November 7, 11, 13, 15, 2009
The Long Center for the Performing Arts
La Boheme is the achingly beautiful, mesmerizing tale of doomed romance in Paris, the most romantic city in the world. It starred in Moonstruck alongside Cher, inspired the musical Rent, and was just made into a major motion picture for the fourth time. Don't miss this chance to see the original, just as Puccini envisioned it, live on the opera stage. If you're thinking this one has "date night" written all over it, you're right.
Sung in Italian with English Supertitles
THE CAST
Richard Buckley, Conductor
Renowned American conductor Richard Buckley has been heralded by critics across the world for his dynamic contributions to both the orchestral and operatic genres. His extraordinary career includes performing with some of the world's great opera companies: Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Baltimore Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia and L'Opera de Montreal. In Europe he has enjoyed return engagements at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, L'Opera National de Paris, Royal Danish Opera, Goteborg Opera, Norwegian National Opera, De Nederlandse Opera and Teatro San Carlo Lisbon, among others. Buckley's passionate conducting has been realized with some of the world's finest orchestras including: the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Utah and Seattle.
Garnett Bruce, Stage Director
Garnett Bruce continues to stage productions for leading national and international houses. The 2008/09 season includes his first production of Otello for Kentucky Opera, Madama Butterfly for returns to San Diego Opera and Utah Symphony and Opera, revivals of his production of La Cenerentola for Austin Lyric Opera and Orlando Opera; and La boheme, his first production as the newly named Artistic Adviser and Principal Stage Director for Opera Omaha. Mr. Bruce also serves on the directing faculties of the Aspen Music Festival and Peabody Conservatory.
Highlights from his past seasons include Turandot, La Traviata and collaborating with Peter Sellars for Doctor Atomic at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Tosca (Opera Pacific, Houston, Denver, Cleveland); Turandot (San Francisco, Dallas, Cleveland, Louisville); Aida and Samuel Barber's Vanessa for San Diego Opera; new productions of La Cenerentola and Die Zauberflote for Lyric Opera of Kansas City; new productions of La Clemenza di Tito and La Cenerentola for Wolf Trap Opera; Carmen for Palm Beach Opera; Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Utah Symphony and Opera; Orfeo ed Euridice for Chattanooga Symphony and Opera; and Francesca Zambello's productions of Madama Butterfly (Houston, Opera Pacific, Pittsburgh) and Jenufa (Dallas, San Francisco) and made his European debut staging the David Hockney production of Turandot for Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy.
Sebastien Gueze studied voice in the south of France, simultaneously earning his Master's degree in International Business. Deciding to devote himself exclusively to music, he began studies at the National Conservatory of Paris. Mr. Gueze was a finalist of the Enrico Caruso competition in Milan, Silver Voice (1st Place in the men's category) at the Metz Tournament in 2003, First Prize winner of the European of Arles competition in 2004 before being crowned "Revelation Artiste of 2006" by the French Association of Artists (ADAMI). He graduated at the top of his class at the National Conservatory, earning the congratulations of the Jury.
Sebastien Gueze began his career with performances that enabled him to approach the Lieder repertoire and oratorio such as Messa di Gloria (Puccini), Das liede von der Erde (Mahler), as well as the operatic roles of Rodolfo, Mylio, Lensky, and Romeo.
Moscow native Dina Kuznetsova graduated from The Academic Music College of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire (piano). She received her vocal training at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In 1999, while attending the Music Academy of the West, California, Dina Kuznetsova sang the title role in Handel's Rodelinda and won the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, which granted her a New York debut recital in May 2000. That summer she gave a duet recital under the auspices of Renata Scotto'Opera Academy in Savona, Italy.
Kuznetsova's international successes in a wide variety of lyric and coloratura repertoire began with Merab in Saul in Brussels, followed by Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Adina in L'elisir d'amore (Berlin Sttatsoper), Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi (London's English National Opera), and the title role in Rodelinda (Munich's Staatsoper). She has brought her Musetta to San Francisco, her Violetta to Costa Mesa (Opera Pacific) and Boston Lyric Opera, and her Gilda to Boston Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Cincinatti. Kuznetsova sang the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also returned there as Juleitte in Romeo et Juliette.
Craig Verm is rapidly gaining recognition for his exciting performances. Following recent performances of Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette exclaimed that he was "again impressive. His Mercutio was a winning mix of insouciance and insolence with a superb grasp of the French." The Denver Post agrees, enthusiastically citing his ability to "make full use of his resonant, expressive baritone voice, bringing the necessary depth to this complex role and imbuing the all-important final scene with poignancy and depth."
Mr. Verm enjoys a strong relationship with Pittsburgh Opera, where he has sung Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette and the Novice's Friend in Billy Budd. This follows previous performances with the company as Guglielmo in student performances of Cosi fan tutte, as well as mainstage performances that included Angelotti in Tosca and the Second Prisoner in Fidelio. He also recently made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at the legendary Hollywood Bowl as Angelotti in Tosca. Mr. Verm has sung Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte and the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen with Aspen Opera Theater. There his performances also included Mahler's "Songs of a Wayfarer" with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble.
