Opera SAN JOSÉ 2019 | 2020 SEASON Die Fledermaus BY JOHANN STRAUSS September 14 - 29, 2019 PRESS KIT
Die Fledermaus OPERETTA IN THREE ACTS
MUSIC by Johann Strauss LIBRETTO by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée
First performed April 5, 1874 in Vienna
SUNG IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH DIALOGUE AND ENGLISH SUPERTITLES.
Performances of Die Fledermaus are made possible in part by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José.
PERFORMANCE SPONSORS 9/14: Michael & Laurie Warner 9/22: Jeanne L. McCann
PRESS CONTACT Chris Jalufka Communications Manager Box Office (408) 437-4450 Direct (408) 638-8706 [email protected] OPERASJ.ORG For additional information go to https://www.operasj.org/about-us/press-room/ CAST
Adele Elena Galván Rosalinde Maria Natale Alfredo Alexander Boyer von Eisenstein Eugene Brancoveanu Dr. Blind Mason Gates Dr. Falke Brian James Myer Frank Nathan Stark Ida Ellen Leslie Prince Orlofsky Stephanie Sanchez Frosch Jesse Merlin
COVERS Amy Goymerac, Adele Jesse Merlin, Frank Marc Khuri-Yakub, Alfredo Melissa Sondhi, Ida Andrew Metzger, von Eisenstein Anna Yelizarova, Prince Orlofsky Jeremy Ryan, Dr. Blind Lance LaShelle, Frosch J. T. Williams, Dr. Falke
*Casting subject to change without notice
4 Opera San José CHORUS
SOPRANOS ALTOS Jannika Dahlfort Megan D'Andrea Rose Taylor Taylor Dunye Angela Jarosz Amy Worden Deanna Payne Anna Yelizarova Melissa Sondhi TENORS BASS Nicolas Gerst Carter Dougherty Marc Khuri-Yakub Michael Kuo Andrew Metzger James Schindler AJ Rodriguez J. T. Williams Jeremy Ryan SUPERNUMERARIES Torie Charvez Samuel Hoffman Hannah Fuerst Chris Tucker DANCERS Lance LaShelle AJ Rodriguez Deanna Payne Alysa Grace Reinhardt courtesy of The New Ballet Company Sally Virgilo Emmett Rodriguez courtesy of The New Ballet Company
Die Fledermaus Press Kit 5 ARTISTIC TEAM
CONDUCTORS Michael Morgan Christopher James Ray (conducts 9/19 & 9/22) STAGE DIRECTOR Marc Jacobs ASSISTANT STAGE DIRECTOR Tara Branham SET DESIGNER Charlie Smith COSTUME DESIGNER Cathleen Edwards LIGHTING DESIGNER Pamila Z. Gray CHOREOGRAPHER Robyn Tribuzi WIG AND MAKEUP DESIGNER Christina Martin PROPERTIES MASTER Lori Scheper-Kesel CHORUS MASTER Christopher James Ray PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Renee Varnas ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS Amber Gebert-Goldsmith Samantha Schroeter MUSIC STAFF Veronika Agranov-Dafoe Victoria Lington
Die Fledermaus Press Kit 6 1ST VIOLIN CLARINET Cynthia Baehr-Williams, Concertmaster Mark Brandenburg, Principal Rochelle Nguyen, Assistant Concertmaster James Pytko Matthew Szemela Valerie Tisdel BASSOON Chinh Le Deborah Kramer, Principal Virginia Smedberg Carolyn Lockhart Josepha Fath FRENCH HORN Principal 2ND VIOLIN Meredith Brown, Claudia Bloom, Principal Caitlyn Smith-Franklin Susan Stein, Assistant Principal Eric Achen Sue-Mi Shin Alex Camphouse Sergi Goldman-Hull TRUMPET Elizabeth Corner William B. Harvey, Principal Gulnar Spurlock John Freeman
VIOLA TROMBONE Chad Kaltinger, Principal Kathryn Curran, Principal Janet Doughty, Assistant Principal Bruce Chrisp Melinda Rayne Christian Behrens Ivo Bokulic BASS TROMBONE CELLO Christian Behrens Evan Kahn, Principal Isaac Pastor-Chermak, Assistant Principal TIMPANI / PERCUSSION Paul Hale Arthur Storch Adelle Akiko-Kearns HARP BASS Karen Thielen Andrew Butler, Principal William Everett, Assistant Principal ORCHESTRA MANAGER Evan Kahn FLUTE Mary Hargrove, Principal ORCHESTRA LIBRARIAN Leslie Chin Tim Spears
OBOE Patricia Mitchell, Principal Pamela Hakl
7 Opera San José ACT I – JULY 31, 1900, VIENNA The conservatory in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel von Eisenstein
Adele, a chambermaid, discovers a letter from her sister, Ida, inviting her to a ball that night at the palace of Prince Orlofsky. Rosalinde, the mistress of the house, is horrified to discover that the man serenading her from the street is her former flame, Alfred–a tenor who was her lover before she was married. Adele tries to convince Rosalinde that she needs the night off to tend to a sick aunt, but Rosalinde is having none of it. Her husband, Gabriel, must go to jail that night to serve a short sentence for bank fraud. Gabriel arrives arguing with his lawyer, Dr. Blind, who has bungled his defense and managed to increase his sentence. The Eisensteins get rid of the lawyer and moments later Dr. Falke arrives.
Falke is an old friend of Eisenstein’s still smarting from a practical joke Eisenstein played on him where they attended a costume ball and Eisenstein deposited Falke in the town square, drunk and asleep and wearing the costume of a bat. Falke convinces Eisenstein to put off going to jail until the morning and attend Prince Orlofsky’s party that night pretending to be a “Marquis Renard.” Eisenstein figures he can dally with the beauties at the ball and his wife will be none the wiser. The couple and the maid all bid a sad farewell while trying to conceal their delight at their secret plans for fun and romance. Alfred arrives hoping to reunite with Rosalinde, but the Police Chief, Frank, interrupts the tryst. He has come to escort Eisenstein to jail. Rosalinde, not wanting to be caught in an affair, convinces Frank that Alfredo is Eisenstein and the lover is taken off to jail in the husband’s stead.
Intermission (20 minutes)
ACT II – THE PALACE OF PRINCE ORLOFSKY, LATER THAT NIGHT The party is in full swing when Eisenstein arrives. Falke introduces him to the Prince, an eccentric young man who will do anything to escape boredom. Eisenstein is surprised to find his maid at the party dressed in one of his wife’s gowns, but when he calls her out, Adele insists she is a famous actress. Frank, the Police Chief, also shows up at the party under the name Chevalier Chagrin having been invited by Falke.
Die Fledermaus Press Kit He is introduced to Eisenstein, still posing as the Marquis Renard, and the two become immediate friends, not realizing the one was supposed to arrest the other. A masked Hungarian countess arrives at the party. It is Rosalinde in disguise, tipped off by Falke that her husband would be there. Not recognizing her, Eisenstein attempts to seduce her with the jeweled pocket watch that he used on Rosalinde when they first met. The “Countess” is prevailed upon to sing a Hungarian song to prove her lineage, which Rosalinde pulls off brilliantly. The party continues until the clock strikes six a.m. and Eisenstein knows that he must leave the ball immediately to start serving his jail sentence.
Intermission (15 minutes)
ACT III – THE VIENNA CITY JAIL, THE NEXT MORNING Frosch, the Deputy Warden of the Vienna City jail, is having a dream where he addresses the Society of Viennese Psychologists, but is awoken by Police Chief Frank returning from Prince Orlofsky’s party in an inebriated state. A moment later Adele and her sister Ida arrive, still believing that Frank is a Chevalier who can bankroll Adele’s acting career. The two women are quickly ushered into a jail cell when Eisenstein arrives. He is surprised to hear that a man–discovered by Frank with Eisenstein’s wife–has been arrested and is already serving time. Eisenstein disguises himself as his lawyer, Dr. Blind, in order to “represent” his wife’s lover and thus expose her affair. Incriminations fly, and Rosalinde reveals to her husband that she was the masked Hungarian countess that he flirted with at the party. Prince Orlofsky and the party guests arrive in the jail and all is forgiven and blamed on the champagne.
