Arizona Opera Announces 45th Anniversary Season
Director Ryan Taylor has revealed the Arizona Opera's 2015/16 Season, which opens in October 2015. The coming season will be an astounding collection of "firsts" for the company, including three works never before seen in Arizona: Emmerich Kálmán's Arizona Lady, Mexican composer Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas, and Giuseppe Verdi's riotous comedy Falstaff. Arizona Opera also presents productions of Bizet's Carmen and Mozart's Don Giovanni that are new to its statewide audiences.
The 2015/16 Season roster of singers, conductors and directors includes many new faces coming to Arizona to perform, with over twenty artists making their company debuts. Highlighting the season's casts are mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Carmen, who recently performed the role to great acclaim for Santa Fe Opera, and baritone Morgan Smith as Don Giovanni, known internationally for his portrayal of Mozart's infamous rogue and who recently appeared on the national PBS broadcast of Moby Dick as Starbuck.
Other notable debut artists include Metropolitan Opera sensations mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, and tenor Andrew Stenson, who sing the roles of Donna Elvira and Don Ottavio, respectively, as well as soprano Karin Wolverton who starred in the recent national PBS broadcast of Silent Night.
On the podium, the company introduces Conductors Kathleen Kelly for the premiere of Arizona Lady, Joseph Mechavich for Florencia en el Amazonas and Eric Melear for Falstaff. Conductor Steven White returns for Don Giovanni while Arizona Opera Associate Conductor Keitaro Harada, fast-becoming one of the most talked-about young conductors in the U.S., takes the podium for Carmen.
"The overwhelming positive response to our Arizona Bold initiative this season with Cruzar la Cara de la Luna and Eugene Onegin, allowed us to uncover terrific new works and artists that we were able to program for this coming season. It has been rewarding to discover the depth of talent who have heard of the enthusiasm from the community and are eager to perform with us. Our artistic and production teams have taken particular joy in looking through the company's 44-year history, discovering titles that have never been presented before, engaging some of the brightest singers, designers and directors whose vision promises to showcase the relevance of incredible masterworks, and invigorate new audiences as well." - General Director Ryan Taylor
All performances for the 2015/16 Arizona Opera Season will be held at Symphony Hall, 75 N. 2nd St. in Phoenix and at the Tucson Music Hall at 260 S. Church in Tucson. Advance tickets are on sale now via season subscriptions with full packages consisting of all 5 operas and mini packages of 3 operas of your choice. Packages offer savings of up to 30% off regular ticket prices and are on sale at www.azopera.org or by calling 602-266-7464 (Phx) or (520)293-4336 (Tuc).
Arizona Lady
By Emmerich Kálman
Luck be an Arizona Lady tonight.
*Arizona Lady opens in Tucson
Tucson: October 10 at 7:30 pm & 11 at 2:00 pm
Phoenix: October 16 & 17 at 7:30 pm, October 18 at 2:00 pm
Written in 1953 as a love letter to the Southwest, the hopes and dreams of leading lady Lona Farrell ride on the back of one horse, named Arizona Lady, winning the Kentucky Derby. With a score that is reminiscent of the greatest Golden-age Hollywood musical comedies, Arizona Lady is full of lively, upbeat music, cheerful, soaring arias, and a wacky libretto, sure to make you smile as bright as the Arizona sun. Performed in German, English and Spanish with English supertitles.
Arizona Lady's cast features the return of Octavio Moreno, who starred as Laurentino in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, and stars Angela Fout as Lona Farrell, Robert Orth as Sheriff Harry Sullivan and Sarah Tucker as Nelly Nettleton. This will be Fout's company debut, described by The Post and Courier as "Blonde and vivacious, Angela Fout has a soaring spinto voice that takes a high C easily, trills beautifully, and handles coloratura like a dream." Noted conductor Kathleen Kelly collaborates with stage director Matthew Ozawa and Arizona Poet-Laureate Alberto ("Tito") Rios on a new translation for the premiere.
Rediscovered Voices Festival
September 14-October 18
Join Arizona Opera for a month-long festival celebrating the lives of composers and artists like Emmerich Kálmán, who overcame insurmountable obstacles during WWII. This festival-with film screenings, recitals, operas, lectures, and more-hopes to help us all celebrate life even in the face of darkness.
Florencia en el Amazonas
By Daniel Catán
Looking for love in all the wrong places.
