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Yale doris yarick cross Artistic Director
november 7 & 8, 2015 Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
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Yale Opera presents
saturday: Semele, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Così fan tutte, Hamlet, Rigoletto sunday: Don Giovanni, Don Pasquale, The Cunning Little Vixen, The Merry Widow
Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
november 7 & 8, 2015 sat 7:30 pm| sun 2:00 pm
douglas dickson · timothy shaindlin music preparation and direction marc verzatt stage director john carver sullivan costume designer doug harry lighting designer wendall k. harrington projection design supervisor Projections designed by students of the Yale School of Drama Projection Design program Surtitles written by Marc Verzatt
Saturday, November 7
Semele Excerpt from Act II Music by G.F. Handel
Performed in English with projected English text Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Carolina Ortiz
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Juno Iris Semele Ino
kathleen reveille, mezzo-soprano meechot marrero, soprano natalia rubis, soprano anne maguire, mezzo-soprano
The god Jupiter has fallen in love with the mortal Semele, and has abducted her from her marriage ceremony to another and brought her to an enchanted palace. Juno, his wife and goddess of marriage, swears to destroy Semele. After Jupiter brings Semele’s sister, Ino, to visit her, Juno transforms herself into Ino’s look-alike, and feeds Semele’s ego with flattery.
Saturday, November 7
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Excerpt Music by Benjamin Britten
Performed in English with projected English text Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Fufan Zhang
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Lysander Helena Demetrius Hermia Bottom Quince Starveling Flute Snug
ting li, tenor jessica pray, soprano dean murphy, baritone kathleen reveille, mezzo-soprano zhiguang hong, bass-baritone andy berry, bass samuel hinkle, baritone andrés moreno garcia, tenor zachary johnson, baritone
Demetrius of Athens once loved Helena, but has transferred his passion to Hermia. She, however, is in love with Lysander, and since her father objects to this union, Hermia and Lysander run away. Demetrius is tipped off by Helena, and they both follow them into the woods. The woods are ruled by the fairy king, Oberon, and his wife, Titania, but they have been quarreling. Oberon uses a magic flower’s nectar to drip into people’s eyes, so that they fall in love with the first person they see. Unfortunately, the wrong Athenian is chosen, and Lysander, enchanted by the love juice, falls in love with Helena, as does Demetrius. Nick Bottom and an amateur theater troop have been rehearsing a play, but the mischievous Puck, servant to Oberon, turns Bottom’s head into that of a donkey, and Puck uses the flower juice to have Titania fall in love with Bottom. After a night of love (and lover’s quarrels), all awake the next morning, but no one is sure if they dreamed everything or not. intermission
Saturday, November 7
Così fan tutte Excerpt from Act II Music by W.A. Mozart
Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Yana Biryukova
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Fiordiligi Ferrando Dorabella Guglielmo
jin-xiang yu, soprano ting li, tenor anne maguire, mezzo-soprano zachary johnson, baritone
Two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, believe their officer fiancées have been called to battle. The men, however, have merely made a bet that their sweethearts will be faithful while they’re gone and actually woo them both in disguise. Fiordiligi is reluctant, but Dorabella is anxious to be alone with her new suitor.
Saturday, November 7
Hamlet Excerpt from Act I Music by Ambroise Thomas
Performed in French with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Hamlet Ophélie Gertrude
samuel hinkle, baritone jessica pray, soprano anne maguire, mezzo-soprano
Hamlet has returned from university for his late father’s funeral and learns that his mother has married his uncle. He suspects some sort of treachery. He and Ophélie love each other, but he doesn’t reveal his deepest concern to her. His mother assures Ophélie that Hamlet’s aberrant behavior is perfectly normal, while she herself guiltily worries that he knows the truth: that she and his uncle murdered his father before they married.
