Kazaras and Garman Introduce "Viva Verdi!'

On April 6, Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program will perform a unique Viva Verdi! concert. Following on the heels of a successful production of Verdi’s King for a Day—indeed, the Seattle performance at Benaroya Hall sold out—the Young Artists are ringing in the end of the 2012/13 season with a dynamic sampling of Verdi’s operas.

2012/13 Seattle Opera Young Artists: Baritone Hunter Enoch, Mezzo-Soprano Deborah Nansteel, Pianist/Coach Christopher Lade, Mezzo-Soprano Sarah Larsen, Bass-Baritone Matthew Scollin, Soprano Dana Pundt, and Tenor Theo Lebow
(Photo by Alan Alabastro)

Listen to the voices of our Young Artists on SoundCloud.

The Seattle Opera Chorus and the Seattle Opera Young Artists Orchestra will join the Young Artists onstage. The concert will be semi-staged, meaning there won’t be sets and costumes, but you’ll be able to follow the stories because of the acting and supertitles.

Here to answer questions about Verdi, the concert, and the origins of the “Viva Verdi” rallying cry are Peter Kazaras, the program’s artistic director, and Brian Garman, the program’s music director.

What does the “man in the street” need to know about Verdi?
Kazaras: The person in the street needs to know that Verdi's music is so special (as Verdi himself well knew!) that when he was preparing the premiere of Rigoletto at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, he made sure NOT to give the tenor the famous 3rd act aria, “La donna è mobile,” until the dress rehearsal. He knew that once the tenor sang it in rehearsal, the gondoliers would have it memorized by the time the performance was over. And according to legend, this is precisely what happened! His music is irresistible. And you will hear “La donna è mobile” in our concert…but not if you stay in the street!

Peter Kazaras
(Rozarii Lynch photo)

What does Verdi mean to you?
Garman: No other composer understood the human voice as well or wrote for the voice as well as Verdi. He was a consummate melodist; no one else (except for Bellini, perhaps) was able to take a simple musical element—a scale, for example—and so easily spin it into a dramatic or heartbreaking melody. Above all, he was a man of the theater, and almost every bar of his operas is written with the drama in mind.

Brian Garman
(Rozarii Lynch photo)

Who made the musical selections and how?
Kazaras: Brian Garman and I both made the musical selections. It was really about fitting together the puzzle of which voices could do which pieces. For example, we have two mezzos in our current program—but there are not that many plum lyric mezzo parts in Verdi operas. Most of Verdi’s mezzo roles tend to be meatier and heavier, like Azucena in Il trovatore or Amneris in Aida. So we have pieces like Fenena’s beautiful aria from Nabucco, which is appropriate for a younger and lighter voice, and also the “Rataplan” from La forza del destino. The role of Maddalena in Act III of Rigoletto also works for a younger and more lyrical voice.

In Dana Pundt, we have a soprano whose voice has point and agility—she was a perfect choice for Violetta in Act I of La traviata, and also for Gilda in Act III of Rigoletto. Our tenor, Theo Lebow, is an elegant and beautiful fit for the roles of Alfredo and the Duke. Hunter Enoch will sing the excerpts from the role of Rigoletto and also Rodrigo from Don Carlo. Our bass Matthew Scollin will be a sinister and elegantly sung Sparafucile in Rigoletto.

Don Carlos at Seattle Opera, 1993
(Gary Smith photo)

Don Carlo is a beautiful and unforgettable work, and the Garden Scene in Act III is one of the more lyrical sections of the piece. So we have programmed that to give our audience a taste of this great piece. Also, because we have the wonderful Seattle Opera chorus at our disposal, we have programmed pieces such as the famous "Va, pensiero" (The chorus of Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco. This beautiful and moving chorus has long served as a sort of unofficial Italian national anthem. Once you hear it, it’s easy to understand why.

What do the Young Artists stand to learn from spending a year with Verdi’s music?
Garman: It’s great for the Young Artists to be able to perform this music. There’s so much that can be learned from Verdi about language, phrasing, musicality, theatricality, and of course, singing. There are places in the music of many other composers where you can “hide.” But you can never hide in Verdi: you always have to really sing.

