Houston Grand Opera Launches New RING Cycle and More

The critical response to Houston's American premiere production of The Passenger was overwhelming. Classical Voice America proclaimed the opera "a masterpiece," and the Chicago Tribune found it an "engrossing, thought-provoking experience" that "deserves [a place] in the regular repertory." Houston's production impressed the Houston Chronicle as one "that unites commanding performances and vivid, fast-paced staging," while the Wall Street Journalcommended the way "conductor Patrick Summers shaped the evening with enormous care." As for the performers, "top to bottom, the cast is excellent," asserted the Dallas Morning News. Melody Moore "gave Marta's anguish lyricism and strength" (Wall Street Journal), "Michelle Breedt's instrument seemed ideally suited to the role of Liese" (Classical Voice America), and "Kelly Kaduce was mesmerizing" as Katya (Wall Street Journal). The Toronto Star concluded:

It is an act of remembrance, a call to conscience, a letter to the future from those who have experienced a terrible past. Houston Grand Opera can take pride in its presentation.

Those who missed The Passenger will have another chance to see Houston's production this summer, when it tours to New York's Park Avenue Armory for three performances at the Lincoln Center Festival (July 10-13).

HGO's recent Rigoletto revival was also enthusiastically received. Calling it "a Houston Grand Opera high note," Houston Culture Map applauded the company's"austere but effective production" and the "sublime moments" it yielded. The Houston Chronicle praised Ryan McKinny, whose "deep, resonant tones and bursts of power made Rigoletto's inner darkness hit home without theatrical gimmicks," and considered Stephen Costello's Duke "the sensation of the night"; likewise, Theater Jones named Costello "one of the best lyric tenors in the business." Uliana Alexyuk, a current member of the HGO Studio who jumped into the role of Gilda at the last minute, impressed with her "vocally amazing" (Theater Jones) performance.

As for HGO's Music Director, Theater Jones observed:

Patrick Summers leads his superb orchestra in a musically taut and Verdi-friendly performance. He is always on top of the text and constantly inspiring the participants to surpass themselves. He gives the singers lots of room for personal interpretative gestures and lets high notes take on a life of their own. This is possible because his orchestra is always right with him. Intonation is also exemplary. This is exactly what you want in an opera conductor.

Upcoming productions: Das Rheingold, A Coffin in Egypt, and more

Marking an important company milestone, in April HGO launches its first presentation of Wagner's glorious Ring cycle, in a "visually dazzling" (Los Angeles Times) production from La Fura dels Baus, the genre-defying Catalan theater company behind Barcelona's 1992 Olympic opening ceremony. Previously staged only in Europe, director Carlus Padrissa's innovative conception employs acrobats in tableaux of human scenery and cutting-edge visual imagery to create "a veritable symphony in pictures" (Opera News). Highlights from the production, which was released on DVD by C Major Entertainment and won the 2010 ECHO Klassik Award for DVD of the year, can be seen here.

HGO will present one installment from the cycle each year, starting on April 11 with Das Rheingold. Leading the outstanding cast is Scottish bass-baritone and "talent to watch" (Chicago Tribune) Iain Paterson, making his house and role debuts as Wotan. Singing opposite him as Fricka is American mezzo Jamie Barton, an HGO Studio alumna and winner of the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, one of opera's most influential awards. Czech tenor Stefan Margita reprises the role of Loge with which he "stole the show" (Opera Tattler) at San Francisco Opera. Patrick Summers, who made his Wagner debut at HGO with "a soulful reading [of Lohengrin] that unleash[ed] the score's power and encompass[ed] its breadth" (Houston Chronicle), will conduct.

As the first in a series of new HGO commissions, the company presents Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, composed to a libretto by Leonard Foglia, who will direct the stage premiere. A moving melodrama, the opera stars legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, one of opera's most beloved figures. "This new opera has deep Texas roots," Patrick Summers explains. "It is based on a play of the same name by the renowned Texas writer Horton Foote. Ricky Ian Gordon is a very theatrically driven composer with a style that is perfectly suited to opera." Houston Grand Opera's legacy of commissioning and premiering new works goes back more than forty years and includes commissions from John Adams, Philip Glass, Daniel Catán, André Previn, Mark Adamo, and Jake Heggie. Opening on March 14, A Coffin in Egypt marks HGO's fifty-third world premiere since 1973.

On April 25, HGO breathes fresh life into Bizet's perennially popular Carmen with the help of American director/choreographer Rob Ashford, winner of Tony, Emmy, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. In her role debut as Bizet's Gypsy, the new production presents Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican soprano, Ana María Martínez, the inaugural recipient of HGO's Lynn Wyatt Great Artist Award, opposite Richard Tucker Award-winner Brandon Jovanovich's Don José. Their love triangle is completed by the Escamillo of bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, fresh from his HGO Rigoletto success. Rory Macdonald returns to the HGO podium, having last conducted The Rape of Lucretia in 2012.

The upcoming production of Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music demonstrates HGO's ongoing commitment to musical theater, America's original contribution to the operatic genre. On March 7, the company will restage the production with costumes by Isaac Mizrahi; in the initial staging it was, according to the Wall Street Journal, "no surprise that Mr. Mizrahi's costumes were enchanting." Headlining the cast are Elizabeth Futral, Chad Shelton, and Joyce Castle, who was chosen by the composer himself to record "Send in the Clowns" for the Book-of-the-Month collection Sondheim. Musical direction is by HGO's own associate music director, Eric Melear, a Sir Georg Solti Foundation Award winner and former HGO Studio artist.

More information about these upcoming Houston Grand Opera productions is available at the company's web site: www.HGO.org