Saturday, November 7
Rigoletto Excerpt from Act I Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Claire DeLiso
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Rigoletto Sparafucile Gilda Giovanna Duke
zhiguang hong, bass-baritone andy berry, bass meechot marrero, soprano kathleen reveille, mezzo-soprano andrĂŠs moreno garcia, tenor
The deformed, hunchbacked Rigoletto is the jester to the Duke of Mantua’s court. The Duke is weak, and more interested in a series of brief love affairs, so the court is really ruled by the jester, who is loathed by the courtiers. He meets Sparafucile, a paid assassin, but rejects his offer for help. Ever fearful that they will discover Rigoletto is a father, he keeps his teenage daughter, Gilda, locked away in his house. The duke, however, has seen her at church and has followed her home.
Sunday, November 8
Don Giovanni Act II Music by W.A. Mozart
Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Michael Commendatore
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Don Giovanni Leporello Donna Elvira Masetto Zerlina Don Ottavio Donna Anna
paweł konik, bass-baritone andy berry, bass natalia rubis, soprano zachary johnson, baritone jin-xiang yu, soprano ting li, tenor jessica pray, soprano
The legendary lover Don Juan has left Donna Elvira after seducing her, and has tried, unsuccessfully, to woo both Donna Anna and Zerlina, a peasant, on her wedding day to Masetto. He has even alienated his friend and sidekick, Leporello. Determined to woo Donna Elvira’s maid, he and Leporello exchange clothing, and under darkness of night, Elvira goes off with Leporello, while Giovanni faces the revenge of Masetto.
Sunday, November 8
Don Pasquale Excerpts Music by Gaetano Donizetti
Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Joo Hyun Kim
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Norina Dr. Malatesta Don Pasquale
meechot marrero, soprano samuel hinkle, baritone paweł konik, bass-baritone
The wealthy and elderly Don Pasquale has disinherited his nephew because Ernesto wanted to marry a poor girl named Norina. Pasquale asks his friend, Doctor Malatesta, to find him a innocent, simple young girl for him to marry himself. Malatesta arranges for Norina to pretend to be that simpleton and stages a mock wedding. Afterwards, Norina makes Pasquale’s life unbearable and then plants a fake letter about her meeting Ernesto that night in the garden for Pasquale to find. The men plan how they will catch the lovers red-handed.
intermission
Sunday, November 8
The Cunning Little Vixen Excerpt from Act II Music by Leoš Janáček
Performed in Czech with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Elizabeth Green
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Vixen Fox
jin-xiang yu, soprano evanna chiew, mezzo-soprano
A forester caught a little fox cub, and brought her home to raise on his farmyard. The Vixen, however, is too wild an animal to live with domesticated ones, so she destroys his chickens and knocks the forester down. She meets a fox and, during their courtship, tells him of her life in the human world.
Sunday, November 8
Die Lustige Witwe Act II Music by Franz Lehár
Sung in German with projected English translation and English dialogue Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Yana Biryukova
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Hanna Zeta Valencienne Danilo Camille Njegus Ensemble:
natalia rubis, soprano andy berry, bass evanna chiew, mezzo-soprano dean murphy, baritone andrés moreno garcia, tenor zachary johnson, baritone meechot marrero, jessica pray, jin-xiang yu, anne maguire, kathleen reveille, ting li, samuel hinkle, zhiguang hong, paweł konik
Hanna Glawari was a poor girl back home in Pontevedro when she and Prince Danilo fell in love. His father, however, refused to let them marry. Now she is a rich widow living in Paris, but the finances of her homeland are in ruin, and it is imperative that she marry a countryman so that her money stay in Pontevedro. The ambassador, Baron Zeta, has been trying to reunite them, but they are both too stubborn and shy to admit they still love one another. Zeta’s wife, meanwhile, has been having an affair with a Frenchman, Camille de Rosillion, who wrote “I love you” on a fan, which her husband has found. He asks Danilo to find out to whom the fan belongs.
