Richard Strauss
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A Message from the Board Chair Dear Friends, I am very proud to welcome you to OPERA San Antonio’s first production in the H-E-B Performance Hall, and our first ever mainstage production: Salome, Richard Strauss’s opera based on the play by Oscar Wilde. I couldn’t have been more pleased by the results of our inaugural production in the Tobin Center last September, when Fantastic Mr. Fox set this first season in motion and was enthusiastically received by audiences and critics alike. “With this all-new staging of Fantastic Mr. Fox, OPERA San Antonio has signaled its intention to brook no compromises,” wrote Opera News, and mySanAntonio, the city’s number-one website, observed that “for now, the new opera company is flourishing artistically and at the box office like a fox in a hen house.” All four performances of this family opera were sold out. In addition, we offered a free simulcast on the River Walk Plaza which was attending by a standing room audience of five hundred people, made up of families and youth. This new production draws together a unique combination of talent including superstar soprano Patricia Racette and other internationally acclaimed opera stars, the San Antonio Symphony with Music Director and conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing, and members of Ballet San Antonio. OPERA San Antonio is honored to be the resident opera company at the spectacular Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. This great new addition to the cultural landscape of San Antonio will provide all the resident companies with an ideal venue to showcase and present their talents. We are proud to partner with the San Antonio Symphony, our orchestra, and Ballet San Antonio to provide the greater San Antonio community with the highest caliber of opera our area has ever seen. Following this monumental endeavor, OPERA San Antonio’s inaugural season concludes in March with an Italian/French double-bill in the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater. The legendary Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci will make her Texas debut in Il Segreto di Susanna/ La voix humaine. This double-bill production is currently SOLD OUT — but you still have a chance to join the waitlist. None of our productions would be possible without the extraordinary partnership between our Board of Directors, the City’s Department for Culture and Creative Development, the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, The Tobin Endowment, Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, Charles E. Butt, H-E-B, Frost Bank Charitable Foundation, Charles Schwab, the Greehey Family Foundation, Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation, many other business and corporations, and each and every one of YOU! OPERA San Antonio is committed to bringing you today’s finest possible opera productions, singers, and designers. It is only with the support of the community that we can continue to bring you great opera in the world-class venue San Antonio deserves. We hope you enjoy our inaugural mainstage production, and we look forward to your continued support of the various artistic and educational events sponsored by OPERA San Antonio in the coming months. With sincere appreciation,
Mel Weingart, Chairman
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A Message from the Artistic Director Dear Friends, OPERA San Antonio’s new production of Salome by Richard Strauss is the centerpiece of our inaugural season. In every way Salome is the ideal choice for this pivotal production. It is also the most ambitious undertaking OPERA San Antonio has done to date. Many opera lovers — including myself — rank Strauss among the four or five greateset opera composers who ever lived. Not only is Salome the opera that gave Strauss his first big success on the opera stage: it remains as exciting and fascinating today as when it premiered in 1905. Salome was regarded as one of the most scandalous new works in the early twentieth century, and it still generates controversy. And — the sign of a genuine masterpiece — Salome encourages new attempts to interpret its innovative score and unsettling psychodrama. It also happens that this season the music would is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss’s birth. The San Antonio Symphony under music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing had decided to plan a Strauss Festival to mark the occasion, so Salome provides an attractive vehicle to cement our company’s relationship with the San Antonio Symphony — an institution that was in fact founded in 1939 by the emigré Max Reiter, a friend and champion of Strauss. An important part of the mission of OPERA San Antonio is to give both major and emerging artists the opportunity to challenge themselves doing a role for the first time. It’s a double win: they get the experience of making a role debut that they might not have had elsewhere; and we benefit from the inevitable excitement that comes when an artist decides to take on a significant career challenge. I’m always asking artists for their wish list of roles they would really like to do. This is one of the ways I believe we can make OPERA San Antonio an attractive venue for major artists and singers of our day. And so I’m deeply thrilled that our production will present the extraordinary star soprano Patricia Racette in her stage role debut as the young princess Salome. This major career milestone for Patricia is one I find particularly gratifying. Having created no fewer than three major roles for her in my own operas, I have been consistently impressed over the years by the depth and brilliance of Patricia’s artistry. And nothing could please me more than to enable her to reveal yet another facet of her incomparable gifts on the opera stage. See p. 12 for Ms. Racette’s views on what this experience means to her. Our Salome cast boasts several other role debuts as well: Michelle DeYoung as Herodias, Brian Jagde, Renée Rapier, Tynan Davis, Andrew Craig Brown, Eric Schmidt, Önay Kağan Köse, Daniel Curran, Alex Richardson, John Robert Lindsey, and Jeremy Galyon. Stay tuned for our announcement of OPERA San Antonio’s second season. I’m especially looking forward to the company’s presentation of a classic of Italian opera for the first time. Please help spread the word and let your friends know about the work we are bringing to this great city. And thank you all for being part of OPERA San Antonio! Warmly,
Tobias Picker, Artistic Director
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OPERA San Antonio
Board of Directors
Mel Weingart, Chairman Charles Forster, Vice Chairman John Asel, Treasurer Margaret King Stanley, Secretary Natalie Beller Sheldon Braverman Karen Diaz Maryanne Guido Linda Hardberger Blair Labatt James Nester Eduardo Parra Marc Raney Terry Touhey Kathleen Weir Vale
Ex-Officio Members
Bebe Canales Inkley, President – Opera Guild of San Antonio James McCutcheon, Legal Counsel
International Advisory Board Edgar Foster Daniels David Gockley Nathan Gunn Desmond Heeley Eric Owens Patricia Racette Dolora Zajick Nancy Zeckendorf
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2014-2015 Season Donors
Thank you!
The Board of Directors, artists and staff of OPERA San Antonio gratefully acknowledge the generous support from our donors: (Donations received by December 20, 2014)
Founder’s Circle ($100,000 and above)
Charles C. Butt City Of San Antonio – Dept. for Culture & Creative Development Kronkosky Charitable Foundation The Tobin Endowment Terence W. Touhey
Benefactor ($2,500 to $4,999)
Bexar County Commissioner’s Court Frost Bank Charitable Foundation The Greehey Family Foundation H-E-B Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts
Ann Griffith Ash Charles Schwab & Co., Bryan Hicks Israel Fogiel Al and Mary Jane Ely Hon. Phil and Linda Hardberger Mr. and Mrs. James L. Hayne Kendra Scott Patrick J. and Joan Kennedy Margaret King Stanley The John and Florence Newman Foundation Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Sue E. Turner The Watson Foundation Keith and Mary Young
Underwriter ($25,000 to $49,999)
Fellow ($1,000 to $2,499)
Chairman’s Circle ($50,000 to $99,999)
Charles A. Forster Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation Mel and Sandy Weingart
Sponsor ($10,000 to $24,999)
Asel & Associates Dr. Barry and Natalie Beller Drs. Karen Diaz and Joe Johnson Thomas H. Edson Frost Bank The Gorman Foundation Guido Brothers Construction John C. and Susan Kerr Blair and Barbara Labatt Jim McCutcheon Marshall B. Miller and Claudia Huntington Gerald and Pat Schulz Dr. Kimberly Terry Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
Patron ($5,000 to $9,999)
Michael and Molly Amini Anonymous Braverman Family Charitable Foundation James F. and Janet Dicke Tom and Pat Frost Marie Halff James and Aurora Nester Eric Owens The Fletcher Jones Foundation The Jim and Agnes Lowe Foundation SRO Associates, Inc. Albert and Kathleen Weir Vale
J. Scott and Karin Beckendorf Marion Bell James R. and Ruth Berg Mike and Beverly Birnbaum Dr. and Mrs. Ronald K. Calgaard James Calvert Lance W. Cameron Bebe Canales Inkley Michael Christopher James and Gloria Clingman Barbara Condos Lisa S. Cox Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Evans, Jr. Five and Dime General Stores, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Potter Herrmann Family Charitable Foundation Mike and Barbara Gentry Stephen L. and Libby Golden Lamont Jefferson Plato and Dorothy Karayanis Ronald Keller Joseph B. Labatt David and Kathleen Meriwether Bill and Camilla Parker Eduardo Parra Linda Purcell (in honor of Dr. and Mrs. George Edward Purcell) Marc and Gail Raney Carolyn B. Sanders Philip J. Sibley Dr. Edward R. Staffel Jean Stein Terracina Family Foundation Dr. Emily Ellen Volk Loren S. Weingart and John F. Mooney
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OPERA San Antonio
Fellow (continued)
Dr. John A. Williamson Mr. C. Thomas Wright Bartell and Mollie Zachry
Contributor ($500 to $999)
Ian and Dr. Cecilia Alejandra Garcia-Mitchell Aaron Asel Mr. Arthur G. Augustine, Atty. Betty Barnes Phillip F. and Sarah Alice Benson Margie Boldrick Michael Davis Ruth Eilene Sullivan Dr. James Griffin Sarah E. Harte Gary and Angela Hoeffler Dr. Gregory Jackson Joe Johnson V Rosemary Kowalski Joan Lynch Neiman Marcus Dr. Michael Ozer Dr. Carmen Perez Matilda Perkins and Michael Freeburger Patricia Pratchett Chere Reneau Mr. and Mrs. Ira Ross Iris Rubin Leland Rudofsky Linda A. Seeligson Harry Swearingen Sergio and Dr. Alice Viroslav Joe and Janet Westheimer
Supporter ($250 to $499)
Ben and Janet Adams A J Anderson Mrs. William Arlitt Roger Bessey Mary Ann Bruni Shirley W. Bryan Arturo Camacho Dya Campos Raymond and Keena Cole Mr. and Mrs. Markley Crosswell, III. Mr. and Mrs. Baker A. Duncan Dr. Charles H. and Elinor DuVal Dr. Harry Eastman Richard and Toni Goldsmith Mary Jane Howe Ed B. Hymson Grace Bramlette Labatt Norman and Linda Idleberg Judith Lachman Elizabeth McMillian Joseph P. Murgo George and Margo Olson Jane Cheever Powell
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Kendall Purpura Epitacio R. V. Resendez Ira and Susan Ross Dr. Morton and Marianne Schreiber Lynn Stahl Rachel Stalnaker Keith Swinney Steven Tyler Coella Walk Brian Weiner Michael and Margaret Wiederhold Lyle Williams Mrs. Leon C. Wulfe, Jr.
Friend ($100 to $249)
Dr. Horatio Aldredge Cristina Ortega Alton Bradford R. and Peg Breuer Dr. Terry Burns Dr. William J. Chiego Harriet E. Christian Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa Anne Connor Sally T. Cooper Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Drought Mildred Ehrenberg Rafael Escandon Roger Foxhall Kathleen Garrison John R. and Joella Gordon Dr. Nichols Grimes Thomas Guggolz Arthur Gurwitz Ruth Jean Gurwitz Diana S. Hamner Friedrich W. and Marie Hanau-Schaumburg William L. Heffner Emma Heymann Yvette Kalter Stephen Kowalski Glen J. Krueger Dr. Carl Leafstedt Dr. Christine Mayer-Varela Aren Murray James Nelson Benita Newman Amy Phipps Nathan Poerner Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Rosenthal Marianne and Dr. Morton Schreiber Judith Sobre Elsie Steg Macgregor Stephenson Carol Sugarman Shaun Sullivan Elizabeth Venson Dr. Yilmaz Yetmen Dr. Leopoldo Zorrilla
Salome: Richard Strauss’s Scandalous Breakthrough In the process of depicting Salome’s obsession with the prophet John the Baptist (“Jochanaan,” as he is called in the opera), Richard Strauss proved to be an artistic prophet himself. His groundbreaking work, which premiered in Dresden on December 9, 1905, prophesies the coming century of upheaval in the arts. Reflecting the Freudian Zeitgeist and its preoccupation with sexual pathology, Salome the opera looks ahead to experiments with harmony and to the extremities of Expressionism in its daring use of a massive orchestra (massive even in the slightly reduced version used for this production). It consummates the ecstasy of a Wagnerian love-death through a vocal eroticism that outWagners Wagner, bringing the legacy of Romanticism to new, feverish heights. “The emotional states Strauss expresses in his music are so clearly defined,” says director and choreographer Candace Evans. “The psychology is especially fascinating in this opera.” It’s not surprising that the music writer Alex Ross chose to home in on a performance of Salome at the beginning of The Rest Is Noise, his acclaimed, bestselling survey of the music of the twentieth century and its cultural impact. “Like a flash of lightning,” writes Ross, “[Salome] illuminated a musical world on the verge of traumatic change. Past and future were colliding; centuries were passing in the night.” And Salome launched one of the greatest careers in the entire history of opera — certainly of opera in the twentieth century. Following the disappointing reactions to two earlier attempts at the genre, Strauss was already a celebrity composer and an experienced artist in early middle age when he shook up conventions with his third work for the stage. He had earned notoriety in the concert hall since the late 1880s with the state-ofthe-art, Technicolor orchestration of his pioneering tone poems, setting famous figures from literature and even philosophical ideas to music — the latter, for example, in Thus Spake Zarathustra, its depiction of dawn later immortalized by Stanley Kubrick’s classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey. These orchestral works, many of which remain staples of the concert rep, revealed the mind of a master storyteller even without the aid of words and helped pave the way for Salome’s virtuosic orchestral language. “Salome is one of the finest opera scores ever written,” says San Antonio Symphony music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing, who has a special affinity for Strauss. “It’s immensely difficult to perform but immensely rewarding as well. The psychological movement is the key here. Strauss often uses the orchestra to tell a story very different from the characters are singing onstage.” The predominance of waltz gestures in the score meshes well with the fin-desiècle, decadent sensibility that director/choreographer Evans and the design team tap into. “On one level, it’s like a constant waltz,” observes Lang-Lessing. “Salome actually contains more waltz music than Die Fledermaus [by Johann Strauss, Jr. — no relation] or Strauss’s own Der Rosenkavalier.”
OPERAS by Richard Strauss Guntram Libretto by the composer; premiered on May 10, 1894, in Weimar, Germany. Feuersnot (The Need for Fire) Libretto by Ernst von Wolzogen; premiered on November 21, 1901, in Dresden, Germany. Salome Libretto by the composer, after Oscar Wilde’s play; premiered on December 9, 1905, in Dresden, Germany. Elektra Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, after the drama he wrote based on the Greek tragedy; premiered on January 25, 1909, in Dresden. Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose) Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (inspired by Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro); premiered on January 26, 1911, in Dresden, Germany. Ariadne auf Naxos Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (inspired by Mozart’s The Magic Flute); first version premiered on October 25, 1912, in Stuttgart, Germany. Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow) Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal; premiered on October 10, 1919, in Vienna. Intermezzo Libretto by the composer; premiered on November 4, 1924, in Dresden, Germany.
OPERAS by Richard Strauss Die ägyptische Helena (The Egyptian Helen) Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, based on ancient Greek sources; premiered on June 6, 1928, in Dresden, Germany. Arabella Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (final collaboration with Strauss); premiered on July 1, 1933, in Dresden, Germany. Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman) Libretto by Stefan Zweign, based on Ben Jonson’s play Epicene, or The Silent Woman; premiered on June 24, 1935, in Dresden, Germany. Friedenstag (Peace Day) Libretto by Joseph Gregor; premiered on July 24, 1938, in Munich, Germany. Daphne Libretto by Joseph Gregor, based on the story of Danae from Ovid’s Metamorphoses; premiered on October 15, 1938, in Dresden, Germany. Die Liebe der Danae (The Love of Danae) Libretto by Joseph Gregor, based on ideas by Hugo von Hofmannsthal; premiered posthumously on August 14, 1952, at the Salzburg Festival. Capriccio Libretto by Strauss and Clemens Krauss, based on ideas from Stefan Zweig; premiered on October 28, 1942, in Munich, Germany.
