Saturday, July 16, 2016

Merola Opera Program Announces Selections for 2016 Grand Finale

As always this summer’s twelve-week Merola Opera training program will conclude by giving all 23 of the participating vocalists the opportunity to take the stage of the War Memorial Opera House. In addition their fellow Merolini will take responsibility for coaching, and the entire program will be staged by Merola Apprentice Stage Director Aria Umezawa. A full ensemble will occupy the orchestra pit with Rory Macdonald conducting. The program itself will offer both solo performances and group scenes, and the repertoire will cover the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. While the order of performance has not yet been finalized, the selections to be presented will be as follows:

Linda di Chamounix (Donizetti)
“Linda! Linda!... Da qual dì che t’incontrai”
Linda – Adelaide Boedecker
Carlo – Isaac Frishman

Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Bizet)
“C’est toi, toi qu’enfin je revois…Au fond du temple saint”
Nadir – Amitai Pati
Zurga – Andrew Manea

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart)
“Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln... Ich gehe doch rate ich dir”
Blonde – Jana McIntyre
Osmin - Matthew Anchel

Orfeo ed Euridice (Glück)
“Ecco un nuovo tormento… Che farò senza Euridice?”
Euridice – Teresa Castillo
Orfeo – Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen

Idomeneo (Mozart)
“Quando avran fine omai...Padre, germani, addio”
Ilia – Shannon Jennings

Il viaggio a Reims (Rossini)
“Sola ritrovo alfin...Nel suo divin sembiante”
Corinna – Teresa Castillo
Cavaliere Belfiore – Josh Lovell

Anna Bolena (Donizetti)
“Dio che mi vedi in core…Sul suo capo aggravi un Dio”
Anna Bolena – Mary Evelyn Hangley
Giovanna Seymour – Taylor Raven

Les Troyens (Berlioz)
“Les Grecs ont disparu... Malheureux roi! Dans l’éternelle nuit”
Cassandre – Tara Curtis

Les contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach)
“Elle a fui, la tourterelle!”
Antonia – Chelsey Geeting

Martha (Flotow)
“Nancy! Julia! Verweile!... Letzte Rose, wie magst du”
Lady Harriet – Yelena Dyachek
Lionel – Brian Michael Moore

Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck)
“Halt! Hokuspokus, Hexnschuss!”
Die Hexe – Boris Van Druff
Gretel – Chelsey Geeting
Hänsel – Alexandra Schenck

Don Giovanni (Mozart)
“Don Ottavio, son morta!... Orsai chi l’onore”
Donna Anna – Sarah Cambidge
Don Ottavio – Isaac Frishman

Billy Budd (Britten)
“Claggart! John Claggart! I’m not so easily deceived”
Captain Vere – Kyle van Schoonhoven
Billy Budd – Josh Quinn
Claggart – Matthew Anchel

Béatrice et Bénédict (Berlioz)
“Comment le dédain pourrait-il mourir?”
Béatrice – Alexandra Schenck
Bénédict – Amitai Pati

Trouble in Tahiti (Bernstein)
“There’s a law”
Sam – Cody Quattlebaum

La Cenerentola (Rossini)
“Ma dunque io sono un ex…Un segreto d’importanza”
Dandini – Josh Quinn
Don Magnifico – Nicholas Boragno

Edgar (Puccini)
“Questo amor, vergogna mia”
Frank – Josh Quinn

Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss)
“Herr Chevalier, ich grüsse sie!..Brüderlein, Brüderlein und Schwesterlein”
Eisenstein – Kyle van Schoonhoven
Frank – Cody Quattlebaum
Rosalinde – Mary Evelyn Hangley
Adele – Jana McIntyre
Ida – Teresa Castillo
Orlofsky – Taylor Raven
Falke – Andrew Manea
Chorus – tutti Merolini

Other details aside, one may assume from the casting of the Fledermaus selection that this will be the “grand finale” to conclude this Grand Finale performance.

This performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 20. The War Memorial Opera House is located at 301 Van Ness Avenue on the northwest corner of Grove Street. Tickets are $45 for Premium seating in the Orchestra and Grand Tier, $35 for the remaining seats in both of those sections, and $25 for the Dress Circle. Tickets may be purchased online through an event page on the San Francisco Opera Web site, by calling the Box Office at 415-864-3330, or by visiting the Box Office in the outer lobby of the War Memorial Opera House.

There will also be ancillary events both before and after the performance. The pre-performance reception, the Merola Grand Night Mix, will be held between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Green Room of the War Memorial Veterans Building, just north of the Opera House. This will feature an open wine bar and light nibbles. Admission will be $25, and tickets may be purchased online through a separate event page. The Green Room will be the venue for the post-performance reception, which is expected to begin around 10 p.m. and will provide an opportunity to meet all of the participating artists. Tickets for this event will be $50 and may be purchased through yet another event page. Tickets will also be available from the Box Office.

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