Phoenix: November 13 & 14 at 7:30 pm, November 15 at 2:00 pm
Tucson: November 21 at 7:30 pm & November 22 at 2:00 pm
Inspired by the magical realism of celebrated author Gabriel García Márquez, Florencia en el Amazonas is a journey through the physical and mystical worlds of love, desire, and the mighty Amazon River. Florencia Grimaldi is traveling through the enchanted rainforest and hopes to find her long lost lover, a butterfly hunter who disappeared in the jungle many years ago. Wracked by storms and a cholera outbreak, she and her fellow passengers are drawn deeper into the Amazon where fantasy and reality intertwine and their hopes and dreams are tested. Written by the late Mexican composer Daniel Catán, Florencia en el Amazonas was the first Spanish-language opera commissioned in the U.S. and has become a smash sensation around the globe ever since its premiere. Sung in Spanish with English supertitles. Cast includes the Arizona Opera debut of Sandra López as Florencia, the return of Michael Corvino (Rigoletto '14) as Alvaro, and Luis Alejandro Orozco as the mythical river spirit Riolobo. "López sang with...power and passion...with a rounded, full voice that delivered at the big moments." - South Florida Classical Review
Latin American Festival
November 3 - November 22
Inspired by our presentation of Florencia en el Amazonas, this festival will explore and celebrate the incredible art traditions unique to Latin America. These concerts, films, book clubs, lectures, and more will lift your spirit through the great rhythms, colors, and sounds of Latin America.
Carmen
By Georges Bizet
Cat fights and Bull fights.
*Carmen opens in Tucson
Tucson: January 30 at 7:30 pm & January 31 at 2:00 pm
Phoenix: February 5 & 6 at 7:30 & February 7 at 2:00 pm
Carmen, the most famous Gypsy seductress in all of opera, ensnares countless men throughout Spain. When the dutiful soldier Don José falls prey to her charms, all hell breaks loose in this classic story of adoration and jealousy, pageantry and rage. Set against the backdrop of pre-Franco Spain, San Francisco Opera star mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack brings the fiery and fierce Carmen to life with "a voice of supple warmth." - San Francisco Chronicle Sung in French with English supertitles.
Daniela Mack makes her Arizona Opera debut in the title role, with Adam Diegel as Don José, Ryan Kuster as Escamillo and Karin Wolverton as Micaela. Keitaro Harada will take the podium as conductor with Tara Faircloth directing.
Don Giovanni
By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Hide your kids, Hide your wife!
Phoenix: February 26 & 27 at 7:30 pm, February 28 at 2:00 pm
Tucson: March 5 at 7:30 pm & March 6 at 2:00 pm
Don Giovanni: the man, the myth and the legend. He can't resist women and women can't resist him. With so many conquests, his servant Leporello can barely keep track of them all! Giovanni's attention comes in the form of harassment and lies, and rages unchecked until the father of the beautiful Donna Anna arrives to put him in his place. So beware, this lecherous lothario is "climbing in your windows and snatching your people up! " Sung in Italian with English supertitles.
"Baritone Morgan Smith gives an electrifying performance as Don Giovanni, radiating saturnine power, dark magnetism and cruel charm. His ample, cognac-smith voice has just enough snarl to give it bite. This young singer already inhabits the role the way James Bond fills a tux." - The Bellingham Herald. The cast of Don Giovanni includes Morgan Smith in the title role, Melinda Whittington as Donna Anna, Jennifer Johnson Cano as Donna Elvira and Joseph Barron as Leporello.
Falstaff
By Giuseppe Verdi
He's a glutton...for punishment.
Phoenix: Apr 1 & 2 at 7:30 pm, April 3 at 2:00 pm
Tucson: April 9 at 7:30 pm & April 10 at 2:00 pm ]
Never before seen on the Arizona Opera stage, Verdi's masterful interpretation of Shakespeare's classic Elizabethan buffoon comes to life in this new production opening April Fool's Day. Irascible, randy and boastful, Sir John Falstaff concocts a scheme to seduce the wealthy Wives of Windsor and nab their riches. His plot quickly unravels in a series of elaborate pranks as the clever women enlist everyone to outwit the old rascal. Bass-baritone Craig Colclough (Don Pasquale '14) returns to Arizona Opera with his interpretation of Falstaff, "creating a multi-faceted musical and comical character with an overwhelming sense of fun." - The Washington Post. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. Rounding out the cast is David Adam Moore (Eugene Onegin '15) as John Ford, Karen Slack as Alice, Joélle Harvey as Nannetta and Javier Abreu as Fenton.
Complete 2015/16 Season cast, biographies, opera synopses and production details are available online at www.azopera.org.
About Arizona Opera
Arizona Opera is Arizona's only professional opera company, which produces fully-staged opera performances, concerts, in-school touring productions, educational and outreach programs that reach over 70,000 school-children and adults annually. Founded in 1971, Arizona Opera is one of the only opera companies in the United States to serve multiple cities.