Hailed as "nothing short of sensational" by Opera magazine and "a real creature of the stage" by Opera News, soprano Sari Gruber's exciting and moving performances of a diverse operatic and concert repertoire have firmly established her as one of today's most sought-after artists on the international stage. In opera, she has garnered praise for her "shining soprano and vibrant presence" (Opera News), her "direct musicality" (NY Times), as well as her "detailed, charming, resourceful and sympathetic" characterizations (Boston Herald). For her artistry as a recitalist, she was awarded the first prize of the 2005 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation International Vocal Competition.
An accomplished recitalist whose song repertoire spans nine languages, Sari Gruber has appeared in recital at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, in addition to other noted recital venues, including New York's 92nd Street Y and Miller Theater, San Francisco Performances at the Herbst Theatre, Chicago Humanities Festival, and New York Festival of Song. She has given recitals throughout the United States under the auspices of the Naumburg Foundation and the Marilyn Horne Foundation. Other notable recital credits include a pre-concert recital of Copland's Poems of Emily Dickinson for New York Philharmonic's Copland Festival, appearing as the featured recitalist for the MTNA/NATS national convention in Salt Lake City, and solo recitals at Skidmore College and with San Francisco Opera Center's Schwabacher Debut Recital Series.
Liam Moran began as a first-year resident artist with Pittsburgh Opera after summer engagements with the National Symphony Orchestra (Zuniga in Carmen), the Speaker in The Magic Flute and Siroco in L'etoile at Wolf Trap Opera. After his mainstage debut there as The Bonze in Madama Butterfly, he appeared as Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love Behind the Curtain and the Immigration Officer in Flight. Later this season he sings the King in Aida and Capellio in The Capulets & the Montagues Student Matinee. Mr. Moran returns to Wolf Trap this summer to play Melisso Alcina and Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos. He has also performed with Florida Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Glimmerglass Opera, San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, and Opera Omaha. His concert work ranges from Monteverdi to Penderecki, and he has been featured with the Palm Beach Symphony, the New World Symphony's "Concerts in Context" series, Los Angeles' Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, and several recital series. For Glimmerglass in 2006, he created the role of M. Follenvie in the world premiere of Steven Hartke's The Greater Good, recorded for Naxos Records. A prize winner in the Florida Grand Opera Competition and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the New England region, Mr. Moran completed his studies at McGill University in Montreal and the Yale School of Music.
Jonathan Beyer,Schaunard
Jonathan Beyer is a 27 year old baritone who has performed with several opera companies including Pittsburgh Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, The Chautauqua Institution, Tanglewood Music Center, Accademia Verdiana, and Teatro di Verdi. He performs a wide variety of repertoire including Marcello in La Boheme, Germont in La Traviata, Musiklehrer in Ariadne Auf Naxos, Papageno in Die Zauberflote, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze Di Figaro, Belcore in L'elisir d'amore and Richard Nixon in Nixon in China. He has also appeared with the Indianapolis Symphony, Lorin Maazel's Chateauville Foundation, Chatam Baroque, Baton Rouge Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic and the Mozart Acadamie at Aix-en-Provence.
Mr. Beyer was a National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition. He was the 1st Place Winner at the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists. He has also won the Irma M. Cooper Competition, American Opera Society Competition, the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Competition, and the Bel Canto Foundation. He has also received awards from the Jensen Foundation, Charles Lynam Competition, Anna Sosenko Foundation, Mario Lanza Foundation, Dresden Opera Competition, NATS, Giulio Gari Foundation, Palm Beach Opera and Neue Stimmen competitions.
The vocal and dramatic versatility of American bass Tony Dillon has been commended throughout the United States, Russia and Central America. His repertoire of over sixty operatic roles ranges from the works of Peri and Cavalli to premiering the operas and song cycles of Earnest, Mlyn, Fink and others. He has had the pleasure of performing under the baton of Yves Abel, Scott Bergeson, Leonard Bernstein, Anton Coppola, Sir Colin Davis, and Kent Nagano. A former recipient of the Opera Renaissance Award, Mr. Dillon is recorded on Delos International with "The Voices of Ascension", National Public Radio's Of Mice and Men from Glimmerglass Opera, Summer and Smoke from Central City Opera Association, Vanessa from The Washington National Opera, Gianni Schicchi with the Los Angeles Opera, and The Washington National Opera telecast of La Rondine on PBS "Live from Kennedy Center."
Recent engagements have included the role of 'Grandpa Moss' in Madison Opera's production of The Tender Land, 'Sharpless' in Madama Butterfly for the Midland, Michigan Symphony, the 'Sacristan' in Tosca with Pittsburgh Opera and the Rockford Symphony, 'The Notary' in the Bard Summerscape presentation of Arthur Sullivan's The Sorcerer, and 'Benoit/Alcindoro' in La Boheme with the Sugarcreek Festival Opera, Madison Opera, Michigan Opera Theater and the Seattle Opera. 2009 will bring a return to the Madison Opera for the role of Don Alfonso in their production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.
