Waiting in the Overture Center lobby for my ride after the dress rehearsal last night, I overheard a high-school aged student (likely an orchestra member’s kid) in conversation actually say, “I never knew opera could be funny.” It may have been more like, “Like, seriously, I never knew opera could be funny, and I mean, I LOVE Mozart.” It was music to my ears…seriously.
Curtain call for the principals at last night’s dress rehearsal for Cosi
“Opera Up Close: The Cosi fan Tutte Preview” is now available online. Brush up your Mozart before tomorrow night by viewing the presentation here (you’ll be asked to open the file; just click OK and it will start playing in your RealPlayer).
Last night was the first dress rehearsal with full orchestra in the Capitol Theater. I snapped the above photo before things got underway in the beautiful space. Check out more scenes from yesterday below:Lorenzo da Ponte–the infamous librettist of Cosi fan Tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Don Giovanni–turns 260 today! A nod to Milan-based opera blogger OperaChic for the heads-up, and I think her words are most appropriate for the occasion:
On March 10 — of the year 1749, but it doesn’t really matter because his art is still so present and his genius is still so new — Emanuele Conegliano was born, son of Rachele and Geremia, brother of Baruch and Anania, the future Lorenzo Da Ponte, Abate Da Ponte, lecherous priest, brothel owner, poet, court librettist for Mozart and Salieri, writer of that trilogy, naturalized American citizen and New Yorker (he used to call his adoptive city “Nova Iorca”, which Opera Chic finds terribly cool), impresario, Bowery grocer, Columbia University professor, memoirist, Greatest Italian Playwright Who Ever Lived (and that includes Goldoni and Pirandello).
“It’s a battle of the sexes in Mozart’s Cosi.” Lindsay Christians talks to director Kristine McIntyre and conductor Kelly Kuo for 77 Square.
“A rising star returns home.” Brava Magazine profiles soprano Mary Mackenzie.
Rosina, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: Dover, AR
Madison Opera Debut: Léontine, The Anonymous Lover (2024)
Recently: Anna Sørenson, Silent Night (Wolf Trap Opera); Musetta, La Bohème; Armida, Rinaldo; Charlene, Service Provider; Jazz Trio, Trouble in Tahiti (Minnesota Opera);
Armida, Rinaldo; Vanderdendur, Candide; Angostura, Tenor Overboard (Glimmerglass Festival);
Rodelinda, Rodelinda (Hudson Hall); Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Opera Memphis);
Upcoming: Marcellina, Leonora (Chicago Opera Theater);
Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Virginia Opera); Verdi Requiem (Erie Philharmonic)
Baritone, Opera in the Park
Hometown: Spring, TX
Madison Opera Debut: Germont, La Traviata (2019)
Recently: Sharpless, Madama Butterfly (Houston Grand Opera, New Orleans Opera);
Britten's War Requiem (Opera Roanoke); Scarpia, Tosca (Arizona Opera);
Germont, La Traviata (Lyric Opera of Kansas City); Nabucco, Nabucco (Seattle Opera)
Upcoming: Rigoletto, Rigoletto (English National Opera)
Joshua SandersTenor, Opera in the Park
Hometown: Plain, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Giuseppe, La Traviata (2011)
Also at MO: Tobias Ragg, Sweeney Todd; Inmate, Dead Man Walking; Ensemble, Acis and Galatea
Recently: Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville; Romeo, Romeo and Juliet (Opera San José);
Tamino, The Magic Flute (Nashville Opera); Sam Clay, The Amazing Adventures of
Kavalier & Clay workshop (Metropolitan Opera)
Upcoming: Victorin, Die tote Stadt (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Zerlina, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Wakayama City, Japan
Madison Opera Debut
Former Madison Opera Studio Artist
Recently: Cio-Cio-San, Madama Butterfly (Virginia Opera); Violetta, La Traviata;
Krystyna Zywulska, Two Remain (UW-Madison)
Upcoming: Cio-Cio-San, Madama Butterfly (Kentucky Opera)
Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: Twin Cities, MN
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2017
Also at MO: Belmonte, The Abduction from the Seraglio
Recently: Ferrando, Così fan tutte (Princeton Festival); Ramiro, La Cenerentola (Toledo Opera);
Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville (North Carolina Opera);
Frederic, The Pirates of Penzance (Opera San Antonio); Filippo, Deceit Outwitted (Sarasota Opera)
Upcoming: Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville (Minnesota Opera); Candide, Candide (South Florida Symphony);
Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Livermore Valley Opera)
Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2012
Also at MO: Opera in the Park 2024; Rosina, The Barber of Seville (2015)
Recently: Nicklausse, The Tales of Hoffmann (Palm Beach Opera);
Rosina, The Barber of Seville (Cincinnati Opera, Santa Fe Opera);
Woman, Ghosts (San Diego Opera); Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro (Canadian Opera Company);
Hansel, Hansel and Gretel (New Orleans Opera)
Upcoming: Princess Irene, Tamerlano (Haymarket Opera)
María de Buenos Aires
Hometown: Madison, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Acis & Galatea (2013)
Recently at MO: Florencia en el Amazonas; Trouble in Tahiti / The Seven Deadly Sins
Choreographer, María de Buenos Aires
Hometown: Madison, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Florencia en el Amazonas (2018)
Recently at MO: The Anonymous Lover, Trouble in Tahiti / The Seven Deadly Sins
Co-Artistic Director of Kanopy Dance
Recently: Director and Choreographer, Winter Fantasia: Reimagined; Polaris + Revelations;
The Next Generation; Confluence: A Prelude; Graham: In Her Voice; Shades of Light (Kanopy Dance);
Choreographer, Bluebeard's Castle (Des Moines Metro Opera)
Upcoming: Director and Choreographer, Inner Passages (Kanopy Dance);
Choreographer, The Cunning Little Vixen (Des Moines Metro Opera)
El Duende, María de Buenos Aires
Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Albuquerque, NM
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2006
Recently: Glenda, We Shall Not Be Moved (Pittsburgh Opera); Verdi's Requiem (Pensacola Symphony);
Carlotta de Obragón, Zorro (Fort Worth Opera); Suzuki, Madama Butterfly (Dallas Opera);
Mozart's Requiem (Paducah Symphony); Carmen, Carmen (St. Barth's Music Festival)
Upcoming: Carmen, Carmen (Kentucky Symphony Orchestra); Carmen, Carmen Inside Out (the film)
Sergeant, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: Longmeadow, MA
Madison Opera Debut
Madison Opera Studio Artist
Recently: Gherardo, Gianni Schicchi (American Gothic Performing Arts Festival); Frederic, The Pirates of Penzance (Madison Savoyards);
Mercurio, La Calisto; Gastone, La Traviata; Albert Herring, Albert Herring (UW Madison Opera);
Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi (La Musica Lirica USA); Alfred, Die Fledermaus; Monostatos, The Magic Flute (UMass Opera)
Upcoming: Tamino, The Magic Flute (Opera for the Young)
Conductor: Opera in the Park, The Barber of Seville, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Youngstown, OH
Madison Opera Debut: The Magic Flute (1995)
Recently at MO: Candide, Tosca, Trouble in Tahiti / The Seven Deadly Sins, Salome
Stage Director, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: Austin, TX
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: Carmen (Austin Opera); Don Giovanni (Opera Colorado, Cincinnati Opera);
Un Cuento de Luces y Sonmbras (LOLA); La Bohème (Glimmerglass Opera);
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Utah Opera, Calgary Opera)
Upcoming: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Washington National Opera); New Opera Workshop, We Might be Struck by Lighting (LOLA)
Stage Director, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Princeton, NJ
Madison Opera Debut: La Traviata (2019)
