Leoncavallo s Pagliacci Opens San Diego Opera s 2014 Season

Contact: Edward Wilensky Phone: 619.232.7636 x248 Edward.Wilensky@sdopera.com Afterhours: 619.889.6769 Leoncavallo s Pagliacci Opens San Diego Opera s 2014 Season Tenor Frank Porretta returns as Canio Soprano Adina Nitescu makes Company debut as Nedda Baritone David Adam Moore returns as Silvio Conductor Yves Abel returns to lead the Orchestra San Diego, CA San Diego Opera announces the return of opera s beloved Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo when it opens the 2014 season on Saturday, January 25, 2014 for four performances only. Making his return to the Company to sing the role of the murderous clown Canio, is American tenor Frank Porretta who was last heard as the Duke in Rigoletto in 2002. Soprano Adina Nitescu makes her Company debut as Nedda, Canio s ill-fated wife. Returning to the Company is baritone Stephen Powell as the hunchback Tonio, who is in love with Nedda. Baritone David Adam Moore, who made his Company debut as Mercutio in 2010 s Romeo and Juliet to rave reviews, returns to sing the role of Nedda s lover, Silvio. Rounding out the cast is tenor Joel Sorensen as Beppe. Conductor Yves Abel, who made his Company debut last season leading performances of The Daughter of the Regiment, leads the orchestra for these performances. Director Andrew Sinclair, who directed last season s Aida, returns to stage the action. The set design is by John Coyne and the costumes were designed by Ed Kotanen. The lighting designer is Michael Whitfield. This production of Pagliacci is owned by San Diego Opera. These performances will be the fourth time this opera has been performed by San Diego Opera with other performances happening in 2008, 1979 and 1969. One of the most powerful operas in the repertoire, Pagliacci is gut-wrenching as the hunchback Tonio, a member of a traveling troupe of players, is rejected by Canio s wife, Nedda. After Tonio sees Nedda with another man, in an act of revenge he tells Canio. In the famous aria Vesti la giubba, Canio applies his clown make-up saying that the show must go on, but creates his own murderous ending before horrified onlookers. Performed in Italian with English translations above the stage. 1

Pagliacci will have a live radio broadcast on Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 7PM on KPBS radio, 89.5 FM (97.7 FM Calexico) and online at www.kpbs.org Pre-production photos can be found online at: sandiegoopera.smugmug.com/other/2014-pre- Production-Artwork/ The Cast Adina Nitescu, Nedda San Diego Opera debut. Romanian soprano Adina Nitescu recently performed the title role of Tosca with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, a role she also sang in Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Naples and Tokyo. Other notable roles include Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly with the Canadian Opera Company, The Dallas Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, Opera de Toulon, Oper Dresden, Opera Colorado, Berlin s Unter den Linden and at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier for Opera de Genève, Nedda with Teatro La Fenice, the title role of Manon Lescaut at Palermo, Catania, Vienna Staatsoper and Deutche Oper Berlin and, Elizabeth in Mary, Queen of Scots at The Dallas Opera. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. She has appeared in many of the world s opera houses including the Opéra National de Paris, Milan s La Scala, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Maggio Musicale Firenze, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro Regio Torino, Glyndebourne Festival, Leipzig Opera, Cologne Opera, Hamburg State Opera, State Opera Bucharest, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile. She has also appeared in concert at the Parma Festival di Verdi and the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach. Frank Porretta, Canio American tenor Frank Porretta made his San Diego Opera debut in 2002 as the Duke in Rigoletto. Recent appearances include his debut at the NCPA in China as the title role in Otello, Canio at Cincinnati Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca at Washington National Opera, Calàf in Turandot for Austin Lyric Opera, Otello for Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Teatro Maestranza in Seville. He has also appeared at the Staatsoper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, L Opera de Nice, L'Opera de Montpellier, Teatro Real (Madrid), Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Opera Australia. In North America, he has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and Tulsa Opera, and at the Caramoor Festival and the Hollywood Bowl. Porretta s repertoire includes the title roles in Don Carlo and Andrea Chenier, Manrico in Il trovatore, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino, Radames in