Seattle Opera Announces 2012/13 Season

Seattle Opera today announced its 2012/13 season, featuring six operas that explore the infinite variety of love: obsession, true love, false love, love at first sight, marital love, and love born of hatred. The season opens with Turandot in August, followed by Fidelio in the fall, La Cenerentola and La Bohème in the winter, and a double bill of La Voix Humaine and Suor Angelica in May 2013.
“Exciting debuts, the return of Seattle Opera’s favorite artists such as Greer Grimsley, Nuccia Focile, and Antonello Palombi, great conductors, very theatrical directors—all these elements should make 2012/13 one of our most rewarding seasons,” says Speight Jenkins, Seattle Opera’s General Director.

The season leads off with Puccini’s extravagant final masterpiece, Turandot. A fairy-tale set in ancient China, this grand romance tells the story of a cruel princess softened by love, and boasts one of the world’s most famous arias, “Nessun dorma.” Soprano Lori Phillips takes on the role of the icy Turandot, opposite Italian tenor Antonello Palombi as the besotted Calaf. A frequent performer at Seattle Opera, Palombi has previously starred as Manrico in Il trovatore, Radames in Aida, and Canio in Pagliacci; this January, he sings Foresto in Verdi’s Attila. Lina Tetriani makes her company debut as the slave girl Liù, with Peter Rose as Calaf’s father, Timur, Patrick Carfizzi as Ping, and Peter Kazaras returning to the Seattle Opera stage as Emperor Altoum. The second cast performances of Turandot showcase former Seattle Opera Young Artist Marcy Stonikas in the title role; her Calaf is Mexican tenor Luis Chapa, who recently made his U.S. debut in Seattle as Don José in Carmen. Grazia Doronzio makes her Seattle Opera debut as Liù. Seattle Opera Principal Guest Conductor Asher Fisch conducts. This co-production with Pittsburgh Opera and Minnesota Opera is directed by Renaud Doucet, who makes his company debut as stage director, alongside professional partner and Turandot set and costume designer André Barbe.

In the fall, Seattle Opera revives its 2003 production of Fidelio, created by the innovative team of director Chris Alexander and designer Robert Dahlstrom, who set the action in a present-day First World prison. Asher Fisch returns to conduct. Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio remains a story of hope in the face of oppression and tyranny that is as relevant today as it was in 1814. German soprano Christiane Libor makes her U.S. operatic debut as Leonore, a devoted wife determined to find and free her wrongfully imprisoned husband Florestan, sung by tenor Clifton Forbis, whose recent Seattle Tristan inspired rave reviews. Two Seattle favorites run Fidelio’s prison: bass Arthur Woodley is head-jailer Rocco, and bass-baritone Greer Grimsley is the cruel governor Don Pizarro. John Tessier sings Jacquino and Anya Matanovi?, a former Seattle Opera Young Artist, sings Marzelline. Both were most recently seen at Seattle Opera in the 2011 production of The Magic Flute (also directed by Alexander), as Tamino and the First Lady, respectively. On October 14, former Seattle Opera Young Artist Marcy Stonikas returns for a performance as Leonore.

Rossini’s effervescent comedy La Cenerentola returns to the Seattle Opera stage in the winter. The charming production, directed by Joan Font and designed by Joan Guillén, is jointly owned by Houston Grand Opera Association, Welsh National Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Grand Théâtre de Genève, and brings the Cinderella story to life with eye-popping colors, magical conveyances, and a helpful team of giant mice. Italian mezzo Daniela Pini and American tenor René Barbera make their Seattle Opera debuts as Cenerentola and Prince Ramiro on opening night; Patrick Carfizzi returns as Cenerentola’s pompous stepfather, Don Magnifico, and Brett Polegato does his best to confuse things as the Prince’s mischievous valet, Dandini. Arthur Woodley sticks up for Cenerentola as the wise Alidoro, while former Seattle Opera Young Artist Ani Maldjian, portraying her wicked stepsister Clorinda, tries to make her life hell. At three of the performances, Tamara Mumford and Edgardo Rocha will make their Seattle Opera debuts as Cenerentola and Ramiro. Giacomo Sagripanti makes his debut on the podium.

