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| For
immediate release
Christine
Brewer to return in Opera Theatre’s 30th festival season opens on Saturday, May 21, 2005 and continues through Sunday, June 26, highlighted by the return of famed soprano Christine Brewer in Colin Graham’s new production of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana: the private life of Elizabeth and Essex. The season also offers new productions of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, and Grétry’s Beauty and the Beast (Zémire and Azor). All performances are sung in English, accompanied by members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and presented at the Loretto-Hilton Center at Webster University. Benjamin
Britten: GLORIANA: When CHRISTINE BREWER sings the title role in Opera Theatre’s new Gloriana production, she will be returning to the stage where she made her very first operatic appearances, beginning with small parts as a member of the chorus and then as Ellen Orford, Armida, Donna Anna, and Ariadne. She is symbolic of the many brilliant young singers who have appeared with Opera Theatre early in their careers; her voice was recently hailed by the Guardian music critic as being, “quite simply, one of the greatest in the world." Gloriana is the story of the stormy relationship of Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex; it was commissioned for the coronation of Elizabeth II by the Royal Opera in London. It will be staged by OTSL artistic director COLIN GRAHAM, who worked for years with the composer and created the brilliant English National Opera production which toured to the Metropolitan Opera in 1982. OTSL favorites including BRANDON JOVANOVICH, KELLIE VAN HORN, JAMES WESTMAN, and MARY WILSON N are returning. RIGOLETTO
-- Giuseppe Verdi (1851) With its overwhelmingly popular music and suspenseful plot, Rigoletto is one of the greatest operas in the repertory; it has not been seen on OTSL’s stage since 1981. Courtiers of the Duke of Mantua hate Rigoletto, the court jester, for helping his master seduce their wives. They take revenge by helping the Duke kidnap Gilda, Rigoletto’s beautiful daughter, with tragic consequences. CHEN-YE YUAN, who was Chou En-lai in Nixon in China, will sing the title role, JOHN BELLEMER returns as the Duke, and we’re looking forward to welcoming back soprano YING HUANG (our Pamina in The Magic Flute) as Gilda and bass MORRIS ROBINSON "as the sinister Sparafucile. ROMEO
AND JULIET -- Charles Gounod (1867) Conductor:
STEPHEN LORD Shakespeare’s classic story of star-crossed lovers is set to lush and romantic music. Soprano ALYSON CAMBRIDGEN (Frasquita in Carmen) sings her first major OTSL role as Juliet; newcomer FRÉDÉRIC ANTOUN* is her Romeo, and KEVIN SHORT is returning as Friar Laurence. BEAUTY
AND THE BEAST (Zémire and Azor) Conductor:
JEANNETTE SORRELL* It’s not Disney, but it’s just as magical – this enchanting retelling of the “Beauty and the Beast” story (Zémire is Beauty and Azor is the Beast) premiered just before Mozart's heyday. A merchant is going on a voyage and offers to bring back gifts to his three daughters; the older two ask for expensive presents, but the youngest wants only a rose. After a shipwreck the merchant finds himself in a palace with a beautiful garden; when he picks a rose the Beast appears – and the rest is legend. The opera was a huge international success in its time; OTSL's new production will be led by the team that created the beautiful Thaïs in 2003. … THE STORY OF OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS Opera Theatre was founded in the spring of 1976 by Richard Gaddes and a small group of St. Louisans who were determined to bring festival-quality opera to the St. Louis area. With a budget of $135,000 they presented an 11-performance season of opera in English with a mixture of familiar and unconventional repertory sung by young Americans including Sheri Greenawald and Vinson Cole – a style of production which continues to this day. Since 1985 the company has been led by general director Charles MacKay, artistic director Colin Graham, and music director Stephen Lord. The company’s artistic home has been the 987-seat Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University, whose garden setting is ideal for a spring festival season. Since the beginning the company has presented seventeen world and twenty American premieres, perhaps the highest percentage of new work in the repertory of any American company. Although the size of the theater limits box office income to 25% of the budget, the company has consistently produced work of the highest quality while never accumulating a deficit. For more information on the company and the 2005 season visit www.experienceopera.org … *Opera Theatre main season debut °Former Gerdine Young ArtistOpera Theatre of Saint Louis is a sustaining member of the Arts & Education Council of Greater Saint Louis, and receives major support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Regional Arts Commission, and the Missouri Arts Council. All Opera Theatre productions are accompanied by members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. MasterCard is the official credit card of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
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Further Information Contact: Maggie Stearns (860) 927-1320 In Mo) magstearns@opera-stl.org (In Ct) maggiestearns@earthlink.net |
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