TEATRO LIRICO D’EUROPA MADAMA BUTTERFLY WED., NOV 8 • 7PM
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TEATRO LIRICO D’EUROPA MADAMA BUTTERFLY
by Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa based on John Luther Long’s story and David Belasco’s Play
DISTRIBUTION OF ARTISTS CIO-CIO-SAN
Soprano Ashley Bell
B.F. PINKERTON
Tenor Gregory Turay Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
SHARPLESS
Baritone Michael Nansel American consul at Nagasaki
SUZUKI
Mezzo Soprano Ashley Armstrong Maid to Cio-Cio-San
GORO
Tenor John Easterlin A marriage broker
THE BONZE
Basso Vladimir Hristov Buddhist priest and the uncle of Cio-Cio-San
SORROW
Rylee Rose Child of Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton
PRINCE YAMADORI Tenor Jeremy Sivitz Suitor of Cio-Cio-San
KATE PINKERTON
Soprano Kelly Whitesell
CHORUS OF RELATIVES AND COMPANIONS OF CIO-CIO-SAN, SERVANTS
Kelly Whitesell, Andrea Walker, Anastasia Rege, Isabella Zagare, Rachel Abrams, Shaunna Lucas 2
ARTIST BIOS SOPRANO ASHLEY GALVANI BELL – CIO-CIO-SAN
Hailed by Opera News as “delightful,” soprano Ashley Bell started as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus and has since performed as a soloist in the United States, Italy, Spain, France and Russia. Most recently she made her debut with ABAO Bilbao Opera singing Fiordiligi in COSI FAN TUTTE where she was hailed by ProOpera as having a “superabundance of talent” and she sang Cio Cio San in MADAMA BUTTERFLY with both Bohème Opera New Jersey and Teatro Lirico D’Europa. In 2022, she made her debut with Seville’s Teatro Maestranza as Violetta in LA TRAVIATA, originated the title role in the world premiere of Pedro Halffter’s opera KLARA in both Spain and Harvard University and joined ABAO Bilbao Opera for productions of LA VOIX HUMAINE & Zemlinsky’s EINE FLORENTISCHE TRAGÖDIE. Other 2022 engagements included Mimí in LA BOHÈME with California’s Opera Modesto, Violetta in LA TRAVIATA in the Semana Lirica Lucrecia Arana in Spain’s La Rioja & Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with both Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid and in the Festival de Villafranca del Bierzo. Last season, as in-person performances resumed, she sang one of her signature roles, Elle, in a critically-acclaimed production of LA VOIX HUMAINE both at Spain’s Rioja Forum & Bay Street Theatre. During the pandemic, Ashley produced & starred in the documentary film RIVAL QUEENS featuring music from MARIA STUARDA, which has won 20 awards in international film festivals including Best Documentary at Tokyo Film Festival. In recent seasons, she made her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Hadyn’s “Lord Nelson” Mass and Schubert’s Mass in C with MidAmerica Productions, debuted as Cio-Cio-San in MADAMA BUTTERFLY with California’s Townsend Opera, sang Mimí in LA BOHÈME with both Mississippi Opera and Natchez Festival, sang Donna Anna in sold-out performances at Bay Street Theatre, and debuted with New York City Opera as a principal artist in L’AMORE DEI TRE RE. Other notable performances have included her debut as Gilda in RIGOLETTO with New Jersey Verismo Opera, Anna in LORELEI with Teatro Grattacielo, productions of MADAMA BUTTERFLY and DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES with Sarasota Opera, Fiordiligi in COSÌ FAN TUTTE and Donna Anna in DON GIOVANNI with Orchestra Filarmonica di Roma, Norina in DON PASQUALE in Logroño, Spain, Violetta in LA TRAVIATA with Mid-Atlantic Opera, Isabella Colbran in the premiere of DISCOVERING MRS. ROSSINI at the Sheen Center in NYC, and Musetta at the National Opera Center. Ms. Bell’s other projects have included the lead in Serrano’s zarzuela LA DOLOROSA with Rioja Lirica, soprano soloist in the Italian Cultural Institute & Basilica of St. Patrick Old Cathedral’s commemoration of the 175th Anniversary of Lorenzo da Ponte, Dorothée in the U.S. premiere of Offenbach’s LA BONNE D’ENFANT with Salome Chamber Orchestra, and Molpe in Choreo Theatro’s world premiere of ODYSSEY at the 92nd Street Y. Ms. Bell is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University & speaks five languages fluently. She is a recipient of Yale’s Browne Irish Performing Arts Award & a Scholarship Award at the Crested Butte Music Festival. Upcoming engagements include the title role in Klara at Teatro Perez Galdos in Gran Canaria & Violetta in LA TRAVIATA in Villafranca del Bierzo, Spain.
