Music by Kevin
Puts Libretto by MarK CaMPbell
silent night
FEB. 8, 10m, 13, 15 & 17m, 2013
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contents
OPERA PHILADELPHIA GENERAL INFORMATION
PROGRAM INFORMATION
6 Silent Night
4 Welcome
10 Synopsis
16 Background Notes
35 Leadership Support and Major Gifts
20 Artists
5 Board of Directors
36 Annual Fund Support 40 Corporate Council 44 Administration
Showcase is published by Kimmel Center, Inc. 1500 Walnut Street, 17th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-790-5800 / Fax: 215-790-5801 www.kimmelcenter.org
For information about advertising in Showcase, contact Joe Ciresi at 215-790-5884. Silent Night photos courtesy of Michal Daniel for The Minnesota Opera.
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LETTER FROM OUR LEADERSHIP Dear Friends, elcome to the East Coast Premiere of Silent Night! It is a great honor for Opera Philadelphia to share this moving production about an exceptional moment in human history, at a very special time in our own history as a company. The creation of contemporary American opera has become a source of civic pride in Philadelphia, as we seek to engage our audiences and ensure that our art form remains a vibrant and relevant voice to explore the ideas, emotions and challenges that connect us as humans.
W
Through our American Repertoire Program, which internationally-renowned baritone Nathan Gunn explores in greater detail on page 32, we are committed to produce a new General Director David B. Devan American work in each of ten consecutive seasons. Tonight’s Pulitzer Prize-winning composition from Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell is the second work in the initiative. With its soaring, lyrical melodies and sensitive portrayal of the conflicting emotions of wartime, Silent Night makes us feel and think in a way that only opera can impact our hearts and minds. Opera Philadelphia is tremendously grateful to our co-producers at The Minnesota Opera and to the generous supporters who made Silent Night possible, most notably the Wyncote Foundation, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project, and Ms. Barbara Augusta Teichert, with additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jacob Burns Foundation, Inc. We also thank you, our audience. Opera Philadelphia could not maintain our commitment to new works if you were not embracing our efforts through your attendance. We thank you for being our partners on this journey. Finally, it is also with great excitement that we announce a name change and a new brand, as the Opera Company of Philadelphia has become Opera Philadelphia. Please take a moment to read more (page 30) about why we think this name change represents a thriving present and a bold future for opera in our city, and then see what we have in store for you in the 2013-2014 Season (page 44). Sincerely,
David B. Devan General Director & President
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Board of DIRECTORS Daniel K. Meyer, M.D., Chairman David B. Devan*, President Frederick P. Huff, Vice Chair Joel M. Koppelman, Vice Chair Alice Strine, Vice Chair Scott F. Richard, Secretary Thomas Mahoney, Treasurer Stephen A. Madva, Chairman Emeritus
Benjamin Alexander
Carol C. Lawrence
Harold Rosenbluth
Dennis Alter
Ellen Berman Lee
Roberto Sella
Sandra Baldino
Gabriele Lee
Stephen G. Somkuti
Elizabeth M. Bowden
Peter Leone
Jonathan H. Sprogell
Willo Carey
Stephen A. Madva
James B. Straw
Nicholas Chimicles
Thomas Mahoney
Alice Strine
Mark Hankin
Daniel K. Meyer, M.D.
Kenneth R. Swimm
Frederick P. Huff
Alan B. Miller
Maria Trafton
Stephen T. Janick
Agnes Mulroney
Charlotte Watts
Joel M. Koppelman
Michael O. Pansini
Donna Wechsler
David Kutch
Bernard J. Poussot
Beverly Lange
Scott F. Richard
List as of January 2013 *Ex officio 5
Opera Philadelphia
Silent Night
Music Kevin Puts
Text Mark Campbell based on the screenplay by Christian Carion for the motion picture Joyeux Noël produced by Nord-Ouest Production
Conductor Michael Christie* Stage Director Eric Simonson* Set Designer Francis O’Connor*
Costume Designer Kärin Kopischke* Lighting Designer Marcus Dilliard
Video Designer Andrzej Goulding*
Sound Designer C. Andrew Mayer*
Chorus Master Elizabeth Braden
Wig & Make-up Designer David Zimmerman* Fight Choreographer Doug Scholz-Carlson* *Opera Philadelphia debut Production underwritten by the Wyncote Foundation, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project, and Ms. Barbara Augusta Teichert. Additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Jacob Burns Foundation, Inc.
Silent Night Cast The
THE GERMAN SIDE
THE SCOTTISH SIDE
THE FRENCH SIDE
Nikolaus Sprink William Burden
Jonathan Dale Zach Borichevsky*
Lieutenant Audebert Liam Bonner*
Anna Sørensen Kelly Kaduce
William Dale, his brother Brandon Cedel
Ponchel, his aide-de-camp Andrew Wilkowske*
Lieutenant Horstmayer Craig Irvin*
Father Palmer Troy Cook
French General Harold Wilson*
Kronprinz, son of Kaiser Wilhelm II Albert J. Glueckert*
Lieutenant Gordon Gabriel Preisser*
Madeleine Audebert, Lt. Audebert’s wife Angela Mortellaro*
British Major Thomas Shivone GUEUSSELIN, A French Soldier: Nicholas Hay GERMAN GENERAL: Christopher Hodges ENSEMBLE SOLDIERS: Steven Bradshaw, Gregory Cantwell, Jeffrey Chapman, Sang B. Cho, David Y. Koh, Toffer Mihalka, John David Miles, Frank B. Mitchell III, Robert Phillips, Daniel Schwartz, Paul Vetrano *Opera Philadelphia debut Opera Philadelphia is grateful to the production and artist underwriters that made Silent Night possible. Please see enclosed insert for special acknowledgements. 8
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Synopsis Prologue: Late summer, 1914. War is declared. At a Berlin opera house, the announcement disrupts the careers and personal lives of international opera singers Anna Sørensen and Nikolaus Sprink. In a small church in Scotland, it inspires dreams of heroism in William, who demands that his younger brother Jonathan immediately enlist with him as their priest, Father Palmer, looks helplessly on. In the apartment of the Audeberts in Paris, it angers Madeleine who excoriates her husband for leaving to fight while she is pregnant with their first child. Amid the fervor of nationalistic songs, the men prepare to leave for war. Act I In and around a battlefield in Belgium, near the French border, around Christmas Scene One: December 23, late afternoon. A horrific battle is fought between the Germans and the French and Scottish. An attempt by the French and Scottish soldiers to infiltrate the German bunker fails miserably; corpses begin to pile up in the no-man’s land between the three bunkers. Nikolaus is seen violently engaging in combat—stabbing a man to death and growing in despair at the violence. William is shot and Jonathan must leave his brother behind to die. Scene Two: December 23, evening. In the Scottish bunker, Lieutenant Gordon assesses the casualties after the battle. Father Palmer attempts to offer solace to Jonathan in prayer. In the French bunker, Lieutenant Audebert discovers the French General waiting in his makeshift office, who reprimands him for surrendering and threatens him with a transfer. The General leaves and Audebert laments the loss of his wife’s photograph to his aide-de-camp, Ponchel. When he is alone, Audebert tallies the casualties in the last battle, while missing Madeleine and their child who he has not yet seen. He sings of needing sleep, a sentiment echoed by all of the soldiers. As it starts to snow, covering the corpses in no-man’s land, the soldiers slowly begin to sleep. Alone in the German bunker, Nikolaus reveals his despair about war to an imagined Anna. Scene Three: December 24, morning. In the German bunker, crates have arrived, and little Christmas trees from the Kronprinz. Lieutenant Horstmayer castigates the Kronprinz for not sending them more useful presents, like ammunition and reinforcements. He receives a directive from headquarters that Nikolaus has been ordered to sing at the nearby chalet of the Kronprinz, along with one Anna Sørensen. Nikolaus departs for the chalet, excited that he will be reunited with Anna again after many months apart. The French soldiers have received crates of wine, sausages and chocolates from the quartermaster and open them jubilantly. Ponchel, a barber by trade, brings coffee to Audebert and sits him down for a haircut. He is reminded of having coffee every morning with his mother who lives only an hour away by foot. The alarm clock he carries next to his heart at all times (which shielded him from a bullet in the last battle) rings at ten o’clock every morning to remind him of their daily meeting. In the Scottish bunker, crates of whiskey have arrived from home. Jonathan writes a letter to his mother, not mentioning his brother’s death. Scene Four: December 24, early evening. At the chalet of the Kronprinz, Anna and Nikolaus perform a duet. Following the performance, they steal a few moments on a terrace outside. Anna notices the cruel effect war has had on her lover’s spirit. She has arranged for Nikolaus to spend the night with her and is angry when he says he must return to his fellow soldiers. She vows to accompany him back to the battlefield. Scene Five: December 24, night. In the French bunker, Gueusselin volunteers to infiltrate the German bunker, and with several grenades, sidles onto no-man’s land. The Scottish soldiers drink whiskey and play a bagpipe that another unit has sent them, as Father Palmer sings a 10
THE ACADEMY OF VOCAL ARTS
MASSENET
DON QUICHOTTE (DON QUIXOTE)
MARCH 2-14, 2013 A Philadelphia premiere of Jules Massenet’s opera based on the popular tale of Don Quixote, the self-proclaimed knight who tilts at windmills, aided by his sidekick Sancho Panza and inspired by his love Dulcinea.