Kazaras: By working on Verdi for an entire year, our singers continue to learn how to shape a line, how to sing with a beautiful legato, how to use the Italian language to convey emotion, how to make their techniques responsive to the wonderful and inspiring challenges posed by Verdi. There’s no one like him for that! And remember that one of our Young Artists is Christopher Lade, a pianist and conductor-in-the-making. I am sure Christopher would tell you that a year of working on Verdi is like balm not only for your musical soul but also for your musical skills.

Can you say a little bit about the participation of the Seattle Opera chorus?
Garman: It’s very exciting that the Seattle Opera Chorus will be joining us for this concert. I conducted them in McCaw in La traviata back in 2009, and I’m delighted to work with them again. I’m also excited about our continued work with the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program Orchestra. To my knowledge, we are the only Young Artists Program that has a professional orchestra that plays specifically for us and bears our name. So collaborating with these two excellent ensembles will be a wonderful way to end our season.

Seattle Opera Chorus in Act 1 of La traviata, 2009
(photo by Rozarii Lynch)

Kazaras: The excerpts from La traviata and Rigoletto would not be the same without the chorus—how fantastic to be able to hear the male chorus perform that incredible “storm effect” in Rigoletto! We would never be able to consider such pieces unless we had a top-notch chorus on hand, so this gives us a rare chance to showcase the great Seattle Opera chorus as well as our Young Artists.

Viva Verdi graffiti

What’s behind the title “Viva Verdi”?
Kazaras: “Viva Verdi!” is a rallying cry both in music and in politics. As 1861 approached, the date of Italian Unification under King Victor Emmanuel, legend has it that audience members began to cry, “Viva Verdi” at performances of Verdi operas, but their acclaim contained a coded message. They were not just applauding Italy’s greatest composer, but were also crying, “Viva Vittorio Emmanuele, Re d’Italia!” or “Long live Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy!” The abbreviation of this was, of course “Viva V.E.R.D.I.”!

Test Your VerdI-Q!

Upcoming Opera Camps for 2-5 Graders!

Spring break is coming up, and Seattle Opera's Education Department is once again offering Opera Camps for budding performers. An extended version of our popular in-school program, participants in our Opera Camps work with our talented Teaching Artists to create an original mini-opera, with singing, arts & crafts, acting, and dancing. After a week of creative fun, the program culminates Friday, at noon, with a performance of the new creation. These camps, which cost $150 per student, are the perfect introduction to opera and just the place for any aspiring young artist in your family. No experience necessary; singing, stage movement, and theatrical fun guaranteed.

CLICK HERE to download the registration form, for either the April 8-12 or the April 15-19 session. Questions? Contact Barbara Lynne Jamison, Seattle Opera's Youth Programs Manager, at 206-676-5564 or Barbara.Jamison@SeattleOpera.org for more information or to be notified of other camp opportunities.

Photo of opera camp by Bill Mohn.

La Voix Humaine - One Woman's Voice

Returning favorite Nuccia Focile discusses the distinctiveness of Poulenc's heavenly music; how "the human voice" must carefully convey the monodrama's many emotions; and the importance of connecting with a sympathetic conductor in order to successfully navigate the musical and psychological tour-de-force. Includes clips of Ms. Focile's previous Seattle Opera appearances.



Learn more about La Voix Humaine on the Seattle Opera Website

“Viva Verdi!” Celebration with Young Artists

Seattle Opera’s stellar Young Artists will be celebrating the bicentennial of one of opera’s greatest composers next month. We hope you’ll join us for “Viva Verdi!,” a one-night only concert, April 6, 2013, at University of Washington’s Meany Hall, featuring selections, scenes, and acts from beloved Verdi operas. Our seven Young Artists this season, plus the Seattle Opera Chorus and the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program Orchestra conducted by Young Artists Music Director Brian Garman, will honor Verdi with a terrific program: the first act of La traviata, the Overture to La forza del destino (and Preziosilla’s “Rat-a-plan” aria with chorus), the Garden Scene from Don Carlo, “Va, pensiero” and Fenena’s aria from Nabucco, and the final act of Rigoletto. Tickets are on sale now at our website.