TENOR GREGORY TURAY – B.F. PINKERTON
American tenor Gregory Turay is the recipient of several of classical music’s most coveted honors. Winner of the Richard Tucker Award, George London Foundation Award, ARIA award, and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Turay was hailed early in his career by the London Times as “one of the brightest natural talents to have emerged from the US in recent years.” A chronicle of international opera and concert engagements merit Mr. Turay’s critical acclaim: San Francisco Opera debut as Don Ottavio in DON GIOVANNI and return as Camille de Rossillon in THE MERRY WIDOW; European debut at the Welsh National Opera as Ferrando 3
ARTIST BIOS in COSI FAN TUTTE; Deutsche Opera Berlin debut as Tamino in DIE ZAUBERFLOTE; Santa Fe Opera debut as Fenton in DER ROSENKAVALIER; Nemorino in L’ELISIR D’AMORE at the Boston Lyric Opera; Nadir in LES PECHEURS DE PERLES, the title role in Orfeo and Ernesto in DON PASQUALE at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Fenton, Palino in IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO and Zeferino in IL VIAGGIO A REIMS at Wolf Trap Opera Festival; debut with the Cleveland Orchestra and Christoph von Dohnanyi in Berlioz’s TE DEUM; Handel’s MESSIAH with San Francisco Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra; Mozart’s CORONATION MASS at the Mostly Mozart Festival; Tanglewood Festival; Mozart’s MASS K 139 at the Salzburg Festival; BERLIOZ REQUIEM at the Edinburg Festival conducted by Don Runnicles; Nadir with the Washington Concert Opera; Lyric Opera of Chicago as Sam Kaplan in WEILL’S STREET SCENE; and Ravinia Festival “Rising Stars” concert. Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions at the age of 21 and alumnus of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, Mr. Turay made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Bringhella in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS and has returned for many engagements including Don Ottavio, Camille de Rossillon, Bringhella, and Ferrando. Mr. Turay’s distinguished career is punctuated by his creation of the role Rodolpho in William Bolcom’s opera A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE for the world premiere at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the ensuing recording of the original cast, numerous performances at the Metropolitan Opera, a televised gala honoring Seiji Ozawa of Haydn’s CREATION with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Levine, and Saito Kinen Festival debut as Don Ottavio in DON GIOVANNI under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. Most recently, he has been heard with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a concert featuring Act III of LA BOHEME under the baton of Robert Spano and with the Netherland Radio Orchestra for the rarely-performed DAVIDE PENITENTE by Mozart. An admired chamber recitalist, Mr. Turay has appeared under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation in New York and Palm Springs; the 92nd Street Y and Alice Tully Hall under the auspices of Young Concert Artists; at the Edinburgh Festival; the Vocal Arts Society in Washington, D.C.; Wolf Trap; in recital throughout the Southeast United States; at the Danny Kaye Playhouse in New York, and a collaborative performance of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes with pianists James Levine and Ken Noda in Weill Recital Hall, New York. Other honors include the Richard Gaddes Award from the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, first prize in both the D’Angelo Young Artists and Catherine E. Pope Competitions, and the Orchestra New England Soloist Prize. Mr. Turay is a graduate of the University of Kentucky.
BARITONE MICHAEL NANSEL – SHARPLESS
Michael Nansel is an award-winning singer and actor. Best known as an opera singer, he is also an accomplished recitalist and concert artist, and appears frequently in musical theater classics. Between Opera and Musicals, Mr. Nansel has over 80-roles to his credit. He sings music from Mozart to Sondheim, from Verdi to Rodger & Hammerstein. He was the Wichita Grand Opera’s Singer of the Year in 2012 and was the dual winner in 2003 of the Washington Area Theatre Community Honors for Outstanding lead actor in a musical and Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. He has also twice been a member of Casts nominated for Helen Hayes Awards. His voice has been described as “stentorian”, “rich” with “great vocal and emotional power”. Reviewers have also remarked that his acting “communicates deep humanity”, can be “tender and anguished” and that he is “the top banana”. Mr. Nansel possesses a diverse repertoire ranging 4
ARTIST BIOS from the comedic Figaro (BARBER OF SEVILLE), DON GIOVANNI (DON GIOVANNI) and Belcore (L’ELISIR D’AMORE) to the dramatic Count Di Luna (IL TROVATORE), the title role of RIGOLETTO and Escamillo (CARMEN). Among his most widely acclaimed roles are the Di Luna, Iago (OTELLO), Figaro, as well as Danilo (THE MERRY WIDOW), and the Title Character in SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. He has also performed the roles of Giorgio Germont (LA TRAVIATA), Marcello (LA BOHEME) Scarpia in (TOSCA) and Sharpless (MADAMA BUTTERFLY) with opera companies all over the USA. His concert credits include: Mendelsohn’s ELIJAH, Haydn’s CREATION, Mozart’s REQUIEM, Faure’s REQUIEM, Handel’s MESSIAH, Brahms’ REQUIEM, Beethoven’s MASS IN C MAJOR, and Block’s SACRED SERVICE (Avodat Hakodesh). He has been conducted by several Maestros of note include Julius Rudel, Plácido Domingo, Eugene Kohn, Marin Alsop, Steven Mercurio and Gregory Buchalter. Directors of note include Stephen Lawless, Jonathon Loy, Jayme McDaniel, James Marvel and Scott Schwartz. He has shared the stage with Joyce DiDonato, Salvatore Licitra, Yunah Lee, Denise Graves, Lucas Meachem, Samuel Ramey and Paul Plishka. Mr. Nansel studies with Andrea DelGiudice and resides in the Washington, DC area with his wife of 36 years and their pack of dogs, lizards, and various fosters. Engagements for 2022-23 include Bryant Park Concert (New York City Opera), Evening of French Duets (New York Chamber Music Festival), JOAN OF ARK: AN OPERA (Bishop Cauchon), MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Sharpless), AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS (Melchior). Engagements for 2022-23 included LOHENGRIN (Fredrick), MESSIAH, VERDI SCENES (Aida/ Falstaff), MACBETH & THE SHAKESPEARE RIOTS (William Charles Macready), MACBETH (Macbeth) as well as performances as Sharpless in Teatro Lirico’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY at major USA venues.