Biographies
Marc Verzatt stage director Stage director Marc Verzatt maintains an active career directing opera, operetta, and musical theater throughout the United States and Europe. He began his theatrical career as a dancer with the Metropolitan Opera after studying drama at Rutgers University and ballet with New Jersey’s Garden State Ballet. After several seasons as a soloist with the Met Ballet, he left to continue his education in production as a stage manager and assistant stage director with the Cincinnati Opera and Pittsburgh Opera companies. He made his professional directing debut with a production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann with Opera Columbus. He has since directed productions with the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and the opera companies of Fort Worth, Lake George, Madison, Arizona, Toledo, Atlanta, Kansas City, Baltimore, Idaho, and Mississippi. Recent engagements include Tosca for Nickel City Opera in Buffalo and Madama Butterfly for Cincinnati Opera in 2014; in 2015, Così fan tutte in Florida and, for New York City’s exciting early music group, Tenet, he staged an evening of Renaissance trios for women called Musica Segreta. This summer he was at the Napa Music Festival in June, and in Sweden in August as an acting and movement teacher with new young singers programs. In 2002 he joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music’s Opera Program, where he directs the Acting and Movement workshops. He has directed several Yale Opera productions, including Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (in which he appeared in the role of Puck) with Orchestra Verdi in Milan, as well as the program’s main-
stage productions, including a new production of I Capuleti e i Montecchi in February 2013. In 2005 he was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera for a speaking role in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2006 he was named Outstanding Stage Director of the Year by Classical Singer magazine. Marc is the Artistic Director of the Kingston (New York) Festival of the Arts. He is also an amateur competitive ballroom dancer and multiple first-prize winner, and trains at the Fred Astaire Studios in Manhattan.
John Carver Sullivan costume designer John Carver Sullivan returns to Yale Opera, where he has designed costumes for La Bohème, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, the 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014 opera scenes productions, La tragédie de Carmen, and Le Rossignol. His long association with Colin Graham and Opera Theatre of St. Louis has included designs for world premiere productions of The Woodlanders, The Village Singer, and The Postman Always Rings Twice, among many others. He has also designed the Broadway production of Moose Murders, offBroadway productions at the York Theatre of The Musical of Musicals – The Musical, Little By Little, and The Jello is Always Red, and multiple productions for the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. His theatrical work includes productions for Goodspeed Opera, the Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, and the Folger Library Theatre. Mr. Sullivan is on the faculty of the Theatre Department at Southern Connecticut State University.
Biographies
Doug Harry lighting designer Doug hails from the U.K. and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama way back in the crazy eighties! He has travelled the world as a lighting designer for theatre, opera, and corporate events. Currently he splits his time between production management and design and is currently the Production Manager for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. He is very happy to be designing for the Yale Opera program.
Douglas Dickson musical direction and accompaniment Douglas Dickson received his B.A. degree from Princeton University and his M.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. On various occasions the Washington Post has called him an “intelligent, sensitive” pianist with “super technique,” a “skillful pianist,” and has praised him for his “finely integrated oneness” he achieves as an accompanist. Mr. Dickson has performed in the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America in venues ranging from Japan’s Expo Hall to the Cincinnati Coliseum. While still in college, he was the accompanist for the American Boychoir. As part of Duodecaphonia, a prize-winning piano duo, he performed at the Kennedy Center and elsewhere. Mr. Dickson has been music director for productions at Quinnipiac University, the Yale School of Drama, Opera Theater of Connecticut, and Connecticut Experimental Theater. He was music director and conductor for Yale Opera’s production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, and he conducted a concert featuring Yale Opera with the Orchestra Verdi in Milan. He has taught at Quinnipiac University since 1993 and joined
the Yale faculty in 1998. He made his Carnegie debut in an all-Ives concert presented by Yale at Weill Recital Hall. For Naxos, he recorded more than eighty Charles Ives songs.
