NEWSLETTER What Is Merola ?
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NEWSLETTER ARGO GHERARDI, EDITOR FEBRUARY 2012 San José State University and San José Opera Guild Vocal Competition On Sunday, February 26, the biennial vocal competi- been voice students from SJSU, Santa Clara Univer- tion sponsored by the San José Opera Guild will take sity, Stanford and West Valley College. Ms Chianakas place at 1:00 PM in the Music Building Concert Hall expects that also this year we will have students from of San José State University. these schools enter the competition. The competition is open to all full time students at a Immediately following the competition, the San José university or junior college who are serious about pur- Opera Guild board of directors will host a reception suing a career in opera. Each contestant must present in Room 161 of the Music Building. This will give the three opera arias in contrasting styles and languages. audience a chance to meet and talk with the contes- One of the arias must be in English. Pianist Hadley tants while the judges are making their decision. McCarroll will accompany the contestants. Admission to the competition and reception is free, The San José Opera Guild will award $700 to the but, if you plan to park on campus, you will have to first place winner and $300 to the second place win- pay a $5 parking fee. ner. Be sure to mark 1:00 PM, Sunday, February 26 on Mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas, an assistant pro- your calendar and then come to enjoy and support fessor of voice at SJSU, is once again the coordinator these young performers. for the competition. In the past, the contestants have ### by Susan English What Is Merola ? One of the most important recipients of our San José prentice stage director. These participants, known Opera Guild’s donations is the Merola Opera Pro- as Merolini, are selected from hundreds of hopefuls gram. However, numerous members are not as fa- from around the world. miliar with this program as was the case when Merola Working in close collaboration with the San Fran- presented operas at Villa Montalvo many years ago. cisco Opera and Opera Center, Merola is financially Merola was created more than fifty years ago, by the independent – making donations essential to meeting San Francisco Opera’s General Director, Kurt Herbert their continued goals. These goals include training Adler. He named the training program for aspiring in musical style and interpretation, role preparation, opera professionals after his predecessor, Gaetano movement and acting, accompaniment and conduct- Merola, as a living memorial. Since then, the Pro- ing, languages and diction, and breath work. gram has blossomed into an internationally respected Meeting these goals is accomplished through a vari- model for building careers in opera. ety of activities. Master classes are taught by illustri- Merola provides a balance of training, performances, ous singers, directors, conductors, and coaches. In the and individualized support. It has grown to a twelve past there have been many remarkable master teachers week program which fosters and challenges twenty- including: Regine Crespin, Jane Eaglen, Lotfi Man- three singers, five apprentice coaches, and one ap- Continued on Page 2 What Is Merola ? from P. 1 souri, Leontyne Price, Donald Runnicles, Dame Joan Opera Travelers Sutherland, and Merola alumni such as Carol Vaness, Two outstanding contemporary American works and Dolora Zajick. beckon intrepid opera goers during February In addition to these master classes and mentors, per- By Mort Levine formance opportunities are provided for the Merolini. When we learned that San Diego Opera’s imagina- Fully staged operas with orchestra, a scenes concert, tive company was going to perform Jake Heggie’s and the annual Merola Grand Finale showcase the tal- Moby Dick, we quickly climbed aboard to get some ents of the participants. These experiences in front of tickets. It will run from Feb 18 through Feb. 26. Just a live audience put in to practice the depth and rich- recently, we discovered that the same opera will also ness of the lessons learned. These performances are be part of next season’s San Francisco season. That offered to donors to Merola, and some may be attend- may be the reward for the impulsive opera traveler, ed by the general public. Attending them gives the but we don’t have any regrets and we don’t have to audience a chance to see the opera stars of the future defer gratification. at the early stages of their careers. We have been intrigued by the Heggie collabora- The success of the program shows in the brilliant ca- tion with librettist Gene Scheer ever since it opened reers Merola has helped launch. Some of the alumni in Dallas at the Winspear Opera House to a blaze of