MEZZO SOPRANO ASHLEY ARMSTRONG – SUZUKI
Praised for her “velvety voice” (Chicago Tribune) and “rich resonant sound”, “powerhouse mezzosoprano” Ashley Kay Armstrong’s “star power” “lights up the stage” while “delivering riveting performances” to audiences throughout the nation. Ms. Armstrong begins her 2023/2024 season as Suzuki in MADAMA BUTTERFLY in her company debut with Teatro Lirico d’Europa. In her 2022/2023 season, Ms. Armstrong returned to the role of Hannah After in Kaminsky’s AS ONE as a guest artist with Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and made her debut with Boheme Opera NJ as Suzuki in MADAMA BUTTERFLY. She also returned to Opera Idaho as Třetí žínka in RUSALKA. During the 2021/2022 season, Ms. Armstrong debuted with North Shore Music Festival as The Mother in AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS and returned to Opera Santa Barbara for her role debut as Hannah After. During her 2020/2021 season she performed Hansel in Bel Cantanti Opera’s filmed production of HANSEL AND GRETEL, and was scheduled to make her role debuts as Jo March in Adamo’s LITTLE WOMEN with Opera Santa Barbara, Carrie Pipperidge in Cedar Rapids Opera’s production of CAROUSEL, and Sister Lilliane in DEAD MAN WALKING with Opera Idaho, but all three were unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other recent career highlights include Olga in EUGENE ONEGIN, Rebecca Nurse in THE CRUCIBLE, and Véronique in LE DOCTEUR MIRACLE with Opera Santa Barbara; Javotte in MANON with Opera Idaho; Jenny Diver in THE THREEPENNY OPERA, and Meg Brockie in BRIGADOON with Cedar Rapids Opera. She has been a Semi-Finalist for the American Prize in Art Song and is managed by Encompass Arts.
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ARTIST BIOS TENOR JOHN EASTERLIN – GORO
Tenor John Easterlin has established himself as one of international opera’s most exciting performers. A compelling stage actor, his engagements include creating two iconic American roles: Andy Warhol in the world premiere of the Philip Glass opera The Perfect American at the Teatro Real, Madrid and the English National Opera, London; and Larry King in the U.S. premiere of the Anthony Turnage opera Anna Nicole, for the New York City Opera in conjunction with the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. For the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Easterlin won critical acclaim for his performances as The Scrivener in KHOVANSCHCHINA, Monostatos in THE MAGIC FLUTE, Prince Nilsky in THE GAMBLER, The Fourth Jew in SALOME, and The Young Servant in ELEKTRA. International career highlights include: The Hunchback Brother in DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN and Squeak in BILLY BUDD at the Opéra nationale de Paris; Herod in SALOME for his debut with the Wiener Staatsoper and Spain’s Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico de Mérida; Prince Nilsky in THE GAMBLER and Andres in WOZZECK for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; for Madrid’s Teatro Real: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY as Jack O’Brien and Toby Higgins, LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK as The Shabby Peasant, THE PERFECT AMERICAN, (world premiere), as Andy Warhol, and BORIS GODUNOV as Missail; MAHAGONNY, once again in dual roles, for his debut with the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow; Brighella in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS with the Israeli Opera, Tel Aviv; WOZZECK as Der Hauptmann, for his Saito Kinen Festival debut in Japan; and two productions with the Canadian Opera Company: ARIADNE AUF NAXOS in dual roles as the Tanzmeister and Brighella, and THE MAGIC FLUTE as Monostatos. His extensive U.S. appearances include: SALOME, TURANDOT, and the U.S. premiere of ANNA NICOLE, as Larry King, with the New York City Opera; Lenia in ELIOGABALO and Mayor Upfold in ALBERT HERRING with NYC’s renowned Gotham Chamber Opera; DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, SALOME, LULU, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, TOSCA, DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, and PARSIFAL, all with the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Jack O’Brien in the acclaimed production of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY for the Los Angeles Opera; raves as Herod in SALOME for his debut with the Florida Grand Opera and the Dayton Opera; triumphs as The Witch in HÄNSEL UND GRETEL with the Seattle Opera, Utah Opera, and the Oregon Symphony; LE NOZZE DI FIGARO as Basilio and TURANDOT as Pong with the Opera Company of Philadelphia; for the Dallas Opera: ERMIONE as Attalo, TURANDOT as Pang, and CARMEN as Remendado; his celebrated performance as The Magician in THE CONSUL with the Glimmerglass Festival; and the Four Servants in LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN with the Nashville Opera. On international concert stages, Mr. Easterlin has appeared with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival; Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Merkin Hall; Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall; the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center; and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra at the Schuster Center. Mr. Easterlin has worked with stage directors Hal Prince, John Doyle, Diane Paulus, Julie Taymor, Francesca Zambello, Richard Jones, John Copley, Sir Peter Hall, Robert Wilson, David McVicar, Jürgen Flimm, and Paul Curran; as well as conductors Daniel Barenboim, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Antonio Pappano, James Conlon, Valery Giergiev, Jeffery Tate, Jane Glover, Bernard Labadie, Pablo Heras-Casado, and Emmanuel Villaume.
