Feature: Spotlight on San Diego Opera

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 | 6:30PM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2 | 5PM

The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park™

JACOBS MASTERWORKS

PAYARE LEADS VERDI'S REQUIEM

Rafael Payare, conductor Leah Crocetto, soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano Limmie Pulliam, tenor Aleksey Bogdanov, baritone San Diego Master Chorale San Diego Symphony Orchestra

GIUSEPPE VERDI

Messa da Requiem (Requiem Mass) Requiem and Kyrie Sequence (Dies Irae) Offertorio (Domine Jesu) Sanctus Agnus Dei Lux aeterna Libera me

Approximate program length: 1 hour, 25 minutes This program will not have an intermission.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone or text SDS to 55741 to access the interactive version of the program

RAFAEL PAYARE Please turn to page 6.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Described by the New York Times as possessing an “agile coloratura technique and a feeling for the Italianate style… with warmth, full penetrating sound and tenderness,” American soprano LEAH CROCETTO continues to astonish audiences with her moving portrayals of opera's greatest heroines.

Very much at home in the Italian operatic repertoire of Verdi and Puccini, Crocetto made her European debut as Leonora in Il Trovatore with Opéra National de Bordeaux, followed by debuts at the Arena di Verona and North Carolina Opera. She sang her first performances in Venice as Desdemona in Otello at Teatro la Fenice. She reprised the role with the company on their tour of Japan and with Frankfurt Opera for her company debut.

In 2020/21, she made her highly anticipated debut at Opera Australia, starring as the title role in Davide Livermore's thrilling production of Aida. She returned the next season as Leonora in Il Trovatore at the Sydney Opera House and joined the company in Melbourne for concert performances of Boito's Mefistofele as Margherita. Her portrayal as Aida was hailed as a "revelation," with Stage Whispers praising that "nothing can truly prepare one to hear such stunning vocal control in person. A perfect, sudden pianissimo, deftly deployed in O, Patria mia!, was just one of the many moments that had the audience spellbound."

On the concert stage, Crocetto has sung Verdi's Requiem with Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, and also with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Columbus Symphony, and Albany Symphony. She sang Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater in concert with San Francisco Opera and Nicola Luisotti, and Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" at the Grand Tetons Music Festival with Donald Runnicles.

Crocetto represented the United States at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, where she was a finalist in the Song Competition. She is a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was the First Place Winner, People's Choice and the Spanish Prize Winner of the José Iturbi International Music Competition, and winner of the Bel Canto Foundation competition. A former Adler fellow at San Francisco Opera, Crocetto frequently appears with the company. A naturally gifted singer known for her commanding stage presence and profound artistry, JENNIFER JOHNSON Cano has garnered critical acclaim for committed performances of both new and standard repertoire. In response to her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera News praised her “impressive tone and dead-on pitch throughout a wide range, and a fierce command of words,” calling her “a matchless interpreter of contemporary opera.”

Highlights of Cano's 2021-22 season included performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in a world premiere of Kevin Puts's The Hours, a debut with the Chicago Symphony and Riccardo Muti and a return to the San Francisco Symphony for Beethoven's Ninth. She starred in the New York premiere of A Song By Mahler, a new chamber opera by Marc Neikrug at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She made operatic debuts in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites (Mother Marie) with the Houston Grand Opera, the world premiere of Gregory Spears' Castor and Patience (Celeste) with the Cincinnati Opera and Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle (Judith) with the Roanoke Opera.

This season she performs at the Metropolitan Opera in Falstaff (Meg Page) and makes her company debut with the Atlanta Opera in Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira); appears with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony and Atlanta Symphony. Cano returns to the Chamber Music Society of New York, where she performs Mahler's Rückert-Lieder; and to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society in an AllBach program with the Gamut Bach Ensemble.