include: Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Jill Grove, critical glory. At its opening, the audience broke into Nancy Gustafson, Mark Delevan, Laura Claycomb, sustained applause and a shower of shredded pro- Brian Asawa, Anna Netrebko, Ann Panagulias, Ruth grams fluttering down from the highest levels. Ann Swenson, Deborah Voight, Patricia Racette, and The west coast premiere next month will bring to- Patrick Summers. gether some of the same team as in Dallas. Of special On Thursday, February 16, 2012, at 6:30 pm Merola interest is the lone female role portraying the cabin is presenting a “Behind the Scenes” member event boy Pip, sung and acted by the talented former Opera in San Francisco. If you would like to attend, please San José resident artist Talise Travigne. A critic de- contact Susan English at [email protected] or scribed her work at first as “boyish and puckish and 408-395-1308. This is just one performance of many later haunting in madness.” In the innovative staging, that Merola will provide in 2012. A description of the she is lost at sea, suspended high above the stage fu- event is on the Merola website: http://merola.org/. It tilely paddling against the daunting waves. will be an evening that allows the audience to see how Moby Dick, the powerful novel by Herman Mel- pianists prepare singers for their roles and continue ville, is a massive challenge for the librettist in terms their musical involvement during the run of an opera of condensation while retaining the moral tone and production. David Hanlon and Robert Molicone will the sweeping language. It is equally a challenge for join in to talk about their musical backgrounds and the composer who comes through as he did with Dead their journeys through Merola to their current Adler Man Walking with accessible vocal music and vivid Fellow coaching positions. At the end of the evening, orchestral work. mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm and baritone Ao Li will perform in a demonstration led by the pianists. The three hour opus features the outstanding tenor Jay Hunter Morris as Captain Ahab, the lethally ob- Additional events planned for this year for the Mero- sessed pursuer of the legendary white whale. Morris la season: fully staged performances of Dominick sang an impressive Siegfried in the Met’s Ring Cycle Argento’s Postcard From Morocco (July 19 and 21), earlier this year. and Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera (August 2 and 4), both in the Cowell Theatre. Also scheduled are the Baritone Morgan Smith sings Starbuck and Jonathan annual Schwabacher Summer Concert in Herbst The- Lemalu is a suitably coiffed Queequeg, all, along with atre (July 5) and a free performance in Yerba Buena Talise, in the original cast. Director Leonard Foglia Gardens (July 7). In addition, the traditional Merola who brought the work to life in Dallas will also direct Grand Finale will be staged on the War Memorial Op- in San Diego. The longtime musicial director of the era House on August 18. ### Continued on Page 3 PAGE 2 SAN JOSE OPERA GUILD Opera Travelers from P. 2 Career Updates company, Karen Keltner, will conduct. Merola Meanwhile earlier (February 10 through 12) in the Tenor David Lomeli (2008) will be making his Novellus theater at the Yerba Buena Center in San Houston Grand Opera debut this month as Alfredo in Francisco, the always innovative Nicole Paiement’s La Traviata. His career received an enormous boost Ensemble Parallele will tackle John Harbison’s third in 2006 when Placido Domingo offered him a berth in opera, The Great Gatsby. This work was a commis- the young artist program at Los Angeles Opera. He sion of the Metropolitan Opera in 1999. has performed at Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera This unique version is a re-orchestration for cham- Company and Opera delle Lille. He has upcoming ber orchestra by Jacques Desjardin commissioned by debuts set for Glyndebourne and Hollywood Bowl. the ensemble and by the Aspen Festival. It will feature Bass Baritone John Releya (1995) will be singing an outstanding cast including Opera San José alum- the title role in Seattle Opera’s new production of At- nus Jason Detwiler as Nick Carraway. In the F. Scott tila. Fizgerald novel, Nick is the narrator. But Harbison, Lucas Meachem, who begins this season at San who wrote the libretto as well as the music, embeds Francisco Opera in Don Giovanni, sings the role of him as a character in the opera Mercutio at Palm Beach Opera in Gounod’s Roméo The music is full of musical references to the 1925 et Juliette this month. In April, he is Figaro in San novel which cites popular songs of the Jazz Age. Diego Opera’s Il Barbiere di Seviglia. Then he trav- Dance (fox trot, Charleston, tango etc.), always a fea- els to Toulouse for his role debut as Wolfram in a new ture of Ms.