PERFORMANCES IN CENTER CITY, HAVERFORD, AND BUCKS COUNTY
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Synopsis sentimental ballad about home. The men in the other bunkers hear the song and react to it with sadness, caution and annoyance. Nikolaus arrives; his fellow soldiers greet him with cheers and applause and gasp in amazement at seeing Anna with him. When the song in the Scottish bunker is finished, Nikolaus sings a rousing Christmas song loudly in response and midway through the bagpiper begins to accompany. Emboldened, Nikolaus stands atop the bunker raising a Christmas tree as a gesture of friendship. Against the protestations of their superiors, the soldiers from all bunkers stand. Nikolaus bravely moves to the center of no-man’s land. Gueusselin abandons his plan to grenade the German bunker. Eventually, the three lieutenants, waving white flags of truce, agree to a cease-fire…but only on Christmas Eve. The soldiers slowly and cautiously move toward each other. They share their provisions, their photos and their names. Anna appears and the soldiers are all awed by the sight of a woman. Father Palmer has set up a makeshift church and celebrates mass with the men, while Jonathan finds his brother’s body and vows revenge. Father Palmer finishes the mass and urges the men to “go in peace” as bombs explode menacingly in the distance. — Intermission — Act II Scene One: December 25, dawn. The following morning, Jonathan tries to bury his brother. Because the truce is officially over, two German sentries are prepared to shoot him, until Father Palmer and Lieutenant Gordon intervene. Looking on, Horstmayer proposes that it may indeed be time to bury all of the dead. The three lieutenants meet and decide over Ponchel’s coffee that the truce will be extended until after the dead in no-man’s land are buried. Scene Two: December 25, late morning, early afternoon. The soldiers pile up the corpses, Father Palmer delivers last rites and the soldiers form a processional bearing the wagon of bodies away. Anna looks on with Nikolaus and promises that he will not suffer the same fate. Scene Three: December 25, all day. In the meantime, news of the cease-fire has reached headquarters, and the British Major, the Kronprinz and the French General all react in anger and disbelief. They declare that they will punish the soldiers for their betrayal. Scene Four: December 25, evening. Lieutenant Horstmayer prepares to return to war and Nikolaus berates him for his allegiance to the Fatherland. Horstmayer arrests Nikolaus for insubordination, but Anna takes his hand firmly and leads him across no-man’s land as Horstmayer orders his men to shoot, but no one moves. Reaching the French bunker unharmed, Nikolaus regains his voice and demands asylum for he and Anna. Scene Five: December 26, late morning. The British Major admonishes the Scottish soldiers for participating in the Christmas truce. They are to be transferred to the front lines. When a German soldier is seen crossing the battlefield, the Major orders him killed. Jonathan complies and dispassionately shoots the man. Lieutenant Audebert returns to his small office and discovers the French General there. The General tells Audebert that he will be transferred to Verdun as punishment for consorting with the enemy and that his unit will be disbanded. Audebert informs the French General—his father—that he has learned he has an infant son named Henri. They vow to survive the war for the child’s sake. The Kronprinz angrily announces that the German soldiers are to be deployed in Pomerania as punishment. As the soldiers are taken off in a boxcar, they hum the Scottish ballad they heard in the bunker on Christmas Eve. The battlefield is now completely empty. Snow begins to fall again.
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Opera Philadelphia ARTISTIC Assistant Director.............Octavio Cardenas Assistant Conductor & Principal Pianist.........Laura Ward Musical Assistant ............Lisa Harer de Calvo French & German Diction Coach.................Renée Rollin PRODUCTION/TECHNICAL Technical Director.............Christopher Hanes Costume Director..............Millie Hiibel Lighting Coordinator.........Drew Billiau Stage Manager..................Kerry Masek Properties Coordinator......John Bryant Assistant Lighting Designer.........................Chris Frey Master Electrician.............David Cecil Properties..........................Paul Lodes Flyman..............................John Damiani Assistant Electrician.........William Hennessy
Scottish Diction Coach......David Gargaro Translation Assistance......Anne Renucci, Jens Schäfer, Roberto Scarella Perino Supertitle Operator............Tony Solitro Assistant Stage Managers........................Trevor Regars Becki Smith Costume Shop Foremen.....Kevin Ross Elmo Struck Althea Unrath Hair & Make-up Artist..............................Manuel Jacobo Fight Captain....................Payson Burt Captain of Supernumeraries................ Max Vasapoli
COVER CAST: Nikolaus Sprink: Christopher Tiesi; Anna Sørenson: Angela Mortellaro; Lt. Horstmayer: Brandon Cedel; Lt. Gordon: Eric Dubin; Lt. Audebert: Gabriel Preisser; William Dale: Thomas Shivone. Supernumeraries: Jeff Barth, Tom Blair, Sean Cummings, Ramón Licairac, Mark Moyer, Max Vasapoli. Commissioned by The Minnesota Opera. A Minnesota Opera New works Initiative Production. By arrangement with Aperto Press, publisher. Bill Holab Music: Sole Agent. Scenery and costumes for this production were constructed at The Minnesota Opera and are jointly owned by The Minnesota Opera and Opera Philadelphia. Supertitle translations by Mark Campbell. Silent Night uses strobe lighting, theatrical haze, and gunshot effects. Opera Philadelphia performs at the Academy of Music and the Perelman Theater, and is a Resident Company of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. All photography and video or audio recording of this performance is strictly prohibited. A Commitment to Safety: The safety and comfort of visitors, artists, volunteers, and staff at the Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts are of paramount importance. In the event of an emergency, audience members will be advised of appropriate procedures by usher and security staffs. At this time, please take note of the exit nearest you. A red, illuminated EXIT sign should be visible, with an arrow indicating the direction of the exit door. Should an emergency arise, you will be directed to leave the auditorium and further instructions will be provided as to the safest and quickest way to exit the building. Patrons who need special assistance should contact an usher.