9 Opera San José CAST BIOGRAPHY
Elena Galván SOPRANO HOMETOWN: ITHACA, NY
Adele – Elena Galván returns in the 2019-20 season as a member of the resident company, appearing as Adele (Strauss’s Die Fledermaus), Gretel (Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel), Ines (Verdi’s Il trovatore) and Papagena (Mozart’s The Magic Flute.) Ms. Galván made her company debut in the 2017-18 season, appearing as Lisette in Puccini’s La rondine. Recent engagements for Ms. Galván include a return to the main-stage of Florida Grand Opera in 2019 as Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and her role debut of Blondchen in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio with Livermore Valley Opera. On the concert stage, she joined First Coast Opera for a Bernstein Celebration concert and performed Händel’s Messiah with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Arts at Grace Series, and the Binghamton Downtown Singers. Performances in 2017-18 featured her in Out of the Box Opera in Minneapolis to sing in their “Diva Cage Match” concert and First Coast Opera to perform Kay in The Stranger’s Tale by Curtis Tucker.
During the 2016-17 season, Ms. Galván was a Young Artist at Florida Grand Opera where she performed the roles of Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen and Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera.
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Maria Natale SOPRANO HOMETOWN: TRABUCO CANYON, CA
Rosalinde – Former resident artist Maria Natale returns in the 2019- 20 season, appearing as Rosalinde in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. Ms. Natale made her company debut in the 2018-19 season, appearing as Nedda (Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci) and Cio-Cio-San (Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.) Other recent engagements include her Opera Maine début as Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata and debut with Sarasota Opera as Liù in Puccini’s Turandot. On the concert stage, she performed the soprano solo in Faure’s Requiem and Mozart’s Missa Solemnis with MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Natale’s other roles include Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Mimì and Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème, Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, and Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Ms. Natale is the recipient of many awards including as a finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Vocal Competition; Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation; and the second prize winner of the Violetta Dupont Competition and the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition.
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Alexander Boyer TENOR HOMETOWN: PORT WASHINGTON, NY
Alfredo - Former resident artist Alexander Boyer returns to OSJ in 2019-20, appearing as Alfred in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus and Manrico in Verdi’s Il trovatore. Recent engagements for Mr. Boyer included the role of Canio (Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci) with Festival Opera, Ahab (Heggie and Scheer’s Moby-Dick) with Chicago Opera Theater, Sam in Floyd’s Susannah with Festival Opera, and covering the roles of Pollione in Bellini’s Norma, Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and Ahab in Moby-Dick with the Dallas Opera. Other roles performed include Abbot in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier and Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen with San Francisco Opera, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème, the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Island City Opera, Marcello in Leoncavallo’s La bohème and Alwa in Lulu in the acclaimed West Edge Opera production, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Livermore Valley Opera, Lenski in Evgeny Onegin with Opera Idaho, Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Manrico in Il trovatore with Island City Opera.
While a resident principal artist with Opera San José, he performed Manrico in Verdi’s Il trovatore, Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Canio in Pagliacci, the title role in Faust, Cavaradossi in Tosca, the title role in Idomeneo, and many others.
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Eugene Brancoveanu BARITONE HOMETOWN: SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Gabriel von Eisenstein – Eugene Brancoveanu returns during the 2019-20 season as a member of OSJ’s resident company, appearing as Eisenstein (Strauss’s Die Fledermaus), the Father (Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel), and Count De Luna (Verdi’s Il trovatore) and Papageno (Mozart’s The Magic Flute.) Roles performed for OSJ include Stubb (Heggie and Scheer’s Moby-Dick), Leporello (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), Stanley Kowalski (Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire), and Escamillo (Bizet’s Carmen.)