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ARTIST BIOS Mr. Easterlin’s CD and DVD catalogue includes appearances on PBS Great Performances, Live from Lincoln Center, and the Live in HD Series with the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera. For the telecast of Los Angeles Opera’s acclaimed production of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Mr. Easterlin portrayed the role of Jack O’Brienopposite Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone. The production received two 2009 Grammy Awards for Opera Recording of the Year and Classical Album of the Year. The Teatro Real production of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY, with Mr. Easterlin in the dual roles of Jack O’Brien and Toby Higgins, garnered the ‘French Triple Crown’ in recording: the 2012 Diapason d’Or de l’Année. A master puppeteer, professional mime, and certified magician, he made his Broadway debut as Ubaldo Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre and portrayed the role of Mary Sunshine in the Broadway First National Tour of Chicago.
BASS VLADIMIR HRISTOV – THE BONZE
Bulgarian bass Vladimir Hristov graduated from the National Academy of Music in Sofia. He has been a soloist with Teatro Lirico D’Europa on its U.S. and European opera tours since the winter of 2003 performing supporting roles in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, NABUCCO, MADAMA BUTTERFLY, AIDA, LA TRAVIATA, TURANDOT, RIGOLETTO, TOSCA, NABUCCO and CARMEN.
TENOR JEREMY SIVITZ – YAMADORI
Jeremy Sivitz, tenor, is a burgeoning young artist with a particular propensity for comedy and character. A dedicated singing actor, Sivitz has had the pleasure to sing such roles as Jupiter in Handel’s Semele, Dr. Caius and Bardolpho in Verdi’s Falstaff, Pedrillo in DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, Ali in ZÉMIRE ET AZOR, Monostatos in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, and Don Basilio/Don Curzio in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Sivitz received his BM from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and his MM from IU Jacobs School of Music. Outside of music, Sivitz is an avid dancer, aerial acrobat, and painter.
SOPRANO KELLY WHITESELL – KATE PINKERTON
KELLY WHITESELL, soprano, is from Hebron, Connecticut. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance as well as in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Katherine Ciesinski and Philip Silvey. She completes her graduate studies under the tutelage of Rod Nelman and is a Teaching Assistant at UConn. Whitesell made her professional debut with the Connecticut Lyric Opera as Cleopatra (GIULIO CESARE) in 2022. Previous credits include Elle (LA VOIX HUMAINE), Monica (THE MEDIUM), Donna Elvira (DON GIOVANNI), Celie (SIGNOR DELUSO), Witch (INTO THE WOODS), and Pamina (DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE). She received first prize in the Friends of Eastman Opera Voice Competition in 2019. Kelly enjoys membership in Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford. She has performed concert repertoire such as Liebermann’s SIX SONGS ON POEMS OF NELLY SACHS, Bach’s B-MINOR MASS, and jazz sets as Kelly and the Cats. Miss Whitesell is a passionate CT and NY certified teacher. She taught as a long-term substitute at RHAM Middle and High School, where she taught Choir, Music Theory, and developed the curriculum for History of Popular Music. She holds a Teaching Assistantship with the University of Connecticut, where she provides private voice lessons to undergraduates and instructs the course Stage Skills for Singers. In 2022, she engaged 150 high schoolers on the topic of vocal health in choral settings for a ‘Young Conductor’s Symposium’ at UConn. With gratitude for the privilege and opportunities she has been granted, Kelly loves to share the joy of singing with all.
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ARTIST BIOS RYLEE ROSE – SORROW
Rylee Rose, of Hampstead NH, makes her opera debut in Madama Butterfly. Rylee performs in her school choir and concert band. She loves to bake and draw, but most of her waking hours are spent at the gym with her competitive gymnastics team. She is the reigning vault state champion!