Timothy Shaindlin musical direction and accompaniment A native of New York City, Timothy Shaindlin joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2008. After studies at The Juilliard School and Indiana University, he worked for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, San Diego Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. He has also coached for Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Hawaii Opera Theatre. In Europe, he worked for Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu and played master classes for Tito Gobbi. He has played classes and coachings for such artists as Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Beverly Sills, Marilyn Horne, Natalie Dessay, Ben Heppner, Luciano Pavarotti, Eleanor Steber, Samuel Ramey, Régine Crespin, Thomas Hampson, Frederica von Stade, Renée Fleming, and Carlo Bergonzi. Mr. Shaindlin’s work on the podium includes conducting engagements with the Wolf Trap Opera Festival, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Light Opera Works, and Eugene Opera. He has assisted such renowned conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Andrew Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Richard Bonynge, Bruno Bartoletti, Donato Renzetti, Louis Langrée, Edoardo Müller, Yves Abel, Daniele Gatti, Antonio Pappano, and Paul Gemignani.
Biographies
Wendall K. Harrington projection design supervisor Wendall K. Harrington’s career has embraced diverse disciplines including projection design for theatre, publishing, and video production. Broadway designs include Driving Miss Daisy, Grey Gardens, They’re Playing Our Song, The Elephant Man, My One and Only, The Heidi Chronicles, The Will Rogers Follies, Having Our Say, Company, Racing Demon, Ragtime, John Leguizamo’s Freak, The Capeman, Putting it Together, and The Who’s Tommy. Off-Broadway work includes Angels in America, Hapgood, A Christmas Carol at the Paramount; Merrily We Roll Along (three times!), and the ill-fated Whistle Down the Wind. Opera designs include Julie Taymor’s The Magic Flute in Florence, Italy; A View from the Bridge at Chicago Lyric and the Met; Die Gezeichneten at LA Opera; The Photographer at BAM; and Transatlantic, Grapes of Wrath, Rusalka, and Wuthering Heights for Minnesota Opera. Ms. Harrington is the recipient of the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the American Theatre Wing Award, the TCI Award for Technical Achievement, and the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Projections. Ms. Harrington has been lecturing on projection design for the Yale School of Drama since the early 1990s.
Student Profiles
Andy Berry bass B.S. Yale University. Young Artist Programs: dell’Arte Opera Ensemble Evanna Chiew mezzo-soprano B.M. University of British Columbia; M.M. Yale University. Young Artist Programs: Opera NUOVA, Toronto Summer Music Academy, Chamber Music Northwest Samuel Hinkle baritone B.M. Mannes College of Music. Young Artist Programs: Siena Music Festival Zhiguang Hong bass-baritone B.M. China Conservatory of Music, M.M. Mannes College of Music. Young Artist Programs: International Vocal Arts Institute, Dicapo Opera Theater, Seagle Music Colony Zachary Johnson baritone B.M. New England Conservatory Paweł Konik bass-baritone B.A. Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music; M.A. Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Katowice/Poland Opera Academy. Young Artist Programs: Teatr Wielki Polish National Opera (Warsaw, Poland) Ting Li tenor B.M. Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Young Artist Programs: Aspen Music Festival Anne Maguire mezz0-soprano B.M. Boston Conservatory. Young Artist Programs: Napa Music Festival; Opera Academy of California
Meechot Marrero soprano B.M. Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico. Young Artist Programs: International Vocal Arts Institute, Savannah Voice Festival, VOICExperience Andrés Moreno García tenor B.M. The Hartt School of Music. Young Artist Programs: Festival Musica e Musica, San Pedro Arte Festival Dean Murphy baritone B.M. The Hartt School of Music. Young Artist Programs: Opera North, Prelude to Performance Jessica Pray soprano B.M. and B.A. University of Iowa. Young Artist Programs: Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre Kathleen Reveille mezzo-soprano B.M. Mercyhurst University. Young Artist Programs: New York Summer Opera Scenes Natalia Rubis soprano B.A. in Music, M.M. Wroclaw Music Academy, Poland Jin-Xiang Yu soprano B.M. CUNY Queens College, Performance Certificate, American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Young Artist Programs: Central City Opera
