Houston Grand Opera to Open Season with TOSCA, 10/23; Full Season Announced

Houston, October 6, 2015- Houston Grand Opera (HGO) opens its 2015-16 season October 23 with Puccini's heart-wrenching tale of love and tragedy, Tosca, featuring the reprise of HGO's "gripping" 2010 production and a stellar cast of returning and debut artists. Performances run through November 14.

Puccini's Tosca was one of three operas HGO presented during the company's second season in 1956-57, and the work continues to captivate Houston audiences. In 2010, HGO presented a new production by Canadian director John Caird that was hailed by the Houston Chronicle: "From the first chords that explode from the orchestra, Maestro Patrick Summers just about propelling himself out of the pit with them, a gripping sense of urgency drives Houston Grand Opera's potent new production." Religious imagery permeates this production. The sets and costumes were created by Tony Award-winning designer Bunny Christie.

Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, whose portrayal of Aida in her 2013 HGO debut was marked with "power, finesse, and soul" (Houston Chronicle), will sing the fiery Tosca, making her American debut in the role with which she launched her international career in 2010 at Deutsche Oper Berlin. Earlier this year, Ms. Monastyrska returned to Berlin, this time to the Staatsoper, delivering a "fearless and unforgettable" (Bachtrack) Lady Macbeth opposite Plácido Domingo, in his first performances in the title role of Verdi's opera. Siberian tenor Alexey Dolgov will reprise his passionate interpretation of Cavaradossi, sung at HGO in 2010 with "warm lyricism and...gallant presence" (Houston Chronicle). Polish baritone Andrzej Dobber, who has performed Scarpia at Semperoper Dresden, Berlin State Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, will make his U.S. role debut with these HGO performances.

In the November 14 performance, Tosca will be sung by Kelly Kaduce, Cavaradossi by Chad Shelton, and Scarpia by Weston Hurt. The conductor will be Bradley Moore, HGO's head of music staff. These artists will also perform at a special performance for high school students.

Director John Caird (Lynn Wyatt Great Artist 2012-13, during which season he directed La bohème at HGO) returns for this revival, along with Maestro Summers in the pit.

On October 30, HGO presents Eugene Onegin, running through November 13. Tchaikovsky's beloved work based on the Pushkin verse novel receives elegant period treatment in this acclaimed production that Canadian director Robert Carsen created for the Metropolitan Opera, which the New York Times called "beautiful to see." Rooted in emotional turmoil and vivid characterizations, Carsen's austere production is paired with spare sets and rich period costumes by Michael Levine. Carsen's vision will be realized by revival director Paula Suozzi, who directed it at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and will be making her HGO debut.

As Tatyana, HGO welcomes back American soprano Katie Van Kooten, who sang Mimì in HGO's new production of La bohème and Elizabeth I in Mary Stuart, both in 2012. Studio alumnus Scott Hendricks, Sharpless in HGO's Madame Butterfly last season, returns as Onegin. Norman Reinhardt, the versatile Studio alumnus who last season sang both Cassio in Otello and Ferrando in Così fan tutte, sings Lensky, and HGO Studio artist Megan Samarin will sing Olga. Prince Gremin will be sung by Dmitry Belosselskiy, who appeared as Sparafucile in HGO's 2014 Rigoletto.

Michael Hofstetter, whose "artful" conducting of HGO's 2011 Fidelio "captured the color and character of the music" (Houston Chronicle), will conduct.

This season also includes the world premiere of Prince of Players by eminent American composer Carlisle Floyd (the Lynn Wyatt Great Artist for 2015-16), opening March 5, three months before Mr. Floyd's 90thbirthday. Wagner's Siegfried, the third installment of La Fura dels Baus's imaginative Ring cycle featuring a new generation of Wagnerians, including tenor Jay Hunter Morris in the title role, opens April 16. Dvo?ák's fairy tale rarity Rusalka returns to Houston for the first time since 1990 beginning January 29, with soprano Ana María Martínez in the title role. A holiday revival of family favorite The Little Prince from the award-winning composer Rachel Portman and librettist Nicholas Wright opens December 4. HGO's co-production of The Marriage of Figaro by Michael Grandage begins January 22, and the Houston debut of Broadway sensation Rob Ashford's take on the classic musical Carousel rounds out the main-stage season beginning April 22. Through its community collaboration program HGOco, the company will present in May the world premiere of The Root of the Wind is Water, a chamber opera by composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann about the impact of hurricanes on the Texas Gulf coast.