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SILENT NIGHT: WORLD WAR I and the Christmas truce of 1914 BACKGROUND NOTES BY DAVID SANDER daughter “Vicky.” Sadly, the heirs apparent would only enjoy a short time in the spotlight as Frederick died in the first year of his reign, leaving the empire to his son Wilhelm II. Through other dynastic marriages, the new Kaiser found himself first cousins to George V of England, Nicholas II of Russia and various heads of state as Victoria’s other children would make similar matches. Danish King Christian IX likewise became “fatherin-law” to Europe through the marriages or successions of his four children. This close bloodline would cast an uneasy pale over the Great War that was to come. Following the Franco-Prussian War, politics on the Continent continued to sour. France, Austria and Denmark would never get over their strategic and territorial losses. Austria found some solace in assimilating the Balkan nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an action supported by the diplomatically sympathetic Germans, while angering the other Balkan nations, Serbia in particular. Russia had the recent unpleasant memory of losing a war in the Crimea (1853–56) fought against Turkey, France and Britain. Nonetheless, an eventual alliance was made
Photo: Imperial War Museum (London, England)
Now approaching its centenary, World War I scarcely receives the same attention as its more atrocious and deadlier younger sibling. Yet the conflict’s position in history reveals a horrific change in modern warfare tactics that must have shocked and overwhelmed its participants. Previously, Western Europe had enjoyed an unprecedented 43-year period of relative peace. The last major clash had been between France and Prussia in 1870–71, instigated by the former, but provoked by the latter over the succession of the Spanish crown to a Hohenzollern heir. Since the Napoleonic wars, the Germans had been engaged in a massive land-grab, acquiring Schleswig-Holstein in 1864; Hesse, Hanover and Mecklenburg in 1867; Bavaria in 1871; and the Alsace and Lorraine districts following the French defeat. It was at this point Wilhelm I appointed himself Emperor of the Second Reich. The Kaiser’s rise in prominence attracted the attention of England’s Queen Victoria, who in the process of arranging royal matches for her litter of children, chose Wilhelm’s son, the Crown Prince Frederick, for her oldest
Christmas Truce
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between the three unlikely comrades who now feared a newly unified Germany’s menacing power. Britain, in particular, was drawn out of historical isolationism after seeing Russia’s disastrous defeat in the RussoJapanese war in 1905, knowing France would need at least one functional ally. For all his bluster, Wilhelm II was terrified of the shift in balance of power, for his only treaty was with Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, a relationship that had been tested by his grandfather in the 1866 war between the two countries. In an unexpected tactical move, when the young Kaiser inherited his empire, he foolishly dismissed the new Reich’s architect, Otto von Bismarck. Through duplicity, diplomacy and guile, the former chancellor had carefully engineered the map of Europe to Germany’s advantage. Wilhelm preferred a more direct approach and embraced the “Schlieffen Plan,” a remarkably detailed and audacious top-secret preparation to invade France through Belgium and the Alsace-Lorraine (to be fair, France had a similar Plan XVII designed to retake its conquered provinces). The army could be sustained by Germany’s vastly superior and government-controlled railway system, giving the initiative enough manpower and artillery to capture Paris in 39 days. Attention could then be shifted to the east, as it would take the third entente member, Russia, at least that long to marshal its forces, thereby avoiding a war on two fronts. Wilhelm found his opportunity when the heir to the Austrian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were fatally shot on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by a member of the Serbian radical group, the Black Hand (the anarchists had already successfully murdered the king and queen of Serbia in 1903). He privately urged the archduke’s uncle, Franz Joseph, to take decisive action. When a list of unrealistic demands to investigate the matter was rejected (actually the Serbian government agreed to all but a few points), Austria recalled its ambassador and declared war within the month. The resulting conflict in
the remote Balkans was hardly a concern for greater Europe, but all the treaties were triggered into action. Russia was honorbound to defend Serbia and entered the war on its behalf. Wilhelm was obligated to fight on Austria’s side, and to justify the protection of Germany’s own borders in East Prussia, he seized the opportunity to initiate the Schlieff en Plan against Russia and its allies. On August 4, 1914, the Germans invaded Belgium and headed toward France. As this action was a violation of Belgian neutrality, Britain was obliged to enter the war, against strong opposition. The Schlieffen Plan was largely an intellectual exercise and didn’t account for a fair amount of Belgian resistance or British involvement. Nonetheless, in a few months the Germans found themselves entrenched on the French border. A war that was supposed to be over in six weeks had stalemated by December. Part of the problem was the increased lethality of industrialized nations. Nineteenth-century warfare had been a gentlemanly undertaking, where major battles would be decided in just a few days. In the four-decade gap since the last skirmish, both sides had significantly developed the velocity and range of artillery, which now included bolt action rifles, Howitzers, machine guns and tanks. Cavalry, cannons and bayonet runs were replaced by large, black, ear-splitting siege guns (christened “Black Berthas,” after the Krupp bomb manufacturing heiress) that yielded nitrate incendiary devices, capable of killing more soldiers with greater force, as did the subsequent introduction of unpredictable, toxic chlorine gas. In trenches that ran from the English Channel to Switzerland, both sides dug in their heels for a subterranean war of attrition and endured hideous conditions – cold, moisture, mud, vermin, barbed wire, bombs and bullets – as well as a range of new illnesses coined “shellshock” and “trench foot.” By December, Pope Benedict XV called for a cessation of hostilities for the holiday season, and both sides were ready for a break in the unanticipated carnage. Acceptable military code allowed for small armistices 17
SILENT NIGHT: WORLD WAR I and the Christmas truce of 1914 (CONTINUED) during the course of a war (for meals and to bury the dead), and fraternization with the enemy, though discouraged, had occurred as recently as the Crimean, Civil and Franco-Prussian wars. “Tommy” and “Fritz” could put aside obligatory nationalism to see their opponents as regular guys forced into combat by ambitious superiors. Given Britain’s strong German ties, many soldiers had actually worked in England and spoke English. Saxons and Anglo-Saxons had a shared ancestry, and most of the other Germans were Bavarian, Hessian and Westphalian reservists rather than soldiers of the Prussian elite – those were sent to the eastern front to defend their native lands. It was not uncommon for lower-grade officers to also participate in these proceedings, though some shrewdly left it to the enlisted men, believing the casual exchange might lead to useful intelligence from the other side of No-Man’s Land. Still, an official Christmas truce in 1914 was out-of-the-question, yet contrary to popular belief, there were many of them up and down the lines. The British had received care packages from King George’s daughter, Princess Mary, containing tobacco and chocolate, and the Germans were given cigars, beer and Tannenbäume from 32-year-old Kronprinz Wilhelm (who actually commanded the Fifth Army in the Argonne). Interactions varied from singing holiday songs back-and-forth between the trenches to actual ceasefires with both sides meeting on the battlefield, sharing a smoke and exchanging rations. One had to be careful not to get too close to enemy territory, for some soldiers were taken prisoner if they gained any knowledge of positions or weaponry. Many of the British were perplexed by the appearance of the candle-lit trees over the makeshift bunkers and the kind spirits of the Germans – these were, after all, the same people who had brutally invaded Belgium with little regard for civilian life or property. Nonetheless, if they kept the conversation light and didn’t discuss the war, conviviality could be maintained. 18