Recently at MO: Lucia di Lammermoor
Recently: La Fanciulla del West (Central City Opera); The Elixir of Love, Così fan tutte (Palm Beach Opera);
The Marriage of Figaro (Portland Opera); Carmen (Opera Santa Barbara);
Charlie Parker's Yardbird (Dayton Opera); La Bohème (New Orleans Opera); Mozart and Salieri (Opera San Jose)
Conductor, María de Buenos Aires
Hometown: St. Genis-de-Puilly, France
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: The Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera); In Our Daughter's Eyes (LA Opera / BMP);
Number Our Days (Perelman Performing Arts Center); Glory Denied (Cleveland Institute of Music);
Rocking Horse Winner (Tapestry Opera); The Rip Van Winkles (Glimmerglass Festival)
Upcoming: Ruinous Gods (Spoleto Festival USA)
Stage Director, María de Buenos Aires
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Madison Opera Debut: Tosca (2023)
Recently: Macbeth (Resonance Works); Hansel and Gretel (Opera Birmingham);
The Magic Flute (North Carolina Opera); The Barber of Seville (Pensacola Opera)
Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Storrs, CT
Madison Opera Debut: Moralès, Carmen (2017)
Recently at MO: Count Malcolm, A Little Night Music
Recently: Ponchel, Silent Night; Brother, The Seven Deadly Sins (Wolf Trap Opera); Schaunard, La Bohème;
Sam, Trouble in Tahiti; Masetto, Don Giovanni; Argante, Rinaldo (Minnesota Opera);
Fedorov, The Christmas Spider (Opéra Louisiane, Marble City Opera);
English Ambassador, The Ghosts of Versailles (Royal Opera Versailles);
Marcello, La Bohème (Imperial Symphony Orchestra)
Upcoming: Mercutio, Romeo & Juliet (Minnesota Opera);
Silvio, Pagliacci (Pensacola Opera)
Leporello, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Marian, IN
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: Marcello, La Bohème; Beau, Service Provider; Jazz Trio, Trouble in Tahiti;
Hortensius, The Daughter of the Regiment; Mago, Rinaldo;
Abilenes's Father / Bryce's Father, Edward Tulane (Minnesota Opera);
Colline, La Bohème (Lyric Opera of the North); Lackey, Ariadne auf Naxos (Lakes Area Music Festival);
Charlie, Three Decembers (South Bend Lyric Opera); The Villains, The Tales of Hoffmann (Union Avenue Opera)
The Commendatore, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Cairo, Egypt / San Francisco, CA
Madison Opera Debut: Captain, Florencia en el Amazonas (2018)
Recently: Dr. Bartolo, The Barber of Seville (Des Moines Metro Opera, Seattle Opera);
Dr. Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro (New Orleans Opera); Sparafucile, Rigoletto (Opera San Jose);
Giove, La Calisto (Opera Memphis)
Upcoming: Dr. Bartolo, The Barber of Seville (Lyric Opera of Kansas City);
Dulcamara, The Elixir of Love (New Orleans Opera)
Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Rochester, MN
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2021
Recently: Pong, Turandot (Metropolitan Opera); Bill, Flight; The Steersman, The Flying Dutchman (Dallas Opera);
Pang, Turandot (Houston Grand Opera); Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (Seattle Opera);
Nemorino, The Elixir of Love (Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, Florentine Opera);
Count Almaviva, The Barber of Seville (Opera Colorado, Garsington Opera);
Nikolaus Sprink, Silent Night; Tamino, The Magic Flute (Utah Opera);
Fadinard, The Italian Straw Hat (Minnesota Opera); Danny Chen, An American Soldier (Opera Theatre of St. Louis)
Berta, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: Edgemont, NY
Madison Opera Debut: Dorothée, The Anonymous Lover (2024)
Also with MO: Paquette, Candide
Madison Opera Studio Artist
Recently: Zita, Gianni Schicchi (Finger Lakes Opera); Hattie, American Gothical (Cedar Rapids Opera);
Sally, The Boy Who Wanted to be a Robot; K., Would You Eat Me? (Thompson Street Opera)
Fiorello, The Barber of Seville
Masetto, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Shenzhen, China
