MSM OPERA THEATER Dona D. Vaughn, Artistic Director presents OPERA SCENES from The House of Seven Gables, The Harpies, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Gianni Schicchi Jonathan Brandani, Conductor Laura Alley, Director THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 | 7:30 PM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018 | 7:30 PM THE RIVERSIDE THEATRE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 | 7:30 PM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018 | 7:30 PM THE RIVERSIDE THEATRE MSM OPERA THEATER Dona D. Vaughn, Artistic Director OPERA SCENES Jonathan Brandani, Conductor Laura Alley, Director Nicolò Sbuelz, Vocal Coach, Pianist, Italian Diction Coach Cory Battey, Vocal Coach and Pianist Kathryn LaBouff, English Diction Coach Nils Neubert, German Diction Coach Allison-Marie Molnaa, Production Stage Manager Tinc Productions, Production Management SCOTT EYERLY The House of Seven Gables (b. 1958) MARC BLITZSTEIN The Harpies (1905–1963) Intermission RICHARD STRAUSS Ariadne auf Naxos (1864–1949) GIACOMO PUCCINI Gianni Schicchi (1858–1924) SCENE SYNOPSES “Garden Quartet” from The House of Seven Gables (2000) The Harpies, an opera in one act (1930) Music and libretto by Scott Eyerly Music and libretto by Marc Blitzstein Premiered at Manhattan School of Music, 2000 Premiered at Manhattan School of Music, 1953 In the gloomy, haunted House of Seven Gables, Hepzibah Pyncheon cares This operatic spoof of Greek mythology—and of musical neo-classicism— for her brother, Clifford. Once brilliant, Clifford is now childlike, having is also intended as a Depression-era allegory. Set in ancient Thrace, languished in prison for 30 years for committing murder. But is he guilty? the work has eight characters, balanced between tenor and soprano Was he framed by his cousin Jaffrey, today an eminent judge? As Clifford principals, a group of three female Harpies, and three male Argonauts. regains strength, aided by his young cousin Phoebe, and a mysterious At the center is Phineus, a sightless oracle, who attempts to enjoy his boarder, Holgrave, he prepares for the final confrontation with Jaffrey. dinner but is constantly attacked by the Harpies. Not only do they steal Centuries before, the Pyncheons’ house was built on stolen ground. Ever his food, they emit a foul odour as well. Jason appears on the scene with since, the family history has been riddled with unexplained deaths. Now the the Argonauts, and he promises to fight off the Harpies if Phineus will final chapter of that history is written. guarantee that the gods will continue to favor them. As soon as the Harpies are defeated Iris appears as a messenger of the gods. She promises Phineus that he will always be safe from the Harpies, and she dispatches Yvette Keong Phoebe them to exact various tortures on others. The oracle can now eat his meal Hepzibah Xiaoya Guo in peace. Clifford Joseph Andrew Yu Weichang Wang Holgrave Phineus Alexander Mason Aello (Harpie #1) Emilyn Badgley Ocypete (Harpie #2) Natalie Rumer Calaeno (Harpie #3) Erin Wagner Zetes (Argonaut #1) Taicheng Li Calais (Argonaut #2) Daniel Rich Jason (Argonaut #3) Zachary Brown Iris, the Messenger Shelén Hughes Intermission 4 5 Scenes I and II from “The Opera,” Ariadne auf Naxos, Opening from Gianni Schicchi (1918) Op. 60 (1916) Music by Giacomo Puccini Music by Richard Strauss Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal In this scene, the greedy relatives of the wealthy Buoso Donati are In the “opera within an opera,” Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus, longs to mourning his death. They tear the room apart in effort to find his will, forget the feeling of being half of an inseparable being called “Theseus– only to discover that their deceased relative has left his entire fortune Ariadne” and prepares herself for Death. The nymphs—Echo, Naiad, to the church. Following this, the young Rinuccio suggests that Gianni and Dryad—lament her endless days of weeping. Zerbinetta and the Schicchi, a shrewd, self-made man and the father of his girlfriend, commedia actors peep in from offstage, fearing that it will be difficult to Lauretta, can help them. Reading the will, Schicchi devises a plan lift her spirits. Singing and dancing, the commedia actors enter. They are to impersonate the dead man. The relatives send for the notary and joined by Zerbinetta who explains that love is a compulsion; each new Schicchi, wearing Buoso’s nightshirt and cap, from his sickbed dictates lover comes, like a god, to transfigure his beloved. a new will, in which he leaves the greater part of the estate, including the house they are in, to his “dear friend Gianni Schicchi.” The relatives are furious, and steal what they can from the house, chased out by Schicchi, Ariadne Christina Roszhart who remains behind with Lauretta and Rinuccio. Turning to the Najade Hyeree Shin audience, he points out how happy his fraud has made the young lovers Echo Yejin Lee and pleads that he not be judged too harshly. Dryade Sarah Brownawell Zerbinetta Kelly Singer Zita Elisabeth Harris Brighella Esteban Zuniga Rinuccio Taicheng Li Scaramuccio