According to Strauss biographer Michael Kennedy, a public prayer meeting was organized to spare New York the scourge of Strauss’s artistic perversion when the opera crossed the Atlantic in 1907. Their pleas were heard: with pressure from one of its major donors, J.P. Morgan, the Metropolitan Opera removed Salome from its season after a single performance. Of course the scandal enhanced ticket sales in Europe, despite various interventions (or outright bans) there as well. Salome became an overwhelming success with the public. Strauss crowed that the fortune he accumulated from the opera’s box office and royalties paid for his stylishly gemütlich Bavarian villa in Garmisch. And naturally there were critics who viewed the composer as a kind of operatic Quentin Tarantino in his mastery of shock effects, accusing Strauss of cynically choosing material here — and in his next opera, a chilling treatment of the ancient Greek tragedy Elektra — to generate controversy in a calculated effort to profit from the attention. But none of these critiques can begin to account for the sheer audacity and originality of Strauss’s musical response to this material. The composer found just what he needed in a verse play Oscar Wilde had written in French in the early 1890s. Wilde’s remarkably lyrical, image-rich text filters a wide range of influences from literature as well as the visual arts. The figure of Salome has only a brief role in the gospels of Matthew and Mark, where she is unnamed and demands the head of John the Baptist “on a charger” not out of her own obsession but as the agent of her mother Herodias, who is motivated by her loathing of the prophet. Yet for centuries Salome had inspired painters, and in the nineteenth century she became transformed into a sort of literary muse as well. Eventually she turned into an archetype of the fin-de-siècle preoccupation with the unnatural and decadent, signifying a vampiric beauty under the cover of which lurk terrifying desires. Wilde’s play, too, generated resistance. It was initially banned in England by the Lord Chamberlain’s office. (Fans of filmmaker Ken Russell might recall his 1988 cult hit, Salome’s Last Dance, which imagines a clandestine performance put together for the author’s benefit in a gay brothel.) The playwright was already in prison for “gross indecency” by the time Salome the play was first produced in public (in 1896). After Wilde’s death in 1900, the play found surprising success in several German productions. Strauss decided to use the German translation prepared for an acclaimed production in Berlin as the source for his libretto, which he crafted himself, cutting out roughly 40 percent of the text. In the process, he removed minor characters and trimmed the ornate language that gives the play its art nouveau texture — but translated these aspects into his orchestral commentary. Strauss also stripped away the lengthy theological arguments that are part of Wilde’s play (they survive as a parody in the Quintet of Jews) and dropped the backstory that helps clarify Jochanaan’s denunciations (and that provides perhaps one reason for the adolescent Salome’s state of mind): Herodias had divorced Salome’s actual father, who was Herod’s brother. Herod then imprisoned him in the same cistern as Jochanaan before having his own brother strangled.
w w w. o p e ra s a n a n t o n i o . c o m For his opera, Strauss organized the play into four scenes plus three orchestral interludes: the two interludes depicting Jochanaan’s ascent and descent, which frame scene three, and the choreographed Dance of the Seven Veils. The music for the latter is knowingly “tawdry,” because this is the music in which Salome acts out the “role” expected of her. Notice the radically different character of the music of her monologue, where Strauss’s “sixteen-year-old with the voice of Isolde” (one of his descriptions of the role) completely loses touch with the external world. Here, the distance between reality and the transporting beauty of the music generates a genuinely apocalyptic dissonance. Incidentally, Strauss also wrote out a detailed scenario for the Dance itself, describing Salome’s “graceful, wooing gestures” and the like — gestures quite different from the lascivious, Vegas-style pole dancer she is often shown to be. During his first stage of sketching out the music, Strauss was staying at a house in the Bavarian Alps owned by his wife’s parents and was confined to a tiny study converted from an ironing room, with room to hold only a desk and an upright piano. The musicologist Derrick Puffett remarks that “Salome, like The Rite of Spring, another of the noisiest scores of the twentieth century, was composed in a room the size of a broomcupboard.” Yet Strauss’s score also contains myriad subtleties and moments of eerie calm. What he is able to reflect in his music is what Evans describes as Salome’s “incipient sexuality.” She adds: “Salome is suddenly developing her own powers as she becomes womanly in her physicality. For many girls, it can take just one summer for the bud to open to a rose.” Ironically, what triggers Salome’s fascination with Jochanaan’s physicality is his disembodied presence: she first hears his voice emerging from the cistern. Herod’s lust for his step-daughter represents still another kind of obsession. And a third is found in the prophet’s religious fanaticism, though this combines strongly contrasting elements. One is Jochanaan’s almost Taliban-like denunciation of sexual vice, while its counterpart is his vision of a new, blessed age. The more fiercely he denies Salome, the more intensely is her desire is awakened. Strauss lets us hear this happening in the music: the ominous “kiss” leitmotif she will sing at the opera’s climax is proclaimed by the orchestra after Jochanaan leaves Salome to return to his prison. The monomania of Salome’s principal characters is mirrored by the minor ones. The guard Narraboth, for example, kills himself when his desire for Salome turns suddenly to despair — the first death to occur in the opera. The Page, meanwhile, fixates on anxiety in her fear that “something terrible may happen,” sounding the first note of impending dread. In fact this mood turns out to be as important as erotic desire and frames the drama. Or we could as easily observe that these two motivating factors — desire and dread — are interconnected. Herod’s fear that the world is out of joint is intensified by the problem of Jochanaan. “Ultimately, both Wilde and Strauss are interested in exploring the implications of power,” says Evans. Power — and the fear of losing it — is the driving force that determines how these characters interact, what choices they make. Religion, as represented by Jochanaan, is another example of the focus of power in this opera. Faith is a question of who you decide is in charge.” What does it take for a brilliant composer to be able to write opera? One skill that is shared by the finest masters of the art is the ability to differentiate characters in musical terms. Strauss does this through his manipulation of keys as well as leitmotifs to symbolize the characters. Salome, for example, is centered around C-sharp, Jochanaan around C natural. These two keys sit right “next to” one another yet are mutually exclusive: in harmonic terms, when they intersect it can only be as a grinding dissonance — which is precisely the sonority we hear at the climax of Salome’s final line. The writer Gary Schmidgall describes this climactic chord as “the quintessence of Decadence: here is ecstasy falling in upon itself, crumbling into the abyss.” - Thomas May writes about the arts and blogs at memeteria.com.
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OPERA San Antonio
Patricia Racette’s Latest Challenge OPERA San Antonio is devoted to bringing the thrilling, engaging, matchless art form that is opera to life in this city. Part of its mission also includes giving major artists the opportunity to make their first-ever stamp on a role. At the center of our cast is the soprano Patricia Racette, a performer who is cherished not only for the emotional power and beauty of her voice but for her intensely riveting stage presence. Racette gave a concert performance singing Salome last summer at the Chicago Symphony’s Ravinia Festival, but this OPERA San Antonio production marks her official stage debut both singing and acting this intriguing role. Here the versatile, fearless artists discusses the challenges and rewards of this latest credit in her remarkable career.
Q: What aspects of your voice are especially well suited to Strauss’s style of writing in Salome? PR: The role of Salome is a vocal roller coaster ride of the best kind! It soars high, dips low — and Strauss’s vocal writing creates this polarity between long, arcing phrases alternating with almost spoken, conversational patter. It’s high octane singing, and my voice loves that!
Q: How do you interpret the character of Salome? PR: I believe in the complexity of women, first and foremost. I never approach any character I sing as leaning in only one direction in terms of her temperament, her vulnerability, her power. Do I believe that Salome is a victim? Yes. She is the victim of the fallout of the ultimate of dysfunctional families. We meet her in the opera after her having lived for years of dealing with a crippled parental structure. Can you imagine her life as an adolescent?! As for the more psychotic aspect of her character, I believe it is incredibly interesting and viable. She is a young woman learning the extent of her power and clearly wants to push its limits to the edge — even when it costs someone his life in order to exert what she wants.