Puccini’s beloved La Bohème returns as winter begins to give way to spring, in a production directed by Tomer Zvulun, whose Lucia di Lammermoor thrilled audiences last season. La Bohème is conducted by Carlo Montanaro, who is currently in Seattle conducting the company’s first-ever Attila. Francesco Demuro returns as Rodolfo; upon the occasion of his Seattle Opera debut (Alfredo in La traviata), The Seattle Times wrote “To call the young Sardinian tenor a spectacular talent is to do him less than justice: this is an artist not merely spectacular but profound and potentially great.” His ill-fated Mimì is Elizabeth Caballero, first heard at Seattle Opera as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. Norah Amsellem and Michael Todd Simpson, who both appeared in Seattle Opera’s recent Carmen, return as Musetta and Marcello. Arthur Woodley and former Seattle Opera Young Artist Andrew Garland return as Colline and Schaunard. The alternate cast features the debuts of Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo, Nadine Sierra as Mimì, and Keith Phares as Marcello; Jennifer Zetlan, who created the role of The Flier in Amelia for Seattle Opera, is Musetta.

The season concludes in May with a double bill of important twentieth-century one-act operas, both new to Seattle Opera: La Voix Humaine, by Francis Poulenc, and Puccini’s Suor Angelica. La voix humaine is a forty-minute monodrama in which a woman desperately tries to stay connected to a former lover on the telephone. Nuccia Focile, who has starred in La traviata, Pagliacci, and Iphigénie en Tauride at Seattle Opera, sings La voix humaine, which she has previously performed in London. In Suor Angelica, a different woman escapes from another purgatory: forced by her wealthy family to abandon her illegitimate son and join a convent, Angelica, upon learning of the boy’s death, commits suicide and miraculously finds salvation. In her Seattle Opera debut, Maria Gavrilova is Puccini’s suffering young mother, with Rosalind Plowright returning as her chilly aunt. Bernard Uzan directs a production of this double bill from Teatro Verdi Trieste, and Patrick Fournillier conducts.

To learn more about the 2012/13 season, including ticket information and full artist biographies (with audio excerpts of principal singers) visit seattleopera.org/operas. Following are fact sheets, ticket information, and instructions for accessing Seattle Opera’s Image Library.

Seattle Opera’s 2012/13 Season

TURANDOT

Music by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni

In Italian with English captions

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

Performances: August 4 – 18, 2012

Approximate Running Time: 2 hours, 50 minutes, with two intermissions

Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm, matinee at 2:00 pm

Premiere: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy, April 25, 1926

Previous Seattle Opera Performances: 1966, 1969, 1981, 1996

Artists
Turandot: Lori Phillips
Marcy Stonikas *
Calaf: Antonello Palombi
Luis Chapa *
Liù: Lina Tetriani †
Grazia Doronzio †^
Timur: Peter Rose
Ping: Patrick Carfizzi
Emperor Altoum: Peter Kazaras

Conductor: Asher Fisch
Stage Director: Renaud Doucet †
Set & Costume Designer: André Barbe †
Lighting Designer: Guy Simard

Scenery and Costumes for this production were constructed at the Minnesota Opera Shops and are jointly owned by Minnesota Opera, Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Utah Opera, and Cincinnati Opera.

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† Seattle Opera debut
* On August 5 and 12 only
^ On August 5, 8, and 12 only

Marcy Stonikas is a former Seattle Opera Young Artist.

FIDELIO

Music by Ludwig van Beethoven

Libretto by Joseph von Sonnleithner, with revisions by Stephan Von Breuning and Georg Friedrich Trietschke

In German with English captions

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

Performances: October 13 – 27, 2012

Approximate Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission

Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm, matinee at 2:00 pm

Revised Version Premiere: Kärtnertor Theater, Vienna, Austria, May 23, 1814

Previous Seattle Opera Performances: 1968, 1980, 1991, 2003

Artists

Leonore: Christiane Libor †
Marcy Stonikas *
Florestan: Clifton Forbis
Rocco: Arthur Woodley
Don Pizarro: Greer Grimsley
Marzelline: Anya Matanovi?
Jacquino: John Tessier
Don Fernando: Kevin Short

Conductor: Asher Fisch
Stage Director: Chris Alexander
Set Designer: Robert Dahlstrom
Costume Designer: Catherine Meacham Hunt
Lighting Designer: Alan Burrett

Sets & Costumes: Seattle Opera

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† Seattle Opera debut
* On October 14 only

Anya Matanovi? and Marcy Stonikas are former Seattle Opera Young Artists.

