The Academy of Vocal Arts Begins 2011 with Double Bill Puccini Opera Concert
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 16, 2010 For more information contact: Denise Stuart, Director of Marketing and Public Relations 1920 Spruce Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 215 735-1685 [email protected] THE ACADEMY OF VOCAL ARTS BEGINS 2011 WITH DOUBLE BILL PUCCINI OPERA CONCERT INTENSELY EMOTIONAL TRAGEDIES SUOR ANGELICA AND IL TABARRO AT THE PERELMAN THEATER AND CENTENNIAL HALL. Philadelphia: The artists of The Academy of Vocal Arts, under the direction of Maestro Christofer Macatsoris, will perform two of Giacomo Puccini’s most intensely emotional and melodic works, Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) and Il tabarro (The Cloak), in concert at the Perelman Theater on January 21 and 22, and at the Haverford School’s Centennial Hall on January 26th. Puccini, perhaps the world’s most beloved opera composer, is at his dramatic best in these tragic one-act operas. The pathos of Suor Angelica and the heart-stopping climax of Il tabarro are gloriously realized in gorgeous melodies and creative orchestration. When combined with Gianni Schicchi, the trio of operas is known as Il trittico. Although Puccini intended for all three works to be performed together, it is quite common to see only one or two of the trittico operas performed in an evening, or one of them may be paired with another one-act opera by a different composer. The operas of Il trittico received their premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918. SYNOPSES Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) · Forced to enter a convent by her aristocratic family, Sister Angelica has been cut off from any news of the child she bore out of wedlock seven years ago. Unexpectedly, her aunt, the Principessa, arrives to obtain her signature to forfeit her inheritance to her younger sister, who is about to marry. When she asks about the child, the Principessa coldly informs her that the child died two years before. After the departure of the Principessa, Angelica, in despair, swallows poison. Belatedly realizing that suicide is a mortal sin and that she will never be able to be with her child in heaven, she prays for forgiveness and witnesses a miracle. Il tabarro (The Cloak) · The gritty underside of Paris is the setting for Il tabarro. Set on a barge in the Seine, Michele, the barge captain and his much younger wife Giorgetta, endure a hard life on the river. The couple has become estranged since the death of their child, and Giorgetta has begun an affair with the stevedore, Luigi, who she plans to meet that evening after Michele has fallen asleep. Michele, realizing that his wife is unfaithful, confronts Luigi. In the ensuing struggle, he strangles him and hides Luigi’s body under his long cloak. Giorgetta comes up on deck and asks Michele to forgive her for her earlier coldness. Michele invites her to share his cloak, and opening it, reveals the body of Luigi. Horrified, Giorgetta screams as Michele throws her down on the corpse of her dead lover. THE ARTISTS CHRISTOFER MACATSORIS, conductor Maestro Macatsoris began his conducting career in Italy at the Conservatory in Milan. He went on to study conducting privately with such famed maestri as Fausto Cleva, Max Rudolf, and Tullio Serafin, and studied composition with Vincent Persichetti. Among his many performance credits are appearances with Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Pennsylvania Opera Company, San Francisco Opera Center, and numerous regional opera companies. In 1970, Max Rudolf invited him to The Curtis Institute of Music, where he taught and conducted for seven years. Mr. Macatsoris was the music director of the weekly NBC-TV program, Opera Theatre, and was music director and conductor for two seasons with the Opera at Ambler Festival. As a pianist, he toured with Metropolitan Opera singers in recital programs. As music director of AVA since 1977, he has led acclaimed performances of ll trittico, Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Albert Herring, which was broadcast on PBS. In addition, many operas received their Delaware Valley premieres at AVA under his baton, including Idomeneo, La finta giardiniera, Deidamia, Capriccio, Un giorno di Regno, and Wargo’s A Chekhov Trilogy. Mr. Macatsoris has appeared at The International Corfu Festival, Greece, in 1981 and 1982, leading performances of The Rape of Lucretia, La sonnambula, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Così fan tutte. He has conducted in many regional American houses and has been on the conducting staff of San Francisco Opera Company. In great demand as a lecturer and for master classes, he has conducted them at major universities, including Johns Hopkins, Tulane, Loyola of New Orleans and SUNY-Buffalo. He frequently serves as a panel judge for the National Council Auditions of the Metropolitan Opera, and earns high praise for his interpretive abilities and total commitment to excellent opera theater. This past season Maestro