Q: What are you looking forward to in collaborating with this cast and production team? PR: I have worked with almost every one of the principals in the cast except Michelle DeYoung — but I have known her for so many years (we have the same teacher, Patricia McCaffrey) and love her work and her as a person. With Alan Held, I have done many a Peter Grimes and Tosca; Brian and I have shared evenings of Puccini in Madama Butterfly and Tosca in San Francisco, and both Alan Glassman and Renée Rapier were among my fantastic cast members at Ravinia this summer. I am also happy to have Sebastian Lang-Lessing at the podium again, as we loved collaborating in OPERA San Antonio’s big opening gala in 2013. I have already enjoyed back and forth conversations with our director, Candace Evans - she has a great team assembled around her. 14
w w w. o p e ra s a n a n t o n i o . c o m Q: What did you learn from your first concert Salome at the Ravinia Festival? PR: I LOVED it! The Chicago Symphony led by James Conlon was an extraordinary wash of sound behind me, beside me, in front of me(!). That will be the biggest difference in doing this staged version: the orchestra will be in the pit, as truly intended. Strauss writes such rich and colorful orchestration that the acoustic of having the orchestral musicians in such close proximity created a different atmosphere.
Q: Do you think this will lead you to start exploring more of this repertoire in the future? What other Strauss operas do you find especially appealing? PR: Sure I will. I have been asked about Chrysothemis in Elektra, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, and a few others. And then there’s the whole catalogue of other Germanic greats like Wozzeck — I would love to sing Marie. And then Janáček comes flying back to mind, and I am also dying to do Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Exploring new repertory is a passion of mine that has not diminished!
Q: What do you think of being at the center of OPERA San Antonio’s inaugural season? PR: I was so thoroughly impressed with my experience singing the Inaugural Gala with OPERA San Antonio that I was convinced good things were in this company’s future. Tobias and I have not only enjoyed a professional relationship over many years and many projects (I have premiered his operas at Santa Fe, San Francisco, and The Met) but a very convivial one as well. I count him among my friends. He has surrounded me with a wonderful cast, conductor, production team, and crew — in what better situation could I find myself for my first staged outing of this character?
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OPERA San Antonio
OPERA San Antonio Presents
SALOME an opera in one act by Richard Strauss
Libretto by the composer Based on the play by Oscar Wilde This production is in memory of Margaret Batts Tobin and Robert Lynn Batts Tobin Thursday January 8, 2015 7:30pm │ Sunday January 11, 2015 2:00pm H-E-B Performance Hall │ Tobin Center for the Performing Arts Conductor
Sebastian Lang-Lessing Stage Director & Choreographer
Candace Evans Set Designer
Andrew Cavanaugh Holland Costume Designer
Linda Pisano
Lighting Designer
Chad R. Jung
Wig and Makeup Designer
Stephanie Williams Cover Conductor Andrés Cladera
Supertitles and Pre-Performance Lecture
Jon T. White
Dancers Yosvani Cortellan* Jason Cox* Nikki Hyde Dylan Duke* Patrick VanBuren* Technical Director Ian Morris* John David Peters Party Guests Ryan Gehrlein This performance has been made possible in part by grants from the following: Justin Keown City of San Antonio, Corey McDonnough Department for Culture and Creative Development Veronica Morrison The Tobin Endowment Miguel Roberts Kronkosky Charitable Foundation Lindsey Van de Kirk Charles C. Butt, H-E-B Russell Hill Rogers Funds for the Arts *OPERA San Antonio debut Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation † role debut The performance will last 90 minutes without intermission. Production Stage Manager
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Cast
Narraboth Brian Jagde† A Page Renée Rapier† First Soldier Matthew Anchel* Second Soldier Jason Grant* A Cappadocian Önay Kağan Köse*† Jochanaan Alan Held Salome Patricia Racette† A Servant Tynan Davis† Herod Allan Glassman* Herodias Michelle DeYoung*† First Jew Daniel Curran*† Second Jew Alex Richardson*† Third Jew John Robert Lindsey† Fourth Jew Edwin Vega Fifth Jew Jeremy Galyon*† First Nazarene Andrew Craig Brown† Second Nazarene Eric Schmidt†
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Synopsis We are at the palace of Herod, in a courtyard with a cistern. Narraboth, Captain of the Guard, is infatuated with the princess Salome; a Page warns him that such an infatuation is dangerous. Two soldiers comment that the Jews at the banquet inside are making a racket with their religious disputes and that Herod is in a dark mood. When a voice is heard coming from the cistern, a Cappadocian visitor asks who is being held captive. The soldiers reply that it is a man named Jochanaan, thought to be a prophet. Salome comes out to the courtyard, hoping to escape Herod’s glances and the raucous party. Hearing Jochanaan’s voice, she demands to see him. Refused by the soldiers, she turns to Narraboth. When she offers to meet him in the market the next day, he relents and orders the soldiers to let Jochanaan out. Jochanaan rants about the sins of Herod and Herodias, his wife and the widow of his own brother, who is Salome’s mother. Salome extols Jochanaan’s body, his hair, and his mouth. As she becomes more and more fascinated with Jochanaan, Narraboth tries to divert her attention. When he fails, he stabs himself and dies. When Salome insists that Jochanaan kiss her, he curses her and returns to the cistern. Herod, Herodias and their party guests move their festivities outside. While looking for Salome, Herod steps in the blood of the dead Narraboth and speaks of ill omens. He tries to entice Salome to take food or wine with him, but she refuses. Herodias warns him to stop looking at her daughter. Jochanaan’s voice is heard again, inspiring a debate among the banquet guests. When Jochanaan resumes berating Herodias’ sins; she demands that he be silenced. Herod asks Salome to dance. She refuses, but when he offers her any reward she could wish, she decides to dance. After the dance, Herod tells Salome to name her reward. She demands a silver platter with the head of Jochanaan. Herod is aghast; Herodias is triumphant. Herod offers Salome jewels, pearls, land, anything but this man’s life. When she refuses even the high priest’s robe and the veil of the sanctuary, Herod relents. The executioner is sent into the cistern. Salome waits anxiously. Hearing no pleas or fighting, she thinks the executioner has failed. Finally, he returns with the severed head. Becoming ever more impassioned, Salome relieves her lust for Jochanaan, finally kissing his dead mouth.
- written by Candace Evans
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OPERA San Antonio
The Cast (in order of appearance) Brian Jagde† (Narraboth)
Tenor The American tenor Brian Jagde is returning to OPERA San Antonio after making both his company and role debut as the Prince in last season’s concert performance of Rusalka (a co-production with the San Antonio Symphony for the Dvořák Festival). He was back at San Francisco Opera this past summer to star as Cavaradossi in Tosca; this season he makes his debuts at the Royal Opera House as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, at Portland Opera as Don José in Carmen, and at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia as Ismaele in Nabucco. A graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship Program, Mr. Jagde has appeared on the main stage there in such roles as Pinkerton, Joe in La Fanciulla del West, Janek (The Makropulos Case), and Vitellozzo (Lucrezia Borgia). Other recent engagements have included his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Arabella, Don José (Carmen) at Opéra de Limoges, Cavaradossi at Santa Fe Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, Alfredo (La traviata) at Opera Grand Rapids and with the Orlando Philharmonic, Rodolfo (La bohéme) with Lorin Maazel and the Munich Philharmonic, and his European debut as the title role in Werther at the Teatr Wielki Opera Poznań in Poland. Mr. Jagde holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Voice and Opera Studies from the Purchase College Conservatory of Music and won second prize at Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition in 2012.
