Four Yale Opera singers join Waterbury Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Four singers from Yale Opera will be the featured soloists in the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony this Sunday, November 22 at 3:00 pm. The Waterbury Symphony will present an all-Beethoven program in the Fine Arts Center at Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC). Maestro Leif Bjaland, WSO Music Director and Conductor who was previously the director of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, will lead the orchestra in the composer’s first and last symphonies.
The Waterbury Symphony Orchestra will be joined by the NVCC College Choir, under the direction of Dr. Richard Gard, with guest soloists Amanda Hall, soprano; Gala El Hadidi, mezzo-soprano; Michael Paul Krubitzer, tenor; and Tyler Simpson, baritone. The program opens with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and is followed by the Symphony No. 9, op. 21 in C major.
A free pre-concert lecture will be held at 2:10 in the Mainstage Theater at NVCC. The Waterbury Symphony Orchestra invites attendees to a post-concert reception (tickets $20) where they can meet Maestro Bjaland, NVCC College Choir conductor, Richard Gard, and the guest soloists. For more information, please contact the WSO office at 203 574-4283 or visit www.waterburysymphony.org.
Fall Opera Scenes: the plots
On October 30 and 31, Yale Opera will present two evenings of opera scenes. To whet your appetite, here are synopses of the scenes to be performed. All synopses are by Grant Meachum. Tickets to the Opera Scenes range from $8 to $12 and are available online or at the box office (203 432-4158).
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO Act II
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, KV 492
Prior to the scene: Figaro and Susanna are to be married. Susanna is troubled by the Count’s romantic interest in her, but Figaro is confident the Count can be outwitted. The Count is frustrated by Cherubino’s constant flirtations. Marcellina, Basilio, and Bartolo are plotting to force Figaro to marry Marcellina to settle an old debt.
The Countess laments that her husband no longer loves her. Figaro and Susanna hatch a plot to change the Count’s behavior: they will schedule a romantic meeting between the Count and Susanna but send Cherubino (disguised as a women) instead of Susanna. Cherubino sings a love song he has written for the Countess and Susanna begins to dress him as a woman for the meeting with the Count. Before the dressing is finished, the Count arrives; Cherubino hides in a closet, but the Count is suspicious that the Countess is hiding a lover there. The Countess claims Susanna is in the closet but refuses to open the door. As the Count leaves to get tools to break down the door, Susanna sneaks into the closet and helps Cherubino escape out a window. (more…)
Yale Opera announces spring repertoire
Winter production of The Marriage of Figaro
to be followed in April by a double-bill of Carmen and Le Rossignol
A scene from Yale Opera's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Shubert Theatre, February, 2009. Photo by Jennifer Lester.
Yale Opera and artistic director Doris Yarick-Cross are pleased to announce the repertoire for its winter and spring productions. The winter production, which will take place at New Haven’s historic Shubert Theater in February, will be an Mozart’s popular The Marriage of Figaro. The opera will be performed in the original Italian with projected English translations. This production by Robert Driver will feature a creative team including stage director Vera Lúcia Calábria, set designer Boyd Ostroff, and lighting designer William Warfel. Christoph Campestrini will conduct the Yale Philharmonia.
The month of April will bring a double-bill of Bizet’s La Tragédie de Carmen and Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol. Both productions will be performed in their original languages – French for Carmen and Russian for Le Rossignol – with projected English translations. Mark Streshinsky will provide stage direction, Douglas Dickson and Timothy Shaindlin will provide musical direction and accompaniment, and William Warfel will design the lighting. The performances will take place April 16 and 17 at 8 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall. (more…)
Fall Opera Scenes announced
A scene from Yale Opera's production of William Walton's opera The Bear, Sprague Hall, spring 2009.
This October, Yale Opera will continue its tradition of offering two distinct evenings of fully-staged operatic scenes. The artistic staff features stage director Marc Verzatt and music directors Douglas Dickson and Timothy Shaindlin. In addition, John Carver Sullivan will be the costume designer, and William Warfel will design the lighting.
