yale opera Doris Yarick-Cross, Artistic Director
Opera Scenes November 2 & 3, 2018 | 7:30 pm Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
Yale Opera
Opera Scenes friday, november 2 • 7:30 pm Eugene Onegin, Hamlet, Roberto Devereux, The Tales of Hoffmann saturday, november 3 • 7:30 pm Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Eugene Onegin, The Rape of Lucretia, Rigoletto morse recital hall in sprague memorial hall
douglas dickson · timothy shaindlin music preparation & direction christopher murrah stage direction rebecca l. welles costume design doug harry lighting design wendall k. harrington projection design supervision Projections designed by students from the Yale School of Drama Projection Design program
Yale Opera
Eugene Onegin Excerpt from Act I Music and Libretto by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performed in Russian with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Lily Guerin
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Tatiana Olga Larina Filipyevna Lenski Onegin
madeline ehlinger, soprano theresa kesser, mezzo-soprano rachel weishoff, mezzo-soprano julia orosz, mezzo-soprano john noh, tenor andres benavides cascante, baritone
Sweeping and soulful, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin tells the story of Tatiana, a lovesick country girl, and Onegin, the sophisticated young man who callously spurns her love before realizing, too late, what a mistake he’s made. Pushkin’s profoundly human story that ends in devastation is elevated by Tchaikovsky’s expressive and rich music and creates one of opera’s most enduring masterpieces.
Friday, November 2
Hamlet Excerpt Music by Ambroise Thomas Libretto by Michael Carré and Jules Barbier
Performed in French with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Emma Deane
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Hamlet Ophélie
matthew cossack, baritone leah brzyski, soprano
In Thomas’ Hamlet, the composer turned his attention away from the internal struggle of the Danish prince and towards the relationships in the court. Most romantic and heartbreaking of all is the relationship with Ophélie, his beloved and the victim of his anger and vengeful grief. Through the epic music, and the libretto of Carré and Barbier, we are given a profound and thorough understanding of a woman scorned not for her own actions, but for the actions of the myopic men who surround her.
intermission
Yale Opera
Roberto Devereux Excerpt from Act I Music by Gaetano Donizetti Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano
Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Sarah Karl
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Elisabetta Roberto Devereux Nottingham Sara
lauren mcquistin, soprano luis aguilar regalado, tenor edwin joseph, baritone rachel weishoff, mezzo-soprano
Her rule of her nation is secure, but her heart is overthrown by a passion that will not subside. Queen Elizabeth is faced with the prospect of sending the focus of her heart’s obsession, Roberto Devereux, to certain death over the whispers of treason that surround his suspected relationship with her and must decide between love and country. But her own heart is not met with the love of Roberto, whose passions lie with another.
Friday, November 2
The Tales of Hoffmann Act III Music by Jacques Offenbach Libretto by Jules Barbier
Performed in French with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Elsa Gibson-Braden
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Antonia Crespel Hoffmann Dr. Miracle La voix
madeline ehlinger, soprano brady muth, bass-baritone john noh, tenor hans tashjian, bass theresa kesser, mezzo-soprano
Offenbach’s opera places the real life poet, E.T.A. Hoffmann, into his own fantastical stories of failed love and fantasy. In the story of Antonia, Hoffmann is in love with a beautiful young woman suffering from a serious illness. She lives with her father, Crespel, under the spectre of her deceased mother. Though she loves singing, the exertion required is dangerous for Antonia and, despite his efforts to protect her, Crespel is incapable of saving her from the same fate as her mother before her.
yale opera
Die Entführung aus dem Serail Act II Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie
Performed in German with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Alexander McCargar
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Blonde Osmin Konstanze Pedrillo Belmonte
leah brzyski, soprano hans tashjian, bass laura nielsen, soprano fidel angel romero, tenor luis aguilar regalado, tenor
Mozart’s sparkling comedy about a young Spanish nobleman and his faithful sidekick breaking into a Turkish harem and freeing their fiancées is among the most popular operas of all time. Abducted by a ship of pirates and sold into a foreign land, Konstanze and Blonde are confronted with different opinions of women than they are used to in their homeland. But Mozart’s clever and joyful work displays the consistencies of man across borders and traditions and in the end subverts the expectations of the characters and audience alike.
