New York City Opera Presents IL PIGMALIONE By Donizetti And PIGMALION By Rameau

New York City Opera continues its 2017-18 Chamber Opera Series with a unique double bill of Donizetti's Il Pigmalione and Rameau's Pigmalion, the first time these one-act gems will be presented on the same program. The production also marks the New York premiere of Donizetti's first opera. This double bill will be directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford, with Gil Rose conducting the New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Two performances of Il Pigmalione/Pigmalion will be presented at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater on Saturday, March 24 at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 25 at 4:00 p.m.

Both Gaetano Donizetti's 1816 Il Pigmalione and Jean-Philippe Rameau's Pigmalion were inspired by the myth of Pygmalion, the artist who begs Aphrodite to animate his sculpture of the ideal female form. Donizetti wrote the melodic score for Il Pigmalione when he was still a student. The one-act opera remained unperformed until 1960, and it remains a rarely-performed work by one of opera's most prolific and famous composers. Rameau's Pigmalion, an acte de ballet, was first performed in 1748 and is considered one of the composer's best one-act works for the theater. This production marks the New York premiere of Donizetti's Il Pigmalione and the first time these rare operas are performed together on the same program.

New York City Opera General Director Michael Capasso says "I look forward to continuing City Opera's successful series of chamber operas with this novel pairing and to begin what I hope will be a long relationship with the Gerald W. Lynch Theater. I am thrilled to welcome two exceptionally talented rising stars to their City Opera debuts, both in the leading role of Pygmalion. I'm also especially happy to have back director and choreographer Richard Stafford whose beautiful work in last season's production of Los elementos made a major impression on our audience, and conductor Gil Rose who just this season guided our ensemble through the intricacies of two Dominick Argento operas at Zankel Hall with sensitivity and aplomb."

New York City Opera has assembled an impressive cast of emerging opera singers to bring these two intimate works to life. Starring in the title role of Donizetti's Il Pigmalione is Polish tenor Piotr Buszewski, who makes his New York City Opera and US professional debuts in this production. This season Buszewski sang Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he is a Resident Artist. In the Summer 2018 he will sing the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto with Wolf Trap Opera. Buszewski's recent engagements include Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at the Trentino Music Festival, Tinca in Il tabarro and Flaminio in L'amore dei tre re at the Academy of Vocal Arts. American soprano Jessica Sandidge also makes her City Opera debut opposite Buszewski as Galatea. Last spring, Sandidge performed the role of Margaret Hughes in the New York premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Prince of Players with Little Opera Theater of New York and Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen with Heartbeat Opera. In addition to making her City Opera debut as Galatea, this spring Sandidge debuts with the St. Petersburg Opera as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata.

Leading the cast of Rameau's Pigmalion is Icelandic tenor Thor Arbjornsson in his City Opera debut as Pigmalion. Arbjornsson's repertoire includes Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Jahlil and Tariq in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri, Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto, Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos, Alfredo in La traviata, and Camille in The Merry Widow. With Loft Opera, Arbjornsson sang the title role in Rossini's Le Comte Ory in 2016 and Rodrigo in Rossini's Otello in 2017. Returning to City Opera are soprano Melanie Long in the role of Cupid, last seen with the company in March 2016 as Ava Gardner in Wallace's Hopper's Wife; and soprano Samarie Alicea, who sang Aire in the American premiere of de Literes's Los elementos in May 2017, in the singing and dancing role of La Statue. Mezzo-soprano Julia Snowden will make her principal role debut with City Opera as Cephise.

Richard Stafford has directed and choreographed extensively on Broadway, Off-Broadway and National Tours. He won the Barrymore Award for outstanding choreography for La Cage Aux Folles at the Walnut Street Theatre and the New York Musical Festival "outstanding choreography" award for Castle Walk. He made his City Opera debut directing and choreographing Los elementos in May 2017.

Conducting the New York City Opera Orchestra is Gil Rose, founder of both Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and Odyssey Opera. An innovative and versatile conductor, Rose conducted the world premiere of Zhou Long's Madame White Snake for Opera Boston, and led the world premiere of Elena Ruehr's Toussaint Before the Spirits, the New England premiere of Thomas Adès's Powder Her Face, and the North American premiere of Peter Eötvös's Angels in America with Opera Unlimited. He has conducted the American Composers Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, among others. