The Magic Flute Comes to the Dallas Opera, 4/20-5/6

The Dallas Opera presents the finale of its 2011-2012 "Tragic Obsessions" Season: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's comic-drama, THE MAGIC FLUTE (Die Zauberflöte), opening Friday, April 20, 2012 at 7:30 PM in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

This production is made possible with support from Production Underwriters Diane and Hal Brierley and TACA.

Five subsequent performances of THE MAGIC FLUTE have been scheduled for April 22(m), 25, 28, May 4 & 6(m), 2012. FLEX subscriptions are still available, beginning at just $75, and single tickets start at $25. Contact the Dallas Opera Ticket Services Office at 214.443.1000 for more information or purchase online, 24/7, at dallasopera.org.

"This production from Lyric Opera of Chicago," says Dallas Opera Artistic Director Jonathan Pell "is the most magical Magic Flute I've ever experienced. It's been revived there, time and again, because it's so immensely popular but it's a production that could never have been done in our previous performance venue.

"Our move to the Winspear Opera House has finally made it possible to bring this incredibly charming, classic, August Everding production to Dallas and we've gone out of our way to stack-the-deck with the addition of a delightful cast."

Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE will be simulcast live on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 7:30 PM (doors open at 6:00 PM) at Cowboys Stadium, the high-tech home of the Dallas Cowboys at One Legends Way in Arlington, Texas. Patrons will be able to enjoy a complete, unabridged live performance on the world's largest high-definition video board structure, comprised of four massive viewing screens (the largest, 72 feet tall and 160 feet wide) suspended directly above the playing field.

Reserved seating is still available (up to 10 seats per person) through the Dallas Opera website at www.dallasopera.org/cowboys.

The April 28th performance, live from the Winspear Opera House, is The Rosemary and Roger Enrico Foundation Performance.

THE MAGIC FLUTE will star soprano Ava Pine, the Dallas Opera's very first Resident Young Artist, in the role of Pamina. Ms. Pine, a Baroque specialist, made her Dallas Opera debut as Anna in the Dallas Opera 2006 production of Nabucco, and has appeared on the Dallas Opera stage in numerous roles including Adele in Die Fledermaus, Zozo in The Merry Widow, Elvira in L'italiana in Algeri, the Slave in Salome and, most recently, as one of three featured artists in the Dallas Opera's Family Concert, performed in the Winspear last November.ctress, dancing, flirting and pretty much tying everyone around her little finger."

Earlier this season, Ms. Pine appeared with the DSO in Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Jaap van Zweden, Bach cantatas with the New Jersey Symphony, and Handel's Messiah with Boston Baroque and Duke University. She also made her role debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Colorado and sang the title role in Handel's Theodora at the University of North Texas with Dallas Opera Music Director Graeme Jenkins conducting.

Ava Pine's performance is made possible with support from The Charron and Peter Denker Rising Stars Endowment Fund.

Alongside Ms. Pine, the Dallas Opera has cast tenor Shawn Mathey as Tamino. "He is simply one of the finest Mozartean tenors in the world," explains Artistic Director Jonathan Pell "and we have spent years trying to lure him to Dallas for his long-awaited debut on our stage. I think audiences will find him absolutely thrilling, from his first note to his last."

Mr. Mathey's 2011-12 Season engagements have included debuts with San Francisco Opera as Don Ottavio and with Rome's Teatro dell'Opera as Lysander in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is also slated to record Bruckner's Mass No. 3 in F minor with Marek Janowski conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romand. 

Bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi returns in the role of the original Birdman, Papageno, Tamino's love-sick companion. Mr. Carfizzi's recent engagements include Paolo in Simon Boccanegra with San Francisco Opera, Brander in Le damnation de Faust (Berlioz) at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Nourabad in Les pêcheurs de perles for Seattle Opera, Dr. Bartolo in IL Barbiere di Siviglia for the Canadian Opera Company, and additional roles at the Met including Schaunard in La bohème, the Mandarin in Turandot, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Haly in L'italiana in Algeri and Peter Quince in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Slovakian soprano L'ubica Vargicová has made the Queen of the Night a signature role since her operatic debut while still a student in Bratislava.  She has appeared in prestigious venues from Carnegie Hall to Japan's finest concert halls, in the wake of her 2003 Salzburg Festival debut as Olympia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann (a production staged by David McVicar and conducted by Kent Nagano).

Bass Raymond Aceto, Sparafucile in the Dallas Opera's acclaimed 2011 production of Rigoletto, has appeared in more than a dozen productions with TDO since his 1995 debut as Monterone, portraying a host of characters from Leporello in Don Giovanni (2003), Colline in La bohème (1999), and Fafner in Siegfried (2000) to Lodovico in the Dallas Opera's 2009 inaugural production in the Winspear Opera House: Verdi's Otello.

Engagements this season have included the roles of Banquo in Macbeth at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Timur in Turandot for San Francisco Opera. This summer, after appearing as Sarastro in our production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, Mr. Aceto will portray the cruel Baron Scarpia in the Santa Fe Opera Festival production of Tosca.

Bass Kevin J. Langan, who has sung numerous roles with the Dallas Opera, will appear in the role of The Speaker. Mr. Langan has nearly 1300 performances to his credit and a vast repertoire (more than 80 roles from the early Baroque through the 20th century) that has made him a leading bass for San Francisco Opera for three decades. Recently, he became the first artist in SFO history to sing 300 performances in leading roles. Mr. Langan has also been a leading bass for Lyric Opera of Chicago for the past eleven years, in addition to fourteen seasons-and 165 performances-at Santa Fe. It was at Sante Fe Opera that he created the role of Henry Mosher in the 1996 world premiere of Tobias Picker's Emmeline, broadcast on PBS.

