Seattle Opera to Present ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

By: Mar. 17, 2015
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The shows must go on! Seattle Opera concludes its 2014/15 season with Richard Strauss' delightful opera-within-an-opera: Ariadne auf Naxos. A rich Seattleite is throwing a dinner party and asks his hired entertainment for the impossible: the capering troupe of comedians must combine their performance with an opera company's rendition of the mythical love and loss of the ancient Greek princess Ariadne. Comedy meets tragedy, and fireworks result!

"Just like Semele, Ariadne auf Naxos is another modern take on a classical myth," said Aidan Lang, General Director of Seattle Opera. "It's a delicious confection that works on many levels-the relationship between high and low art, comedy and tragedy, and high ideals and practical commonsense. It's also a sly send-up of the business of opera itself, in which a passionate, uncompromising young composer comes face-to-face with the realities of getting his work on the stage, complete with temperamental divas and an intractable employer. Truly, there is something in this opera for everyone."

Director Chris Alexander won the first of his three Artist of the Year Awards for this production when it premiered in 2004. Set designer Robert Dahlstrom and costume designer Cynthia Savage have been mainstays of Seattle Opera for 30 years. Their whimsical production has been applauded in Montreal, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. Dutch conductor Lawrence Renes is at the podium. Renes made his Seattle Opera debut in the 2008 production of Elektra.

Christiane Libor and Marcy Stonikas share the role of the Prima Donna/Ariadne. Libor, who sings in the opening-night cast, made her company debut in Fidelio (2012). The Seattle Times called this German soprano "massively talented," and wrote, "What a voice!...Libor's gleaming, mighty soprano and passionate, no-holds-barred performance style made for a gripping evening, particularly since she was surrounded by a cast of considerable firepower." Seattle audiences may remember Stonikas from her role as Magda Sorel in The Consul (2014). "Much of the excitement comes from the powerful singing and acting of Marcy Stonikas as the central character," wrote The Seattle Times of that role. "She pours that big, resonant voice and a huge wave of emotion into the role; we feel her fear, her fury, and her resignation .... Stonikas has developed a voice that can really thrill." A Seattle Opera Young Artist Program graduate, Stonikas was also a finalist in the company's 2014 International Wagner Competition.

Ariadne features one of the world's most in-demand singing actresses, American mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, as the idealistic Composer. Lindsey's show-stopping performance as The Muse/Nicklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann, (2014) earned her a second Seattle Opera Artist of the Year Award. "...the beautiful Kate Lindsey nearly walked away with the show," wrote The Seattle Times. "A natural actress even in male disguise, she showed great vocal agility and range, with a voice that has strength and flexibility at both ends. Lindsey is an adroit comedian, but she also provides the show's center of gravity, and she does it extremely well." Sarah Larsen, a former Seattle Opera Young Artist, sings the Composer in the alternate cast. In 2014, Larsen earned praise for both her sizzling performance as Maddalena in Rigoletto and as the bureaucratic Secretary in The Consul. The Times referred to her performances as "triumphant," and her singing as "opulently-sultry" and "rich-voiced."

Sarah Coburn sings the flirtatious young actress Zerbinetta. Beloved American soprano and Seattle Opera Young Artist graduate, Coburn's most recent company production was starring as Marie opposite Lawrence Brownlee's Tonio in The Daughter of the Regiment (2013). "It would be hard to find two singers anywhere who could do more credit to these roles," wrote The Seattle Times. Classical Voice America wrote: "Coburn was rock solid as the tomboy Marie, tossing off cascades of notes with ease." As the alternate-cast Zerbinetta, South Korean singer and Met regular Haeran Hong makes her Seattle Opera debut. "Among the fresh voices heard, the most finished were those of Haeran Hong, a soprano who sang with gleaming tone and deftly negotiated ornate lines as Dalinda, Ginevra's confidante," wrote The New York Times of her Juilliard Opera performance of Ariodante in 2009.

Issachah Savage (pronounced iss-uh-KYE-uh) makes his Seattle Opera role debut as the Tenor/Bacchus. Last August, Savage won Seattle Opera's International Wagner Competition, taking home a total of $35,000 in cash prizes: a first-prize award, as well as audience choice and orchestra's choice. Savage earned more fans two days later-Speight Jenkins asked the tenor to perform at the gala concert honoring the retiring general director. More recently, Savage caused quite a stir in the international opera world when he, the understudy, got a chance to step in as Siegmund in the Canadian Opera's Die Walküre. The Wall Street Journal called that performance "a creditable vocal debut for a very promising singer..." and Musical Toronto wrote: "When Savage sang the opening line of yesterday's Die Walküre, we immediately knew that we were in store for something quite different ...The roaring ovation that greeted him when he walked out on stage for his curtain call was of a quality and pitch usually reserved for only the greatest of singers."

Making his Seattle Opera debut as The Tenor/Bacchus in the alternate cast is American tenor Jeffrey Hartman. Bachtrack praised Hartman for his 2013 performance in Pagliacci at Hong Kong City Hall. "Jeffrey Hartman as Canio stood out. An angry bull to the red rag of Nedda's adultery with Silvio, he could hardly contain his violent hurt...His full-bodied and expansive voice was expressive and flexible, exposing wild pangs of jealousy."

Ariadne auf Naxos will also include performances by Andrew Garland (Harlekin), Patrick Carfizzi (Music Teacher/Truffaldino), Doug Jones (Dancing Master), Eric Neuville (Scaramuccio), Amanda Opuszynski (Naiad), Georg Martin Bode (Butler), Barry Johnson (Butler's Assistant), Karl Marx Reyes (Wigmaker). Making their company debuts are Joshua Kohl (Brighella), Maya Lahyani (Dryad), Andrea Caroll (Echo), and Jon Farmer (Officer).

Production Sponsors: Seattle Opera Foundation, ArtsFund, Office of Arts & Culture | Seattle

The National Endowment for the Arts supported this production of Ariadne auf Naxos. Additionally, this program is supported in part by a grant from ArtsWA (The Washington State Arts Commission).

Post-show talk-backs are sponsored by an Anonymous donor

The 2014/15 Season in honor of Speight Jenkins

Ariadne auf Naxos premieres Saturday, May 2, and runs through Saturday, May 16. Tickets are available online at seattleopera.org or by calling 206.389.7676 or 800.426.1619. Tickets may also be purchased at the Box Office by visiting 1020 John Street (two blocks west of Fairview), Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Ticket prices start at $25.



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