Saturday, November 3
Eugene Onegin Excerpt from Act I Music and Libretto by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performed in Russian with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Evan Anderson
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Tatiana Filipyevna Onegin
lauren mcquistin, soprano julia orosz, mezzo-soprano matthew cossack, baritone
Sweeping and soulful, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin tells the story of Tatiana, a lovesick country girl, and Onegin, the sophisticated young man who callously spurns her love before realizing, too late, what a mistake he’s made. Pushkin’s profoundly human story that ends in devastation is elevated by Tchaikovsky’s expressive and rich music and creates one of opera’s most enduring masterpieces.
intermission
yale opera
The Rape of Lucretia Excerpts from Act I Music by Benjamin Britten Libretto by Ronald Duncan
Performed in English with projected English text Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Erin Sullivan
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Male Chorus Female Chorus Collatinus Junius Tarquinius
luis aguilar regalado, tenor lauren mcquistin, soprano brady muth, bass-baritone matthew cossack, baritone edwin joseph, baritone
The historic tale of Lucretia has inspired works by artists throughout time. According to historians, Lucretia was raped by Tarquinius Sextus, son of the Etruscan King of Rome. Her suicide instigated the revolution that in the end brought forth the Republic of Rome. In Ronald Duncan’s libretto, the action is introduced and commented upon throughout by two observers, a Male and Female Chorus, lending the story an urgent, contemporary air that takes the audience through time, from before Christ to the present day.
Performed by arrangement with Boosey and Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
Saturday, November 3
Rigoletto Act III Music by Giuseppe Verdi Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Liam Bellman-Sharpe and Ben Jones
cast (in order of vocal appearance) Rigoletto Gilda Duke Sparafucile Maddalena
andres benavides cascante, baritone laura nielsen, soprano fidel angel romero, tenor brady muth, bass-baritone rachel weishoff, mezzo-soprano
Verdi’s masterpiece of revenge and jealousy is known for its tragic tale of Rigoletto, a quick-witted joker whose piercing words run away with him. His latest wisecrack has started a vendetta that’s far from funny and now, with his daughter seduced by the dissolute Duke, Rigoletto is out for revenge. The last laugh, however, is not for Rigoletto.
artist profiles
Christopher Murrah stage direction
Douglas Dickson musical direction and accompaniment
Christopher Murrah is a New York Citybased director. In 2016 he joined the faculty of Yale School of Music where he directs and teaches acting and movement for the Yale Opera. In 2014 he was the recipient of the honored Princess Grace Theater Award and previously was honored by the Shubert Foundation through Columbia University.
Douglas Dickson received his bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University and his master of musical arts degree from the Yale School of Music. On various occasions, The Washington Post has called him an “intelligent, sensitive” pianist with “super technique” and a “skillful pianist” and has praised him for the “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.
His work in theater and opera has been seen around the world, including the renowned Mariinsky Opera House in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he was the movement director for a wild new mounting of La traviata. He served as the choreographer of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the fight choreographer for Don Quichotte, both with the Yale Opera. He was also the director for the Yale Opera’s 2016 and 2017 Fall Opera Scenes programs. Other directing credits include Man of La Mancha (Wasserman/ Darion/Leigh), The Crucible (Miller), Pericles and Hamlet (Shakespeare), Into the Woods (Sondheim/Lapine), Children of Eden (Schwartz/Caird), and The Three Sisters (Chekhov). New plays and collaborations have included Peter Pan or the Boy Who Hated Mothers (Michael Lluberes), Alphabetical (Tingying Ma), The Sounds of My People (Tabia Lau), and development of works by Matthew Minnicino, Daaimah Mubashshir, and David Kimple. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and the Actor’s Equity Association.