Other recent engagements for Mr. Brancoveanu include Older Brother in Jabri’s Cities of Salt with Opera Movie NY, and serving as Director and performing the role of Pasha Selim in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio with Livermore Opera. In Freiburg, Germany, he appeared as Falke in J. Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Darcy in Mechem’s Pride and Prejudice, and Escamillo in Carmen, and performed the title role in Don Giovanni in Warsaw, Poland. Other international performances include appearances at Heidelberg Opera, Stuttgart Opera, Salzburg Music Festival, Munich State Opera, Berlin Opera, Pesaro Teatro Rossini, Piccola Scala di Milano, Macerata teatro di opera, Romanian National Theater, Tokyo Opera House, Matsumoto Opera, Montreal Opera and Opera Theater of Tel Aviv.
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Mason Gates TENOR HOMETOWN: SAN JOSÉ, CA
Dr. Blind - Mason Gates returns as an associate member of OSJ’s resident company in the 2019-20 season, appearing as Dr. Blind (Strauss’s Die Fledermaus), Ruiz (Verdi’s Il trovatore), and Monostatos (Mozart’s The Magic Flute.) Roles performed previously with OSJ include Beppe in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Flask in the company premiere of Heggie’s Moby-Dick, Goro in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Prunier in Puccini’s La rondine, the Steersman in Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, Gastone in Verdi’s La traviata, Jonathan Dale in Puts and Campbell’s Silent Night, and his company debut as Don Curzio in the 2015-16 production of The Marriage of Figaro.
He received his Bachelor’s of Music from Brigham Young University in Utah, and his Master’s of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. A two-time recipient of the encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Mr. Gates was named Top 10 in the 2018 Brava! Opera Vocal Competition, as well as a Vocal Fellow at the esteemed Music Academy of the West. Other roles performed recently include the title role in Albert Herring, El Remendado (Carmen), The Man with Old Luggage (Postcard from Morocco), Spoletta (Tosca), Grigori (Boris Godunov), Rodolfo (La bohème), (Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), and Edwin the Defendant (Trial by Jury).
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Brian James Myer BARITONE HOMETOWN: LAS VEGAS, NV
Dr. Falke - Former resident Brian James Myer returns in the 2019- 20 season, appearing as Dr. Falke in Strauss’s Die Fldermaus. Most recently, Mr. Myer performed the role of the Minister in OSJ’s North American premiere of Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella in 2017-18. While a member of the resident company, Mr. Myer appeared as Schaunard in Puccini’s La bohème, Ponchel in Puts and Campbell’s Silent Night, and Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Other OSJ roles include Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca, Alessandro/Enrico in the world premiere of Weiser’s Where Angels Fear to Tread and 2nd Armored Man in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. He made his company debut during the 2013-14 season, performing the role of Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Recent engagements for Mr. Myer include debuts with Hawaii Symphony as baritone soloist in Orff’sCarmina Burana, Henderson Symphony as Maximilian in Bernstein’s Candide, American Lyric Theater on their InsightALT: Opera in Eden concert at Merkin Hall, the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice as Moralès and Le Dancaïre in Bizet’s Carmen, and finally the Grand Teton Music Festival as Snowboy and Big Deal in Bernstein’s West Side Story under the baton of Donald Runnicles.
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Nathan Stark BASS-BARITONE HOMETOWN: HUGHSON, CA
Frank - Nathan Stark returns to OSJ in the 2019-20 season, appearing as Frank in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. Mr. Stark was seen last season as Pasha Selim in OSJ’s production of Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, the King in the North American premiere of Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella in the 2017-18 season, and as General Audebert in OSJ’s West Coast premiere of Puts and Campbell’s Silent Night in 2016-17. He made his OSJ debut as Mustafa in Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers in the company’s 2014-15 season.
Other recent engagements include his debut on the Metropolitan Opera stage as the One-Armed Man in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten; First Nazarene in Strauss’ Salomé with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the world premieres of Myers’ Buried Alive and Soluri’s Embedded with Fargo-Moorhead Opera’s Poe Project; his return to Madison Opera as Sulpice in Donizetti’s La fille du regiment; bass soloist with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; featured soloist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in A Madison Symphony Christmas; Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen and Sylvano in Cavalli’s La Calisto, both with Cincinnati Opera; and bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Defiant Requiem Foundation at Strathmore and at the University of New Mexico, under Murry Sidlin.