Yale Opera Production Staff
marc verzatt Stage Director
erika niemi heltzel Manager
john carver sullivan Costume Designer
kelly bowes turner Production Stage Manager
doug harry Lighting Designer & Master Electrician
kristianna hartsen Assistant Stage Manager
yana biryukova michael commendatore Projection Programmers and Operators
jeromy hunt Properties Master & Production Coordinator
lucas van lierop Surtitle Operator
catherine mason Wardrobe Assistant
evanna chiew paweł konik Student Assistants Special Thanks
Richard Cross Richard Harding Robert Heltzel Kelly Hill Catherine Mason Kyle Swann Jin-Xiang Yu Yale School of Drama Long Wharf Theatre Southern Connecticut State University Wendall K. Harrington and her production design students
Yale Opera 2015–16 Season Master Class with Alan Held december 14 Morse Recital Hall | Mon | 7 pm The renowned bass-baritone from the Metropolitan Opera works with students in the Yale Opera program Free Admission A Midsummer Night’s Dream february 19–21 Shubert Theater Fri & Sat, 8 pm | Sun, 2 pm Yale Opera presents a new production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, conducted by Rune Bergmann and directed by Claudia Solti Tickets $19–50, available at www.shubert.com or 203-562-5666 Don Quichotte may 6 & 7 Morse Recital Hall | Fri & Sat | 7:30 pm Yale Opera presents a new production of Massenet’s Don Quichotte with musical direction by Douglas Dickson and Timothy Shaindlin. Tickets $10–$20, Students $5, available at the Sprague box office, 203 432-4158 or music.yale.edu
by Benjamin Britten
February 19—21, 2016 Shubert Theater Fri & Sat, 8 pm | Sun, 2 pm Yale Opera presents a new production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Claudia Solti conducted by Rune Bergmann with the Yale Philharmonia
Tickets $19-50, available at www.shubert.com or 203-562-5666
Upcoming Events
Yale Brass Trio
Dover String Quartet
november 10 Faculty Artist Series Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 7:30 pm William Purvis, horn; Allan Dean, trumpet Scott Hartman, trombone • Music from the Renaissance to Ezra Laderman Free admission
november 17 Oneppo Chamber Music Series Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 7:30 pm Dvořák: Quartet in F major, Op. 96, “American”; Berg: String Quartet, Op. 3; Schubert: String Quintet in C major, with Peter Wiley, cello Tickets start at $26 • Students $13
Tiam Goudarzi, recorder Paolo Zanzu, harpsichord
Lunchtime Chamber Music
november 11 Collection of Musical Instruments 15 Hillhouse Ave | Wednesday | 5:30 pm Music by Corelli, Handel, Scarlatti, and more Tickets $25 • Seniors & Yale staff $20 Students $10
november 18 YSM Student Ensembles Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 12:30 pm Music for a variety of chamber ensembles. Wendy Sharp, director Free admission
Wei-Yi Yang, piano
Paul Lansky, guest composer
november 11 Horowitz Piano Series Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 7:30 pm Chopin: Nocturne Op. 9, No. 1 in B-flat minor; Prokofiev: Sonata No. 8 in B-flat major, Op. 84; Schubert: Sonata No. 21 in B-flat major, D. 960 Tickets start at $13 • Students $7
november 19 New Music New Haven Morse Recital Hall | Thursday | 7:30 pm Featuring Lansky’s Comix Trips (2008) along with new works by student composers Michael Gilbertson, Dylan Mattingly, Krists Auznieks, and Liliya Ugay Free admission
Concert Programs & Box Office: Krista Johnson, Donna Yoo Communications: Dana Astmann, Monica Ong Reed, Austin Kase Operations: Tara Deming, Chris Melillo Piano Curators: Brian Daley, William Harold Recording Studio: Eugene Kimball WSHU 91.1 fm is the media sponsor of Yale Opera and the Yale School of Music P.O. Box 208246, New Haven, CT · 203 432-4158
music.yale.edu
Robert Blocker, Dean