Singing the pivotal role of Hans Sachs is internationally renowned bass-baritone
James Johnson. Johnson has sung the role of Sachs with two of the world's leading opera companies: the Metropolitan Opera, under conductor James Levine (1998), and most recently, in February 2010 for Berlin's Deutsche Oper under the baton of San Francisco Opera Music Director Donald Runnicles. A specialist in Wagnerian repertoire, Johnson has also sung leading roles in many of the composer's works, including the Wanderer/Wotan in
Der Ring des Nibelungen. (Johnson replaces previously announced artist James Morris.)
Appearing as Eva is rising soprano Twyla Robinson. Robinson makes both her Cincinnati Opera and role debuts after having performed with a roster of leading orchestras and opera companies, including the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, London Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Of a recent performance of Brahms's Requiem, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called her "a major catch. With perfect diction, crisply articulated consonants, and a warm, wide vibrato, she purred and comforted ... Bliss." (Robinson replaces previously announced artist Hei-Kyung Hong.)
American tenor John Horton Murray will make his Cincinnati Opera debut as Walther von Stolzing, a role he has sung at the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. He will bring his “heroic figure with a gleaming ring at the top of his vocal register,” (Opera Now) to the romantic role of the wandering knight Walther, having performed a wide range of Wagnerian roles around the world.(Murray replaces previously announced Canadian tenor Richard Margison)
German baritone Hans-Joachim Ketelsen makes his company debut as Sixtus Beckmesser, a role which he has sung at a number of esteemed opera houses, with repeated appearances at the Metropolitan Opera as well as at Hamburg State Opera and Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden in Germany. The New York Times hailed his “vocally robust” performance for displaying “comic flair and physical nimbleness in his delightful portrayal of the scheming town clerk Beckmesser.” (Ketelsen replaces previously annoucned Sir Thomas Allen)
Reprising their roles from the Metropolitan Opera's most recent production of Die Meistersinger are bass-baritone John Del Carlo (Fritz Kothner) and mezzo-soprano Maria Zifchak (Magdalena). Making his Cincinnati Opera debut this season, Del Carlo debuted in this same role with the Metropolitan Opera in 1991, repeating it in 2007 under the baton of Maestro James Levine, where he "stood out among the masters" (Opera News). Zifchak brings her "strikingly attractive" (The New York Sun) mezzo-soprano to her role.
Tenor Norbert Ernst offers "clarion tones and romantic passion" (Opera Today) in the role of David, which he has sung previously to critical acclaim. Also featured is bass-baritone Johann Tilli, who makes his Cincinnati Opera debut in the role of Veit Pogner.
Cincinnati Opera presents Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in a charming, period production designed by Günther Schneider-Siemssen from the Deutsche Oper am Rhein of Düsseldorf, Germany, a forerunner of the Met's successful recent production from the same design team. John Keenan, a frequent conductor of Wagner's works who led the most recent presentation of Die Meistersinger at the Met, conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. (Keenan replaces previously announced conductor James Levine.) Chris Alexander, a prolific theatre and opera director in both the U.S. and Europe, will direct, with lighting by resident lighting designer Thomas C. Hase.
Twyla Robinson
James Johnson
John Horton Murray