DARA BLACKSTONE – CHORUS MASTER
Dara Blackstone (Chorus Master) delights in her life as conductor, teacher, former singer and sometime director. Dr. Blackstone serves as Chorus Master for CT Lyric Opera, Music Director at The United Church of Stonington and conducts the Griswold Players Community Chorus, United Church Senior Choir, the Ad Hoc Carolers and OBesa Cantavit, a vocal ensemble specializing in contemporary a cappella compositions. Other conducting credits include: UCONN Opera Workshop, The University Chorale- University of Connecticut and Festival Ensembles such as, IN REMEMBRANCE - Annual 9/11 performances of Requiem Masses for chorus and orchestra (Brahms, Mozart and Faure) with choral singers from community choirs in Eastern CT and RI. Singing credits include stints with Nutmeg Theatre, Connecticut Opera, Salt Marsh Opera, UCONN Opera Workshop, CT Lyric Opera and a plethora of choral ensembles. Thank you ACDA! Dara has sung in most of the major European cathedrals and on many stages around the world including The MET, La Scala and Vienna Staatsoper, although the opera debuts occurred during the backstage tours. A public high school teacher for twenty years, Dara credits her students with the completion of her M. Mus and Ph.D. in conducting performance. Dr. Blackstone maintains a private voice and coaching studio, is the author of several unpublished music theory books, including, Singers CAN Count, and serves as an EMT/EMS (Emergency Music Teacher offering Emergency Music Sabbaticals), guest conductor and general trouble shooter for colleagues throughout New England.
MAESTRO ADRIAN SYLVEEN – CONDUCTOR
Award-winning musician Adrian Sylveen enjoys a performing career in the United States and Europe. He is an artistic director of the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and the Connecticut Lyric Opera. Mr. Sylveen has conducted approximately 35 operatic titles and has an extensive orchestral repertoire. He has conducted and performed concerts in the United States, Poland, Italy, Israel, Cuba, Switzerland, Germany, and the former Soviet Union and worked with such ensembles as Israel Chamber Orchestra, Holguín Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra da Camera di Greve-In-Chianti, Olsztyn Philharmonic, Elbląg Chamber Orchestra, Central Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, and others. From 2011 to 2013, he was a conductor for the Magnum Opus series with the New Britain Symphony – The Connecticut Virtuosi. He is also a founder of the Classical Orchestra of Pila in Poland and the newly formed, Hartford-based Moniuszko Choir (2016). Mr. Sylveen is a winner of prizes at competitions in Europe and the United States. He received the American Council for Polish Culture Primus Inter Pares Award from the President of the Republic of Poland. He received permanent US residence for “Extraordinary Abilities in the Arts.” Mr. Sylveen holds Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from the Yale University School of Music; he is also a graduate of the Paderewski Music Academy in Poznan, Poland (diploma with distinction). He had participated in several international Festivals in Weimar, Łancut, and others. Since 2012 he has been on the faculty of the Virtuosi Summer Music Institute in Farmington, Connecticut, and, since 2015, an Artistic Director of the Greve Opera Academy and Chamber Music Festival in Greve-In-Chianti, Italy. Adrian Sylveen collaborated with many exceptional artists, such as Brunilda Myftaraj, Eckart Lorenzen, Luca Rinaldi, Theodore Arm, Jurate Svedaite, Carl Tanner, Jorge Pita Carreras, Michael Wade Lee, Stefan Szkafarowsky, Neal 8
ARTIST BIOS Larrabee, Dmitri Novgorodsky, Rafael Lewandowski, Andre Anweiler, Martin Bresnik, Jadwiga Kotnowska, Marzena Diakun, Grzegorz Dabrowski, Daniel Borowski, Thomas A. Labadorf, Michael Gatonska, Volcan Orhon, Robert DeMaine, Erik Rousi, and many others.
ABOUT TEATRO LIRICO D’EUROPA AND GIORGIO LALOV
Teatro Lirico D’Europa was created in 1988 by the late Yves Josse, a former ballet divo and brilliant French arts promoter, and Giorgio Lalov, a young Bulgarian opera singer who made his debut at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, at the age of 25 while participating in Scala’s famous international training program for young singers. The collaboration between Josse and Lalov was a huge success in a very short time, resulting in tours with over 250 performances a season throughout France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Sicily, and Portugal. The tours included performances for Opera Dijon, performances at Salle Pleyel in Paris, Okinawa Performing Arts Center, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Theatre Carre in Amsterdam, Congresshaus in Zurich, Theatre Trinidade in Lisbon, Teatro Atlantida in Barcelona, Salida de La Compania in Madrid, Teatro Cervantes, Madrid, Teatro Bueno Vallejo, Madrid, Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville, Le Cirque Royale in Brussels and L’Atrium Theatre on the Island of Martinique. Mr. Lalov created the sets and costumes for the productions and organized the chorus and orchestra in Bulgaria. He drew soloists for the productions from a huge reservoir of operatic talent in Bulgaria, central Europe