Aida, Riccardo in A Masked Ball, Samson in Samson and Delilah, Pollione in Norma, Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West, Luigi in Il tabarro, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, and Don José in Carmen. Stephen Powell, Tonio American baritone Stephen Powell made his Company debut as Ping in Turandot in 1997 and was heard that same year as Felipe Núñez in the world premiere of The Conquistador and as Dancaire in Carmen. He returned as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Slim in Of Mice and Men, Clayton McAllister in Cold Sassy Tree, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. Recent engagements include the title role of Falstaff with Virginia Opera, Giorgio Germont in La traviata with Michigan Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, and Minneapolis Opera, the title role of Rigoletto with Lyric Opera Baltimore and Cincinnati Opera, Rodrigo in Don Carlos with the Caramoor Festival and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Atlanta Opera, a role he sings later this season 2

with Los Angeles Opera. Other recent highlights include the title role of Simon Boccanegra with Warsaw s Ludwig van Beethoven Association, Carmina Burana with the Cleveland Orchestra, Peer Gynt with Leipzig s MDR Sinfonieorchester, Mozart s Requiem for St. Louis Symphony, and Iago in Otello with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He has been heard at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, L Opéra de Montréal, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Florida Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Cleveland, Florentine Opera, Arizona Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Portland Opera. An active concert recitalist he has been heard with the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit, Nashville, Philadelphia, Dallas, Ottawa, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Rochester, Phoenix, Brooklyn, Rochester, San Diego, North Carolina, Montréal, Zurich, as well as with the Handel and Haydn Society, among others. David Adam Moore, Silvio American baritone David Adam Moore made his Company debut as Mercutio in 2010 s Romeo and Juliet. He recently performed Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Virginia Opera, Mercutio with Arizona Opera, and Silvio with New Orleans Opera. Other notable performances include Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Maximilian in Candide, and Cascada in The Merry Widow for Teatro alla Scala, Jud Fry in Oklahoma! with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Zurga in The Pearl Fishers, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Seattle Opera, the title role of Billy Budd and Ned Keene in Peter Grimes for New Israeli Opera, Prior Walter in Angels in America with LA Phil, BBC Symphony, and Fort Worth Opera, Papageno in The Magic Flute with New York City Opera, Carmina Burana for St. Louis Symphony and at Carnegie Hall with Orchestra of St. Luke's, Mercutio for Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Utah Opera, and Palm Beach Opera, and the Count in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Grand Rapids. Other notable performances include Marcello in La bohème and Billy Budd for Pittsburgh Opera, Figaro in The Barber of Seville for Staatsoper Hannover as well as the title role of Don Giovanni, a role he also performed for the Oper Kiel and Nationaltheater Mannheim. He has also performed Maximillian in Candide for Théâtre du Châtelet and Tokyo's Bunkamura, Belcore in The Elixir of Love for Opera Pacific, and Catesby in Richard III with Grand Théâtre de Geneve, among many others. Joel Sorensen, Beppe American tenor Joel Sorensen made his San Diego Opera debut as Curley in Of Mice and Men in 1999, returning as Camp Williams in Cold Sassy Tree in 2001, as Andres in Wozzeck in 2007, Rodriguez in Don Quixote in 2009, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet in 2010, as Pang in Turandot and Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier in 2011, and last season as the First Tempter/First Knight in Murder in the Cathedral. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2000 in Samson and Delilah, returning for Sly, Madama Butterfly, Der Rosenkavalier, War and Peace, The Barber of Seville, Tosca and The Magic Flute. He made his debut with New York City Opera as Monostatos in The Magic Flute, returning in Madama Butterfly, Falstaff, Turandot, The Marriage of Figaro, Prince Igor, La rondine, The Seven Deadly Sins and Margaret Garner. Other appearances include Tosca with Los Angeles Opera, King Herod in Salome with Florentine Opera, Pedrillo in Entführung aus dem Serail for Atlanta Opera and Mime in Siegfried for Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh and Longborough Festival. Other companies with which he has sung include San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Portland Opera and Palm Beach Opera. Yves Abel, Conductor Franco-Canadian conductor Yves Abel made his Company debut last season leading the orchestra for The Daughter of the Regiment. He has been principal guest conductor at Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2005 where he has conducted performances of Don Pasquale, Simon Boccanegra, The Marriage of Figaro, La traviata, Dialogues of the Carmélites, Tiefland, Carmen and Carmina Burana. He is a regular guest at the Vienna Staatsoper where he has led performances of The 3