Madison Opera Debut
Madison Opera Studio Artist
Recently: Voce 2, Il Nostro Posto nel Mondo (Thompson Street Opera Company);
The Police Agent / Mr. Kofner, The Consul (Third Eye Ensemble);
Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte; Kaiser Overall, Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Northwestern Opera Theater);
Old Adam Goodheart, Ruddigore; Carpenter's Mate, H.M.S. Pinafore (The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company);
Olin Brett, The Music Man (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre)
Upcoming: Papageno, The Magic Flute (Opera for the Young)
El Payador, María de Buenos Aires
Hometown: Barranquilla, Colombia
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: Schaunard, La Bohème (Wolf Trap Opera); Foreman, Jenufa; Dancaïre, Carmen;
Count of Lerma, Don Carlo (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Escamillo, Le tragedie de Carmen;
Guglielmo, Così fan tutte (The Opera Next Door); Betto, Gianni Schicchi (Ópera de Colombia);
Demetrius, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Captain / Ragotsky, Candide (Orquestra Filarmónica de Bogotà)
Upcoming: Belcore, The Elixir of Love (New Orleans Opera);
Bill, Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahgonny (Staatsoper Stuttgart)
María, María de Buenos Aires
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: María, María de Buenos Aires (Kentucky Opera); Lupita, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna;
Carlotta de Obragón, Zorro (Opera Santa Barbara); Renata, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (West Edge Opera);
Rosina, The Barber of Seville (Princeton Festival); Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Scalia/Ginsburg (Chautauqua Opera);
Luisa Fernanda, Luisa Fernanda (Opera Hispánica, Opera Williamsburg)
Upcoming: Una Niña, Ainadamar (Metropolitan Opera); Jo, Little Women (Fort Worth Opera);
Isabella, L'Italiana in Algeri (Opera in the Heights); Mrs. Fox, Fantastic Mr. Fox (Opera Omaha)
Don Basilio, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: Beloit, WI
Madison Opera Debut: Mother, The Seven Deadly Sins (2023)
Recently: Green Shirt Guy, Mel Rides the Bus Alone (Pittsburgh Opera);
Sarastro, The Magic Flute; Dr. Bartolo, The Marriage of Figaro (Carnegie Mellon University)
Dr. Bartolo, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: El Paso, TX
Madison Opera Debut: Papageno, The Magic Flute (2006)
Recent at MO: Alvaro, Florencia en el Amazonas; Opera in the Park 2018
Recently: Diego Rivera, El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego (Opera Omaha);
Tonio, Pagliacci (Hawaii Opera Theatre); Dandini, La Cenerentola (Boston Lyric Opera);
Peter, Hansel and Gretel (Opera San Antonio); Lescaut, Manon Lescaut (North Carolina Opera)
Upcoming: Lescaut, Manon Lescaut (Washington National Opera); Benoit/Alcindoro, La Bohème (Lyric Opera of Chicago);
Alvaro, Florencia en el Amazonas (North Carolina Opera)
Figaro, The Barber of Seville
Hometown: Waldorf, MD
Madison Opera Debut: Silvio, Pagliacci (2018)
Recently: Bello, La Fanciulla del West (Bayerische Staatsoper); Moralès, Carmen (Metropolitan Opera);
Guglielmo, Così fan tutte (Princeton Symphony); Jan Nyman, Breaking the Waves (Detroit Opera);
Silvio, Pagliacci (Austin Opera)
Upcoming: Marcello, La Bohème (Arizona Opera); Jake, Porgy and Bess (Washington National Opera);
Schaunard, La Bohème (Charleston Opera Theater)
Donna Anna, Don Giovanni
Hometown: Ocean City, MD
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2024
Recently: Mimì, La Bohème; Verna/Young Lovely/Evelyn, Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); JFK: The Last Speech
(National Symphony Orchestra); Britten’s War Requiem (Strathmore Music Center);
Russian Chamber Art Society; Postclassical Ensemble Concert (The Kennedy Center); Girlfriend 2, Blue;
Micaëla, Carmen (Washington National Opera); Alice Ford, Falstaff (Aspen Music Festival);