and the United States. Mr. Josse booked the performances for the company from his office in Paris. From the very beginning, the company established itself as highly competent in delivering traditional, full-scale productions featuring a large orchestra and chorus, and professional opera singers who performed at the top national theatres in their native countries. The unusual chemistry of the company proved to be very popular with European audiences. Teatro Lirico D’Europa had completed over 2,000 performances worldwide at the time of Mr. Josse’s passing in 1995. Teatro Lirico D’Europa saw a new beginning in 1995 with the birth of Mr. Lalov’s American son. He shifted his focus from touring in Europe, to touring in the United States. Teatro Lirico D’Europa had developed a firm history of success with a huge portfolio of hundreds of rave reviews for full scale opera productions that had been presented all over Europe at 780 different venues, including Italian summer festivals such as Festival Busetto, Festival San Giovanni Valdarno, and open air festivals in Spello, Montecatini Terme, Siena, Chianciano Terme, Cortona, Padova and Aimini. The company also had a fine collection of outstanding, professionally mastered live CD recordings. Mr. Lalov’s wife, Jenny Kelly, organized the materials and began to make offers to theaters in the United States. By winter 2000, she had booked the first major American tour for the company. The response to the debut tour from both press and theater management was very positive indeed. The popular company has completed 22 consecutive U.S. tours with over 900 performances at 136 different venues, including performances for ten American regional opera companies who have presented Teatro Lirico’s production on their seasons of opera numerous times. The February 2002 issue of OPERA NEWS presented a four-page article on Teatro Lirico D’ Europa, written by former BOSTON GLOBE classical music critic Richard Dyer that stated: “In the past couple of years, the company has presented TURANDOT, AÏDA and NABUCCO in Boston. The physical productions and Lalov’s stagings were reassuringly traditional. Lalov’s stagings tell the story clearly. The solo and ensemble singing in all three operas was lusty, whole hearted-full throated and honest. Something personal and passionate that is often missing from evenings of opera.” OPERA NEWS–Richard Dyer–Feb. 2002 9
SYNOPSIS OF THE OPERA ACT I
Japan, early twentieth century. On a flowering terrace above Nagasaki harbor, U.S. Navy Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton inspects the house he has leased from a marriage broker, Goro, who has just procured him three servants and a geisha wife, Cio-Cio-San, known as Madama Butterfly. To the American consul, Sharpless, who arrives breathless from climbing the hill, Pinkerton describes the carefree philosophy of a sailor roaming the world in search of pleasure. At that moment, he is enchanted with the fragile Cio-Cio-San, but his 999-year marriage contract contains a monthly renewal option. When Sharpless warns that the girl may not take her vows so lightly, Pinkerton brushes aside such scruples, saying he will one day marry a “real” American wife. Cio-Cio-San is heard in the distance joyously singing of her wedding. Entering, surrounded by friends, she tells Pinkerton how when her family fell on hard times, she had to earn her living as a geisha. Her relatives bustle in, noisily expressing their opinions on the marriage. In a quiet moment, Cio-Cio-San shows her bridegroom her few earthly treasures and tells him of her intention to embrace his Christian faith. The imperial commissioner performs the wedding ceremony, and the guests toast the couple. The celebration is interrupted by Cio-Cio-San’s uncle, a Buddhist priest, who bursts in cursing the girl for having renounced her ancestors’ religion. Pinkerton angrily sends the guests away. Alone with Cio-Cio-San in the moonlit garden, he dries her tears, and she joins him in singing of their love.
ACT II
Years later, Cio-Cio-San still waits for her husband’s return. As Suzuki prays to her gods for aid, her mistress stands by the doorway with her eyes fixed on the harbor. When the maid shows her how little money is left, Cio-Cio-San urges her to have faith: One fine day Pinkerton’s ship will appear on the horizon. Sharpless brings a letter from the lieutenant, but before he can read it to Cio-Cio-San, Goro comes with a suitor, the wealthy Prince Yamadori. The girl dismisses both marriage broker and prince, insisting her American husband has not deserted her. When they are alone, Sharpless again starts to read the letter and suggests Pinkerton may not return. Cio-Cio-San proudly carries forth her child, Sorrow, saying that as soon as Pinkerton knows he has a son he surely will come back. If he does not, she would rather die than return to her former life. Moved by her devotion, Sharpless leaves, without having revealed the full contents of the letter. Cio-Cio-San, on the point of despair, hears a cannon report; seizing a spyglass, she discovers Pinkerton’s ship entering the harbor. Now delirious with joy, she orders Suzuki to help her fill the house with flowers. As night falls, Cio-Cio-San, Suzuki and the child begin their vigil.