LA CENERENTOLA

Music by Gioachino Rossini

Libretto by Jacopo Ferretti

In Italian with English captions

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

Performances: January 12 – 26, 2013

Approximate Running Time: 3 hours, with one intermission

Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm, matinee at 2:00 pm

Premiere: Teatro Valle, Rome, Italy, January 25, 1817

Previous Seattle Opera Performances: 1977, 1996

Artists

Angelina: Daniela Pini †
Tamara Mumford †*
Don Ramiro: René Barbera †
Edgardo Rocha †*
Dandini: Brett Polegato
Don Magnifico: Patrick Carfizzi
Clorinda: Ani Maldjian
Alidoro: Arthur Woodley

Conductor: Giacomo Sagripanti †
Stage Director: Joan Font †
Set & Costume Designer: Joan Guillén †
Lighting Designer: Albert Faura †
Choreographer: Xevi Dorca †

Sets & Costumes: Houston Grand Opera

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† Seattle Opera debut
* January 13, 20, and 25 only

Ani Maldjian is a former Seattle Opera Young Artist.

LA BOHÈME

Music by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

In Italian with English captions

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

Performances: February 23 – March 9, 2013

Approximate Running Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes, with two intermissions

Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm, matinee at 2:00 pm

Premiere: Teatro Regio, Turin, Italy, February 1, 1896

Previous Seattle Opera Performance: 1965, 1971, 1979, 1985, 1991, 1998, 2007

Artists

Mimì: Elizabeth Caballero
Nadine Sierra†*
Rodolfo: Francesco Demuro
Michael Fabiano †*
Musetta: Norah Amsellem
Jennifer Zetlan ^
Marcello: Michael Todd Simpson
Keith Phares †*
Colline: Arthur Woodley
Schaunard: Andrew Garland

Conductor: Carlo Montanaro
Stage Director: Tomer Zvulun
Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel

Sets & Costumes: Seattle Opera

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† Seattle Opera debut
* Performs on February 24, March 1, 3, 8, and 10
^ February 24, March 3 and 10 only

Andrew Garland and Michael Todd Simpson are former Seattle Opera Young Artists.

LA VOIX HUMAINE & SUOR ANGELICA

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

Performances: May 4 – 18, 2013

Approximate Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes, with one intermission

Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm, matinee at 2:00 pm

La Voix Humaine

Music by Francis Poulenc

Libretto by Jean Cocteau

In French with English captions

Premiere: Opéra-Comique, Paris, France, February 6, 1959

Seattle Opera Premiere

Artist

Elle: Nuccia Focile

Suor Angelica

Music by Giacomo Puccini

Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano

In Italian with English captions

Premiere: Metropolitan Opera, New York, New York, December 14, 1918

Seattle Opera Premiere

Artists

Suor Angelica: Maria Gavrilova †
The Princess: Rosalind Plowright

Conductor: Patrick Fournillier
Stage Director: Bernard Uzan
Set & Costume Designer: Pier Paolo Bisleri †
Lighting Designer: Connie Yun

Sets & Costumes: Teatro Verdi Trieste

† Seattle Opera debut

Seattle Opera Ticket Information

Subscriptions on Sale Now

Five-Opera Renewal and New Subscription Ticket Prices: $209 to $3,530*

Seattle Opera Ticket Office: 206.389.7676/800.426.1619

Online Orders: www.seattleopera.org

All performances take place at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street

Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm, with matinees at 2:00 pm

*Prices include a $2-per-ticket facility fee and (in some locations) a preferred seating donation.