Renée Rapier† (A Page)
Mezzo-Soprano Praised for her “dark, velvety mezzo” (Opera News) and “exceptional strength and solidity” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Renée Rapier is quickly establishing herself in opera houses around the world and returns after making her debut with OPERA San Antonio as Mrs. Fox in the company’s inaugural production of Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox this past September. After receiving training as both a Los Angles Opera Domingo-Thornton Young Artist and an Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera (where she created the role of the Fifth Maid in the world premiere production of Picker’s Dolores Claiborne), Ms. Rapier has gone on to make debuts at Wolf Trap Opera and the Ravinia Festival as well. She recently sang Olga in Eugene Onegin with the Seoul Philharmonic. Upcoming engagements include a return to Los Angeles Opera to play Cherubino in both The Ghosts of Versailles and Le Nozze di Figaro as well as debuts at the Opera Theatre St. Louis and Seattle Opera. Ms. Rapier won the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition in 2012 and was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national semifinalist in 2011 and, in 2013, a finalist in the Seoul International Music Competition.
Matthew Anchel* (First Soldier)
Bass The American bass Matthew Anchel has been called a “voice to watch” by The Wall Street Journal and a “standout” by Opera News. In the 2010-2011 season he joined Los Angeles Opera as a part of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program, where he sang the roles of Count Ceprano (Rigoletto) and the Fourth Noble (Lohengrin). He recently made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in the world premiere of Gerald Barry’s opera The Importance of Being Earnest as Doctor Chasuble. In the 2009-2010 season he performed the title role in Le nozze di Figaro at the Intermezzo Opera Festival in Bruges, Belgium. He has continued with several company and role debuts: Balthazar (Amahl and the Night Visitors) at Chelsea Opera, Sarastro (The Magic Flute), and Sparafucile (Rigoletto) at New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Enrico VIII (Anna Bolena) at the dell’arte Ensemble, and Famigliare in Maria di Rohan at the Caramoor Music Festival. Previous performances include his professional debut as Horaste in William Walton’s opera Troilus and Cressida as a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
*OPERA San Antonio debut † role debut 18
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Jason Grant* (Second Soldier)
Bass-Baritone A native of Los Angeles, bass-baritone Jason Grant has won acclaim for his elegantly expressive, richly hued voice. First-place winner of the Wagner Division in the 2013 Liederkranz Competition, he has sung with the Detroit Symphony in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Leonard Slatkin in a performance that was recently released on the orchestra’s label. In recent seasons Mr. Grant has also performed in Beethoven’s Ninth with the orchestras of Nashville, Houston, New Jersey, Santa Barbara, Grand Rapids, and the Grant Park Music Festival. With the New York Philharmonic he performed and recorded Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 for Lorin Maazel’s final concerts as music director, which followed concert performances of Tosca led by Maestro Maazel and a debut in the Bach St. Matthew Passion led by Kurt Masur. Mr. Grant performed a variety of roles over seven seasons with New York City Opera. Operatic highlights include Angelotti in Tosca and Monterone in Rigoletto at Seattle Opera; Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Don Giovanni, and the Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann at Dallas Opera; and multiple appearances with the Opera Orchestra of New York, all at Carnegie Hall. An alumnus of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and the Steans Institute at Ravinia, Mr. Grant was the First Place winner of the 2000 Palm Beach Opera/ Anton Guadagno Vocal Competition and the 1998 Dr. Loren Zachary Society Competition. He is a graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center as well as the Eastman School of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Music and the Performer’s Certificate.
Önay Kağan Köse*† (A Cappadocian)
Bass Önay Kağan Köse, who completed his Master’s Degree and Attending Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at the Juilliard School, is a native of Turkey. In March 2014 he made his Alice Tully Hall debut singing in Juilliard’s Vocal Arts Recital. He has also appeared in a Young Artists Concert at the Salzburg Festival. Credits in past seasons have included Pantalone in Le donne curiose, the Priest/Badger in The Cunning Little Vixen, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, and the King in Cendrillon. During the current season he can also be seen as Selim in Il turco in Italia and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro at Juilliard Opera and as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall. He is a second-prize winner of the Siemens Opera Competition.
Alan Held (Jochanaan)
Bass-Baritone Returning to OPERA San Antonio after performing the role of the Water Sprite in last season’s Rusalka, the American bass-baritone Alan Held is recognized internationally as one of the leading singing actors today. He has appeared in the world’s finest opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company, the Royal Opera House, Paris Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, and the Munich State Opera. His many roles include Wotan in the Ring, the title roles in The Flying Dutchman and Wozzeck, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, all four villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Don Pizzaro in Fidelio, Orestes in Elektra, and Balstrode in Peter Grimes. Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Held has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Met Opera Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and the Berlin Philharmonic. He has also appeared at the Salzburg, Tanglewood, and Saito Kinen festivals and at the BBC Proms. Mr. Held’s performances of Donner in the Met’s production of Das Rheingold and the title role in the Paris Opera’s production of Cardillac are available on DVD, and he appears as Don Pizzaro on Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic’s recording of Fidelio (EMI). He also appeared as the four villains in the Met’s HD broadcast of the Les contes d’Hoffmann. A native of Washburn, Illinois, Mr. Held received his vocal training at Millikin University and at Wichita State University, where he was most recently named Associate Professor, The Ann and Dennis Ross Faculty of Distinction.
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OPERA San Antonio
The Cast (continued) Patricia Racette† (Salome)
Soprano Patricia Racette was the first artist to sing with OPERA San Antonio when she opened the Gala Concert of Stars on May 23, 2013. She continues to set the standard in works both classic and new and has appeared in all the great opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Royal Opera House, La Scala, Paris Opera, and the Bayerische Staatsoper. Ms. Racette is seen regularly at these houses, and her many roles include the title roles in Jenůfa, Luisa Miller, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Salome, and Kátya Kabanová; all three lead soprano roles in Il Trittico; Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites; Nedda in Pagliacci; Leonora in Il trovatore; Marguerite in Faust; and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes. Her performances of Madama Butterfly and Peter Grimes at the Metropolitan Opera were seen in movie theaters across the world, with Madama Butterfly being one of the most successful broadcasts in the history of the Metropolitan Opera’s The Met: Live in HD series; it was subsequently released on DVD. With the release of Diva on Detour, her breakout first cabaret album, Ms. Racette officially adds the cabaret genre to her performance platform. Her cabaret show has been heard live in New York for 54 Below, the Michael Schimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Century Club, and the Neue Gallerie; in Washington D.C.’s Birchmere Theater, San Francisco’s Venetian Room, Dallas’ Winspear Theater, and also several venues in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A supporter of new works, Ms. Racette most recently created the roles of Dolores Claiborne in Tobias Picker’s eponymous opera at San Francisco Opera and Leslie Crosbie in Paul Moravec’s The Letter at Santa Fe Opera. Other world premieres have included Roberta Alden in Picker’s An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role in Picker’s Emmeline at Santa Fe Opera, and Love Simpson in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree at Houston Grand Opera. With the release of Diva on Detour, her breakout first cabaret album, Ms. Racette officially adds the cabaret genre to her performance platform. Her cabaret show has been heard live at 54 Below, the Michael Schimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Century Club, and the Neue Gallerie in New York; the Birchmere Theater in Washington, D.C.; San Francisco’s Venetian Room; the Winspear Theater in Dallas; and in several venues in Santa Fe. Born and raised in New Hampshire, Ms. Racette studied jazz and music education at North Texas State University. Last summer Ms. Racette sang her first Salome on the concert stage at the Ravinia Festival. With this production she makes her full stage debut in the role.
Tynan Davis† (A Servant)
Mezzo-Soprano San Antonio native Tynan Davis returns for her third engagement with OPERA San Antonio, where she previously performed one of the three mischievous wood nymphs in Dvořák’s Rusalka (with the San Antonio Symphony) and Rita the Rat in Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. Other favorite gigs include a month-long tour with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, a brief moment on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as an operatic zombie, and regular performances with Austin’s Conspirare and San Antonio’s SOLI Chamber Ensemble. This spring she will perform with Conspirare in the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s How Little You Are and with the San Antonio Symphony and associate conductor Aikiko Fugimoto in their Young People’s Concert titled Link Up: The Orchestra Sings! Tynan is a volunteer artist with Sing For Hope and an alumna of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio. Website: tynandavis.com.