ACT III
As dawn breaks, Suzuki insists that Cio-Cio-San rest. Humming a lullaby to her child, she carries him to another room. Before long, Sharpless enters with Pinkerton, followed by Kate, his new wife. When Suzuki realizes who the American woman is, she collapses in despair but agrees to aid in breaking the news to her mistress. Pinkerton, seized with remorse, bids an anguished farewell to the scene of his former happiness, and then rushes away. When Cio-Cio-San comes forth expecting to find him, she finds Kate instead. Guessing the truth, the shattered Cio-CioSan agrees to give up her child, if his father will return for him. Then, sending even Suzuki away, she takes out the dagger with which her father committed suicide and bows before a statue of Buddha, choosing to die with honor rather than live in disgrace. As she raises the blade, Suzuki pushes the child into the room. Sobbing farewell, Cio-Cio-San sends him into the garden to play, then stabs herself. As she dies, Pinkerton is heard calling her name. 10
NOTES ON MADAMA BUTTERFLY BY RICHARD DYER – FORMER BOSTON GLOBE CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC AND WRITER FOR OPERA NEWS Puccini’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY now stands at Number One on Opera America’s list of the operas most often performed in this country–the astonishing number of performances presented by Teatro Lirico d’Europa, since beginning its annual tours 18 years ago has certainly contributed to and expanded the astonishing and paradoxical popularity of Puccini’s opera. After all, MADAMA BUTTERFLY is in some respects an anti-American work, and contemporary productions sometimes emphasis this aspect of the piece-an aspect Puccini and his librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa went to a lot of trouble to downplay. Among other things, they toned down their initial ideas about the feckless American Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, and they turned Sharpless, the American Consul in Nagasaki, into an even more sympathetic figure. Three of the top four operas on Opera America’s list suffered unsuccessful premieres–Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA and Bizet’s CARMEN, as well as MADAMA BUTTERFLY; only Puccini’s LA BOHÈME escaped the censure of its opening-night audience. The first performance of MADAMA BUTTERFLY on February 27, 1904 was a scandal probably unmatched in operatic history. The press and the public were in foul mood because the rehearsals had been closed and Arturo Toscanini had banned encores from La Scala–a measure of success even Puccini didn’t mind. Passions may have been inflamed and even organized by partisans of a rival composer, Pietro Mascagni, who appeared before the curtain at the end to berate the audience and to shed what some people thought were crocodile tears. The trouble began as early as Madama Butterfly’s entrance, where a bit of melody and harmony sounded a little bit too much like a bit in Act III of LA BOHÈME. “We’ve heard this already,’’ people began to shout, “Give us something new!” In the second act, a gust of stage wind billowed Butterfly’s kimono forward, and there were rude cries that the soprano Rosina Storchio was pregnant with a “little Toscanini’’–the soprano’s privileged relationship with the conductor was common knowledge. At the end of the Intermezzo that spanned Butterfly’s night vigil, bird whistles were supposed to herald the dawn and mark the end of Butterfly’s long wait. However, the birdcalls were drowned out by the audience braying like donkeys, mooing like cows, and barking like dogs. Storchio later remembered that it was if day were breaking in Noah’s Ark. The end of the opera was received in relative calm, afterwards there was derisive shouting and laughter, and there were no curtain calls. The next morning, a stunned Puccini withdrew his opera from its additional scheduled performances– and in fact, La Scala did not hear it again for 21 years, when it was performed on the first anniversary of the composer’s death. Puccini revised the opera for its second production three months later in Brescia, where the opera triumphed– and there were five encores! Puccini made many changes and cuts; he reshaped and tightened the wedding sequence and eliminated roles for Butterfly’s mother and drunken Uncle, as well as toning down some of Pinkerton’s colonialist and even racist sentiments. He also divided the long second act into two parts, and composed some new music, most importantly an aria in the last scene for Pinkerton, now overcome with remorse for what he has done. Puccini continued to tinker with his score for subsequent premieres in London and Paris–it was after the Paris premiere in 1906 that the opera was finally engraved and published, although Puccini revised a couple of phrases in that troublesome entrance for his heroine as late as 11
NOTES ON MADAMA BUTTERFLY 1911, seven years after the premiere. Early recordings, including some by the cast of the first performance at the Metropolitan Opera in 1907 (Geraldine Farrar in the title role, with Enrico Caruso as Pinkerton and Antonio Scotti as Sharpless), include bits of the earlier versions that sound strange to people who know the standard version by heart; in recent years various important productions have restored some of the music that Puccini cut, and a few have even presented the opening–night version. The composer might not have approved; he was above all a man of the theater, and he knew what worked, and what didn’t. After TOSCA Puccini had trouble finding a subject for anew opera– he considered many options, including PÉLLEAS ET MÉLISANDE, CYRANO DE BERGERAC, a piece about the final days of Marie Antoinette, even a comedy based on Daudet’s TARTARIN DE TARASCON. None of these worked out, but in 1900 he travelled to London for the English premiere of TOSCA, and while he was there, he went to see a one-act play by David Belasco, MADAME BUTTERFLY, which was on a double bill with the farce MISS NOBBS. Puccini understood no English, but he was very moved by the performance. It was probably just as well that he couldn’t understand the pidgin– English Belasco gives to his heroine. As she dies, she says, “Too bad those robins didn’ nes’ again.’’ And the speech that became the basis for Butterfly’s great aria Un bel di goes like this: “ . . .an’ sa–ey, w’en we see him comin’ quick up path–so-so-so–to look for liddle wive–me–me jus’ goin’ hide behind shoji an’ waitin’ an’ make believe me gone ‘way; leave liddle note–sayin’: ‘Goon-bye, sayonara, Butterfly.’