Previous operatic appearances have included Donna Elvira, Carmen and Offred with the Boston Lyric Opera; the role of the Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen with the Cleveland Orchestra and WelserMöst; the Mother the Dragonfly, and the Squirrel in L'enfant et les sortilèges with the San Francisco Symphony; performances of El Niño with John Adams and the London Symphony Orchestra; Carmen with the New Orleans Opera and the title role in Orphée with the Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Cano joined the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and made her Met debut during the 2009-10 season. Among her honors are Winner of the Young Concert Artist International Auditions, a Sara Tucker Study Grant, a Richard Tucker Career Grant and a George London Award.

Rising dramatic tenor LIMMIE PULLIAM has thrilled audiences with his captivating stage presence and his “stentorian, yet beautiful,” sound.

This season, Pulliam joins the roster of The Metropolitan Opera for the first time for their production of Aida. He later debuts the role of Radames with Tulsa Opera for their 75th anniversary gala concert. He also debuts the role of the Prince in Rusalka with Portland Opera. In concert, he debuts with the San Diego Symphony singing Verdi’s Requiem, and makes his Carnegie Hall debut performing “The Ordering of Moses” in collaboration with Oberlin Conservatory, his alma mater. He also joins pianist Mark Markham for “operatic greatest hits” concerts and spiritual recitals with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra and Delta Symphony.

Pulliam’s 2021-2022 season included his company and role debut with Los Angeles Opera as Manrico in Il Trovatore. He additionally made two significant orchestra debuts, singing the title role in Otello with The Cleveland Orchestra led by Franz WelserMöst, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézét-Seguin. He joined Vashon Opera as Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Otello with Livermore Valley Opera, and appeared in concert with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City for a night of opera’s greatest hits and and the Memphis Symphony for their rescheduled Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. During the summer, he joined Madison Opera for their widely popular Opera in the Park concert and the Bard Music Festival as Albert in Rachmaninoff’s rarely-performed The Miserly Knight, led by Leon Botstein.

An in-demand concert artist, he has performed Verdi’s Requiem with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. He also made a much-anticipated return appearance with Vashon Opera where he was featured in a sold-out Limmie Pulliam & Friends concert. Pulliam has been featured in numerous appearances with the internationally renowned chorale Gloriae Dei Cantores, as tenor soloist (Ahab/Obadiah) in Mendelssohn’s Elijah as well as in concerts featuring Intimations of Immortality and For St. Cecelia by Gerald Finzi. He appeared as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Forum Sinfonia Orchestra of Finland and soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the San Angelo Symphony. Pulliam was also a featured soloist on The American Spiritual Ensemble’s 2013 Winter Tour.

He was the 2012 Artist Division Winner of the National Opera Association's Vocal Competition and, in 2013, was a winner in the 3rd Annual Concorso Internazionale di Canto della Fondazione Marcello Giordano in Catania, Sicily. Baritone ALEKSEY BOGDANOV began the 2021-2022 season making his debut at The Metropolitan Opera in Boris Godunov (Shchelkalov). Other engagements last season included a debut with Nashville Opera in Rigoletto (title role), La traviata (Germont) with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, L'Orfeo (Caronte) on a European tour with Europa Galante conducted by Fabio Biondi, and a debut at Royal Swedish Opera for La fanciulla del West (Rance).

Last season included a return to Gran Teatre del Liceu for Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Crespel/Luther) and debuts with Austin Opera in Tosca (Scarpia) and Central City Opera in Rigoletto (title role). He debuted at Hawaii Opera Theatre in Tosca (Scarpia). Additional performances that season included Aida (Amonasro) with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) with Tulsa Opera, Everest (Beck Weathers) and the title role in Aleko with Chicago Opera Theater. Concert appearances included Verdi's Requiem with the Colorado Symphony and The Phoenix Symphony, and Handel's Messiah with the Richmond Symphony.

