2011 Season
Rigoletto
Giuseppe Verdi
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The 91st Summer Festival season opener Rigoletto, presented in the same stunning production which enjoyed critical acclaim in 2005, once again promises to move audiences with its gorgeous music and vocal star power. Baritone Stephen Powell, praised by the Wall Street Journal for his “rich, lyric baritone, commanding presence, and thoughtful musicianship,” stars in the title role, and soprano Sarah Coburn, who dazzled in the title role of the company’s 2008 production of Lucia di Lammermoor, appears as Gilda. Her portrayal of Gilda was praised by the Portland Oregonian as “true of tone, pure of sound; she found the subtleties in Verdi’s music with lovely phrasing and touching sincerity.” The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is led by Jean-Marie Zeitouni, one of Canada’s brightest conductors.
A Flowering Tree
John Adams
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Based on an Indian folk tale, John Adams’s latest opera is “enchanting, disturbing, and musically intense” and “alive with innocence and magic” (New York Times). Adams’s A Flowering Tree recounts the touching story of a young woman who magically morphs into a tree, undergoing myriad transformations, to help her poor family and eventually find true love. Cincinnati Opera is proud to present the trio of artists who originated the roles at the work’s 2006 premiere in Vienna. Hailed by The New York Times as a “vocally luminous young soprano,” Jessica Rivera returns to Cincinnati Opera as Kumudha following her success as Nuria in the company’s 2009 production of Ainadamar. Tenor Russell Thomas, who wowed the audience with his performances at Cincinnati Opera’s 90th Anniversary Gala Concert, brings his “strong, clarion-voiced tenor” (The New York Times) to the role of the Prince. Bass-baritone Eric Owens, commended by The New York Times for his “burnished and powerful voice,” reprises the role of the Narrator. Joana Carneiro of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra conducts.
Eugene Onegin
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Returning after a 27-year-absence from the Music Hall stage is Tchaikovsky’s wistful 1879 masterpiece Eugene Onegin. Superstar baritone Nathan Gunn, praised by the New York Times for his “musical intelligence, crisp rhythmic delivery…impressive acting skills and daring physicality,” makes both his company and role debut as the poet Onegin. Soprano Tatiana Monogarova portrays his beloved Tatyana, and tenor William Burden, who last impressed Cincinnati audiences as Don José in the company’s wildly successful 2009 production of Carmen, is Lensky. Vasily Petrenko, formerly the resident conductor at Russia’s St. Petersburg Opera and Ballet Theatre, conducts.
The Magic Flute
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Cincinnati Opera’s 2011 Summer Festival closes with Mozart’s majestic and playful 1791 opera The Magic Flute. Nicole Cabell, who has been called “one of the most exciting lyric sopranos to grace the world’s concert halls” (Chicago Magazine), returns to Cincinnati Opera as the beautiful princess Pamina, following her critically-acclaimed portrayal of the Countess in the 2009 production of The Marriage of Figaro. Conductor Bernard Labadie wields the baton following his “commendable” (The New York Times) presentation of the work at the Metropolitan Opera last season.