...Now he come in...Ah! An’ then he get angery! An’ he say all kinds of ‘Merican languages–debbils–hells! But before he get too angery, me run out an’ flew aroun’ his neck.’’ Belasco’s story that Puccini had grabbed him by the neck and asked for the rights to the play on the spot is probably exaggerated. Puccini did ask his publisher to look into the question of the rights. And he also secured an Italian translation of the magazine short story by the Philadelphia lawyer John Luther Long that Belasco had based his play on. The opera therefore has a dual source. In the short story Butterfly does not die, but instead disappears with her child, but Long did supply much of the material that became Act I of Puccini’s opera. The play concentrated on the last day of Butterfly’s life, and is the source of Act II. This dual source led Puccini and his librettists up some blind alleys. At one point there was to be a scene in New York–Pinkerton comes from a wealthy and socially prominent family and in the first draft of the libretto, when Sharpless inquires about his mother, Pinkerton replies, “She’s in Newport.’’ For a longer time the collaborators planned a scene in the American consulate in Japan. Butterfly has gone there to ask, again, about Pinkerton’s return, and overhears Mrs. Pinkerton sending a cable about her plans for Butterfly’s child. But as Puccini wrote to his publisher, “The Consulate was a great mistake. The action must move forward to the close without interruption, rapid, effective, terrible.’’ As scholars like the late William Ashbrook have pointed out, Puccini and his librettists gradually changed the focus from a clash-of-cultures drama–“The Star–Spangled Banner’’ and the Japanese national anthem do still appear in the score–into the human tragedy of Butterfly herself– an archetypal tragedy, that has resonated for more than a century now, and led to a host of successors, like MISS SAIGON, or ironic commentaries, like M. Butterfly, or William Bolcom’s cabaret song GEORGE. It has also led to revisionist productions of Puccini’s opera; in director Ken Russell’s notorious version, Butterfly shared the stage during her vigil with a giant box of Corn Flakes as she dreamed of serving her husband and child an American breakfast. And the opera is one of several works by Puccini that have provoked strong feminist reactions in recent years; Puccini is now often criticized for tormenting women for the delight of audiences, and his own difficult history with women has been summoned as evidence. 12
NOTES ON MADAMA BUTTERFLY Most likely Puccini would have been shocked by all of this. Although he was bound to fail, he went to a lot of trouble to make his opera authentically Japanese. He studied Japanese music and incorporated five traditional melodies; one of them also appears in Gilbert & Sullivan’s MIKADO (Puccini owned a copy of the score). He talked with ambassadors’ wives, and he even arranged for a leading Japanese actress to speak to him in her native tongue, so that he could hear her inflections and translate them into Italian music. And there is no question that he loved his heroine–for the rest of his life, MADAMA BUTTERFLY remained his favorite among his operas, the only one he could sit through again and again without falling into boredom. And in Butterfly, he created one of the greatest soprano roles–an encyclopedic role, like Norma. We experience Butterfly as a young girl; we share her awakening into passion, love, adulthood and wifehood; we see her as a mother. We delight in her charm, her wit, her naiveté–listen to her describe an American divorce or struggle to pronounce a word like “ornithology.” We feel the strength of her love and the depth of her despair; we ultimately watch her death with horror and compassion, but there is also something heroic about it. Puccini is at his best when writing about little people with large souls. The part is long–once she enters, Butterfly rarely leaves the stage. The role poses considerable physical demands (European and American Butterflys, unused to constant kneeling, often hide kneepads under their kimonos). The vocal demands are even more tremendous–soaring phrases and stunning high notes (all the way up to an optional high D–flat at the close of the entrance) are only part of the picture, because so much depends on idiomatic, personal and imaginative treatment of the text, and the delivery of countless small, intimate moments that reflect every dimension of her feelings. A Butterfly cannot move us if she does not know how to inflect phrases like “Rinnegata e felice!” (“Renounced and happy!”), or “Vogliatemi bene’’ (“Love me tenderly”). Even the last line of “Un bel di’’ is important–“With firm faith I will await him’’– although the critical word, “await,’’ is often omitted in order to summon a mega– high B–flat, even though Puccini has written in an optional octave drop off the high note as a way of making the word clear. Puccini laid out this role with meticulous, loving care and superb craftsmanship; the result is that sopranos of every vocal weight and type have succeeded as Butterfly. Storchio, like Renata Scotto at her best, was a lyric coloratura; after the disastrous premiere, she sang Butterfly with great success for decades in other venues. Salomea Krusceniski, who took the part in Brescia, was a dramatic soprano who excelled in the heavy Verdi roles, like Leontyne Price, who became a heartbreaking Butterfly herself, although she in no way looked the part. Very rarely does a Butterfly come along who offers a convincing physical representation of the character; upholstered Western sopranos in their middle years who are obviously not teenaged Japanese geishas can break our hearts if they believe in themselves as Butterfly; that makes us believe them once the music starts. The setting of MADAMA BUTTERFLY was quite exotic at the time it was new, and it belongs in a category of operas like Delibes’ LAKMÉ and Meyerbeer’s L’AFRICAINE in which the heroines have gone against their religions and committed tuneful suicide when deserted by their imperialist boyfriends. Those operas are heard in occasional revivals; MADAMA BUTTERFLY is always with us. The difference, of course, is Puccini, who loved his little Japanese geisha and through her music made her child and woman, bride and wife, mother and tragic heroine.
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