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CURTIS OPERA THEATRE presents Idomeneo Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto by Giovanni Battista Varesco after Antoine Danchet’s Idomenée George Manahan, conductor Chas Rader-Shieber, stage director David Zinn, scenic director Jacob A. Climer, costume designer Mark Barton, lighting designer Tiziana Descano, harpsichord Thursday, May 5, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 6, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8, 2011, at 2:30 p.m. Prince Music Theater Idomeneo will run two hours and fifty-five minutes, including two fifteen-minute intermissions. Projected titles provided by arrangement with Bayshore Opera Translations. Translation by Lindley L. Becker. Photographic and recording equipment may not be used in Prince Music Theater. CAST MAY 5 AND 7 MAY 6 AND 8 Idomeneo Adam Frandsen Joshua Stewart Idamante Ilia J’nai Bridges Sarah Shafer Jazimina MacNeil Alize Rozsnyai Elettra Arbace Allison Sanders Diego Silva Kirsten MacKinnon Diego Silva High Priest of Neptune Joshua Stewart Adam Frandsen Voice of Neptune Chorus (all performances) Joseph Barron Joseph Barron Julian Arsenault, Anna Davidson, Meredith LaBouff, Johnathan Ryan McCullough, Jarrett Ott, Sean Michael Plumb, Kevin Ray, Shir Rozzen, Thomas Shivone, Ashley Thouret SYNOPSES Act I The Trojan Princess Ilia is torn between her love for Idamante—the son of Idomeneo of Crete, her father’s captor—and loyalty to her vanquished homeland. Idamante expresses his love for Ilia, but she rejects him, reminding him of the enmity between their fathers. As a gesture of good will, Idamante frees the Trojan prisoners, to the alarm of another princess, Elettra, who is also in love with him. Meanwhile, Idomeneo is returning to Crete in the midst of a storm at sea. He prays to Neptune for safe passage, vowing to kill the first man he sees on shore to appease the god of the sea. When he does land safely, Idamante—who thought his father had perished—is overjoyed to see him. Idomeneo abruptly brushes Idamante aside in an attempt to avoid fulfilling his vow to Neptune at the cost of his own son’s life. Act II Still trying to evade the consequences of his vow, Idomeneo decides to send Idamante abroad as an escort for Elettra on her return to her native Greece. Ilia indicates to Idomeneo that she loves his son. He, in turn, dreads that her desire will lead to the death of not only Idamante, but Ilia and himself as well, from broken hearts. Idamante and Elettra start their voyage amid formal farewells and wishes for a calm journey. But they immediately encounter a violent storm and then a sea monster. Clearly, the gods are angry. Idomeneo, believing that his people are being punished because he has broken his vow to Neptune, sings of his blame for the catastrophe. Act III The High Priest of Neptune implores the king to fulfill the vow he has made. Idomeneo finally admits that the victim to be sacrificed is his son. Meanwhile, Idamante has slain the sea monster, but returns to accept his fate. A great sacrificial scene assembles, and the grief-stricken Ilia rushes in to take Idamante’s place. The High Priest declares the triumph of love, and spares Idamante on the condition that Idomeneo abdicate in favor of his son, who is to wed Ilia. All are joyful, except the spurned Elettra. PROGRAM NOTES Idomeneo may be the earliest of Mozart’s operas that is in the standard repertoire, but it is actually somewhere in the middle of the chronology of the composer’s works for the theatre. He was twenty-four years old when it premiered in Munich in 1781, but twelve dramatic text-settings (which we can loosely call a body of opera) precede it. His first such composition, a sacred singspiel for three sopranos and two tenors, was heard in Salzburg in 1767 when the preadolescent genius was not yet sporting whiskers. But the truth is, very little of what Mozart wrote in his childhood and early teens has much lasting value outside of the context of his full, glorious career. Nearly everything we hear by Mozart these days was composed in the last fifteen years of his life. Without that colossal contribution, he would have been a footnote in the annals of music history, an amazing child prodigy who was trotted around Europe by his ambitious father. In that sense, Idomeneo stands as an important gateway to Mozart’s mature creative life. It is his first opera of greatness, filled with a confident, uniquely boldness of expression of the kind that still amazes us when we listen to The Marriage of Figaro. Above all, it solidified his matchless ability to shape characters with music in indelible ways, making his dramas as timeless as Shakespeare. Idomeneo was commissioned by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria. Mozart was thrilled at his first opportunity to write an opera on a large scale and threw himself into the task with great joy and vigor. Unlike the uniquely simpatico pairing of Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte that later produced the great triumvirate of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, the librettist for Idomeneo, Giovanni Battista Varesco, was not an equal partner for Mozart’s incisive dramatic intuition. The composer obsessed over every syllable. Fortunately the much less fastidious and less gifted Varesco was relatively compliant and allowed major changes to accommodate Mozart’s vision. At least Varesco gave Mozart a large and varied cast to work with. Perhaps this was the spark that lit the composer’s seemingly fathomless imagination, even though the plot, based on the Greek Iphigenia myth, was rather staid. It is utterly transformed by the music. The opera gives us an array of flesh-and-blood figures rendered with a vividness unprecedented in the art form, and probably surpassed only by the subsequent masterworks of Mozart himself. His intent was clear in a letter to his father Leopold: “remember that the voice must be terrifying, that it must penetrate, and that the audience must believe in it completely.” There is another element in the creation of Idomeneo that is significant to Mozart’s development. His patron Theodor gave him a fine, large group of instrumentalists to work with—the celebrated Mannheim Orchestra. Mozart responded like a kid in a candy store. From the exuberant overture to the final notes, we hear the supreme mastery of polyphonic construction, the exquisite blending of timbres, and the uncanny sense for the dramatic impact of every single note. And so Idomeneo is a superb opera, but more: It is the veritable calling card for the composer who could do everything, at the outset of one of the great blazes of individual Copyright © 2011 Peter Burwasser creativity in history. BIOGRAPHIES George Manahan, conductor George Manahan is in his fourteenth season as music director of New York City Opera. Wide-ranging and versatile, he has an esteemed career embracing everything from opera to the concert stage, the traditional to the contemporary. He has distinguished himself as one of the foremost conductors of our time and is especially known in the opera world for his musical guidance of diverse productions such as La fanciulla del West, Daphne, Ermione, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Cendrillon, and Die tote Stadt. Mr. Manahan’s 2009 Carnegie Hall performance of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra was hailed by audiences and critics alike. In 2010 he conducted a fully staged production of the same work with the Curtis Opera Theatre in celebration of the Barber centenary. Also in 2010 Mr. Manahan was appointed as music director of the New Yorkbased American Composers Orchestra. His guest appearances include the symphonies of Atlanta, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and New Jersey, where he served as acting music director for four seasons, as well as the National Symphony, Juilliard and Manhattan schools of music, Warsaw Philharmonic, Music Academy of the West, and Aspen Music Festival. He is a regular guest with Santa Fe, Portland, and Glimmerglass opera companies and was principal conductor of the Minnesota Opera. Chas Rader-Shieber, stage director Chas Rader-Shieber has staged over twentyfive operas for the Curtis Opera Theatre since 1991, most recently La Tragédie de Carmen and Antony and Cleopatra. Other recent work includes Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito for Vancouver Opera, Handel’s Tolomeo (American stage premiere) for Glimmerglass Opera, Don Giovanni for Music Academy of the West, and Die Entführung aus dem Serail for Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera. In addition to the operas of Handel and Mozart, Mr. Rader-Shieber has directed works of Cavalli, Purcell, Gluck, and Rossini. His work has been with the opera companies of Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, Spoleto USA, and St. Louis, among others. Mr. Rader-Shieber joined the Curtis faculty in 2009. David Zinn, set designer David Zinn’s designs for the Curtis Opera Theatre include scenery for Antony and Cleopatra, Wozzeck, and Ainadamar, among others, and set and costumes for Miss Julie. His Broadway credits include costumes for In the Next Room, Xanadu, and A Tale of Two Cities, while for opera he has designed sets and costumes for Lyric Opera of Chicago; Arizona, New York City, Glimmerglass, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, and Washington National operas; and others. Mr. Zinn’s regional theater work includes set and/or costume designs for American Repertory Theatre; Centerstage; Guthrie, Yale Repertory, and Seattle Repertory theaters; and La Jolla Playhouse. OffBroadway he has designed sets and/or costumes for Manhattan Theater Club, Signature Theatre Company, Second Stage, Atlantic Theater Company, Target Margin, and Salt Theater. Mr. Zinn received a 2008 Obie Award for sustained excellence in costume and set design. Jacob A. Climer, costume designer In addition to his designs for the Curtis Opera Theatre’s Antony and Cleopatra