Il Trovatore (The Troubador)
by Giuseppe Verdi
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Saturday, January 12, 2:00pm
San Juan Benefit Players Corner of Guard St. & Tucker Rd Friday Harbor, Washington Free Admission |
Saturday, January 19, 7:00pm
Gethsemane Lutheran Church 911 Stewart Street Seattle, Washington Suggested donation: $15 / $10 student |
Featuring:
| Robert W. Corl | ...... Manrico | Ralph Wells | ...... Count di Luna |
| Sharon Karsner | ...... Azucena | Regina Thomas | ...... Duchess Leonora |
| David Barela | ...... Ferrando | Brandon Higa | ...... Ruiz |
| Corinne Stevens | ...... Inez |
The Story
Twenty-five years before the actual story begins, the father of Count di Luna had had a gypsy woman burned at the stake as a witch; the gypsy’s daughter, Azucena, in reprisal, kidnapped one of the two sons of the old count and is believed to have killed him. The other son, the younger Count di Luna, is now commander of the Spanish army. He has never lost hope that his long-lost brother may still be living. The Count and Manrico of Biscay are enemies in a civil war and rivals for the love of the Duchess Leonora.
Ultimately, Manrico & Azucena are both imprisoned by the Count. Leonora wins their freedom by offering herself to the Count in exchange. When the Count accepts, Leonora takes a deadly poison and goes to tell Manrico that he is free. Before Manrico can leave, di Luna arrives and sees that Leonora is dying, he orders Manrico beheaded. When Manrico is dead, Azucena declares that her mother has been avenged and tells di Luna that he has just killed his own brother.
The Libretto
About Giuseppe Verdi
"Verdi was the last great hero of Italian opera, and with him ends the lineage that started with Monteverdi" - Paul Henry Lang
Verdi was born in Le Roncole, Italy on October 10, 1813, the son of a tavern-keeper. He began studying piano at the age of three and shortly thereafter began learning to compose. His long and prolific career as an opera composer spanned nearly 60 years.
His early operas which include Nabucco and Ernani are known and loved for their numbers full of melodic variety and beauty. He work was heavily influenced by Donizetti and Bellini. His middle period operas which include Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata include his now famous genius for Italian lyricism but began to reveal a brilliant ability to create great drama. His late period operas including Otello and Falstaff show Verdi to be the supreme dramatist. The music of these operas, though still beautifully lyric and melodic was more of a servant to the drama.
Verdi always felt that great opera had to be great theater as well as great music. As he grew more and more successful, he was able to pick and choose better and better stories to work with. He constantly worked with his librettists over the characterizations, the specific dramatic details, and the authenticity of the dialogues.
In addition to his brilliant career as an opera composer, Verdi was active in Italian politics and took great joy in farming the land he acquired two miles from Busseto where he grew up.
Shortly after a suffering a stroke Verdi died in Milan, Italy - January 27, 1901. His passing was mourned throughout Italy with many ceremonies and tributes performed in his honor. To this day, many of Verdi’s operas hold a place in the standard repertoire of opera companies throughout the world.
For more information about Verdi and his music:
Wikipedia: contains good general information about the composer, his music and his political activity. Has links to articles about all his operasOpera Glass (Stanford’s Opera Database): contains musical highlight information with links to the libretto and a discography of recordings.