Bogdanov started the 2018-2019 season with a debut at Maryland Lyric Opera in La fanciulla del West (Rance). He returned to Washington National Opera for Silent Night (Lieutenant Horstmayer) and covered in Tosca (Scarpia) and Eugene Onegin (title role). Additional debuts included Moby Dick (Starbuck) at Chicago Opera Theater, Il corsaro (Pasha Seid) at Teatr Wielki (Warsaw, Poland), and Gurre-Lieder (Peasant/ Narrator) with KBS Symphony Orchestra. Bogdanov made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony in Boris Godunov (Shchelkalov) conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Additional recent appearances include Arizona Opera for Tosca (Scarpia), Sarasota Opera for d'Albert's rarely-heard Tiefland (Sebastiano), Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orléans (Lionel) with Odyssey Opera in Boston, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Four Villains) with Opera North (US), La fanciulla del West (Rance) with Opera Carolina, Tosca (Scarpia) with Opera North (US), Les pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad) with Tulsa Opera, Hérodiade (Vitellius) with Washington Concert Opera, and he covered the title role in Rubinstein's The Demon with Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

As a member of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera he was seen in 100 performances including Carmen (Escamillo), Hansel and Gretel (Peter), title roles in Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte (Guglielmo), L’elisir d’amore (Belcore), Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) and he created the role of Governor George Wallace in the revised version of Glass' Appomattox.

Bogdanov made his debut at The Glimmerglass Festival in Carmen (Escamillo), a signature role that he has performed with The Atlanta Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He returned to The Glimmerglass Festival for Madama

Butterfly (Sharpless) and Picker's An American Tragedy (Samuel Griffiths). He also appeared in the US premiere of O'Regan's Heart of Darkness with Opera Parallèle. Other career highlights include his Canadian debut as the title role in Eugene Onegin with Edmonton Opera, and his Carnegie Hall debut as Bass Soloist in Messiah. He has been featured as a soloist in Mozart's Requiem at Place des Arts in Montréal, Beethoven's Fidelio with National Symphony Orchestra, Barber's A Hand of Bridge with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, CastelnuovoTedesco's Romancero Gitano at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Teatro Baretti di Torino, Dvořák's Te Deum and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass at Basilica of the National Shrine, and the Requiems of Mozart, Fauré, and Duruflé at the Washington National Cathedral.

JOHN K. RUSSELL, DMA, is the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Palomar College and the Music Director of the San Diego Master Chorale. At Palomar College, he conducts the Chamber Singers and the Palomar Chorale, teaches applied voice and oversees the vocal music program. As Music Director of the SD Master Chorale, Dr. Russell conducts and coordinates all the chorale's artistic activities, including preparing the chorus for performances with San Diego Symphony and regular collaborations with San Diego orchestras, including the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and La Jolla Symphony. In addition, he recently served on the summer conducting faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where he taught master classes in conducting for the annual Westminster Summer Choral Festival. In October 2022, he will conduct the west coast premiere performance of Livro das Cores, a newly commissioned choral work by renowned Brazilian composer Marcos Balter.

Dr. Russell is also frequently in demand as a professional vocalist. His recent performances include Bach's St. John Passion at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC; Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with Steve Schick and Renga; Handel's Acis and Galatea with the Bach Collegium San Diego; Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 with the Westminster Summer Choral Festival; and Piffaro: The Renaissance Band in Philadelphia. In March 2022, he joined the Bach Collegium San Diego for their premiere performances of Mesías, Handel's Messiah, with a brand-new Spanish language libretto in concerts in the U.S.A. and Mexico.

Dr. Russell was previously the Director of Choral Activities at California State University, San Bernardino, and has held similar positions at Albion College (Michigan), Los Angeles City College, Cypress College and the San Diego Children's Choir. Before working in California, Dr. Russell was the principal choral conductor at the LaGuardia School of Music & Art & Performing Arts (the Fame School) in New York City. At LaGuardia, he was the assistant chairperson of the Music Department, conductor of the symphonic chorus and voice instructor for the school's top vocalists. While in New York, he conducted over twenty performances with the world-renowned Orchestra of St. Luke's, served as a clinician for the New York Philharmonic's Education Department, and was a guest conductor with New York City National Chorale.

