Larry Brownlee being awesome

5 things happening in the opera world...

Larry Brownlee is doing awesome things
If you're an opera lover, (or even if you're not), you probably know that the great bel canto tenor Lawrence Brownlee is one-of-a-kind. He sang his "highflying arias with an ease, purity and polish that could hardly be bettered" as the lovestruck Tonio in our 2013 Daughter of the Regiment, for example. (Off the stage, he's also a wonderful friend, husband and father)

Next up for Mr. Brownlee -- he'll be performing in Rossini’s La donna del Lago at The Met with Grammy Award Winner Joyce DiDonato. In addition to being two of the world's finest singers, these two are also totally buddies. He's referred to her as his "sister of the opera business," which we think is pretty darn cute. 

Luckily, Seattleites don't have to buy a plane ticket to hear these two opera buddies sing next. Tune in to KING FM on 12/19 to listen to a broadcast of the matinee performance.

But wait -- there's more! In addition to starring at The Met, Brownlee recently gave a concert in Harlem in the crypt of the Church of the Intercession. With pianist Damien Sneed, Brownlee performed some of the traditional spirituals (in Sneed’s arrangements) released on his 2013 album. The crypt performance was one of a new series known as The Crypt Sessions. (A little spooky, yet very cool!).

An important opera leader is stepping down
Like Larry Brownlee, The Royal Opera's director Kasper Bech Holten is also a devoted dad. This is why he's stepping down from his position in 2017. Holten said that when he joined the Royal Opera he and his partner had no children. “Now we do, and after much soul searching we have decided that we want to be closer to our families and inevitably that means we make Copenhagen our home, where the children will grow up and go to school.”

Many of you in the music and theater world know how difficult it is to balance your art with family.

Kasper Bech Holton has been Director of the ROH since 2011. 

A treasured diva stars in Rigoletto
The opera-goers of Warsaw, Poland are in for a treat: Rigoletto opens tonight at Teatr Wielki, starring the great Aleksandra Kurzak. When Kurzak starred in our Lucia di Lammermoor in 2010, we asked her:

People in our audiences and on our website have been comparing Callas and Sutherland and Sills, among other Lucias. Do you have strong feelings about any of those performances? Did any of them influence yours?

The singer replied:

"I've heard all of them, but I don't like to compare myself with anybody. I always like to find my own character, and it was like that this time, as well."

Clearly, this approach paid off -- as her performance is still legend among Seattle Opera staff, Board members, audience members and critics. The Seattle Times for one wrote, "...But it was Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, making her company and role debut as Lucia, that set the theater alight both vocally and dramatically. She made me believe she really was Lucia."

Polish opera singer Aleksandra Kurzak. 

Here’s Kurzak singing Lucia’s mad scene in Seattle. (Do you have a favorite opera mad scene? You should weigh in here).



Also, in the Rigoletto production, Kurzak will be singing under the baton of Carlo Montanaro, music director at the Polish National Opera. Montanaro conducted a fantastic Nabucco for us last summer and returns in February for Mary Stuart.

We wish a Amahl a Merry Christmas!
It’s that time of year, isn’t it? Just swing by McCaw Hall, where PNB’s new production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker is pleasing Seattle’s arts lovers.

Snow scene from PNB's new Nutcracker. 

In the opera world, we don't have a Nutcracker. However, we do have Amahl and the Night Visitors--a one-act opera that's no doubt being performed on many a stage across America this month.

The story is: One night in Judea, a disabled shepherd boy-turned-beggar and his mother are visited by three strangers. They are the Three Kings, and they are on their way to Bethlehem to visit the Christ Child, who has just been born.

Amahl and the Night Visitors. 

Amahl was composed by Gian Carlo Menotti (remember The Consul?) with an original English libretto written with children in mind.  It was the first opera specifically composed for television in America.

Mary Elizabeth Williams sings Abigaille’s aria, posted by her agency Do you and your family have a favorite holiday performance tradition? 