Each opera scene will be sung in its original language with projected English translations.
Friday, October 30 will present scenes by Mozart, Dvorak, and Ambroise Thomas. The evening of Saturday, October 31 will feature the music of Donizetti, Rossini, Stravinsky, and Massenet.
The singers, all part of Yale Opera, include Mireille Asselin, Eric Barry, Jeremy Bowes, Andrew Craig Brown, Gala El Hadidi, Jennifer Feinstein, Adam Frandsen, Stephanie Jeanne Gilbert, Amanda C. Hall, Jihee Kim, Michael-Paul Krubitzer, Lóránt Najbauer, David Pershall, Tyler Simpson, Vince Vincent, and Chrystal E. Williams.
The opera scenes will take place Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31 at 7:30 pm in Morse Recital Hall at Sprague Memorial Hall. Doris Yarick-Cross is the artistic director of Yale Opera. (more…)
Music at Yale magazine now available online
The Yale School of Music’s annual publication, Music at Yale, has released its first online issue. The 2008-09 issue of the magazine highlights Denise and Stephen Adams, donors who have transformed the Yale School of Music with their generosity. An article by Susan Hawkshaw traces the career of the legendary Aldo Parisot, who this year celebrates his fiftieth year on the School of Music faculty.
Other featured news items include the Philharmonia’s first tour of Asia in July 2008, the new alumniVentures program, the 2008 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Messiaen Centenary Celebration in December 2008, and announcements of events such as the 2009 Symposium on Music in Schools and the new Yale Institute for Music Theatre. As in previous issues, the magazine also includes student, alumni, and faculty news, music briefs, and many other items about the Yale School of Music.
View the 2008-09 issue of Music at Yale here.
An evening of Italian songs by Yale Opera
The Yale School of Music presents a spring Liederabend on Monday, April 27, at 8:00 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College St, New Haven). Students of Yale Opera will offer an evening of the finest Italian songs from across three centuries, including selections by Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Mascagni, Pizzetti, and many others. Timothy Shaindlin is the musical director and accompanist of this concert. Doris Yarick-Cross is the artistic director of Yale Opera. (more…)
Yale Opera offers two evenings of one-act operas by Massenet and Walton
Yale Opera's 2008 production of Bluebeard's Castle
Yale Opera presents two evenings of one-act operas at 7:30 pm on April 17 and 18, 2009, in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College St, New Haven). Each evening opens with Jules Massenet’s La Navarraise and concludes with William Walton’s The Bear.
La Navarraise, inspired by Jules Claretie’s short story “La cigarette,” takes place in Spain during the Carlist War in 1874. It is the tale of Anita (La Navarraise) who, in order to raise money for a dowry to marry the man she loves, assassinates a Carlist leader for the reward money — with tragic results. In The Bear, based on a vaudeville by Anton Chekhov, a landowner heatedly demands money owed from a widow, but their duel turns into a seduction. Both operas feature the work of veteran stage director Vera Lúcia Calábria, with wardrobe by Martha Lehr and lighting by William Warfel. La Navarraise will be performed in French with projected English translations; The Bear will be performed in English with text projections. Douglas Dickson and Timothy Shaindlin provide musical direction and piano accompaniment for the Massenet and the Walton, respectively. (more…)
“Senior” by Timo Andres ‘09MM premieres at Carnegie Hall
Composer Timothy (Timo) Andres enjoyed a successful premiere of his orchestral work “Senior” in Carnegie Hall on Sunday, March 22.Written for string quartet and orchestra, the piece is written to evoke the state of mind of a senior in college. The New York Youth Symphony commissioned the 12-minute work, performing it with the ACME String Quartet and conductor Ryan McAdams.
According to Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times, “This pensive and restless music does seem to touch on the conflicting emotions that Mr. Andres identifies with senior slump: expectancy and finality, bewilderment and boredom. But the piece was fascinating on musical terms alone… The acuteness of Mr. Andres’s ear lends intricacy to the layered lines and pungency to the piercing harmonies.” (more…)
Yale Opera begins rehearsals for spring double-bill
Yale Opera begins staging rehearsals on Monday March 23 for the spring double-bill performance of Jules Massenet’s La Navarraise and William Walton’s The Bear. Stage director Vera Calabria returns to New Haven for this production following her most recent appearance directing Yale Opera’s Fall 2008 Scenes.
Performances will be Friday April 17 and Saturday April 18 at 7:30pm in Sprague Hall. Please check the Yale School of Music website for more information and to purchase tickets, and check back here frequently for rehearsal updates.
Yale Opera: The Magic Flute, 2009
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Take a look at highlights from Yale Opera’s 2009 production of Mozart’s classic Die Zauberflöte, performed at New Haven’s Shubert Theater this past February.
The creative team behind this exciting new production included stage director Marc Verzatt, set designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, costume designer Thierry Bosquet (principal and men’s chorus costumes originally created for New York City Opera), and lighting designer William Warfel. The original set was built by students from the Yale School of Drama. Performers included an international cast of singers from Yale Opera, a chorus drawn from the New Haven and Yale communities, and the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale, conducted by Federico Cortese. Doris Yarick Cross is the artistic director of Yale Opera.
Yale Opera presents a new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute
Follow the sound of Tamino’s magic flute into Mozart’s bewitching fairytale opera, where good triumphs over evil, darkness gives way to light, and love conquers all.
The Yale School of Music presents Yale Opera’s new production of Mozart’s classic Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) at the Shubert Theater, 247 College Street, Friday, February 13 and Saturday, February 14 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, February 15 at 2:00 pm. The creative team that created this exciting Magic Flute includes stage director Marc Verzatt and other members of the artistic staff of Yale Opera, Italian conductor Federico Cortese, lighting designer William Warfel, costume designer Thierry Bosquet (principal and men’s chorus costumes originally created for New York City Opera), and set designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams. The original set was built by students from the Yale School of Drama. Performers include an international cast of singers from Yale Opera, a chorus drawn from the New Haven and Yale communities, and the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale. Doris Yarick Cross is the artistic director of Yale Opera.
The Magic Flute, Mozart’s last opera, is one of the most widely-performed and best-loved works in the repertory, with both comical whimsy and profound symbolism in abundance. It is actually a Singspiel, or “song-play,” with music and spoken dialogue. For this production, the spoken dialogue is in English, and director Marc Verzatt and Yale voice professor Richard Cross have collaborated on a new and often hilarious translation. The music will be sung in German with projected English translations.
The alternating casts feature the talented young singers of Yale Opera, including sopranos Mireille Asselin, Amanda Hall, Adelaide Muir, and Samantha Lane Talmadge; mezzo-sopranos Gala El Hadidi, Ana Sinicki, Emily Righter, Chrystal Williams; tenors Eric Barry, Tadeusz Szlenkier, and Michael-Paul Krubitzer; baritones David Pershall and Vince Vincent; and basses Jeremy Bowes, Damien Pass, and Tyler Simpson. Soprano Stephanie Gregory, an alumna of the Yale School of Music, will join the cast as a guest artist. The three spirits will be sung (also in alternating casts) by Yale College students Lucy Fitz Gibbon, Emily Misch, Eliza Bagg, Chloe Zale, Elizabeth Picker, and Marianne Schuck.
Tickets are $19-$41, $13 for students with ID, at the Shubert box office, 203.562.5666 or 888.736.2663, or at www.shubert.com. Senior and group discounts are available. For further information, please visit the School of Music web site at music.yale.edu, or call 203.432.4158.
Yale Opera: Fledermaus Gallery, 2008
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DIE FLEDERMAUS
at the Shubert Theater
Feb 15 – 17, 2008.
Yale Opera’s Managing Director Grant Meachum talks about the production with Artistic Director Doris Yarick-Cross, stage director Marc Verzatt and conductor Jeremy Silver, with musical examples provided by Samantha Talmadge as Rosalinde and Zach Borichevsky as Eisenstein, accompanied by faculty pianist Mikhail Hallak.