Elixir of Love, Madama Butterfly, Simon Boccanegra, A Masked Ball, The Daughter of the Regiment and Carmen. A frequent guest with the world s great opera companies, he has conducted performances at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Milan s La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, Netherlands Opera, Grand Théatre de Génève, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, New National Theatre in Tokyo, Welsh National Opera and Opera North. In 2009 he was awarded the title of Chevalier de l Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. Andrew Sinclair, Director Australian stage director Andrew Sinclair made his San Diego Opera debut in 2000 with Lohengrin followed by Aida in 2001, the highly successful The Pearl Fishers in 2004 and 2008, a production he has also directed for New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Colorado, Minnesota Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre. He returned in 2006 to stage Lucia di Lammermoor, in 2008 for Mary, Queen of Scots, in 2009 for Tosca, in 2010 for La traviata, and directed Aida last season. He is a Staff Director with Covent Garden where he has worked on many productions including Der Rosenkavalier and both Lohengrin and Der Ring des Nibelungen with Götz Friedrich. He was also at the Bayreuth Festival with Lohengrin. Sinclair began his association with Opera Australia in 1981 directing new stagings of La bohème and The Bartered Bride, and from 1983 to 1985 was Principal Resident Director of that company. He has since returned for many productions including Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci, Peter Grimes and Lohengrin. Other United States engagements include Norma for San Francisco Opera and La bohème for Opera Colorado. John Coyne, Scenic Designer American set designer John Coyne made his Company debut in 2005 with Simon Boccanegra. A graduate of Yale School of Drama he has designed productions of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Arshak II, and The Ballad of Baby Doe for San Francisco Opera. Also at home designing for theatre, he has designed The Front Page and Tartuffe for Dallas Theatre Center, Macbeth for the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Off-Broadway, Hamlet for The Public Theatre. Ed Kotanen, Costume Designer American costume designer Ed Kotanen made his Company debut in 2008 with Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana. He is a set and costume designer who has created over 150 productions across Canada and the USA over a long career for companies such as The Charlottetown Festival, The Vancouver Playhouse, and The Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. He has coordinated the costumes for about thirty productions at Opera Ontario. His work for Malabar Limited includes Die Fledermaus, which debuted in Winnipeg in 2006. He makes his home in Toronto and is a member of Associated Designers of Canada. Michael Whitfield, Lighting Designer Canadian Michael Whitfield made his company debut in 2006 designing The Barber of Seville, returned in 2008 for Cavalleria rusticana/pagliacci, 2010 for La bohème and Nabucco and in 2011 for Turandot, Der Rosenkavalier and Faust. He has designed for many prestigious opera companies including L Opera de Montréal, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, The Dallas Opera and Los Angeles Opera. He has designed lighting for over 70 productions at the Canadian Opera Company since 1979, including The Cunning Little Vixen, The Queen of Spades and Death in Venice. During his over 25 years as Resident Lighting Director for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada he has lit over 100 productions including The Trojan Women, 4