Cast and Characters
David Barela, Bass ~ Ferrando, Count di Luna's captain of the guard
Throughout his career, multi-talented David Barela has studied and performed as pianist, organist, singer, conductor and dancer. As a pianist, David frequently performs solo recitals as well as having recorded and released three solo CD’s under his own music label, DBG records. A recipient of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, he performed vocal solos with many organizations including Arizona Opera, New Mexico Opera, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. David studied ballet and was a professional dancer with Southwest Ballet Company, New Mexico Opera and Four Corners Opera. David is originally from Silver City, New Mexico and is currently Music Director and Organist at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle. He also maintains a large studio of voice, piano and organ students.Robert W. Corl, Tenor ~ Manrico of Biscay, a chieftan under the Prince of Biscay and reputed son of Azucena
Mr. Corl holds a BA in Music Education and an MA in Opera Performance from Temple University in Philadelphia. He appeared as Papageno in Opera Pacifica’s debut performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute, which featured Metropolitan Opera Star Cyndia Seiden as the Queen of the Night. A versatile and veteran opera performer, he sang the role of Don José in Bizet's Carmen in Opera Pacifica’s 2003 season, and directed the 2004 production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
Robert Corl's opera roles include Alfredo, La Traviata (Verdi), Eisentein, Die Fledermaus (Strauss), Rodolfo, La Boheme (Puccini), Pinkerton, Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Calaph, Turandot (Puccini), Turridu, Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), Canio/Pagliaccio, Pagliacci, (Leoncavallo), Don José, Carmen (Bizet), Des Grieux, Manon (Massenet), Werther, Werther (Massenet), and Papageno, Magic Flute (Mozart).
Robert is currently coaching tenor repertoire with Nico Castel in New York City. Mr. Castel is world famous for his books on opera libretti and diction (www.castelopera.com/nico.htm). With over 30 years at the Met and more than 200 character tenor roles to his credit, Mr. Castel is "...the undisputed authority on multi-lingual diction both here in the United States and internationally...", according to long-time friend and fellow performer, Placido Domingo.
Robert has recorded his first CD, An American Tenor in China, with friend and conductor Claudia Simpson-Jones and the 80-piece China Opera and Dance Symphony of Beijing. The album features a dozen world famous tenor arias, and is published by Figaro, Records, Inc.
Brandon Higa, Tenor ~ Ruiz / Manrico (cover), a soldier in Manrico's service
Tenor Brandon K. Higa has been singing in the Pacific Northwest since 2001. He has performed most recently with NOISE as Count Almaviva in the 2007 tour of Rossini's The Barber of Seville having previously performed as Tamino in Mozart's The Magic Flute. His other roles include Tamino and Monostatos from Die Zauberflote, Vasek in Smetana's The Bartered Bride, Paolino in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto, Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas as well as The Beggar in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Brandon grew up in Honolulu, Hawai'i but has called Seattle home since 2001.
Ralph Wells, Baritone ~ Count di Luna, a nobleman of Aragon
Baritone Ralph Wells appeared with the Los Angeles Opera as Sonora in La Fanciulla del West with Placido Domingo in 2002, and he returned the following season for Die Frau ohne Schatten under Kent Nagano. 2002 also saw his Lincoln Center debut in Gordon Getty's Joan and the Bells, and he was a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Pasadena Pops on the anniversary of September 11th. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer called Wells "expressive and impassioned, on a grand scale with big projection, big tone and big personality." He has over fifty major roles, including Escamillo, Eisenstein, Oberto, Ford, Germont, Francesco (in I Masnadieri), Don Carlo (in Ernani), Telramund, Figaro (in The Barber of Seville), Taddeo, Sharpless, Alfio, Tonio, Silvio, Mercutio, Valentin, Don Giovanni, Guglielmo, Salieri, Danilo, Schaunard, and Getty’s Falstaff in Plump Jack. His oratorios include Elijah, Carmina Burana, Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms, the Fauré Requiem, Duruflé Requiem, Bach's Magnificat, Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ, Handel's Messiah and Belshazzar, Bloch’s Sacred Service, Mozart's Vespers in C, Puccini's Messa di Gloria, the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio, and Haydn's Mass in Time of War. His other orchestral credits include Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije and Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony. He has sung with Seattle Opera, Tulsa Opera, Portland Opera, Nevada Opera Theater, Oakland Opera, Townsend Opera, San Francisco Opera's Merola Program and Western Opera Theater, Pocket Opera, Boise Opera, Eugene Opera, Dartmouth Opera, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Bozeman Symphony, and Yakima Symphony. His New York recital debut was in 1997, at the Roosevelt home in a tribute to Lawrence Tibbett. His awards include the Petri Scholarship for European Study and winning the San Francisco Opera Auditions. He has toured with Community Concerts and can be heard on his CD, The Ash Grove and other Concert Songs. He is on the faculty of Oregon State University.
