Houston Grand Opera Opens 60 th Anniversary Season with Otello (October 24) and Così fan tutte (October 31)

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1 Houston Grand Opera Opens 60 th Anniversary Season with Otello (October 24) and Così fan tutte (October 31) Houston, October 3, 2014 Houston Grand Opera (HGO) launches its 60 th anniversary season on October 24 with a production of Verdi s late masterpiece, Otello. The opera, which HGO last staged in 1989, stars New Zealand born tenor Simon O Neill, the most complete Otello since Domingo (BBC Music magazine), who is also HGO s Lynn Wyatt Great Artist. Singing opposite Mr. O Neill will be recent Tucker and Domingo Award-winner Ailyn Pérez fast emerging as a major soprano (New York Times) in her house and role debuts as Desdemona. Italian baritone Marco Vratogna revisits Iago, a role in which he shone at San Francisco Opera. HGO Studio alumnus Norman Reinhardt, a frequent HGO guest artist, returns to play Cassio, with Grammy-nominated mezzo Victoria Livengood as Emilia, and bass Morris Robinson, who impressed Houston audiences in 2013 as Joe in HGO s Show Boat and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, singing Lodovico. HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers will conduct. The production is directed by John Cox, of Glyndebourne and Covent Garden fame, who directed HGO s Ariadne auf Naxos in the season and the 2012 Studio Showcase. According to the Orange County Register, Cox s production carries weight and force. It compels admiration. On October 31, HGO revives Harry Silverstein s much-loved staging of Mozart s Così fan tutte. The staging was originally created as a tribute to the late Swedish director Göran Järvefelt s 1988 production. According to the Houston Press, under the deft direction of Harry Silverstein, the production fully realized the potential of Järvefelt s inventive, multiple-use staging. Now HGO remounts this treatment with a stellar sextet of singers. Taking time out from his signature Romantic fare, Tucker Award winner Stephen Costello, HGO s Duke in last season s Rigoletto, makes his professional role debut as Ferrando. South African baritone Jacques Imbrailo, hailed by The Times of London as the hottest young baritone on the block, returns as Guglielmo after his success in HGO s Rape of Lucretia during the season. HGO Studio alumna and firstprize winner of the 2014 Operalia competition, soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen, reprises her radiant Fiordiligi (Opera Today) alongside the Dorabella of soprano Melody Moore; an audience and critical favorite in HGO s Show Boat, Moore was also seen as Marta in the company s American premiere of The Passenger in HGO s season, as well as in its performances at the Lincoln Center Festival. Italian bass-baritone Alessandro Corbelli revisits his authoritative Alfonso (Opera News), with Italian soprano Nuccia Focile, Seattle Opera s Artist of the Year, as Despina. This season also features the launch of a cycle of holiday-themed commissions, with the December 5 world premiere of A Christmas Carol from British wunderkind composer Iain Bell and award-winning director and Dickens specialist Simon Callow, featuring four-time Grammy Award winning tenor Anthony Dean Griffey as the Narrator. Wagner s Die Walküre, the second installment of the company s first Ring cycle, opens April 18, featuring a new generation of star Wagnerians including bass-baritone Iain Paterson, soprano Christine Goerke, tenor Simon O Neill and mezzo Jamie Barton, as well

2 as revered Finnish soprano Karita Mattila. HGO s opening Ring production, Das Rheingold (April 2014), drew rave reviews for Catalan theater company La Fura dels Baus s visionary staging: the Houston Press termed it thoroughly mesmerizing, while Opera News deemed it extraordinary. The season also includes the American premieres of Sir Nicholas Hytner s iconic staging of Mozart s The Magic Flute (beginning January 30) and of a new production of Stephen Sondheim s macabre masterpiece Sweeney Todd by Lee Blakeley (beginning April 24); and the return of HGO s 2011 Michael Grandage production of Puccini s Madame Butterfly, which the Houston Chronicle called breathtakingly beautiful to see and hear, beginning January 23. A limited number of seats will be available for the company s 60 th Anniversary Gala Concert on March 19 with renowned mezzo-soprano and HGO Studio alumna Joyce DiDonato and the HGO Orchestra, conducted by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers. The company continues to celebrate the stories of Houston s many communities through its community collaboration initiative, HGOco. In workshop this season is O Columbia, a chamber opera by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Royce Vavrek that examines the past, present and future of the American spirit of exploration. The creative process for this work has included gathering stories from NASA astronauts and other members of Houston s NASA community around their experiences of space exploration, with a focus on the Columbia tragedy of O Columbia will premiere in October, HGOco is also developing collaborative song-cycle projects that focus on Houston s military veterans and on the centennial of Houston s Ship Channel. Performances of On the Muddy Water: Voices from the Houston Ship Channel by D.J. Sparr and Janine Joseph will take place in December, 2014 and January, About Houston Grand Opera * * * * * Since its inception in 1955, Houston Grand Opera has grown from a small regional organization into an internationally renowned opera company. HGO enjoys a reputation for commissioning and producing new works, including 54 world premieres and seven American premieres since In addition to producing and performing world-class opera, HGO contributes to the cultural enrichment of Houston and the nation through a diverse and innovative program of performances, community events, and education projects that reaches the widest possible public. HGO has toured extensively, including trips to Europe and Asia, and has won a Tony, two Grammy awards, and two Emmy awards the only opera company to have won all three awards. Through HGOco, Houston Grand Opera creates opportunities for Houstonians of all ages and backgrounds to observe, participate in, and create art. Its Song of Houston project is an ongoing initiative to create and share work based on stories that define the unique character of our city and its diverse cultures. Since 2007, HGOco has commissioned sixteen new works along with countless innovative community projects, reaching more than one million people in the greater Houston metropolitan area. The NEXUS Initiative is HGO s multi-year ticket underwriting program that allows Houstonians of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy world-class opera without the barrier of price. Since 2007 NEXUS has enabled more than 170,000 Houstonians to experience first-quality opera through discounted single tickets and subscriptions, subsidized student performances, and free productions. Houston Grand Opera: season * HGO debut + current or former HGO Studio artist Verdi: Otello Oct. 24, 26m; Nov. 1, 4, 7, 2014 Director: John Cox Associate Director: Bruno Ravella