While still in college, he was the accompanist for the American Boychoir. As part of Duodecaphonia, a prize-winning piano duo, he has performed at the Kennedy Center and elsewhere. Mr. Dickson has been the 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 the Yale Opera’s production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, and conducted a concert featuring the 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 Hall debut in an all-Ives concert at Weill Recital Hall. For Naxos, he has recorded more than eighty songs by Charles Ives.
artist profiles
Timothy Shaindlin musical direction and accompaniment
Rebecca L. Welles costume design
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, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, San Diego Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. He has also coached for the 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 also 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, Renee Fleming, and Carlo Bergonzi.
Rebecca Welles YSD ’12 has been designing for Yale Opera since 2013. Credits include The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel, Fall 2017 Opera Scenes, Le pauvre matelot, The Bear, Don Quichotte, La Cenerentola, Le nozze di Figaro, Gianni Schicci, Riders to the Sea, Bon Appétit, and Iolanta. Rebecca is also an adjunct professor of performing arts at Eastern Connecticut State University, the costume shop manager for the Aspen Summer Music Festival’s Aspen Opera Center, and the resident costume designer for the Educational Center for the Arts. Other recent CT design credits include Million Dollar Quartet and Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Story at Ivoryton Playhouse.
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.
Doug hails from the UK 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 theater, 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.
Doug Harry lighting design
artist profiles
Wendall K. Harrington projection design supervision Wendall K. Harrington’s career has embraced diverse disciplines including projection design for theater, 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 Opera and the Metropolitan Opera; 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 ’90s.
Student Profiles
Luis Aguilar Regalado tenor B.M. The Hartt School; M.M. Yale School of Music; Young Artist Programs: Oberlin in Italy, Opera de Nuevo Leon Leah Brzyski soprano B.M. in Vocal Performance and Music Education, Michigan State University; Young Artist Program: Charlottesville Opera, Utah Festival Opera Andres Benavides Cascante baritone B.A. in Music, Loyola University New Orleans; Young Artist Program: Central City Opera Matthew Cossack baritone B.M. SUNY Purchase; M.M. Mannes College; Young Artist Programs: Si Parla Si Canta, Princeton Festival, Music Academy of the West Madeline Ehlinger soprano B.M. DePaul University; Young Artist Program: Teatro Nuovo Edwin Joseph baritone B.A. St. Stephen’s College, Delhi; Young Artist Program: Prague Summer Nights Festival Theresa Kesser mezzo-soprano B.M. University of Denver; M.M. Indiana University; Young Artist Programs: Wolf Trap Opera, Miami Music Festival, Opera Steamboat Artist Institute Lauren McQuistin soprano B.M. Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; M.M. Indiana University Jacobs School of Music;
Young Artist Programs: Center for Opera Studies in Italy, Central City Opera Brady Muth bass-baritone B.M. University of Northern Colorado; Young Artist Programs: Opera Classica Europa; Opera Fort Collins, Opera North Laura Nielsen soprano B.M. & A.D. University of Western Ontario; Young Artist Programs: La Musica Lirica, Halifax Summer Opera Festival John ChongYoon Noh tenor B.M. Peabody Institute; M.M. The Juilliard School; Young Artist Programs: Music Academy of the West, Weill Music Institute – The Song Continues, Amalfi Coast Music Festival Julia Orosz mezzo-soprano B.M. The Hartt School; Young Artist Program: BRVS Vocal Intensive Program Fidel Angel Romero tenor B.A. Houston Baptist University; Young Artist Program: German Vocal Arts Institute, Central City Opera Hans Tashjian bass B.F.A. Carnegie Mellon University; M.M. Manhattan School of Music; Young Artist Programs: Central City Opera, Opera Southwest, Sarasota Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Caramoor Music Festival Rachel Weishoff mezzo-soprano B.M. & M.M. SUNY Purchase; Young Artist Programs: Princeton Music Festival, Central City Opera, Chelsea Opera, Opera North