Once part of the proud Napoleonic Grande Armée until La Débâcle (their defeat to the Prussians), the French soldiers were a little more hesitant to be cordial, given Germany’s aggressive history toward their country, with its siege and land seizure just 40 years earlier, and at present at the edge of France with the intent to recapture Paris. With the spirit of revanche, their camaraderie was not nearly on the same scale as the British. As one recorded, “You would not find the French and Germans exchanging cigarettes, I think, even if it were the morning of Judgment Day.” (In contrast, one rather ungrateful French soldier remarked to a German, “Beat those Britishers. We have no use for them.”) Though there were short agreements to lay down arms in order to take care of the dead (many of whom had been putrefying on the battlefield for weeks), after the task was completed, the animosity on both sides only grew. Experiences varied from place to place. In some cases, wild animals were shot, roasted and shared, and football games (American soccer) allegedly took place on Christmas Day (though the shell-pitted battlefield may have presented somewhat of a challenge). Two famous opera singers were recognized singing at the front. Incidents of haircuts, juggling and backwards bicycling were reported, and newspapers were exchanged as the Germans believed theirs were filled with lies. Many thought of extending the armistice to Boxing Day (December 26) or all the way to the New Year. Photos were taken and letters of disbelief were sent home detailing the unusual circumstances – several found their way into the English and German periodicals alongside reports of their adversaries’ barbarity. When hostilities did resume, it was with reluctance, and the conflict was slow to achieve its original pitch. Naturally, when news reached headquarters of these unofficial armistices, the high command was not pleased, but retribution was relatively lax. Though antifraternization is key to the success of any soldier, there was still a sense of wartime chivalry and few court-marshals were
In the end, the Schlieffen Plan ultimately failed. So promising at first, the maneuver had underestimated Paris’ garrison and the tenacity of its people, supply-anddemand problems at the invasion’s westernmost flank, unreliable communication to forward positions and the earlier-thananticipated mobilization of Russian troops in the east. The war redrew the map of Europe, costing millions of lives and the end of three empires while laying the groundwork for an even deadlier and more grotesque conflict just two decades later. Early in the War to End All Wars, a 25-year-old lance corporal had narrowly escaped death in the first battle of Ypres on the Belgian border. He vehemently declined to participate in the Christmas Truce that followed and was devastated by Second Reich’s loss nearly four years later. Embittered, a wildly patriotic Adolf Hitler set in motion his dangerous course for an apocalyptic new world order. —David Sanders is Dramaturg for The Minnesota Opera.
Photo by FPG/Hulton-Archive/Getty Images
conducted, only a stern warning not to do it again. Many units were redeployed as it was believed they would not fight with the same voracity now that they had met the enemy face-to-face. There was more talk about a truce the following Christmas. Some veiled attempts – songs in trenches and casualty burials – did occur but nothing to the degree as what had been experienced one year earlier. The war had taken on a harsher tone of inhumanity with a greater intensity of slaughter. Soldiers had witnessed the menacing effects of poisonous gas, Zeppelin and airplane bombings and submarine warfare, now tainted by the sinking of the Lusitania, an event that further damaged Germany’s image in the world view (particularly by the Americans, who lost over 100 citizens in the almost 2,000 civilian deaths). In spite of these gruesome engagements, all with high casualties, the battle front was fairly static until the entrance of the United States in 1917. By then, Russia had been consumed by civil unrest, and Austria was secretly suing for peace with France. Finally, by November 11, 1918, Germany came to grips with its folly and surrendered unconditionally.
Trench Christmas
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Artists LIAM BONNER Baritone (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
ELIZABETH BRADEN (Easton, Pennsylvania) CHORUS MASTER
LT. AUDEBERT
2004 The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein 2006 Margaret Garner 2012 Manon Lescaut (Partial Listing)
Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Henri, Le roi malgré lui, Wexford Festival; Sid, Albert Herring, Los Angeles Opera; Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Lt. Audebert, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera. ZACH BORICHEVSKY Tenor (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Recent Activities: Director of Music, Wallingford Presbyterian Church; Chorus Master, The Cunning Little Vixen, Curtis Opera Theatre; La bohème, Opera Philadelphia.
JONATHAN DALE Opera Philadelphia debut.
Old City ~ New SONg ii Celebrating Philadelphia Composers Sunday, October 14, 2012, 3:00pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts A tu COrAzóN ~ CANCiONeS y dANSAS (Songs of Spain and the New world) Sunday, November 18, 2012, 3:00pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts
Lyric Fest 2012–13 10th anniversary season
ceLebrating a decade oF song
Recent Activities: Soloist, Britten’s War Requiem, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra; Roméo, Roméo et Juliette, Arizona Opera; Matteo, Arabella, Santa Fe Opera.
New JOurNey iNtO SONg: A winter’s Journey Friday, January 25, 2013, 8:00pm (Schubert’s winterreise) Sunday, January 27, 2013, 3:00pm (excerpts of winterreise and world Premieres) at the Academy of Vocal Arts JOurNey tOwArd FreedOm A History of the Civil rights movement with special guest artist denyce graves Sunday, march 3, 2013, 3:00pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia tHe rOSettA StONe Sunday, may 5, 2013, 3:00pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts
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Founding artistic directors: Laura Ward, randi Marrazzo, suzanne duPlantis
www.lyricfest.org
Artists WILLIAM BURDEN Tenor (Princeton, New Jersey) NIKOLAUS SPRINK 1997 Tom Rakewell, The Rake’s Progress 2004 Nadir, The Pearl Fishers 2011 Hippolyt, Phaedra (Partial Listing) Recent Activities: Title role, Orphée, Seattle Opera; The Shepherd, King Roger, Santa Fe Opera; The King of Naples, The Tempest, Metropolitan Opera; Nikolaus Sprink, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera.
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BRANDON CEDEL Bass-baritone (Hershey, Pennsylvania) WILLIAM DALE 2011 Sciarrone, Tosca
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Recent Activities: Colline, La bohème, Royal Opera House, Oman; Figaro, The Marriage of Figaro, Opera Santa Barbara; Forester, The Cunning Little Vixen, Curtis Opera Theatre.
MICHAEL CHRISTIE (Rochester, Minnesota) CONDUCTOR Opera Philadelphia debut.
The Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University congratulates composer
Kevin Puts
Recent Activities: Anna Bolena, Nabucco, Madama Butterfly, and Silent Night, Minnesota Opera; Alice in Wonderland, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Weinberg’s Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, Atlanta Symphony.
faculty member since 2006 on the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s production of his Pulitzer Prize-winning work Silent Night 21
Artists TROY COOK Baritone (Quakertown, Pennsylvania) FATHER PALMER
2006 Marcello, La bohème 2009 Sharpless, Madama Butterfly 2012 Lescaut, Manon Lescaut (Partial List)
Recent Activities: Soloist, Messiah, Boise Philharmonic; Marcello, La bohème, Central City Opera; Soloist, Carmina Burana, Winston Salem Symphony; Father Palmer, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera. MARCUS DILLIARD (Minneapolis, Minnesota) LIGHTING DESIGNER 2002 Carmen Recent Activities: Aïda, Theatre Latte Da; Don Giovanni, Pittsburgh Opera; The Masked Ball, Madison Opera; Silent Night, Minnesota Opera.
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ALBERT J. GLUEKERT Tenor (Portland, Oregon) KRONPRINZ Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Mr. Owen, Postcard from Morocco, Merola Opera Program; Kronprinz, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera; Tenor Soloist, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Sacramento Symphony; Adler Fellow, San Francisco Opera. ANDRZEJ GOULDING (London, England) VIDEO DESIGNER Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Carousel, Opera North; Amadeus, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; The Two Widows, Angers Nantes Opera.