Allan Glassman* (Herod)
Tenor Allan Glassman has thrilled audiences throughout America and Europe for decades with his vibrant timbre and committed interpretations of roles. Critics exclaim that “his very presence on stage made those around him sound better.” A regular at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Glassman triumphed as Herod in a new production of Salome and has since been heard in the Met’s productions of Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Boris Godunov, The Great Gatsby, Carmen, Elektra, Káťa Kabanová, The Ghosts of Versailles, Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, Salome, Wozzeck, and, most recently, in the roles of Red Whiskers in Billy Budd and the Hunchback Brother in Die Frau ohne Schatten. This season he returns to the Met for Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and performs Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut at Mobile Opera.
w w w. o p e ra s a n a n t o n i o . c o m Hailed as the Otello of his generation, he has recently performed the role at Opera Company of Philadelphia, Arizona Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Dallas Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Chautauqua Opera. Other recent engagements include Herald in Pizzetti’s Assassinio nella cattedrale with San Diego Opera, a production of Elektra at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and reprisals of his signature role of Herod in Salome with the Ravinia Festival, San Diego Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and Dallas Opera.
Michelle DeYoung*† (Herodias)
Mezzo-Soprano Michelle DeYoung continues to be in demand throughout the world, appearing regularly with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Vienna Philharmonic, Berliner Staatskapelle, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. She has also performed at the prestigious festivals of Ravinia, Tanglewood, Saito Kinen, Edinburgh, and Lucerne. Equally at home on the opera stage, Ms. DeYoung has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro alla Scala, Bayreuth Festival, Berliner Staatsoper, Paris Opera, Theater Basel, and Tokyo Opera. Her many roles include Fricka, Sieglinde, and Waltraute in the Ring cycle; Kundry in Parsifal; Venus in Tannhäuser; Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde; Eboli in Don Carlos; Amneris in Aida; Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle; Dido in Les Troyens; Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana; Jocaste in Oedipus Rex; and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia. A multiple Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Ms. DeYoung has an impressive discography that includes Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, Symphony No. 3, and Das Klagende Lied with the San Francisco Symphony (SFS Media); Les Troyens with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live!); and Mahler’s Symphony No 3 with both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO Resound) and with the Pittsburgh Symphony (Challenge Records International). Her first solo disc was released on the EMI label.
Daniel Curran*† (First Jew)
Tenor A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Chapman University Conservatory of Music, Dan Curran performed the role of Gilbert Griffiths in Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy last summer at Glimmerglass Festival. Mr. Curran was previously a resident artist with Pittsburgh Opera, singing such roles as the Messenger in Verdi’s Aida, Cegeste in Glass’s Orphée, and Paul in Gregory Spears’ Paul’s Case. Other recent roles include Cassio in Verdi’s Otello at Pittsburgh Opera, Peter Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw at West Edge Opera, Orphée in Gotham Chamber Opera’s production of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers, and a policeman in San Francisco Opera’s world premiere of Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Mr. Curran has also had the pleasure to work with such organizations as New York City Opera (Così fan tutte and Powder Her Face), the New York Philharmonic (Live from Lincoln Center’s Carousel), and Encores! (The Most Happy Fella). He is a 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council district winner as well as an Encouragement Award winner at the MONC regionals. Mr. Curran’s next engagement is as Will Ladislaw in Allen Shearer’s Middlemarch in Spring with Composer’s Inc. in San Francisco.
Alex Richardson*† (Second Jew)
Tenor Recent credits include the U.S. premiere in the title role of Alemto by Franco Faccio at Opera Southwest and Baltimore Concert Opera; a debut at Spoleto USA as Vanya (Kát’a Kabanová); Molqi in The Death of Klinghoffer at Long Beach Opera; and his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in a work by the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. A former Tanglewood Institute Fellow, Alex Richardson has performed as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, including at the Tanglewood Festival and in a presentation of Salome under Andris Nelsons; he will return to sing with the BSO in Szymanowski’s King Roger this spring. Career highlights include Tom Buchanan (The Great Gatsby), the Steuermann (The Flying Dutchman) and Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Princeton Festival; Alfredo (La traviata) and the Duke (Rigoletto), Festival de Belle-Île, France;
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OPERA San Antonio
The Cast (continued) and covering the title role in Werther, Washington National Opera. He is a roster member of the Marilyn Horne Foundation and has sung recital residencies throughout America with On Wings of Song. He has been honored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, holds degrees from the University of Colorado and The Manhattan School of Music, and has participated in the young artist programs of Central City Opera and The Santa Fe Opera.
John Robert Lindsey*† (Third Jew)
Tenor Known for his intense characterizations and expressive vocal ability, tenor John Robert Lindsey is a dynamic singing actor. During his time as a Resident Artist at Minnesota Opera, he performed in 14 productions over three seasons. Past engagements include Marvin Heeno in the world premiere of the revised Dream of Valentino by Dominic Argento, Malcolm in Macbeth, Count Elemer in Arabella, Edmondo in Manon Lescaut, Pang in Turandot, Ismaele in Nabucco, Goro in Madama Butterfly, Jonathan Dale in the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Silent Night by Kevin Puts, Don José in Carmen, Sam Polk in Susannah, and the Stage Manager in Our Town by Ned Rorem. His concert repertoire has included the tenor solo parts in Parables by Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, and Handel’s Messiah. He was selected to workshop the lead tenor role in The Manchurian Candidate by Kevin Puts, which is slated to debut as a full production at Minnesota Opera in 2015.
Edwin Vega (Fourth Jew)
Tenor Returning to OPERA San Antonio after performing the role of Farmer Bunce in the company’s production of Fantastic Mr. Fox, Edwin Vega has been hailed as a “remarkable young tenor.” He made his professional debut with English National Opera as Molqi in a new production of John Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer, a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera directed by Tom Morris (Tony Award winner for War Horse). The New York Times recently praised Mr. Vega as an “ardent, youthful tenor” as the title character in the staged world premiere of Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now’s production of Mohammed Fairouz’s Sumeida’s Song. Along with the Fourth Jew and his appearance as Farmer Bunce last fall, his 2014-15 season engagements include Little Bat in Susannah at Toledo Opera. During the 2013-2014 season Mr. Vega debuted with the Komische Oper Berlin in Zimmerman’s Die Soldaten (Young Officer), Virginia Opera (the Dance Master in Ariadne auf Naxos), and the National Symphony Orchestra (Faninal’s MajorDomo in Der Rosenkavalier). The 2012-2013 season included performances with Opera Omaha (the Priest and Armored Guard in The Magic Flute), Cincinnati Opera (Faninal’s Major-Domo and the Italian Tenor (cover) in Der Rosenkavalier) and a return to the Metropolitan Opera Workshop. The season concluded with performances in None But the Lonely Heart: The Strange Story of Tchaikovsky and Madame von Meck and L’incornazione di Poppea.
Jeremy Galyon*† (Fifth Jew)
Tenor Applauded for his “robust and charismatic performances” (San Francisco Chronicle), Jeremy Galyon continues to impress audiences and critics alike. The 2014-2015 season features his debuts at Pacific Opera Victoria as Fafner in Das Rheingold and at Dayton Opera as Sarastro in The Magic Flute, as well as Verdi’s Requiem with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Huntsville Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem with Symphoria (Syracuse, NY). A former Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, his appearances there have included Count Horn in Un ballo in maschera, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Lincoln in the world premiere of Philip Glass’s Appomattox, and Sarastro in The Magic Flute. He joined the Metropolitan Opera in the 2008-09 season as Alessio in La sonnambula and has since appeared at the Met in productions of Billy Budd, Gianni Schicchi, Ernani, Madama Butterfly, Nabucco, The Queen of Spades, Rigoletto, Der Rosenkavalier, and Tosca. Recent engagements include Lt. Ratcliffe in Billy Budd and the Second Priest/Second Armored
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w w w. o p e ra s a n a n t o n i o . c o m Man in The Magic Flute at Houston Grand Opera; Sarastro in The Magic Flute at Utah Opera; Crespel in The Tales of Hoffmann at Opera Theatre of St. Louis; and Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Chicago Opera Theater.