Sharon Karsner, Mezzo-Soprano ~ Azucena, a Biscayan gypsy woman
Sharon Karsner was last heard with Willamette Concert Opera singing the role of Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. Her operatic roles include Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, La Voix in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Sally in A Hand of Bridgei>, Madame Flora in The Medium, Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana, Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel, Marie in The Most Happy Fella and Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief. Her oratorios include Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She has worked with Clatsop Performing Arts Center, Bellevue Opera, Puget Sound Opera, Opera Pacifica, Rainier Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, Olympia Chamber Orchestra, Thalia Symphony, Shoreline Community Symphony and the Bellevue LDS Church. She is an active recitalist, and her awards include First Place in the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside and third place for the Seattle Civic Opera Association. She resides in Lake Stevens, Washington.
Corinne Stevens, Soprano ~ Inez, confidante of Duchess Leonora
Corinne Stevens is a young full-lyric soprano currently performing in the Pacific Northwest. She recently completed a run of H.M.S. Pinafore with Skagit Opera as the understudy to Buttercup and will be appearing in the spring as Ines in Il Trovatore with Puget Sound Concert Opera as well as in the chorus of La Boheme with Skagit Opera. She also appeared as the soprano soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria with the San Juan Singers and the Victoria Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Yariv Aloni in Christmas 2007. Before coming to Washington, she studied voice in Vienna, Austria with Carol Blaickner-Mayo after completing her music degree at Skidmore College in NY.
Regina Thomas ~ Duchess Leonora
Currently based in Seattle, WA, Regina Thomas, soprano, is making a notable impression within the Pacific Northwest and neighbouring States ... for her recent portrayal of Alice Ford Falstaff for Repertory Opera Company, Los Angeles she is described as "a buoyant soprano with solid technique ". A high honours recipient in both the Opera and Art Song divisions at the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside, Bellevue, WA and a semi-finalist at Il Concorso Internationale di Canto Lirico in Siena, Italy, Regina now continues her studies with Jane Eaglen.
Additional recent operatic performances include Bertrade, Griselidis for Willamette Concert Opera; Nedda, I Pagliacci for Opera Pacifica, WA; Prince Orlovsky Die Fledermaus and Mother, Hansel and Gretel for Kitsap Opera, WA; selected scenes as Lady MacBeth, Manon Lescaut and Floria Tosca for Seattle Opera Guild, WA; Countess Almaviva, Le Nozze di Figaro, First Lady and subsequently Pamina, Die Zauberflote for Shaker Mountain Opera, PA and for Capitol Opera, Sacramento; Medora, Il Corsaro for Willamette Concert Opera, OR; La Prima Cercatrice, Suor Angelica for Aspen Opera Theater Center, CO; and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors.
In concert Regina has performed Brahms’ Requiem and Bach’s Magnificat under the musical direction of Karen P. Thomas in Seattle WA; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra; and she regularly performs operatic selections at selected city restaurant venues. She has performed in recital at locations throughout the Puget Sound area including the Seattle Art Museum, the Frye Art Museum and the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
Upcoming performances include Seocnd Lady, The Magic Flute for Bellevue Opera and Leonora, Il Trovatore for Puget Sound Concert Opera. For more information about Regina and her upcoming performances, see her website at www.reginathomas.org.
Jay Rozendaal, Coach and Accompanist
Jay Rozendaal has served as pianist and assistant conductor for numerous productions at Seattle Opera since 1991, and on the staffs of San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. He is a member of the voice faculty of Western Washington University, and has held positions in the opera departments of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Akron. In the Seattle area he has performed often as pianist in chamber, recital and concert engagements including the San Juan Chamber Music Festival, the Cascade Symphony, and the Bellevue Philharmonic.
Jay holds the Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, and the Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Vitya Vronsky Babin and Paul Schenly. He participated in the inaugural Art Song Festivals in Cleveland, studying with artists such as Elly Ameling, Hakan Hagegard, Dalton Baldwin, Warren Jones, Elisabeth Soderstrom, and Maureen Forrester. He was an apprentice coach in the Houston Grand Opera Studio and in the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera. He also holds two degrees in theology from the General Theological Seminary, and is an Episcopal priest.