Artists CRAIG IRVIN Baritone (Waukee, Iowa)
KÄRIN KOPISCHKE (Door County, Wisconsin)
LT. HORSTMAYER
COSTUME DESIGNER
Opera Philadelphia debut.
Opera Philadelphia debut.
Recent Activities: Soloist, Carmina Burana, Phoenix Symphony; Betto, Gianni Schicchi, Canadian Opera Company; Zuniga, Carmen, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Lt. Horstmayer, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera.
Recent Activities: The Grapes of Wrath, and Silent Night, Minnesota Opera; The Mikado (PBS Great Performances), Skylight Opera Theatre; Rusalka, Boston Lyric Opera. C. ANDREW MAYER (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
KELLY KADUCE Soprano (Brenham, Texas)
SOUND DESIGNER
ANNA SØRENSON 2006 Caroline Gaines, Margaret Garner 2010 Lan, Tea: A Mirror of Soul Recent Activities: Cio-Cio San, Madama Butterfly, West Australian Opera; Nedda, I pagliacci, Cincinnati Opera; Title role, Rusalka, L’Opéra de Montréal.
Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Silent Night, Wuthering Heights, Nixon in China, and The Handmaid’s Tale, Minnesota Opera. ANGELA MORTELLARO Soprano (Chicago, Illinois) MADELEINE AUDEBERT Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Galatea, Acis and Galatea, Madison Opera; Lucia, Lucia di Lammermoor, Dayton Opera; Madeleine Audebert, Silent Night and Lucia, Lucia di Lammermoor, Minnesota Opera.
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Artists FRANCIS O’CONNOR (London, England) SET DESIGN Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Set and Costume Design, Eugene Onegin, Grange Park Opera, United Kingdom; Set and Costume Designer, La Périchole, Garsington Opera, United Kingdom; Set Design, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera. GABRIEL PREISSER Baritone (Orlando, Florida) LT. GORDON Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Falke, Die Fledermaus, El Paso Opera; Schlendrian, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Orlando Philharmonic; Marullo, Rigoletto, Minnesota Orchestra; Lt. Gordon, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera.
From Rittenhouse Square to the World 2012–13 SeaSon
CuRtiS opeRa theatRe Owen Wingrave March 13–17 Rinaldo April 25–28 PLUS: Wagnerian operatic masterpieces featuring soprano heidi Melton (’07) and bass-baritone eric owens (’95) on May 5 with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.
Discover how Curtis plays to the world at Curtis.edu/World.
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DOUG SCHOLZ-CARLSON (Minneapolis, Minnesota) FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Director, Johnny Baseball, Park Square Theater; Fight Director, Romeo and Juliet, Palm Beach Opera; Director, Lucia di Lammermoor, Austin Lyric Opera; Fight Choreographer, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera. THOMAS SHIVONE Bass-baritone (Fort Worth, Texas) BRITISH MAJOR 2009 2010
Amantio de Nicolao, Gianni Schicchi Marchese D’Obigny, la traviata
Recent Activities: Sprecher/2nd Armored Guard, The Magic Flute, Curtis Opera Theatre; Lorenzo, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Curtis Opera Theatre; Josef Mauer, Elegy For Young Lovers, Curtis Opera Theatre.
Artists ERIC SIMONSON (Los Angeles, California)
HAROLD WILSON Bass (Mount Holly, New Jersey)
DIRECTOR
FRENCH GENERAL
Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Writer, Magic/Bird, Longacre Theatre, Broadway; Director, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera; Writer, Lombardi, Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway.
Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Commendatore, Don Giovanni, Portland Opera; Prince Gremin, Eugene Onegin, Madison Opera; Soloist, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Greensboro Symphony.
ANDREW WILKOWSKE Baritone (Wilmar, Minnesota)
DAVID ZIMMERMAN (Rochester, Minnesota)
PONCHEL
WIG & MAKE-UP DESIGN
Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Ponchel, Silent Night, Minnesota Opera; Belcore, L’elisir d’amore, Utah Opera; Emperor Overall, The Emperor of Atlantis, Boston Lyric Opera.
Opera Philadelphia debut. Recent Activities: Wig and Make-up Design for The Metropolitan Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Santa Fe Opera, Paris National Opera, and Opera Santa Barbara; Wicked, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Show Boat, South Pacific and Evita, Broadway, New York.
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KEVIN PUTS, COMPOSER
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Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Silent Night, Kevin Puts has had works commissioned and performed by leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists throughout North America, Europe and the Far East. Known for his distinctive and richly colored musical voice, Mr. Puts has received many of today’s most prestigious honors and awards for composition. An early boost to his career came in 1996 when Mr. Puts was named Composer-inResidence of both Young Concert Artists, Inc., and the California Symphony at the invitation of Barry Jekowsky, the orchestra’s Founder and Music Director. Other important early commissions came from the New York Youth Symphony which premiered his Concerto for Everyone at Carnegie Hall in 1999, the Vermont Symphony and Ensemble Kobe (Japan) which co-commissioned Marimba Concerto featuring Makoto Nakura, and the National Symphony Orchestra which commissioned the fanfare Continuo for brass and organ. Since then, Mr. Puts has created a sizable body of works for orchestra which includes four symphonies and several concertos. In April 2008 Jeffrey Kahane and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra gave the premiere of Night, a piano concerto commissioned through the LACO’s Sound Investment program. Mr. Puts has since begun performing the work himself, first appearing as soloist during the summer of 2010 with Marin Alsop conducting the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. His Clarinet Concerto, commissioned by Kathryn Gould, was written for Bil Jackson, who premiered the work with the Colorado Symphony under Jeffrey Kahane in 2009. As the Composer-in-Residence for the Fort Worth Symphony, Mr. Puts wrote a violin concerto for concertmaster Michael Shih, which was given its premiere in April 2007 with Miguel
Harth-Bedoya conducting. Mr. Puts was selected as the 2007 American Composer-in-Residence for the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, where his Two Mountain Scenes was premiered by the New York Philharmonic. The summer of 2007 also saw the premiere of Mr. Puts’ Symphony No. 4: From Mission San Juan, commissioned by Howard Hansen and performed by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop. Mr. Puts’ 2005-2006 season included the premieres of three major orchestral works: Percussion Concerto for Orange County’s Pacific Symphony and the Utah Symphony, premiered by Evelyn Glennie; Sinfonia Concertante for five solo instruments and orchestra for the Minnesota Orchestra; and a cello concerto, Vision, commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival and performed by Yo-Yo Ma in honor of David Zinman’s 70th birthday. Other orchestral commissions have included River’s Rush for the Saint Louis Symphony and Leonard Slatkin for the opening celebration of the orchestra’s 125th anniversary season in 2004. Commissioned by Kathryn Gould and Meet the Composer through the “Magnum Opus” project, Symphony No. 3, “Vespertine” was premiered by the Marin Symphony Orchestra in May 2004. The Atlanta Symphony commissioned and premiered …this noble company in 2003. Falling Dream was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra/BMI Foundation for a premiere at the 25th Anniversary Concert of the American Composers Orchestra in 2002 with conductor Dennis Russell Davies at Carnegie Hall. Symphony No. 2, for which Mr. Puts was commissioned as winner of the Barlow International Orchestra Competition, was premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony under Paavo Järvi in 2002 and later performed by the Utah Symphony under Keith Lockhart. And Millennium Canons, commissioned by the Institute for American Music, was premiered by The Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart in 2001 and has received multiple performances across the U.S. The premiere of Silent Night by Minnesota Opera in November 2011 marked Mr. Puts’ debut in the world of opera. Commissioned by Minnesota Opera with a libretto by Mark Campbell, the two-act work is based on the 2005 film Joyeux Noël by Nord-Ouest Productions. Recent chamber music projects have included Credo, commissioned by Chamber Music Monterey Bay for the Miró Quartet which continues to perform the work widely across the U.S. and abroad. In 2008, the string sextet Concertante commissioned and premiered
MARK CAMPBELL, LIBRETTIST Arcana; The Eroica Trio premiered Trio-Sinfonia, a work commissioned by Music Accord, in 2007 and continues to perform the work widely; Four Airs, was commissioned by the Music from Angel Fire Festival in 2004. Three Nocturnes was commissioned and premiered by the Verdehr Trio in 2004. The University of Texas Wind Ensemble commissioned Mr. Puts’ first work for winds, Chorus of Light, and premiered the piece with Jerry Junkin conducting in 2003. Summer 2002 saw the premiere of Einstein on Mercer Street, commissioned by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and premiered by bass-baritone Timothy Jones with Kevin Noe conducting. Mr. Puts’ honors include the 2003 Benjamin H. Danks Award for Excellence in Orchestral Composition of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2001 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, a 2001-2002 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, and the 1999 Barlow International Prize for Orchestral Music. While an undergraduate at the Eastman School of Music, Puts was awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the BMI 2001 Carlos Surinach Fund Commission, BMI’s 1998 William Schuman Prize, and several grants from BMI and ASCAP. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Puts received both his Bachelor’s Degree and his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Eastman School of Music, and his Master’s Degree from Yale University. From 1999 to 2005, he taught composition at The University of Texas at Austin. Since 2006, he has been a member of the Composition Faculty at the Peabody Institute.