Alexander Mason Gherardo Esteban Zuniga Harlekin Marcel Sokalski Nella Blair Cagney Truffaldin Edward Lim Betto Eunsung Lee Simone Zachary Brown Marco Jimin Park La Ciesca Desiree Dawson Gherardino Yejin Lee 6 7 ABOUT THE ARTISTS Jonathan Brandani, Conductor Prelude to Performance program, where she has directed Don Giovanni, Les , , , , Jonathan Brandani is an Italian born conductor appreciated for his “fine contes d’Hoffmann Un ballo in maschera Die Zauberflöte La fille du régiment La , and regard for the score’s details,” “his clear, purposeful indications,” and Traviata Carmen. “his enthusiasm” (Seen and Heard International). Recent engagements include L’elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Paige Seber, Lighting Designer (Düsseldorf, Germany) and his successful debut at the Daegu Opera Paige Seber is a Lighting Designer of Theater, Dance, and Opera. Favorite House (South Korea) in Aida and Il Trittico. He is a regular guest of credits include Guys and Dolls (Argyle Theater), West Side Story (Sioux Minnesota Opera (Minneapolis/St. Paul), where he has conducted Tosca, City Symphony), Young Choreographers Festival (Symphony Space), Big La Bohème, and Don Pasquale. Love (Havana Theater Festival). Proud member of United Scenic Artists His performances of Puccini’s Il Trittico at the 15th Daegu International USA-829. seberlighting.com Opera Festival in South Korea were hailed with such enthusiasm that they earned him the Grand Prix, the highest recognition bestowed on an Lorraine Smyth, Costume Coordinator artist by the Festival. Lorraine Smyth has been working as costume designer, costume Upcoming engagements include further performances of Don Pasquale at assistant, and wardrobe supervisor for a number of years and is excited the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, as well as Haydn’s Il mondo della luna at the to be at Manhattan School of Music. Credits include work at The Flea Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain and Mercadante’sIl Bravo Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, New Ohio, L’Atelier Productions, and at Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland. He has also been invited to conduct Titan Theatre Company. Mayr’s Medea in Corinto at the first edition of Teatro Nuovo 2018 in New York and he is slated to return to the Daegu Opera House for La Bohème Nicolò Sbuelz, Vocal Coach, Pianist and Italian and L’elisir d’amore. Diction Coach Laura Alley, Director Nicolò Sbuelz is an Italian pianist, coach, and assistant conductor from Udine, Italy. In his home country, Mr. Sbuelz worked as an assistant Laura Alley has a vast repertoire of operas she has directed throughout conductor, coach, prompter, and répétiteur with the Accademia del the United States and abroad. Highlights include the European premiere Teatro alla Scala. He has also worked at internationally acclaimed opera of The Ghosts of Versailles with Jerome Sirlin in Hannover, Germany, and houses and festivals such as Opéra National de Lyon (France), Holland the American premieres of Kinkakuji and The Dreyfus Affair for the New Festival (Amsterdam, Nederland), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna, Austria), York City Opera. Among the opera companies for which she has directed Co-Opera Co. (London), Sarasota Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera, where much of the standard repertoire are New York City Opera, Syracuse, he currently serves as coach/pianist and Italian consultant. In March Kansas City, San Francisco, Austin, Cleveland, Chautauqua, Connecticut, 2019, he will be guest coach for Houston Grand Opera’s world premiere New Orleans, El Paso, Dayton Opera, and Tri-Cities Opera. Ms. Alley has of and . In addition to his extensive experience directed productions and given opera workshops/master classes at Indiana The Phoenix Don Giovanni in the opera house, Mr. Sbuelz was a Coaching Fellow at Aspen Music University, Louisiana State University, the Kansas City Conservatory, Festival during the summer of 2015 as well as an Apprentice Coach with Temple University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Converse College, the Merola Opera program in the summer of 2016. Mr. Sbuelz received Rutgers University, New York University, and the University of Georgia. undergraduate degrees in piano and composition from the Conservatorio Laura Alley served on the opera faculty of the Mannes College of Music “G. Tartini” (Trieste, Italy) as well as a Master’s degree in musicology with for twenty years, and has also been on the faculty for Martina Arroyo’s a concentration in “Aesthetics and the Cross-Cultural Reception of Music and Languages” from the University of Pavia. 8 9 Cory Battey, Vocal Coach and Pianist New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Washington National Opera, she has coached and prepared more than 300 opera productions in Vocal coach and pianist Cory Battey hails from the Pacific Northwest, English. where he studied music at the University of Oregon. In September of 2017, Mr. Battey joined the faculty of Manhattan School of Music as vocal coach and répétiteur.