sing – Make a Scene – La traviata
Wednesday 31 May at 7.15pm | Clore Studio Upstairs
Have you ever wanted to take to the stage? Now’s your chance to make your mark as you join with artists and staff of the Royal Opera House to sing and stage an extract from Verdi’s
La traviata.
OTELLO
INSIGHT EVENT
Thursday 8 June at 7.15pm | Clore Studio Upstairs
Met with immediate critical acclaim, Verdi’s great penultimate opera Otello is a thrilling response to Shakespeare’s text. Join The Royal Opera’s Music Director Antonio Pappano, director Keith Warner and members of the cast as they add the final touches to The Royal Opera’s new production of this masterpiece, its first in 30 years. Please note this Insight will be filmed.
LUNCHTIME RECITALS
The regular free lunchtime recitals, now at the Swiss Church in Endell Street, feature the rising stars of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme.
5 June at 1pm, featuring former Jette Parker Young Artist mezzo-soprano Monika-Evelin Liiv
19 June at 1pm, a workshop featuring stage director Gerard Jones
For further information please visit http://www.roh.org.uk/recitals/lunchtime-recitals