decade.” In his ten years as a librettist, Mark has written nine operas and collaborated with such notable composers as Mark Adamo, Lembit Beecher, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, John Musto, Paul Moravec, Richard Peaslee and Kevin Puts. Mark’s most recent work, Silent Night, which he wrote with composer Kevin Puts for Minnesota Opera, received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Other successful operas include: Volpone, Later the Same Evening, Bastianello/ Lucrezia, and Rappahannock County. As a lyricist, Mark penned the lyrics for Songs from an Unmade Bed, a theatrical song cycle with music by 18 composers. The show premiered at New York Theatre Workshop and has since been produced round the world, most recently in Mexico City. Other musicals for which he has written lyrics include: The Audience, Chang & Eng, and Splendora. Recordings: the Grammy®-nominated Volpone, (Wolf Trap Recordings), Later the Same Evening (Albany Records), The Inspector (Wolf Trap Recordings), Bastianello/Lucrezia (Bridge Classical), Rappahannock County (Nonesuch) and Songs from an Unmade Bed (Sh-k-Boom Records). Songs from an Unmade Bed and Silent Night are also published by Bill Holab Music. Other awards: first recipient of the Kleban Foundation Award for Lyricist, two Richard Rodgers Awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, three Drama Desk Award nominations, a Rockefeller Foundation Award, and a Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award. Mark has also become an advocate for contemporary American opera and has mentored future generations of opera writers through such organizations as American Lyric Theatre, Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, the Virginia Arts Festival/John Duffy Composers Institute, and Opera Philadelphia’s Composer In Residence Program. On the horizon: six new commissioned works with composers William Bolcom, Julian Grant, Jake Heggie, Paul Moravec, Kevin Puts and D.J. Sparr. www.markcampbellwords.com
MARK CAMPBELL was recently profiled in Opera News as one of twenty-five artists “poised...to become major forces in opera in the coming 27
opera philadelphia orchestra
Corrado Rovaris, jack mulroney Music Director VIOLIN I Barbara Sonies, Concertmaster Igor Szwec, Asst. Concertmaster Mei Chen Liao Barnes Diane Barnett Charles Parker Yan Chin Donna Rudolph Liz Kaderabek Erica Miller Alexandra Cutler Fetkewicz VIOLIN II Emma Kummrow, Principal Pat Adams, Asst. Principal Paul Reiser Sarah Dubois Jennifer Lee Lisa Vaupel Tamae Lee Christof Richter
VIOLA Philip Kramp, Principal Carol Briselli, Asst. Principal Marge Miller Julia DeGaetani Ellen Trainer Renee Warnick CELLO Deborah Reeder, Principal Vivian Barton, Asst. Principal Dane Anderson Brooke Beazley Czewski Jennifer Lorenzo David Moulton
OBOE Geoffrey Deemer, Principal Dorothy Freeman Steve Labiner CLARINET Joe Smith, Principal Allison Herz Doris Hall-Gulati BASSOON Norman Spielberg, Principal Jacob Smith Michael Pedrazzini
FRENCH HORN John David Smith, Principal Lyndsie Wilson Karen Schubert BASS Miles Davis, Principal Todd Williams James Freeman, TRUMPET Asst. Principal Brian Kuszyk, Anne Peterson Principal Steve Groat Steve Heitzer Frank Ferraro FLUTE Adeline Tomasone, Principal Eileen Grycky Kim Trolier
TROMBONE Bob Gale, Principal Ed Cascarella Phil McClelland TUBA Paul Erion, Principal TIMPANI Martha Hitchins, Principal PERCUSSION Ralph Sorrentino, Principal Tom Blanchard Chris Hanning HARP Sophie Bruno, Principal PIANO Linda Henderson BANDA Robert Bonfiglio, Harmonica Thomas Moore, Bagpipe
opera philadelphia chorus TENOR Steven Bradshaw Sang B. Cho Matthew Cox Ryan Fleming Christopher D. Hoster David Y. Koh A. Edward Maddison Fernando Mancillas 28
Toffer Mihalka Siddhartha Misra DonLeroy Morales Daniel Taylor Paul Vetrano Cory O’Niell Walker John Philip Werner
BASS Matthew Campbell Gregory Cantwell Jeffrey Chapman Nicholas Hay Christopher Hodges Mark Malachesky John David Miles Frank B. Mitchell III
James Osby Robert Phillips Lourin Plant David Saybrook Daniel Schwartz James J. Seiler Timothy Stopper
Opera on the Mall Draws Thousands to Independence National Historical Park for LA BOHÈME
On Saturday, October 6, 2012 Opera Philadelphia treated 3,000 area residents to La bohème on the Mall, a free, open-air broadcast at Independence National Historical Park of its season-opening production of Puccini’s beloved opera. For the second consecutive year, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation sponsored this HD opera initiative. Opera aficionados and neophytes came together to watch the opera in the shadow of the Liberty Bell. The pre-curtain entertainment included behind-the-scenes video interviews with the artists and director Davide Livermore, who discussed the production inspired by masterpieces from the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Opera’s Knight Foundation Random Act of Culture videos were a popular addition to the broadcast. Attendees Tweeted about the event while engaging in online polls run through Facebook and a custom iPhone app. Glow in the dark necklaces, provided by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, added to the festivities. Attendees were able to visit an “artist’s canvas” photobooth, featuring props inspired by the production. The crowd was greeted by Mayor Michael A. Nutter, as well as Independence National Historical Park Superintendent Cynthia MacLeod and Opera Philadelphia General Director and President David B. Devan. As darkness descended upon the area, new and old opera lovers were transported to Paris in 1896 to see the story of the poet Rodolfo and his beloved Mimì. When the opera was over, thousands of appreciative audience members left Independence Mall, transformed by what they had seen. One patron commented, “We and our grandaughters (13 and 17 years) were thrilled by the opera and the whole experience. The singers had extraordinary voices. Using the art from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes as part of La bohème was a beautiful and unique idea. We also loved viewing Random Acts of Culture. Thanks for entertaining us before the opera and during intermission. After we were leaving, our granddaughters asked to be taken someday to a live opera. We’re looking forward to it and also returning to Opera on the Mall. Thank you, thank you.” La bohème on the Mall introduced the art form to hundreds of new opera lovers and galvanized the city through the art-inspired production and the chance to take part in this communal experience. 29
OCP
is
n ow
B y D av i d B . D e va n General Director & President
I
n the coming months, you will see our new name, new brand, and new logo reflected on our website, in print materials and advertising, and in our performance spaces. This rebranding is not just an expression of Opera Philadelphia’s future ambitions, but the next step in a creative journey that began several years ago. Since 2006, Opera Philadelphia has moved quickly to diversify our repertoire, identify and cultivate rising new talent, and present innovative programs, all in an effort to connect with people in powerful ways. Moving forward, we will focus on exploring and expressing these emotions
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in three areas: Opera on Stage; Opera in the City; and Opera in the Lab. On stage, we produce opera that draws artists and audiences from around the globe, including blockbuster titles such as Carmen and La bohème in the spectacular Academy of Music, and provocative contemporary works like the U.S. Premiere of Hans Werner Henze’s Phaedra in the more intimate Aurora Series for Chamber Opera in the Perelman Theater. To these productions, we bring renowned creative teams, star opera singers and the most exciting emerging talent, many of whom have trained right here in Philadelphia at the
Academy of Vocal Arts and The Curtis Institute of Music. But we also believe that great opera doesn’t have to be tethered to an opera house. Opera can discover you, too, right where you are. So equally thrilling is our commitment to present Opera in the City via Random Acts of Culture, where we stage surprise performances in crowded, iconic Philadelphia locations, and our annual HD broadcast of an Opening Night performance to a giant outdoor audience on Independence Mall. Next season, we’re planning to launch a new series that will offer a fully staged opera in unexpected venues, diversifying operatic experiences for Philadelphia audiences. Finally, what does “Opera in the Lab” mean? In August 2011, The Philadelphia Inquirer said, “In roughly five years, the company has morphed from a conservative, standard-