A native of New York City, Mr. Langan's talents can be enjoyed on numerous opera DVD releases. His orchestral appearances have ranged from the Cincinnati May Festival as Rocco in Fidelio under Music Director James Conlon, The Caramoor Festival as Rocco in Leonore under John Nelson, The Pittsburgh Symphony in Mahler's Das Klagende Lied, and the Chicago Symphony in Janacek's Glagolitic Mass (both under Michael Tilson Thomas). Other appearances include Trulove in The Rake's Progress with The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra under Edo de Waart, and Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex with The National Symphony in Washington.

Tenor David Cangelosi, an opera artist blogger, will sing the role of Monostatos. He most recently appeared with the Dallas Opera in Boris Godunov. Prior to the role of Shuisky, Mr. Cangelosi played a marriage broker in TDO's revival of the Francesca Zambello production of Madama Butterfly that closed the 2010 Season.

In 2004, Mr. Cangelosi made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Mime in Das Rheingold, conducted by James Levine, and returned in recent seasons for performances of Incredibile in Andrea Chenier, Tinca in Il tabarro, and the dual role of Nathanael/Spalanzani in Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Other roles at the Metropolitan Opera have included Basilio (The Marriage of Figaro), Goro (Madama Butterfly), and Spoletta (Tosca).

Mozart's 1791 masterpiece is one of the greatest comic operas of all time, made all the more interesting by the poignant-even disturbing-moments endured by the lead characters, as they attempt to earn their "happy ending."

The Magic Flute comes by its zany, hodge-podge of a plot honestly, having been inspired not only by 18th century Masonic practices, but by literature reflecting several different traditions. Among these is the 1731 Viennese essay (supposedly translated from an ancient Greek source) about an Egyptian prince named "Sethos" who is called upon to endure an initiation by the four elements: fire, water, earth and air. He is also forced to battle a giant serpent.

The Magic Flute also contains hints of an Arthurian Romance from the late Middle Ages, in which the hero is discovered and aided by three mysterious ladies. Later in the tale, the hero encounters a curious character covered in animal skins that bears more than a passing resemblance to this opera's famously endearing birdman, Papageno.

The music, on the other hand, couldn't be more polished or more focused. Reflecting the highest ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and filled with wit, warmth, and genuine humanity, The Magic Flute continues to bewitch audiences with its variety of perfectly expressed musical moods-from utterly cheeky to soaring and sublime.

Soprano Angela Mannino will make her Dallas Opera debut in the role of Papagena, and the Three Ladies will be sung by soprano Caitlin Lynch, mezzo-soprano Lauren McNeese, and mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani in their company debuts.

Resident Young Artist Aaron Blake will return to the Dallas Opera stage in the dual role of Second Priest and First Man in Armor. Bass Darren K. Stokes will sing the role of the Second Man in Armor.

All six performances will be conducted by the Dallas Opera's Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director Graeme Jenkins, who most recently raised the baton on Dallas Opera's season opening production of Lucia di Lammermoor.

Jenkins has conducted more than a hundred different operas from Australia to Amsterdam to Vienna, and has served as music director for this company since 1994.

This Lyric Opera of Chicago production will be staged by Matthew Lata, making his TDO debut. Mr. Lata has staged more than a hundred productions with leading opera companies throughout the U.S. He began his career as a director on the staff of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for five seasons. During that time he directed revivals and special productions for the Lyric Opera of Chicago Center for American Artists. Mr. Lata served as an apprentice with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Frank Corsaro and Lotfi Mansouri under the auspices of the National Opera Institute, and as production stage manager and assistant director for a number of theaters, prior to joining the staff in Chicago.

He has been a script consultant for various theaters, including the New Playwright's Theater in Washington and the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, in addition to regularly staging works for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hawaii Opera Theatre, and Florida Grand Opera. Mr. Lata also directed the world premiere of Anton Coppola's Sacco and Vanzetti to international acclaim at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and staged New York City Opera's National Tour of La Fille du régiment.

He has taught at the University of Missouri/Kansas City and guested at Northwestern and Yale. Currently, he serves as Director of Opera at Florida State University. Mr. Lata is married to the noted mezzo-soprano Phyllis Pancella.

Scenic design for The Magic Flute is by Jörg Zimmermann in his company debut, with costumes designed by Renata Kalanke.

Lighting design will be by Duane Schuler, with wig and make-up designs by David Zimmerman.

Chorus preparation will be by Dallas Opera Chorus Master Alexander Rom and Children's Chorus Master Melinda Cotton.

Parking onsite will be available in the Lexus Red Parking beneath the Winspear Opera House and the Lexus Silver Parking adjacent to the Wyly Theatre. Should those reach capacity, additional paid parking is available at nearby One Arts Plaza and in several surface lots. Prices range from $5 to $25 per vehicle.

Single tickets for the remaining mainstage productions of the Dallas Opera's "Tragic Obsessions" Season are on sale now, starting at just $25, through the Dallas Opera Ticket Services Office at 214.443.1000 or online at www.dallasopera.org. Student Rush best-available tickets can be purchased at the lobby box office for $25 (one per valid Student I.D.) ninety minutes prior to each performance.

FLEX Subscriptions for the opera lovers in your life secures seats for all spring mainstage productions: Tristan & Isolde, La traviata, and The Magic Flute. It also gives you the first chance to obtain one or more of the limited number of tickets available to see the Dallas Opera's new production of a haunting1980 chamber opera: The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies. Marking the operatic debut of director Kevin Moriarty, Artistic Director of the Dallas Theater Center, this work will play to intimate audiences in the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre across the street from the Winspear.