Fuente Ovejuna, King Lear, Othello and The Mikado (including the 1984 engagement of London s The Old Vic). Whitfield has also designed for numerous theatres, ballet companies and for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. About the Sponsors The 2014 International Season Sponsors are Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner. The 2014 Season Production Sponsor is The Erna and Andrew Viterbi Fund for Artistic Excellence. These performances of Pagliacci are made possible by Producers Circle Sponsors Valerie and Harry Cooper, Karen and Don Cohn, Jeanne Jones and Don Breitenberg, and Lee and Frank Goldberg. Performance Schedule Saturday January 25, 2014 7 PM Tuesday January 28, 2014 7 PM Friday January 31, 2014 7 PM Sunday February 2, 2014 2 PM Get Connected For Pagliacci Stars in the Salon Meet the singers, conductor and director of Pagliacci in this informal panel discussion on Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 5:30 PM in the Beverly Sills Salon, Civic Theatre. Free. Pre-Opera Lectures These 30-minute informative lectures take place in the Civic Theatre one hour prior to every performance and offer wonderful insights into the production audience members are about to see. These lectures are free to all ticket holders. San Diego Opera Spotlight Produced by San Diego Opera and UCSD-TV, the award-winning San Diego Opera Spotlight program gives viewers a unique and entertaining look behind-the-scenes of each of San Diego Opera s four mainstage productions. Viewers will see how the singers, directors, conductor and crew work together to create each opera, get a sneak peek at rehearsal footage and hear exclusive interviews with the stars. San Diego Opera Spotlight repeats daily throughout the run of the production. For a complete listing of schedules and where to view it, visit: http://www.sdopera.com/company/education/spotlight San Diego OperaTalk! with Nicolas Reveles Join Dr. Nicolas Reveles, San Diego Opera's Geisel Director of Education, for these fascinating, half-hour overviews of our four productions. He'll take you on an intriguing journey though the story, music and history of each opera. You'll pick up rich insight into the structure and composition of the music, along with recommendations of the best recordings. It's a wonderful prelude to your opera experience and a great way to pick up some tidbits to impress your friends at intermission! For a complete listing of schedules and where to view it, visit: http://www.sdopera.com/company/education/operatalk San Diego Opera Video Podcast Series In order to help audiences better appreciate the operas in our 2014 International Season, the Education and Outreach Department has developed a series of introductory podcasts hosted by Dr. Nicolas Reveles. These 15 to 20-minute conversations can be enjoyed by opera fans as well 5

as those who are new to the art form. Informal yet informative, this is a great way to prepare for our season. http://www.sdopera.com/company/education/podcasts. These videos are also available on our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/sandiegoopera San Diego Opera on Twitter Get frequent updates about San Diego Opera and opera in general by following us on Twitter. Follow tweets from backstage during a performance and learn about special offers and contests before anyone else by following us @SDOpera. San Diego Opera on Facebook San Diego Opera s Facebook page offers a place for fellow opera fans to discuss performances, opera news, connect with other fans and get up-to-date information on upcoming events. Look for San Diego Opera at http://www.facebook.com/ San Diego Opera Blog: Aria Serious Aria Serious is San Diego Opera's official blog. It focuses on the serious and not-so-serious world of opera with behind-the-scenes looks at our productions, artist interviews and industry as well as pop-culture news. Come and join in the conversation at: http://ariaserious.blogspot.com/ San Diego Opera on YouTube Now viewers can watch a large portion of San Diego Opera s programming at their convenience on YouTube. OperaTalk!, Stars in the Salon, Opera Spotlight, our video podcast series and much more can be found on the San Diego Opera channel at: http://www.youtube.com/sandiegoopera Purchasing Tickets Single tickets for all operas are on sale Monday, September 30, 2013. Single ticket prices start at $35 and can be purchased by calling (619) 533-7000 or online at www.sdopera.com. Subscriptions range from $105 - $1,120 and can be purchased by calling (619) 533-7000 or online at www.sdopera.com. Tuesday Night Senior Discounts are also available for a full series four-opera subscription. Proof of age is required. Call (619) 533-7000 or online at www.sdopera.com for more information. The 2014 International Season Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo January 25, 28, 31 and February 2 (mat), 2014 The Elixir of Love Gaetano Donizetti February 15, 18, 21 and 23 (mat), 2014 A Masked Ball Giuseppe Verdi March 8, 11, 14 and 16 (mat), 2014 Verdi Requiem Giuseppe Verdi March 20, 2014 Don Quixote Jules Massenet April 5, 8, 11 and 13 (mat), 2014 General Information A widely respected member of the international opera community, San Diego Opera brings the world s finest artists to San Diego. Founded in 1965, and led for the last 30 years by General Director, Artistic Director and CEO Ian D. Campbell, San Diego Opera produces performances of the highest artistic quality while remaining financially stable. www.sdopera.com 6