Andrew Craig Brown† (First Nazarene)
Bass-Baritone Andrew Craig Brown returns to OPERA San Antonio after making his company debut as Farmer Boggis in Fantastic Mr. Fox. This season will also include his Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra debut in performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Last summer Mr. Brown made his debut at San Francisco Opera in Madama Butterfly. Other recent engagements have included Achilla in Giulio Cesare and Colline in La bohème at the English National Opera, as well as debuts with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi as Chick in Wonderful Town and at the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival of Warsaw as Il Duca Ramiro in Maria Padilla, a role which he also recorded with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2011. He also appeared in the Yale School of Music productions of Don Giovanni, Le Rossignol, Le nozze di Figaro, and Cosí fan tutte. Mr. Brown is a graduate of Yale University, where he earned both his Master’s degree in music and his Artist Diploma while studying with Richard Cross.
Eric Schmidt† (Second Nazarene)
Tenor Eric Schmidt is delighted to return to OPERA San Antonio, where he made his company and role debut as the Hunter in the concert performances of Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka last year. He has performed with the San Antonio Symphony as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Schmidt performed the roles of Larry/Matt in Opera Piccola of San Antonio’s production of The Face on the Barroom Floor in July 2012. In April of the same year he sang the role of Piquillo in Jacques Offenbach’s La Périchole at Amarillo Opera. Schmidt sang Fadinard in Nino Rota’s The Italian Straw Hat with the same company. A San Antonio native, Schmidt received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Abilene Christian University and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He is the Director of Choral Activities at St. Philip’s College and is the artistic director for the San Antonio-based men’s chorus IlluMen.
Yosvani Cortellan* (Dancer) Born in Camaguey, Cuba, Yosvani Cortellan began his training with the Cuban School of Ballet, graduating with a gold diploma and the distinction of “best student of the year.” He has participated in a variety of national and international ballet competitions. As a professional, he has performed with Cuba Camaguey Ballet, National Ballet of Ecuador, Peru Lima City Ballet, New World Ballet of Caracas, and National Ballet of Panama. In addition, he has worked as a guest principal artist with companies including Dominican Ballet, Ballet Anna Pavlova of Bogotá, and Classical Ballet with Nina Novak. Mr. Cortellan’s traditional classical, neoclassical, and contemporary ballet repertoire includes Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, Carmina Burana, Carmen, The Taming of the Shrew, and Sleeping Beauty. He has also worked with such choreographers as Vasily Medvedev, Jaime Pinto, and Alberto Maendez. This is Mr. Cortellan’s second season with Ballet San Antonio.
Jason Cox* (Dancer) Jason Cox, a native of San Antonio, began his ballet training with Judith Gani. He has performed with Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre and other community groups within the city. His most notable roles with Ballet San Antonio include Dr. Van Helsing in Dracula, Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, Dr. Coppelius in Coppelia, and the Stepsister in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella. This is Mr. Cox’s third season with Ballet San Antonio.
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The Cast (continued) Dylan Duke* (Dancer)
Dylan Duke started dancing in his hometown’s Baltimore Actors Theatre Conservatory at age 11. He attended high school at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he performed lead roles in The Nutcracker and in contemporary works by Lisa DeRibere and Antoine Wilson. After graduating from high school, he became an apprentice with Ballet Austin, performing pieces by Stephen Mills, Jennifer Hart, and Thang Dao. Mr. Duke later performed with Ballet Pensacola, dancing pieces by Richard Steinert and Christine Duhon. He has attended many professional summer intensives, including at Houston Ballet, Chautauqua Ballet with Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Ballet Austin, and the Royal Ballet School. This is Mr. Duke’s third season with Ballet San Antonio.
Patrick VanBuren* (Dancer) Patrick VanBuren began dancing at age 11 at the Dussich Dance Studio in Merritt Island, Florida. In 2005 he was a finalist in the Regional Youth America Grand Prix competition and won Florida Dance Master’s “Mr. Dance” title. That year Mr. VanBuren began attending the Orlando Ballet School and joined the school’s trainee program in 2006. From 2007 to 2009, he was a member of Orlando Ballet II. After leaving Orlando, Mr. VanBuren danced with Columbia City Ballet in the Corps de Ballet and was promoted to soloist following his first season. Among his greatest honors were his acceptance at and attendance of the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Mr. VanBuren has performed numerous roles as a guest artist and in professional tours throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Illinois, and Texas. In 2013 he joined Ballet San Antonio.
Ian Morris* (Swing) Ian Morris was born in Saratoga Springs, NY, and began his dance training under the direction of Phyllis Latin. He studied ballet, jazz, Latin, and tap and joined the Phyllis Latin Dance Company to further pursue his ballet training. In December 2002, he and the Latin Dance Company performed at the Bolshoi Student Theater in Moscow. He attended the Joffrey Ballet School on full scholarship in 2004 and was subsequently invited to join the Joffrey Ensemble Dancers. Mr. Morris has been a guest artist with Ballet Tennessee, Connecticut Ballet, and Berks Ballet Theatre, among others. In 2006, he joined Montgomery Ballet under the direction of Elie Lazar. He was featured in lead roles in The Nutcracker, Carmen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Paquita, La Bayadère, and Sleeping Beauty, as well as in other classical and contemporary works. Mr. Morris spent the 2009-2010 season with Ballet San Antonio before returning to Montgomery Ballet. In 2011, Artistic Director Gabriel Zertuche brought Mr. Morris back to Ballet San Antonio, where he made his debut as principal dancer in the title role of Dracula. My San Antonio’s ArtBeat declared:“Played by principal dancer Ian Morris, Dracula is even more menacing and compelling. His speed, strength, acting, and sheer presence give you shivers.” Since his return to San Antonio, Mr. Morris has danced leading roles in Gabriel Zertuche’s The Nutcracker, Love Triangle, and Scheherazade. In October 2013 he was featured as Prince Charming in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella.
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OPERA San Antonio
Biographies Sebastian Lang-Lessing
Conductor Among the most versatile and seasoned musicians of his generation, German conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing returns to OPERA San Antonio after conducting the company’s Gala Concert of Stars in May 2013 and concert performances of Rusalka in early 2014. A sought-after guest at the most prestigious symphony halls and opera houses world wide, Mr. Lang-Lessing is currently in his fifth season as Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra. His previous posts have included Resident Conductor at the Hamburg State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Opera National de Lorraine, the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy, and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Recent and upcoming North American symphonic engagements include with the Milwaukee Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Oregon Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Grand Teton Music Festival. Previous notable engagements have included with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Mr. Lang-Lessing is equally at home in the opera theater, and his recent appearances have included Die Tote Stadt at Dallas Opera, the International Wagner Competition at Seattle Opera, and a critically acclaimed Rienzi at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In addition to Salome, Mr. Lang-Lessing will appear at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing to lead a production of Der Rosenkavalier this spring.
Candace Evans*
Stage Director and Choreographer Internationally recognized, Candace Evans has been praised as a stage director/choreographer with “a flawless sense of timing” (Opera News), whose work is “genuine gripping drama” (Opera Now). Honored by the National Music Critics of Argentina, her La Viuda Alegre at the legendary Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires was named one of the top three operas of the entire Argentinian season. Her productions of Carmen, Eugene Onegin, and The Merry Widow were similarly named among the top ten classical events for Madison Opera and Dallas Opera. In addition to these many accolades, Ms. Evans’ recent production of Akhnaten was selected by Philip Glass for DVD distribution as a definitive performance. Among Ms. Evans’ past engagements are productions for the opera companies of Santa Fe, Arizona, Palm Beach, Fort Worth, North Carolina, Knoxville, and Indianapolis, as well as Florentine Opera, Opera Southwest, and the Montefeltro Festival. Upcoming productions include La Wally for Dallas Opera, as well as productions of La traviata, Lucia de Lammermoor, and Il Matrimonio Segreto, which will be part of the opening season of the newly restored Teatro Petrarca in Arezzo, Italy. She will also be the stage director for the world premiere of Riders of the Purple Sage, which is based on the Zane Grey novel, for Arizona Opera’s 2016 season. Website: www.candaceevansdirector. com.