repertoire-based organization to a haven for new opera with a speed that astounds even those who made it happen.” We’re leading the field in the development of new opera. Our American Repertoire Program, a commitment to produce a new American work over ten seasons, currently has five new operas in development. We have the world’s most comprehensive Composer In Residence program, with talented composers Lembit Beecher and Missy Mazzoli each with us for three years of intensive, hands-on work to develop an understanding of the many facets of developing and producing opera. There’s little doubt, the name Opera Philadelphia represents a thriving present and a bold future for opera in our city. We invite you to come out and shape that future with us.
T h e Hi s t o ry o f Ou r Nam e The history of our name is an interesting story. The Opera Company of Philadelphia was established in 1975 with the merger of two competing organizations: Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company and the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company. The name was meant to reflect their unity as THE opera company for our city. We think that goal has been accomplished, and we can now move to a cleaner, more contemporary name that both honors the history of opera in our city and reflects who we are today.
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The American Repertoire Program: Birthing New Opera in the Birthplace of America by Nathan Gunn Director, American Repertoire Council to identify and recruit members for the steering council focused on advancing Opera Philadelphia’s American Repertoire Program, a commitment to produce a new American work in ten consecutive seasons. We recently welcomed the following people to the Council:
Nathan Gunn
I
was thrilled and very eager to say ‘Yes’ when David Devan asked me to be the Director of Opera Philadelphia’s American Repertoire Council. I know, firsthand, the many challenges of creating lasting new work – the importance of putting together complementary creative partners, choosing the right artists, and identifying the resources to create something meaningful and relevant for today’s audiences. I always enjoy when my work on the stage brings me to Philadelphia, where I first performed in 1996, and I think it’s particularly appropriate that a city known for its revolutionary spirit has made this significant commitment to the future of American operatic work. Since my appointment in September, I have been busy working with David
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• Lembit Beecher, Opera Philadelphia Composer in Residence • Youngmoo Kim, PhD. Assistant Dean of Engineering for Media Technologies, Drexel University • David Lai, Conductor and Music Producer • Missy Mazzoli, Opera Philadelphia Composer in Residence • Daniel K. Meyer, M.D., Chairman, Opera Philadelphia • Zizi Mueller, President of Boosey & Hawkes classical music publishing company • Eric Owens, Operatic Bass-baritone • David Hyde Pierce, Emmy and Tony Award-Winning Actor • David Pittsinger, Operatic Bass-baritone • Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr., Professor of Music, University of Pennsylvania • Gene Scheer, Songwriter and Operatic Librettist The Council will work closely with me and the creative team at Opera Philadelphia, including David Devan, Jack Mulroney Music Director Corrado Rovaris, Artistic Advisor Mikael Eliasen, Senior Vice President, Institutional
Advancement Annie Burridge, and New Works Administrator Kyle Bartlett. About the American Repertoire Program The first opera in the initiative was Dark Sisters, performed as part of the Aurora Series at the Perelman Theater in June 2012. A new opera with music by Nico Muhly and a libretto by Stephen Karam, Dark Sisters is the story of a woman’s struggle to break away from a polygamist marriage, and was cocommissioned with New York’s Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group. The Associated Press called it “an intriguing new opera,” while The Philadelphia Inquirer said Dark Sisters was “a significant addition to the chamber opera repertoire.” This East Coast Premiere of Silent Night marks the second opera in the initiative. A co-production with The Minnesota Opera, Silent Night earned composer Kevin Puts the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. With a wonderful libretto by Mark Campbell, Silent Night was called “a stirring opera that recounts the true story of a spontaneous ceasefire among Scottish, French and Germans during World War I, displaying versatility of style and cutting straight to the heart” in the award announcement. It stars my good friend William Burden along with Kelly Kaduce and is sure to be THE music event in Philadelphia in 2013. Next season, the Aurora Series for Chamber Opera at the Perelman Theater will welcome the East Coast Premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s A Coffin in Egypt, a one-woman show starring the beloved Frederica von Stade. Additional announced cocommissions include Oscar by Theodore Morrison, with a libretto by the composer and John Cox, slated for
Jennifer Hidgon
the Academy of Music in 2015 and starring David Daniels as Oscar Wilde; and Cold Mountain by Pulitzer Prizewinning composer Jennifer Higdon with a libretto by Gene Scheer, which will be produced at the Academy in 2016 and in which I will have the great fortune of singing the role of W.P. Inman alongside Isabel Leonard and Jay Hunter Morris. Both Oscar and Cold Mountain are cocommissioned and co-produced with The Santa Fe Opera. Subsequent works may be performed at either the Academy or as part of the Aurora Series. The Council will continue to research composers and librettists that fit with our repertoire, commissioning, and casting goals. My hope is that what we create here will be something that can be used as a model for the other opera companies in the country to be able to help create new pieces and create new characters on stage. I look forward to bringing new productions and new performances that you and opera lovers all over the world, and those who come from varying points of view on music, will want to see for many years to come. 33
OPERA PHILADELPHIA 2013-2014 SEASON PREVIEW Opera at the Academy Giuseppe Verdi
Nabucco
Company Premiere September 27, 29m, October 2, 4 & 6m, 2013 Libretto by Temistocle Solera Performed in Italian with English supertitles Opera Philadelphia celebrates the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth with Thaddeus Strassberger’s stunning Csilla Boross (center) new production of Nabucco, which follows the plight of the Jews as they are conquered and exiled from their homeland. This landmark work is filled with grand and gorgeous music, including one of opera’s most famous choruses, “Va, pensiero (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves),” adopted as Italy’s unofficial national anthem following the opera’s 1842 premiere. Sebastian Catana and Csilla Boross star in their company debuts. Don’t miss Opera on the Mall, a FREE, open-air broadcast of Nabucco at Independence National Historical Park on Saturday, September 28! Osvaldo Golijov
AINADAMAR
An Opera in Three Images February 7, 9m, 12, 14 & 16m, 2014 Libretto by David Henry Hwang, translated into Spanish by Osvaldo Golijov Performed in Spanish with English supertitles The Grammy Award-winning first opera from Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov tells the story of the celebrated Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca, who was executed in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. Golijov’s dreamy score fuses traditional Jewish and Arabic styles with Spanishinfluenced flamenco and rumba rhythms. Ainadamar marks three important Opera Philadelphia debuts: Catalan soprano Maria Hinojosa Montenegro as Magarita Xirgu; mezzo-soprano Marina Pardo sings the ‘trouser role’ of Lorca, and soprano Carmen Romeu is Nuria, a favorite of Xirgu. Maestro Corrado Rovaris leads the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra in a production that features the Antonio Gades Flamenco Dance Company. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
DON GIOVANNI
April 25, 27m, 30, May 2 & 4m, 2014 Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte Performed in Italian with English supertitles Widely regarded as the greatest opera ever composed, Don Giovanni returns to Opera Philadelphia, weaving the tale of the legendary rake Don Juan in Mozart’s alternately playful and dramatic musical 42
Elliot Madore
masterpiece. A cadre of the most prestigious alumni of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Academy of Vocal Arts come home to star in director Nic Muni’s lavish production. Baritone Elliot Madore (Madama Butterfly) returns as history’s most beguiling scoundrel; soprano Michelle Johnson (Manon Lescaut) returns as Donna Anna, the conflicted object of Giovanni’s desire; lyric soprano Amanda Majeski (Rigoletto) sings the role of the spurned Donna Elvira, with David Portillo (Madama Butterfly) as Anna’s loyal fiancé, Don Ottavio and Joseph Barron (Otello) as Giovanni’s servant, Leporello.