Macatsoris celebrated thirty years as AVA’s Music Director. MARGARET MEZZACAPPA, mezzo-soprano (La Principessa, Frugola) Margaret Mezzacappa , from Euclid, Ohio, is a second-year AVA resident artist. Ms. Mezzacappa was the winner of the 2009 Giargiari Bel Canto Competition, and recently performed the role of Emilia in Otello with the Opera Company of Philadelphia. At AVA she has sung Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, Azucena in excerpts from Il trovatore, and the First Wife in The Scarlet Letter. Ms. Mezzacappa holds a B. A. in Music Performance from Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, where she sang Public Opinion is Orpheus in the Underworld, Baba in The Medium, Juno in Semele, and Mum in Albert Herring. She was also the winner of the Baldwin-Wallace College Concerto Competition in 2008. JAN CORNELIUS, soprano (Giorgetta) Jan Cornelius, from Deer Park, Texas, is a fourth-year AVA resident artist. Ms. Cornelius holds a M.M. from the University of Houston’s Moore School of Music and a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Louisiana State University. She was a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won second prize in the Loren Zachary Vocal Competition, both in 2009. She was the second prize winner of AVA’s 2008 Giargiari Bel Canto Competition. In the fall of 2010, she made her debuts with both Atlanta Opera as Musetta in La bohème, and Virginia Opera as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. Among her roles at AVA are Mimi in La bohème, the Countess in Capriccio, the title role in Anna Bolena, Silvana in La fiamma, and Violetta in La traviata. VIKTOR ANTIPENKO, tenor (Luigi) Viktor Antipenko, from St. Petersburg, Russia, is a second-year AVA resident artist. He sang with the Marijinsky Opera Chorus for five years, with solo roles in Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, Boris Godunov, Khovantchina, The Gambler, Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk, The Nose, La Forza del Destino, Fidelio, Idomeneo, King Roger and most recently Benvenuto Cellini. At AVA he has sung Parpignol in La bohème and the Beadle in The Scarlet Letter. Prior to attending AVA, Mr. Antipenko studied Choral Conducting at St. Petersburg Conservatory. ZACHARY NELSON, baritone (Michele) Zachary Nelson, from Annapolis, Md., is a second-year AVA resident artist. Mr. Nelson is the recipient of the 2009 Benjamin T. Rome School of Music Vocal Performance Award. At AVA he has sung the Sailor in The Scarlet Letter, Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème, Haushofmeister in Capriccio and the title role in Falstaff. As a young artist with Glimmerglass Opera, he sang Sciarrone in Tosca and was a soloist in The New York Festival of Song’s Killer B’s. Additional roles include Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, and Marcello in La bohème, all with The Catholic University of America, and Morales in Carmen, with Summer Opera Theater Company. Mr. Nelson holds a B.M. in Vocal Performance from The Catholic University of America. ERIC DUBIN, baritone (Michele) Guest artist Eric Dubin, a 2007 graduate of The Academy of Vocal Arts, has made significant debuts in his young career, to critical acclaim. In Opera New Jersey’s 2009 production of Lucia di Lammermoor, Opera News said, “Eric Dubin’s impressive Enrico displayed an ardent, youthful baritone that nearly turned “Cruda, funesta smania” into a sympathetic moment for his character.” David Patrick Stearns of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote “The role of Enrico, Lucia’s coldhearted brother, was sung by baritone Eric Dubin, whose sonorous voice and authoritative presence were well-suited to the part.” Recently, Mr. Dubin debuted at Fresno Grand Opera as Marullo in Rigoletto, and Opera Cleveland as Silvio in I Pagliacci, returned to Nashville Opera as Roucher/Fléville in Andrea Chenier, and returned to Opera New Jersey as Valentin in Faust. Of this performance the Philadelphia Inquirer said “Eric Dubin (Valentin) revealed hints of vocal star quality.” Mr. Dubin made his Opera Company of Philadelphia debut in 2008 in David DiChiera’s Cyrano, returned in 2009 as Junius in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia and in 2010 as the Baron in Verdi’s La traviata. Other engagements from last season include Schaunard in La bohème with Nashville Opera, the title role in DiChiera’s Cyrano in concert at the Orange County Arts Conservatory, and his role debut as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera New Jersey. While at AVA, he sang the title roles of Rigoletto and Eugene Onegin, Marcello in La bohème, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Lescaut in Manon, David in L’Amico Fritz, Donner in Das Rheingold, Guglielmo in Le Villi, Remigio in La Navarraise and Ibn-Hakia in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. Upcoming performances include his debut as Escamillo in Carmen, with the Allentown Symphony, and a return to the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Morales/El Dancairo in Carmen.