Yale Opera Production Staff
christopher murrah Stage Director
erika niemi heltzel Yale Opera Manager
rebecca l. welles Costume Designer
tess naval Production Stage Manager
doug harry Lighting Designer & Master Electrician
sylvia d’eramo Assistant Stage Manager
christopher evans camilla tassi Projection Programmer & Operator
cailey harwood-smith Properties Master carol koumbaros Wardrobe Manager
jill brunelle Surtitle Operator lauren mcquistin brady muth Student Assistants
Special Thanks
Shawn Boyle Jacob Reed Richard Cross Robert Heltzel Jen McClure Kyle Swann Yale School of Drama Long Wharf Theatre Southern Connecticut State University Wendall K. Harrington and her projection design students
Yale Opera 2018–2019 season Russian Liederabend december 5, 2018 Morse Recital Hall Emily Olin leads the singers of Yale Opera in a performance of Russian music. Wednesday | 7:30 pm free admission Eugene Onegin february 15–17, 2019 Shubert Theatre Yale Opera presents a new production of Tchaikovsky’s romantic masterpiece with stage direction by Paul Curran and music direction by Perry So. Friday & Saturday, 8 pm | Sunday, 2 pm Tickets start at $19, Students $14 Available at shubert.com or 203-562-5666 The Scarf & Le Rossignol may 3–4, 2019 Morse Recital Hall Yale Opera presents a new double bill production of Hoiby’s The Scarf and Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol in Sprague Hall directed by Dustin Wills with music direction by Douglas Dickson and Timothy Shaindlin. Friday & Saturday | 7:30 pm Tickets start at $12, Students $5
Yale opera Doris Yarick-Cross, Artistic Director
Eugene Onegin Youthful passion, lasting regret Tchaikovsky’s earnest treatment of Pushkin’s beloved verse novel brings to the opera stage this ever-timely tale of irrepressible love, heartless dismissal, and tormenting regret nourished by time. February 15-17 | shubert theatre Perry So, Conductor Paul Curran, Stage Director With the Yale Philharmonia Tickets start at $19 | Students $14 Media Sponsor: wshu 91.1 fm
Tickets On Sale Now!
203 562-5666 | shubert.com
Robert Blocker, Dean
Upcoming Events nov 4
Dark Horse Consort Collection of Musical Instruments The period-brass ensemble performs music from the early 17th century. 3 pm | Collection of Musical Inst. Tickets $30, Yale staff and seniors and museum associates $25, students $15
nov 7
Wei-Yi Yang, piano Horowitz Piano Series Faculty pianist Wei-Yi Yang performs an all-Schumann program that includes Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie. 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $15, students $7
nov 13 Escher String Quartet Oneppo Chamber Music Series The Escher String Quartet performs music by Mozart, Korngold, and Beethoven. 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $28, students $13
nov 15 Peter Oundjian, principal conductor Yale Philharmonia Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, with Sophiko Simsive, and Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra. 7:30 pm | Woolsey Hall Tickets start at $12, Yale faculty/ staff $8, students $5 $3 surcharge at the door nov 28 Melvin Chen, piano Horowitz Piano Series Faculty pianist Melvin Chen performs an arrangement of Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, and works by Sibelius and Ravel. 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $15, students $7 dec 4
Emerson String Quartet Oneppo Chamber Music Series A performance by the legendary Emerson String Quartet, an ensemble The New Yorker has said is “as eminent as ever.” 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets start at $28, students $13
yale school of music box office Sprague Memorial Hall | 470 College Street New Haven, CT 06511 203 432–4158 | music-tickets.yale.edu | Mon–Fri 11 am–2 pm wshu 91.1 fm is the media sponsor of the Yale School of Music facebook.com/yalemusic
@yalemusic
YaleSchoolofMusicOfficial
If you do not intend to save your program, please recycle it in the baskets at the exit doors.