Seattle Opera's 2012/13 Young Artists
Alan Alabastro, photo

This season’s Young Artists are baritone Hunter Enoch, conductor Christopher Lade, soprano Sarah Larsen, tenor Theo Lebow, mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, soprano Dana Pundt, and bass-baritone Matthew Scollin. Last fall, they toured Washington State with a production of Verdi’s early comedy King for a Day (Un giorno di regno). The Seattle performance, at Benaroya Hall’s Nordstrom Recital Hall on November 17, sold out. Several Young Artists and Young Artist Alumni have also displayed their talents on Seattle Opera’s mainstage this season: Theo Lebow and Matthew Scollin made debuts in October as the First and Second Prisoners in Fidelio, while Dana Pundt and Sarah Larsen had the audience in stitches as Cinderella’s sisters Clorinda and Tisbe in La Cenerentola in January. In May, Larsen and Pundt return as 1st Tourière and Suor Genovieffa in Seattle Opera’s Suor Angelica, while Nansteel makes her debut as the Nursing Sister. Young Artist Alumni have also contributed mightily to the success of recent operas: Anya Matanovič was a terrific Marzelline in Fidelio, and in La Bohème, Andrew Garland sang Schaunard and Michael Todd Simpson returned as Marcello. Marcy Stonikas, who sang the title roles in Turandot and Fidelio this season and who stars in next season’s The Consul, just won a prestigious award from the George London Foundation for Singers.

The Lion of Busseto

Without Giuseppe Verdi, the art form of opera as we now know it is hard to imagine. Seattle Opera came into being following a magnificent performance of Verdi’s great opera Aida, at the 1962 World’s Fair (a performance which inaugurated the old Seattle Opera House). We’ve since presented Aida five times. Other Verdi operas which have been popular in Seattle over the last fifty years are Rigoletto (six productions), La traviata (six productions), Il trovatore (six productions), Otello and Falstaff (three productions each), and Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Don Carlo, and Macbeth (two productions each). Last season, we heard Verdi’s Attila for the first time, and this year explored Un giorno di regno; we hope someday to present more Verdi masterpieces for our public. To learn more about Verdi, look through our online Spotlight Guide from 2009/10.

Meet Our Singers: MICHAEL TODD SIMPSON, Marcello

Michael Todd Simpson is back for more Bohème! The baritone from North Carolina (photo as Marcello, left, by Elise Bakketun) made his Seattle Opera mainstage debut (as Nathanael in The Tales of Hoffmann) shortly after graduating from our Young Artists Program in 2005, and has returned since then for Marcello in 2007 and Escamillo in 2011. I spoke to him the other day about how his voice and technique have grown since he was a Young Artist, about how he became a Seattleite, and about the youngest member of the Simpson family to grace our stage...

Michael Todd Simpson sings Marcello in a moment from the La Bohéme Act Four duet

For starters, why do you think La Bohème has this incredible appeal? Why has this opera endured as strongly as it has?
I think it’s the music. The music itself tells the story in this incredible way, so much so that first-time operagoers come away going, “Oh, that was amazing, that was unlike anything else.” As for me, I’ve done 6 or 7 different productions of La Bohème, so I know it very well, but I still go to it when I want to relax and just enjoy listening. It’s music that’s easy on your ears, and it sticks in your head and you find you’re still singing it several days later.

From Seattle Opera's 2007 La Bohème, Gun-Brit Barkmin as Mimi and Michael Todd Simpson as Marcello
Rozarii Lynch, photo

You also sang Marcello at Seattle Opera in 2007 (although this time you’re in the opening cast). From your perspective, what’s different this time?
My voice has changed so much since then! It feels like a completely different role. After all, I was only just out of the Young Artists Program at the time, and I really was still growing. I’ve noticed this with Escamillo, too—each time I come back to it, I am different, my voice has changed. It’s easier, with more experience, to relax into the character better; you have more fun. Yes, I do read reviews—with this production, all the reviews have mentioned our camaraderie. When you have really good, seasoned people doing these roles, they can all relax and have fun with each other and still sing, still be true to the music.