Dr. Russell is a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is a graduate of Western Michigan University and Columbia University. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Music from the University of Southern California, and his primary conducting mentors are Craig Arnold, Joe Miller and Jo-Michael Scheibe. He has studied voice with William Appel, Curt Peterson, Jeanne Goffi-Fynn and Gary Glaze. He resides in San Diego with his wife, Jill, and son, Parker.

Widely recognized for its exciting, inspiring, and comforting performances, the SD MASTER CHORALE is San Diego’s premier choral ensemble, showcasing more than 100 of the region’s finest singers. The Chorale was founded in 1961 and today continues its artistic ascent under the leadership of Music Director Dr. John K. Russell. Dedicated to performing the finest choral repertoire, the SD Master Chorale embraces classical masterworks, new music by contemporary composers, film scores and diverse works of many genres to unite audiences and musicians of all cultures, religions and generations. Each year, the Chorale attracts thousands of San Diego residents and visitors and is heard outside the concert hall with the San Diego Symphony via broadcasts on KPBS, San Diego’s NPR station. The Chorale also performs with the San Diego Symphony at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park and with other respected performing arts partners.

Requiem and Kyrie Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem: exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet. Kyrie, eleison. Christe, eleison.

Dies iræ, dies illa, Solvet sæclum in favilla: Teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus, Quando judex est venturus, Cuncta stricte discussurus!

Tuba, mirum spargens sonum Per sepulchra regionum, Coget omnes ante thronum.

Mors stupebit, et natura, Cum resurget creatura, judicanti responsura.

Liber scriptus proferetur, In quo totum continetur, Unde mundus iudicetur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit, Quidquid latet, apparebit: Nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus? Quem patronum rogaturus, Cum vix justus sit securus?

Rex tremendæ majestatis, Qui salvandos salvas gratis, Salva me, fons pietatis.

Recordare, Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tuæ viæ: Ne me perdas illa die.

Quærens me, sedisti lassus: Redemisti Crucem passus: Tantus labor non sit cassus.

Juste judex ultionis, Donum fac remissionis Ante diem rationis.

Ingemisco, tamquam reus: Culpa rubet vultus meus: Supplicanti parce, Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti, Et latronem exaudisti, Mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Preces meæ non sunt dignæ; Sed tu bonus fac benigne, Ne perenni cremer igne.

Inter oves locum præsta. Et ab hædis me sequestra, Statuens in parte dextra.

Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus addictis: Voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis, Cor contritum quasi cinis: Gere curam mei finis. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. A hymn, will be sung unto You in Zion; and a vow shall be made to You in Jerusalem: hear my prayer, all flesh will come unto You. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Sequence

Day of wrath, day of mourning, when the world melts in fire, as foretold by David and the Sibyl.

Man will be rent asunder, as the judge descends, to sentence us all!

The trumpet, sending its wondrous sound, through the sepulchres of all lands will gather, all before the throne.

Death and nature will stand stupefied, when all creatures are resurrected to face their judgment.

The book will be brought forth, wherein all is written, from which all will be judged.

When the judge is seated all that is hidden will appear: no sin will remain unpunished.

What will I, poor sinner, say? To whom will I plead, when the just man is in need?

King of great majesty who sends us salvation, save me, fount of mercy.

Remember, good Jesus, that you did come to earth for me: Spare me on that day.

In search of me, You became weary: You redeemed me, and suffered the cross: such labor could not have been in vain.

Just judge, grant the gift of remission before the day of reckoning.

I bewail my lot as one accused: guilt color my cheek: Lord, spare this supplicant.

You who absolved Mary Magdalene, who gave ear to the thief, have given me hope.

My prayers are unworthy; but You who are good, grant that I not perish in everlasting fire.

Place me among the sheep, abase me not among the goats, but set me at Your right hand.

Once the wicked have been confounded, surrounded by the devouring flames: call me with the blessed.

I pray, a suppliant bending, my heart ground to ashes: heed me in my final hours.