AURORA SERIES: CHAMBER OPERA AT THE PERELMAN THEATER Underwritten by the Wyncote Foundation
Francis Poulenc Curtis Opera Theatre’s
DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES
Company Premiere March 5, 7 & 9m, 2014 Libretto by the composer after a text by George Bernanos Performed in French with English supertitles Curtis Institute of Music in association with Opera Philadelphia and Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Poulenc’s powerful, emotionally challenging 1957 opera tells the historically-inspired story of an order of Carmelite nuns whose world collapses with the onset of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Based on a play by Georges Bernanos, Dialogues follows Blanche, terrified daughter of the wealthy Marquise de la Force, who joins the convent in an attempt to find refuge. American Repertoire Program Ricky Ian Gordon
A COFFIN IN EGYPT
East Coast Premiere June 6, 8m, 11, 13 & 15m, 2014 Libretto by Leonard Foglia Performed in English with English supertitles Opera Philadelphia proudly presents the East Coast Premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s A Coffin in Egypt. Described as a “haunting tale of passion, infidelity and murder,” A Coffin in Egypt follows the 90-year-old grand dame Frederica von Stade Myrtle Bledsoe as she reminisces about her life on and off an Egypt, Texas ranch. The beloved mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, called “one of the America’s finest artists and singers” by The New York Times, makes her Opera Philadelphia debut in this new production. SUBSCRIBE TODAY to secure the best seats at the lowest prices of the season! 215-732-8400 operaphila.org
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Administration David B. Devan General Director & President Corrado Rovaris Jack Mulroney Music Director
Mikael Eliasen Artistic Advisor
Nathan Gunn Director, American Repertoire Council
Gary Gansky Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President
Annie Burridge Senior Vice President, Institutional Advancement
David Levy Vice President of Production
Michael Bolton Vice President of Community Programs
Music Michael Eberhard Artistic Administrator Kyle Bartlett New Works Administrator Elizabeth Braden Chorus Master J. Robert Loy Director of Orchestra Personnel & Orchestra Librarian Colleen Hood Music Staff Assistant Lembit Beecher Composer In Residence Missy Mazzoli Composer In Residence Administration Ken Smith Assistant to General Director & Board Relations Coordinator Maurice Marietti Personnel Manager
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Institutional Advancement Christina Deemer Director of Annual Giving Ryan Lewis Director of Marketing Frank Luzi Director of Communications Lucy Clemens Director of Audience Services Adele Betz Director of Events Jennifer Dubin Associate Director, Annual Fund & Development Services Derren Mangum Manager of Institutional Giving Lauren Ancona Manager of Marketing Technology Rachel McCausland Manager, Research & Special Gifts Michael Knight Assistant Director, Audience Services and Group Sales Kevin Gifford Donor Services Coordinator
Production Christopher Hanes Technical Director Millie Hiibel Costume Director Kerry Masek Production Stage Manager Drew Billiau Lighting Coordinator Elizabeth Larsen-Silva Production Coordinator COMMUNITY PROGRAMS Adrienne Bishop Community Programs Assistant Finance Maureen McHale Senior Accountant Counsel Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads LLP General Counsel Fox, Rothschild, O’Brien & Frankel Special Counsel
Opera Philadelphia
Encore
Society
If the Opera has played a significant role in your
Be a part of the future of opera in Philadelphia!
life, we hope you’ll consider making a commitment to its future and become a member of the Encore Society by including Opera Philadelphia in your estate plans.
This important group of patrons ensures the future of opera in Philadelphia by directly funding the Company’s future artistic and educational programming. In addition to potential tax and income benefits, Encore Society members enjoy exclusive access to a variety of events that enable them to see firsthand the impact of their contribution on the organization’s continued artistic growth, including meet-the-artist events and an annual luncheon with stars from an Opera production.
There are many ways to join the Encore Society! A planned gift of any amount entitles you to membership, and it can be as simple as adding a sentence to your will or naming the Opera as a beneficiary of your 401(k). If you have already included the Opera Philadelphia in your future plans, or if you would like more information about these gifts, please contact Rachel McCausland, Manager, Research & Special Gifts, at 215-893-5909, or mccausland@operaphila.org. Tenor Thiago Arancam and soprano Michelle Johnson in Manon Lescaut. (Kelly & Massa Photography)
Join us for
Opera Philadelphia’s SPRING 2013 Season
A stunning production of Mozart's The Magic Flute comes to the Academy of Music in April.
CURTIS OPERA THEATRE’S OWEN WINGRAVE
The Aurora Series for Chamber Opera at the Perelman Theater In association with Opera Philadelphia and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts By Benjamin Britten Performed in English with English Supertitles March 13, 15 & 17m, 2013
THE MAGIC FLUTE
By W.A. Mozart At the Academy of Music Performed in German with English Supertitles April 19, 21m, 24, 26 & 28m, 2013 Starring Antonio Lozano, Elizabeth Zharoff, Rachele Gilmore, John Bisch & Mark Stone
POWDER HER FACE
Music by Thomas Adès Libretto by Philip Hensher The Aurora Series for Chamber Opera at the Perelman Theater Performed in English with English Supertitles June 7, 9m, 12, 14 &16m, 2013 Starring Nancy Gustafson, Ben Wager, Ashley Emerson & Christopher Tiesi Please be advised that Powder Her Face features explicit sexual content and adult situations which are inappropriate for young audiences.
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