Francesco Demuro (Rodolfo) and Michael Todd Simpson (Marcello) in La Bohème
Elise Bakketun, photo

Tell me more about how you feel your voice has changed.
Everybody is always talking about how Wagner singers have to wait a really long time until their voices are finished. I finally figured out, from personal experience, what that means—it means that your voice is one instrument, top to bottom. The listener doesn’t hear any shifts as you climb up the scale—everything has a consistent, open sound. You hear it with Francesco [Demuro, Todd's Rodolfo]—how does he hold that high C for 8 seconds? Holy cow. It’s a healthy sound, you can hear its longevity. People in Seattle have told me, these last few weeks, “Your voice has grown since you sang Carmen here two years ago.” Technically, when I sang Escamillo then, things were starting to settle, but I think I’ll be even more ready for that role in another couple of years. I don’t think I’ll ever say, “I have mastered the technique of the vocal instrument!” but I’m better at playing with it. You have to be flexible—from night to night you may find you have more energy or less, or the sound is not coming out as you expect. When you’re in your 20s, things are in so much flux that you can’t play. Singers are constantly traveling, switching time zones, gaining and losing weight. And anything that can change, with your body, can wreak havoc with your voice.

Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo in Carmen
Elise Bakketun, photo

Michael Todd Simpson sings Escamillo's "Toreador Song" from Carmen

This Bohème reunites you with Andrew Garland [Schaunard], who was in the YAP with you back in 04/05. Have your paths crossed much since then?
No, but we knew each other even before we were both in the program here! In 2002 we both sang in Dead Man Walking in Cincinnati, when John Packard was doing it. And we did Figaro in school, at Cincinnati Conservatory College of Music—Andy was the Count and I was Figaro, though in another cast. Since YAP I feel like we’ve seen each other here and there, at competitions and stuff like that, but I think this is the first time we’ve actually worked together.

How did you become a Seattleite?
When I was a Young Artist in Seattle I thought, “I want to live in Seattle but have a foothold in New York.” And after I graduated from the program, I was a nomad for a while, then moved to New York, where I got married. It worked out very nicely—my wife was accepted in grad school in Seattle, and we’ve lived here ever since! The market was good, and at the time I was doing lots of Carmens, we were able to put together a down payment on a house. It was actually Jeffrey Jordan—now Seattle Opera’s Music Assistant, but he also sells real estate for Coldwell Banker Bain—who found us a great place up in Greenwood.

And the other member of your family, Stella...
Little Miss Stella! Our mini schnauzer. Yes, we got her when we moved out here. She was 8 weeks old, weighed only a pound. I sometimes feel sorry for dogs in New York, whose owners are never home, and they live in tiny little spaces. Stella has been to New York, but she didn’t like it. She’s a Seattle girl through-and-through.

How did she come to star in La Bohème?
She won the audition by being cute, small, and hypo-allergenic. She has hair, not fur, so she doesn’t make people sneeze. Unfortunately her coat is black, so some people miss her. They’ve given her a big bow, which makes her a little easier to see, but she’s only onstage for a moment. I wish my dog had more time onstage! I suggested she should growl and bark at Marcello.

Stella Simpson (right, carried by Norah Amsellem as Musetta) appears in a photo of the happy Bohemians taken at Café Momus, which then features in the nostalgia of Act Four
Rob Reynolds, photo

Do you have a favorite moment in La Bohème?
Several, most of which revolve around high notes. I love in the first sing when I sing, “Aspetta: sacrificiam la sedia!” and go to break up the chair for firewood. And of course I love the Act 2 duet. It’s the number one challenge for Marcello, in terms of singing. To sing it beautifully, and the way I think Puccini would want. Sadly, Marcello is a bit of a thankless role—he’s the ultimate “responder.” He responds to everyone, and he has snippets of lyricism here and there, but he doesn’t sing his own aria.

No, he’s like Suzuki that way, in Madama Butterfly. Sarah Larsen was our Suzuki last season, and you’ll be sharing the stage with her next year for our Seattle Opera premiere, Menotti’s The Consul. Have you sung this role before?
Never sung it before—brand-new to me. I’m excited about it, I think it’s great.

Do you sing much contemporary work in English?
Mostly I’ve done Britten—I covered Nathan Gunn at the Met last spring, in Billy Budd, which was amazing. And I’m doing Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Met next fall, with an exciting young cast. Only six performances, but it should be a blast. I’ve done several recitals of contemporary songs in English. And at Glimmerglass we did The Mines of Sulphur, by Richard Rodney Bennett...you can get the recording of it.