New York City Opera Announces New York Premiere of Prima Donna

By: Dec. 07, 2010
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Today, New York City Opera General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel announced that in Spring 2012 City Opera will present the New York premiere of Prima Donna, an opera composed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The opera, which has a French language libretto, was co-authored with Bernadette Colomine.

Prima Donna tells the story of Régine Saint Laurent, an aging opera singer attempting to confront her past to again regain her triumphant status as one of the world's greatest sopranos. Soprano Janis Kelly will reprise her performance in the title role of Régine Saint Laurent in City Opera's production directed by Tim Albery. Full casting and creative team will be announced at a later date.

"New York City Opera is delighted to be joining forces with distinguished artist Rufus Wainwright in presenting his first opera to New York audiences," said George Steel. "The production of Prima Donna is a clear example of New York City Opera's longstanding commitment to bring new repertoire to our main stage and open opera to the widest possible audience."

Prima Donna was commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Sadler's Wells, Luminato: Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity, and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's Time-Based Art Festival. The opera had its world premiere at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, England on July 10, 2009 during the Manchester International Festival. The North American premiere of Prima Donna took place in June 2010 at the Luminato Festival in Toronto, Canada. A concert of selections from Prima Donna took place with the Oregon Symphony in September 2010 at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's Time-Based Art Festival in Portland, Oregon. Additionally, it was just recently announced that Rufus Wainwright will perform an unprecedented five night residency at the Royal Opera House in London in June 2011, which will include a concert of Prima Donna with Janis Kelly.

The New York Times said of Prima Donna, "There are inspired touches and disarmingly beautiful passages in this mysterious, stylistically eclectic work in Rufus Wainwright's first opera..." The London Times declared, "...the Canadian singer-songwriter hasn't just written an opera. He's written a love song to opera, soaked in the perennial operatic themes of loss, betrayal, delusion and nostalgia, and saturated in the musical styles of opera's golden age."

Rufus Wainwright said: "For me, many an incredible evening of great theater and wonderful music have occurred after that brief walk past the famous circular fountain, situated smack in the middle of Lincoln Center. Now, on the opening night of Prima Donna, I will take that same walk not only as spectator but also as composer: What a thrill, and Thank you New York City Opera! Oh yes, and by the way, I must admit, I once had a strange premonition that something like this would happen. STRIDE LA VAMPA!"

About Rufus Wainwright
Affectionately referred to by Elton John as "the greatest songwriter on the planet" and praised by The New York Times for his "genuine originality," Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. He is the son of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and brother of Martha Wainwright but Rufus has achieved his success by carving out his own singular sound in the worlds of rock, opera, theater, dance and film.

Wainwright has received Juno Awards for Best Alternative Album in 1999 and 2002 for Rufus Wainwright and Poses, respectively, and nominations for his albums Want Two (2005) and Release the Stars (2008). He was nominated for Songwriter of the Year in 2008 for Release the Stars, which went Gold in Canada and the UK. He also composed the original music for choreographer Stephen Petronio's work BLOOM which has toured across the country. His record, Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall, was nominated for a Grammy and was released concurrently with a live DVD (Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!) capturing his celebrated Judy Garland tribute performance at the London Palladium in 2007. He has composed a musical adaptation of Shakespeare Sonnets with noted Director Robert Wilson at the Berliner Ensemble which premiered in April of 2009 and was just recently performed with the San Francisco Symphony in November 2010. It heads to Chicago in August 2011. Rufus' last live album was a recording from his Release The Stars tour titled, Milwaukee At Last!!!.

In addition to Rufus' musical pursuits, he has also made his mark onscreen. He has acted in Academy Award winning director Deny Arcand's film, L'Âge des Ténèbres (2007), the Merchant Ivory film Heights (2005), and the major blockbuster The Aviator (2004) directed by Martin Scorsese. At age 14 he composed and sang a song in the film, Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, which earned him a nomination for a 1989 Genie Award (Canada) for Best Original Song and a Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year in 1990.

Wainwright has released eight albums and three DVDs to date, and has appeared on numerous soundtracks and compilations, as well as collaborating with artists like Elton John, David Byrne, Rosanne Cash, Pet Shop Boys and Keane. His newest album, All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, was released earlier this year to much critical acclaim. People Magazine dubbed the album Critic's Choice noting Wainwright "brings the album to a beautifully intimate level with just voice, piano and some deeply personal lyrics. Bravo." Billboard Magazine thinks Rufus' "solo piano accompaniment highlights his extremely adaptable voice...a single piano is all that's needed to show off his immense vocal talent." The Associated Press raved that "[Wainwright's] ability to tap into the most dismal recesses of the human experience is both heartbreaking and captivating, making ‘All Days Are Nights' all the more impossible to turn off." According to USA Today Rufus created his "barest, boldest collection yet...[he] achieves an elegiac beauty that transcends preciousness or despair."

Wainwright has been touring on behalf of "All Days Are Nights..." for the better part of the year and it's taken him all over the World. This is the first time he's performed entirely with just the intimacy of his own piano accompaniment while utilizing a sophisticated onstage production of original video art by Douglas Gordon (who has recently had a show at London's Tate Museum). The collaboration between Wainwright and Gordon has created a stirring visual language expressing the passion of sorrow, a re-surfacing theme of the twelve songs on Wainwright's most personal album to date. Rufus is wrapping up the tour at the end of December and just performed his first ever solo show at Carnegie Hall last night to a packed house. Rufus told The New York Post "this is a huge deal for me as a pianist and a singer. It's the apex of my career and means more to me than any other show I've ever done."



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