Praise for Nabucco

Mary Elizabeth Williams as Abigaille in Seattle Opera's Nabucco. Philip Newton photo

THE DIVA:

"Mary Elizabeth Williams emerged as the star of the evening, delivering a theatrically vivid and thrillingly sung performance of the power-hungry, jilted Abigaille. With her untiring and excitingly huge voice, Williams showed remarkably even strength in the registral extremes on which the part notoriously relies. Her dynamic control was similarly admirable. Phrasing with imagination throughout, in her solo in Part Two she hinted at a dimension of inner turmoil, mitigating Abigaille's imperious demeanour with moments that suggested self-doubt." - Bachtrack 

Gordon Hawkins as Nabucco. Philip Newton photo

PRODUCTION AS A WHOLE: 

"But few people attend opera for the plot; it’s the music and the musicians that make the difference. Here is where Seattle Opera’s “Nabucco” shines, with Carlos Montanaro presiding over an orchestra and cast that are almost uniformly excellent...Since 'Nabucco' apparently comes around only slightly more often than Halley’s comet, Seattle-area opera lovers should seize this chance to check out some early Verdi — and some remarkable voices." - The Seattle Times 

THE TITLE CHARACTER: 

"Hawkins gave a marvelous performance as Nabucco, a boisterous man initially all puffed up with his victories until he addled by a force beyond his comprehension. To heighten the sense of someone brought to his knees, Hawkins lowered his voice to a shudder and convincingly found the emotion of a man who was on the brink of destruction." - Northwest Reverb 

HAWKINS, BARTON & THOMAS: 

".... (Hawkins) gave a memorable performance, particularly as a weakened fuzzy-minded old man. Young mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Fenena, new here, has a truly beautiful voice with depth and nuance. She will surely be back, while tenor Russell Thomas, another Young Artist graduate, singing Ismaele, is another it will be a pleasure to hear again. In short, every voice was a joy to hear." 

- The SunBreak

Christian Van Horn as Zaccaria with the Seattle Opera Chorus. Philip Newton photo

VAN HORN AS ZACCARIA:
"As the Jews’ High Priest, Christian Van Horn lived up to his reputation as a noteworthy young bass. He had a reassuringly imposing resonance, edged with warmth that made us want to follow his Zaccaria anywhere." 

- The Queen Anne News

"IF YOU LIKE YOUR OPERA CRAZY & BIBLICAL, YOU'LL LOVE NABUCCO":

"The (Nabucco) plot fits together like a blooper reel. Over the course of the four head-spinningly fast 'parts' (such weirdly shaped chunks of drama they’re not even referred to as “acts”) the following events occur:

• Jerusalem is sacked.
• The Temple of Solomon is trashed
• The throne is usurped
• A pair of princesses fall for the same guy (who happens to be the enemy).
• One princess finds out she’s actually a slave.
• Two people are killed—but not really because it’s just a rumor so they come back to life.
• Somebody offs herself with poison.
• An idol crumbles literally.
• The terrarium-like Hanging Gardens of Babylondescend to earth.

• Guys march around with antler-headed Gandalf staffs and debate whose god is better than whose and somebody badmouths god and—BOOM!—he’s struck by lightning, which doesn’t kill him but turns him for a while into a madman." 

- The Stranger 

Weston Hurt, Nabucco and Jamie Barton, Fenena. Elise Bakketun photo

INNOVATIVE, NEW PRODUCTION:

"I enthusiastically recommend this production of “Nabucco” for its brilliant staging and musicality. Seattle Opera succeeds in giving this early and rarely performed Verdi piece the stylistic edge it needs to draw a wide audience and infuse a sense of freshness into this classic Italian opera, while maintaining its political grit and the religious, metaphysical themes present throughout." -  The UW Daily

MAESTRO & KEY ORCHESTRA: 

"Conductor Carlo Montanaro paced the orchestra expertly and brought out textures that worked well with the singers. Superb playing by principal cellist Eric Han and principal flutist Alexander Lipay added marvelously to the production, and the offstage banda (chamber ensemble) also contributed splendidly." - Northwest Reverb 

Raffaella Angeletti as Abigaille. Elise Bakketun photo

ANGELETTI & HURT: 
"Abigaille­ is a hugely demanding role vocally and emotionally, and Raffaella Angeletti sang a gorgeous Abigaille on Sunday, fire and rage in her soaring high notes, determination and fury in her chesty, low passages. Weston Hurt delivered an authoritative, thundering Nabucco, and the chorus sounded phenomenal, luscious and full of longing, on "Va' pensiero" (The chorus of the Hebrew slaves), the opera's most famous melody." - City Arts 

Nabucco plays now through Saturday, August 22 at McCaw Hall. For tickets and information, go to seattleopera.org/nabucco and join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with #SONabucco. 

Meet Our Artists: CARLO MONTANARO, Conductor

Maestro Carlo Montanaro made his Seattle Opera debut three years ago, making a very strong case for an opera not many people knew: Massenet’s Don Quichotte. Since then, he has returned to conduct Verdi’s fierce Attila and Puccini’s lyrical La bohème, and we’re excited that he’ll be conducting a very special concert in Seattle this August. These last few weeks, leading our first-ever production of The Consul, he has given us a real treat: according to The Huffington Post, “Carlo Montanaro conducted a performance that assumed Menotti's opera is a masterpiece and did everything humanly possible to make everyone in the house believe it as well.” During intermission the other night, he very kindly spared me a moment to share his thoughts about this remarkable piece.

Act Three Interlude

Have you conducted this opera before?
No, first time!

Have you conducted a lot of operas in English?
No, as a matter of fact, this is my first opera in English. I’ve studied some of them—Britten’s operas, for instance, but now I work on one for the first time.

Carlo Montanaro in rehearsal
Bill Mohn, photo

What is special about this music?
It’s really a music drama—recitar cantando, you know, like a Baroque piece. The composer loves the text; and why not, the libretto is amazing, the music is gorgeous.

Act Two Interlude

Is The Consul a Wagnerian gesamtkunstwerk?
No. You can find the perfume [sniffs] of many composers in this; Puccini, Strauss. But it is Menotti.

Yes, but this all-important balance of words and music, which so obsessed Wagner?
The problem is that Menotti wrote everything, libretto and music. He was also the director. He had the entire show in mind. I think it may be his masterpiece. He once wrote, “The only way you can really create a character is to live their life. You have to find yourself onstage with them in a certain way.” And it’s true.

Carlo Montanaro rehearsing in the orchestra pit (with Susan Gulkas, viola)
Elise Bakketun, photo

With an opera like The Consul, that’s such a fusion of words and music, does your job change?
No. My responsibility is still to bring out all the details of the music. There are so many details in the instrumentation, for instance, which describe the action and the story and the text. The association of English horn with the Mother, or the clarinet with the Police Agent. The trombones are used for destiny. Piano is so important, harp is so important. He uses the orchestra fantastically to color his special interests—Menotti was fascinated by the occult, by magic, by anything supernatural—the nightmare scene, for example.

Is Menotti well-respected in Italy?
Yes, particularly at Spoleto, where he founded this wonderful festival.

Do you think of him as an American or an Italian composer?
Oh, he’s an Italian composer. Yes, he traveled a lot, and spent most of his life outside Italy. But he has this Italy in his heart, in his blood.

Carlo Montanaro at a music rehearsal with Colin Ramsey (Mr. Kofner), Margaret Gawrysiak (Vera Boronel), Dana Pundt (Anna Gomez), Mark Haim (choreographer), and John Keene (piano)
Alan Alabastro, photo

What’s it like working with this young cast?
Very nice! Everyone is so full of energy, so positive. They all want to do their very best, which makes it such a pleasure to come to work.

Quintet Finale to Act One

In your profession, have you ever found yourself waiting in the Consul’s office hoping to get a visa so you can go and conduct somewhere?
It’s funny, when I came to the U.S. two months ago to begin rehearsals of The Consul, I was sleepy when I got off the plane and the first word I heard was the customs officer: “Next!” And I thought: “Oh, no! The opera can’t be starting already, I’ve barely arrived!” I’ve spoken with so many people who find this opera so familiar, so real.

Attila: Behind The Scenes: Music Rehearsal

When the lead singers arrived for rehearsal, we caught up with them to see their work with Maestro Carlo Montanaro. Hosted by the King of the Huns himself (Bass-Baritone John Relyea), see why the principal singers all have extremely difficult parts to master before opening night.



Learn more about Attila on the Seattle Opera Website