in 2010, Jacob A. Climer has also created designs for the Barrington Stage Company and the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas (resident costume designer). Further design credits include: Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, The New School, Bard College, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Mr. Climer has created production design for Hove (The Wind), a short film starring Olympia Dukakis; Shangri La (Queens Theater in the Park); Johnny Applef%#ker (The Ohio Theatre); and Bloody Mary (recognition for excellence in costume design for off–off Broadway). Recent associate and assistant design credits for Broadway productions include Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Good People, In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), and A Tale of Two Cities. Mr. Climer received a B.F.A. from University of Evansville and an M.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. Mark Barton, lighting director Mark Barton’s designs include Curtis Opera Theatre productions of Wozzeck, Ainadamar, Albert Herring, L’Ormindo, The Magic Flute, Postcard from Morocco, and La Voix humaine, as well as Off-Broadway productions Notes from Underground, Gatz, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Shipment, The Sound & the Fury (April 7th, 1928), and Paradise Park. Among the many New York City companies he has worked with are Elevator Repair Service, Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, Theatre for a New Audience, NYTW, Target Margin, Signature Theater, Salt Theater, P.S. 122, New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, HERE Arts Center, Epic Theater Center, and Edge Theater Company. Mr. Barton’s regional work includes productions for Yale Repertory Theatre, Perseverance Theatre, REDCAT, Berkeley Rep, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, A.R.T., Lookingglass Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Asolo Rep, Southern Rep, and Hangar Theatre. Tiziana Descano, harpsichord Native Italian Tiziana Descano lived in Caracas, Venezuela, where she studied piano with Russian professor Igor Lavrov and was an active recitalist and teacher. She coached experimental workshops, performed in opera productions, and played cello in orchestras. She has traveled to Spain for the Reina Sofia Summer Festival, where she performed in several recitals; to Siena, Italy, where she studied with Michele Campanella; to Sofia, Bulgaria, where she participated in the Stefan Popov’s Violoncellists Festival; and to Vancouver, Canada, accompanying the Youth Schola Cantorum at a World Choirs Competition. While working on her master’s in opera coaching at Temple University, Ms. Descano studied with Lambert Orkis, John Douglas, and Alexander Fiorillo. In 2003 she was the intern pianist for the Lake George Opera Festival. She has worked for Temple University, Opera Columbus, and, as head of the coaching staff, the Atlantic Coast Opera Festival. Ms. Descano performs with Amici Opera, Center City Opera Theater, and the New Jersey Opera Festival. Recently, she began work as a coach and accompanist for the Academy of Vocal Arts and the Curtis Institute of Music. Julian Arsenault (Chorus), from Lafayette, Calif., is a baritone studying in the opera program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Filiberto), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Director), and La Tragédie de Carmen (Escamillo) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; and roles for Open Opera, Opera UCLA, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Chautauqua Institution. Joseph Barron (Voice of Neptune), from Pittsburgh, is a bass-baritone studying in the opera program with W. Stephen Smith, adjunct faculty. Credits include: Il Signor Bruschino (Gaudenzio), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Chorus), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Bartolo), Antony and Cleopatra (Enobarbus, Soothsayer), La sonnambula (Rodolfo), The Rake’s Progress (Trulove), Il viaggio a Reims (Don Prudenzio), Wozzeck (Handwerksbursch 1), Impressions of Pelléas (Arkel), and Don Giovanni (The Commendatore) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; and roles for Opera Company of Philadelphia, Glimmerglass Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin in Italy, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Opera North. He is a 2011 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. J’nai Bridges (Idamante—May 5 and 7), from Lakewood, Wash., is a mezzo-soprano studying in the opera program with Patricia McCaffrey, adjunct faculty. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Hen, Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Newspaperwoman), La Tragédie de Carmen (title role), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Chorus), Antony and Cleopatra (Iras), La sonnambula (Teresa), and The Rake’s Progress (Baba the Turk) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for the Manhattan School of Music and Opera North; and performances with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Master Chorale of South Florida, New Triad for Collaborative Arts, and Chorale Le Chateau. She won the vocal division of the 2011 Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition. Anna Davidson (Chorus), from Los Angeles, is a soprano studying in the opera program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Rooster, Jay), Il Signor Bruschino (Sofia), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Thérèse, Son), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), Antony and Cleopatra (Chorus), La sonnambula (Lisa), and The Rake’s Progress (Chorus) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; and roles for the Chautauqua Institution, Juilliard School, International Vocal Arts Institute, and University of Miami Frost School of Music at Salzburg. Adam Frandsen (Idomeneo—May 5 and 7; High Priest of Neptune—May 6 and 8), from Copenhagen, Denmark, is a tenor studying in the opera program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Pasek, Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Chorus), and La Tragédie de Carmen (Don José) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for Opera Hedeland, Moores Opera Center, International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel; opera scenes for Yale School of Music and Aspen Music Festival and School; and concert performances of Handel’s Messiah, SaintSaëns’s Christmas Oratorio, Dubois’s Seven Last Words of Christ, and Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin. Meredith LaBouff (Chorus) is a soprano from Tenafly, N.J., studying in the voice program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Pasek’s Wife, Hen, Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Marianna), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Woman), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Berta), Antony and Cleopatra (Chorus), La sonnambula (Chorus), and The Rake’s Progress (Chorus) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; soloist with the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Orchestra; and roles for the Chautauqua Institution, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Académie Internationale d’Eté de Nice, and Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. Kirsten MacKinnon (Elettra—May 6 and 8), from Burnaby, British Columbia, is a soprano studying in the voice program with Edith Bers, adjunct faculty. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Fox), Il Signor Bruschino (Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Chorus), La Tragédie de Carmen (Micaela), Antony and Cleopatra (Octavia), La sonnambula (Lisa), The Rake’s Progress (Chorus), Il viaggio a Reims (Maddalena), Wozzeck (Chorus), The Medium (Mrs. Gobineau), and Don Giovanni (Chorus) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for Opera Company of Philadelphia and Vancouver Opera; and concert soloist in Vancouver and Spoleto, Italy. Signor Bruschino (Filiberto), and Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Husband) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for Oberlin In Italy and the Chautauqua Institution; soloist with the West Chester University Symphony Orchestra and Atlantic Symphony Chamber Players in Boston; and performances of Handel’s Messiah and Orff ’s Carmina Burana. Jazimina MacNeil (Idamante—May 6 and Sean Michael Plumb (Chorus), from Los 8), from Lincoln, Mass., is a mezzo-soprano studying in the opera program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Dog), Il Signor Bruschino (Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Newspaperwoman), La Tragédie de Carmen (title role), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Chorus), Antony and Cleopatra (Charmian), La sonnambula (Teresa), and The Rake’s Progress (Baba the Turk) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for the Manhattan School of Music and Aspen Opera Theater Center; performances at Marlboro Music and at SongFest in Malibu, Calif.; and, as a soloist, Mozart’s Requiem with the Westminster Williamson Voices. Angeles, is a baritone studying in the voice program with W. Stephen Smith, adjunct faculty. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Grasshopper, Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Commisario), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Chorus), and La Tragédie de Carmen (Lillas Pastia) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; performances at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City; on NPR’s From the Top; and, as a soloist, with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra at the GRAMMY Week 2010 Salute to Plácido Domingo. Kevin Ray (Chorus), from Cornwall, N.Y., is Johnathan Ryan McCullough (Chorus), from Sherman Oaks, Calif., is a baritone studying in the voice program with Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Cricket, Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Gendarme), and La Tragédie de Carmen (García) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for Center Stage Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Opera Camp, presented by LA Opera; opera scenes at SongFest and Pacific Opera Institute; and, as a soloist, appearances at the Hawaii Performing Arts and Bear Valley Music festivals. a tenor studying in the opera program with Patricia McCaffrey, adjunct faculty. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Mosquito, Schoolmaster, Chorus), La Tragédie de Carmen (Don José), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro), Antony and Cleopatra (Agrippa), La sonnambula (Chorus), The Rake’s Progress (Chorus), Il viaggio a Reims (Don Alvaro), Wozzeck (Chorus), Impressions of Pelléas (Golaud), and Don Giovanni (Masetto) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; and roles for the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Music Academy of the West, Oberlin Opera Theater, Oberlin in Italy, and the Rossini Opera Festival. Jarrett Ott (Chorus), from Pen Argyl, Pa., is a baritone studying in the opera program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Harasta), Il Alize Rozsnyai (Ilia—May 6 and 8), from San Diego, is a soprano studying in the voice program with Patricia McCaffrey, adjunct faculty. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Lead Hen, Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Thérèse, Son), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Chorus), Antony and Cleopatra (Chorus), La sonnambula (Lisa), and The Rake’s Progress (Chorus) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for the Indiana University Early Music Institute and Aspen Music Festival and School; and, as a soloist, with the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony Orchestra, Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Youth Symphony, Rancho Bernardo High School Orchestra, and University of San Diego Orchestra. Shir Rozzen (Chorus), from Karmey-Yosef, Israel, is a mezzo-soprano studying in the voice program with Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Forester’s Wife, Owl), Il Signor Bruschino (Marianna), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Chorus), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Berta), Antony and Cleopatra (Chorus), La sonnambula (Chorus), The Rake’s Progress (Mother Goose), Il viaggio a Reims (Delia), Wozzeck (Chorus), The Medium (Mrs. Nolan), and Don Giovanni (Chorus) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; and roles for the Washington National Opera’s Institute for Young Singers, Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, Mannes Preparatory Division, and Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts. Allison Sanders (Elettra—May 5 and 7), from Memphis, is a soprano studying in the opera program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. She graduated from the voice program with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2009. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Fox), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Chorus), Antony and Cleopatra (Cleopatra), La sonnambula (Chorus), The Rake’s Progress (Chorus), Il viaggio a Reims (La Marchesa Melibea), Wozzeck (Chorus), and Impressions of Pelléas (Geneviève) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Chautauqua Institution, Centro Studi Lirica in Italy, University of Memphis, and Opera Memphis’s summer opera program; and a concert at the National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Award Public Forum. Sarah Shafer (Ilia—May 5 and 7), from State College, Pa., is a soprano studying in the opera program with Joan PatenaudeYarnell. She graduated from the voice program with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2010. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Woodpecker, Hen, Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Sofia), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), Antony and Cleopatra (Chorus), La sonnambula (Chorus), The Rake’s Progress (Chorus), Il viaggio a Reims (Modestina), Wozzeck (Chorus), Impressions of Pelléas (Mélisande), and Don Giovanni (Chorus) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; performances for Marlboro Music, SongFest, and the Vocal Arts Symposium at Colorado College; an appearance on NPR’s From the Top; and, as a soloist, concerts with the Master Chorale of South Florida, Richmond Symphony, and State College Choral Society. Thomas Shivone (Chorus), from Fort Worth, Tex., is a bass-baritone studying in the voice program with Joan PatenaudeYarnell. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Badger, Parson, Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Bruschino senior), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Presto, Bearded Man), La Tragédie de Carmen (Zuniga), Antony and Cleopatra (Alexas), La sonnambula (Rodolfo), The Rake’s Progress (Keeper of the Madhouse), Wozzeck (Chorus), The Medium (Toby), and Don Giovanni (Masetto) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for Opera Company of Philadelphia, Music Academy of the West, SongFest, and Centro Studi Lirica in Italy; and, as a soloist, Handel’s Messiah with the Master Chorale of South Florida and Fauré’s Requiem with the Junior Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth. Diego Silva (Arbace), from Mexico City, is a tenor studying in the voice program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. Credits include: The Cunning Little Vixen (Chorus), Il Signor Bruschino (Florville, Bruschino junior), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Lacouf, Journalist), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva), Antony and Cleopatra (Eros), La sonnambula (Elvino), The Rake’s Progress (Sellem), Il viaggio a Reims (Cavaliere Belfiore), Wozzeck (Der Narr), and Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for the International Vocal Arts Institute in Montreal and International Opera Summer Program in Saltillo, Mexico; and, as soloist, concerts with the Bellas Artes Orchestra, Acapulco Philharmonic, and Coyoacán, Minería, and Aguascalientes symphony orchestras. Joshua Stewart (High Priest of Neptune— May 5 and 7; Idomeneo—May 6 and 8), from New Orleans, is a tenor studying in the opera program with Fred Carama, adjunct faculty. He graduated from the voice program with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2009. Credits include: Il Signor Bruschino (Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Husband), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva), Antony and Cleopatra (Caesar, Messenger), La sonnambula (Chorus), The Rake’s Progress (Tom Rakewell), Il viaggio a Reims (Conte di Libenskof), Wozzeck (Hauptmann), and Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; soloist with the Master Chorale of South Florida and Westminster Williamson Voices; and roles for Music Academy of the West, Centro Studi Lirica in Italy, Intermezzo Young Artist Development Program, and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Ashley Thouret (Chorus), from Toronto, is a soprano studying in the opera program with Marlena Kleinman Malas. She graduated from the voice program with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2009. Credits include: Il Signor Bruschino (Chorus), Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Chorus), La Tragédie de Carmen (Micaela), Antony and Cleopatra (Chorus), La sonnambula (Chorus), The Rake’s Progress (Anne Trulove), Il viaggio a Reims (Servant), Wozzeck (Chorus), Impressions of Pelléas (Mélisande), and Don Giovanni (Zerlina) for the Curtis Opera Theatre; roles for the Chautauqua Institution; and concerts and recitals with several orchestras and organizations in the Toronto and Philadelphia areas. Mikael Eliasen, artistic director of the Curtis Opera Theatre, The Hirsig Family Head-of-Department Chair in Vocal Studies Danish-born coach and accompanist Mr. Eliasen received his early training in Copenhagen, Montreal, and Vienna. He has collaborated with numerous singers in recital worldwide, including Robert Merrill, Tom Krause, John Shirley-Quirk, Elly Ameling, Edith Mathis, Florence Quivar, Mira Zakai, Sarah Walker, Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, and Curtis alumni Theodor Uppman, Michael Schade, and Rinat Shaham. He has recorded for Albany Records, CBC, Hilversum Radio, Polish State Radio, Kol Israel, Irish Radio and Television, London Records, MHS, and Supraphon. He has a long association with the young-artist programs at the Royal Danish Opera and the Opera Studio of Amsterdam. In the United States, he works regularly at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Eliasen was music director of the San Francisco Opera Center from 1994 to 1996 and artistic director of the European Center for Opera and Vocal Art in Belgium from 1984 to 1994. For twenty years he has taught at Chautauqua’s Voice Program during the summers. Ralph Batman, managing director of Vocal Studies and the Curtis Opera Theatre Ralph Batman joined the Curtis Institute of Music in 1988, after serving as stage manager and production manager for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, spending five years as production stage manager with the Philadelphia Drama Guild, and working as stage manager and company manager for the Pennsylvania Ballet. He began his career as stage manager and designer, and eventually producer, for a chain of Equity dinner theaters in the Midwest. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Production Credits Assistant Conductor — Francesco Lecce-Chong Assistant Director — Stephanie Derrick Musical Preparation — Danielle Orlando, principal opera coach; Donald St. Pierre, Tiziana Descano Rehearsal Pianists — Donald St. Pierre, Tiziana Descano, Rebecca P. Mordo Italian Diction — Corradina Caporello Stage Manager — Wesley Reid Assistant Stage Manager — Asaki Kuruma Hair and Makeup — Giacomina Pluma Resident Wardrobe Supervisor — Rita Squitiere Projected Title Operator — Rebecca P. Mordo Scenery Construction and Installation — Proof Productions, Inc.