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Ellen Leslie SOPRANO HOMETOWN: SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Ida -Ellen Leslie makes her company debut during the 2019-20 season, appearing as Ida in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. Ms. Leslie recently finished a residency with Opera Saratoga, singing roles in Menotti’sThe Consul, Lehar’s The Merry Widow, Little’s Vinkensport, and Williams’s Rocking Horse Winner. She made her German debut in 2016 as Pamina (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte) in Köln, and Rosane (Vivaldi’s La verità in cimento) in Leipzig.
Recent Bay Area engagements include Jane Bennet in the world premiere of Kirke Mechem’s Pride & Prejudice, Adina (Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love) with both Pocket Opera and the San Francisco Opera Guild, Micaëla (Bizet’s Carmen) and Lady Billows (Britten’s Albert Herring) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Damigella/Amore (Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea) with the SFCM Baroque Ensemble, the title role in Patience with Lamplighters Music Theatre, and the workshops for Santa Fe Opera’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates. In June/July 2019, Ms. Leslie toured Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Sweden as the soprano soloist in Brahms’ Requiem.
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Stephanie Sanchez MEZZO-SOPRANO HOMETOWN: LAS CRUCES, NM
Prince Orlofsky - Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Sanchez makes her company debut as a new member of the 2019-20 resident company. Ms. Sanchez will be featured as Prince Orlofsky (Strauss’s Die Fledermaus), Hansel (Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel), Inez (Verdi’s Il trovatore), and the Third Lady (Mozart’s The Magic Flute.) Recent engagements include debuting the roles of Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel with Brava Opera Theatre and appearing as Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Intermountain Opera. Ms Sanchez was also recently chosen as the sole recipient of the prestigious 2018 Igor Gorin Memorial Competition, an award given yearly to a promising singer at the start of their careers.
In the 2017-18 season, Ms. Sanchez joined Arizona Opera as a Marion Pullin studio artist, performing the roles of Persephone in Morganelli’s Hercules vs. Vampires, Paquette in Bernstein’s Candide, Berta in The Barber of Seville and Flosshilde in Wagner’s Das Rheingold. Other roles performed with Arizona Opera included Maria in Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires and Baroness Nica in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird. As a member of the Gerdine Young Artist and Gaddes Festival Artist programs at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, she performed the roles of Dryade in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne on Naxos and covered the role of the Composer in the same production.
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Jesse Merlin BASS-BARITONE HOMETOWN: LOS ANGELES, CA
Frosch - A former member of OSJ’s resident company, Jesse Merlin returns in 2019-20 to perform the role of Frosch in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. Career highlights for Mr. Merlin include debuting the role of Dr. Hill in Stuart Gordon’s award-winning Re-Animator: The Musical, and was decapitated 200 times in Las Vegas, Edinburgh, New York and Los Angeles, earning an Ovation Award nomination and a rave review in the New York Times. He sings on the forthcoming Original Cast Album.
Other roles recently performed include the mysterious Elric in Jackson Stewart’s Beyond the Gates, which won the Nightfall Jury Prize at the LA Film Festival. He voiced Impact Man in Mega Man 11 and F.A.N.G in Street Fighter V. He also played the homicidal cult-leader Sugarplum in two episodes of Blumhouse’s 12 Deadly Days, appeared in various episodes of Dream Corp LLC on Adult Swim, and voiced Makube in Hellsing Ultimate X and Liquid Terror in The Reflection. Other appearances include Jackass 3D/3.5, All The Creatures Were Stirring, Cabaret of the Dead, and several upcoming features.
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Die Fledermaus Press Kit 29 NOTES
Die Fledermaus Press Kit 30 CONTENTS OF PRESS PACKET
Opera San José Die Fledermaus Calendar Release Opera San José Die Fledermaus News Release Opera San José Die Fledermaus Press Kit Opera San José Die Fledermaus Program California Theatre History Headshots Production Images
For additional information go to https://www.operasj.org/about-us/press-room/
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