Andrew Cavanaugh Holland* Set Designer Andrew Cavanaugh Holland is thrilled to be collaborating with OPERA San Antonio in their inaugural season. He has designed extensively for all types of live performance. His work has been seen at the Spoleto Festival USA, the Juilliard School of Music, Chicago Opera Theater, The Canadian Opera Company, The Yale Repertory Theater, and a long list of other venues. Most recently, Mr. Holland’s design for Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Lizzie Borden was restaged as part of the 2014 season at the Tanglewood Music Center. In addition to his design work, Mr. Holland serves on the Theater Faculty of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.
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Biographies (continued) Linda Pisano*
Costume Designer Linda Pisano designs for theater, dance, musical theater, ballet, and opera throughout the United states; her ballet designs have toured the United Kingdom and Canada. Ms. Pisano is an award-winning designer whose work has been featured in the Quadrennial World Design Expo in Prague and the World Stage Design exhibition, and she is a four-time recipient of the Peggy Ezekiel Award for Excellence in Design. A Professor of Costume Design at Indiana University, she also directs the Theatre and Drama study abroad program in London and designs regularly for the renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theatre, including for the world premieres of Bernard Rands’ opera Vincent and P.Q. Phan’s opera The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh. She serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. Ms. Pisano is a member of the United Scenic Artists, Local 829.
Chad R. Jung
Lighting Designer Chad R. Jung returns to OPERA San Antonio after creating the lighting design for the company’s Gala Concert of Stars in May 2013, the concert performances of Rusalka in 2014, and Fantastic Mr. Fox, which inaugurated the company’s official first season at the Tobin Center last September. He has designed more than 250 productions for theater, opera, music, and dance. Opera credits include more than 30 productions for companies including Atlanta Opera, Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Pacific, and OPERA San Antonio. Off-Broadway credits: Leonce & Lena; NY Theatre: Julia Pastrana and A Leopard Complains of Its Spots, Shelf Life. International credits: The Bear at the Festival of Russian Drama in Togliatti, Russia. Mr. Jung has designed for many other artists and organizations including Ballet Austin, Bruce Wood, Caroline Calouche, Casa Mañana, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Lyle Lovett, Metropolitan Classical Ballet, Texas Ballet Theatre, and Willie Nelson. In addition the being the Lighting Director for Fort Worth Opera, Mr. Jung is the Resident Lighting Designer for Amphibian Stage Productions, Kids Who Care, and UNT Opera. Website: www.chadrjungdesign.com.
Stephanie Williams
Wig and Makeup Designer Based in New Braunfels, Texas, Stephanie Williams returns to OPERA San Antonio after being part of the design team for Fantastic Mr. Fox last September. She is Assistant Department Head of Wig and Makeup at Santa Fe Opera, Resident Wig Designer at Pegasus Theatre, and Associate/Wig and Makeup Artist at Opera Philadelphia. Recent credits include Carmen, Don Pasquale, Fidelio, Impresario/Le Rossignol, and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen at Santa Fe Opera; Ainadamar and Don Giovanni at Opera Philadelphia; and Fantastic Mr. Fox at OPERA San Antonio. Upcoming engagements include as designer in Another Murder, Another Show! at Pegasus Theatre and associate designer in Yard Bird at Opera Philadelphia.
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OPERA San Antonio
Music Director, Sebastian Lang-Lessing
Associate Conductor, Akiko Fujimoto │ Music Director Emeritus, Christopher Wilkins Violin I
Bass
Eric Gratz, Elizabeth H. Coates Concertmaster Chair Bonnie Terry, Associate Concertmaster Sarah Silver, Assistant Concertmaster Joan Christenson Beth Girko* Phillip Johnson Bassam Nashawati Laura Scalzo Renia Shterenberg* Andrew Small* Craig Sorgi Anastasia Storer*
Thomas Huckaby, Principal David Milburn, Assistant Principal Nicholas Browne James Chudnow Zlatan Redzic Steve Zeserman
Violin II
Julie Luker
Mary Ellen Goree, Principal Karen Stiles, Assistant Principal Cleo Aufderhaar Angela Caporale* Beth Johnson* Judy Levine-Holley Sayaka Okada* Eric Siu* Aimee Toomes* Amy Venticinque* Stephanie Teply Westney*
Flute
Martha Long, Principal Jean Robinson Julie Luker, Associate Principal Piccolo Oboe
Paul Lueders, Ewing Halsell Foundation Principal Chair Hideaki Okada, Assistant Principal Jennifer Berg, Sarah Knapp Kidd English Horn Chair Clarinet
Ilya Shterenberg, Principal Stephanie Key, Assistant Principal Ron Noble Contrabassoon
Ron Noble
Viola
Allyson Dawkins, Col. And Mrs. Ran Ratson Principal Chair Emily Watkins Freudigman, Alice Viola Winters Eidson Assistant Principal Chair
Beverly Harnish Bias Beth Breslin Marisa Bushman Keyleigh Miller Terry Stolow Wanda Lydon Lauren Magnus Cello
Kenneth Freudigman, Mary Rohe Principal Chair David Mollenauer, Assistant Principal Barbara George Morgen Johnson Lachezar Kostov Ryan Murphy Lynda Verner 28
Horn
Jeff Garza, Abraham M. Sidorsky Principal Chair Peter Rubins Molly Norcross, Associate Principal Adedeji Ogunfolu Trumpet
John Carroll, Principal Lauren Eberhart Jan Roller, Assistant Principal Trombone
Brian Santero, Principal Patrick Montgomery, Assistant Principal Ilan Morgestern
*voluntarily rotates between violin sections
Bass Trombone
Ilan Morgestern
w w w. o p e ra s a n a n t o n i o . c o m Tuba
Harp
Lee Hipp, Principal
Rachel Ferris, Principal
Timpani
Librarian
Peter Flamm, Principal Riely Francis, Principal Warren Johnson, Assistant Principal Bill Patterson
Greg Vaught, Principal Musician Emeritus
Mark Ackerman, oboe
VP Concert Productions, Karina Bharne │ Stage Manager, Robert Mines
Production Credits
Production Accompanist Laurie Rogers Wardrobe Supervisor Raul McGinnes Properties Master Lisa Ashby First Assistant Stage Manager Hannah Sullivan Assistant Stage Manager Jonathan Moore Assistant Lighting Designer Matthew Wofford Wig and Make-Up Assistant Amanda Clark Wig and Make-Up Staff: Ashanti Maxwell, Charles Douglas, Nora Maoui Head Electrician Dustin Olsen Production Assistant Jessica Hall Program Content Writer Thomas May
Program Cover Illustration Emily Carew Woodard Company Photographer Karen Almond Program Advertising Louis Doucette, Traveling Blender Graphic Artists Jennifer Nelson, Katy Silva Production Printers SmithPrint, QuikPrint Scenery Constructed by SRO Associates, Inc. Costumes for Salome, Herod, Herodias and Jochanaan constructed by Dana Tzvetkova Costumes were constructed by Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Opera/Ballet Costume Shop Marketing and Public Relations by LHA Public Relations, Laura Hernandez Aplin and Leanne Davis Special Thanks Opera Guild of San Antonio The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund Alisam Transportation Management, Dan Weingart LED moon provided by LightFaktor Orville Carr Associates, Charles Forster Trinity University Theatre Department
Kids Who Care Ballet San Antonio The Management and Staff of: Tobin Center for the Performing Arts Texas Public Radio
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OPERA San Antonio
Staff Chairman and General Manager Mel Weingart Artistic Director Tobias Picker Resident Conductor AndrĂŠs Cladera Director of Production Marie Barrett Artistic and Production Coordinator Stephanie McCranie Administrative and Development Coordinator Rhanda Luna Production and Administrative Assistant Jonathan Moore Administrative Assistant Cecille Martinez Office Assistant Winston Rivas
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OPERA San Antonio 417 8th Street San Antonio, Texas 78215 (210) 673-7270