3 Set and Costume Designer: Johan Engels Lighting Designer: Michael James Clark Children s Chorus Director: Karen Reeves Otello: Simon O Neill Desdemona: Ailyn Pérez* Iago: Marco Vratogna* Cassio: Norman Reinhardt+ Emilia: Victoria Livengood Lodovico: Morris Robinson Production co-owned by Los Angeles Opera; Opera di Monte-Carlo; and Teatro Regio di Parma Mozart: Così fan tutte Oct. 31; Nov. 2m, 8, 13, 15, 2014 Production: Göran Järvefelt Director: Harry Silverstein Set and Costume Designer: Carl-Friedrich Oberle Lighting Designer: Duane Schuler Ferrando: Stephen Costello Guglielmo: Jacques Imbrailo Fiordiligi: Rachel Willis-Sørensen+ Dorabella: Melody Moore Don Alfonso: Alessandro Corbelli Despina: Nuccia Focile Iain Bell and Simon Callow: A Christmas Carol (world premiere of new HGO commission) Dec. 5, 7m, 9, 11, 14m, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21m, 2014 Conductor: Warren Jones* Director: Simon Callow* Set and Costume Designer: Laura Hopkins* Lighting Designer: Mark McCullough The Narrator: Anthony Dean Griffey (except Dec. 17 and 20) Kevin Ray+: Dec. 17, 20 Puccini: Madame Butterfly Jan. 23, 25m, 28, 31; Feb. 6, 8m, 2015 Conductor: Giancarlo Guerrero* Production: Michael Grandage Revival Director: Louisa Muller* Set and Costume Designer: Christopher Oram Original Lighting Designer: Neil Austin Cio-Cio-San: Ana María Martínez+ Pinkerton: Alexey Dolgov Sharpless: Scott Hendricks+ Goro: John Easterlin* Suzuki: Sofia Selowsky*+ A co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Grand Théâtre de Genève Mozart: The Magic Flute Jan. 30, Feb. 1m, 4, 7, 14, 2015 Conductor: Robert Spano Production: Sir Nicholas Hytner Revival Director: Ian Rutherford Set and Costume Designer: Bob Crowley Original Lighting Designer: Nick Chelton

4 Tamino: David Portillo* Pamina: Lisette Oropesa* Queen of the Night: Kathryn Lewek* Sarastro: Morris Robinson Papageno: Michael Sumuel+ Speaker: Patrick Carfizzi Monostatos: Aaron Pegram* First Lady: D Ana Lombard+ Second Lady: Megan Samarin*+ Third Lady: Renee Tatum Papagena: Pureum Jo*+ Production originally created by English National Opera 60 th Anniversary Concert March 19, 2015 Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano HGO Studio artists Wagner: Die Walküre April 18, 22, 25, 30; May 3m, 2015 Director: Carlus Padrissa / La Fura dels Baus Associate Director: Esteban Muñoz Set Designer: Roland Olbeter Costume Designer: Chu Uroz Lighting Designer: Peter van Praet Video Designer: Franc Aleu Brünnhilde: Christine Goerke Wotan: Iain Paterson Sieglinde: Karita Mattila Siegmund: Simon O Neill Fricka: Jamie Barton+ Hunding: Ain Anger A co-production of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia and Maggio Musicale, Florence Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street April 24, 26m, 29, May 2, 8, 9, 2015 Conductor: James Lowe+ Director: Lee Blakeley Set and Costume Designer: Tanya McCallin Lighting Designer: Rick Fisher Sweeney Todd: Nathan Gunn Mrs. Lovett: Susan Bullock Tobias Ragg: Nicholas Phan+ Judge Turpin: Jake Gardner Anthony Hope: Morgan Pearse+ Johanna: Megan Samarin+ Beggar Woman: Cynthia Clayton Production originally created by Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris Premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on April 22, 2011 Co-owned by Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Théâtre du Châtelet

5 Media Contact: Christine Cantrell, (713) Director of Communications: Judith Kurnick, (713) twitter.com/hougrandopera # # #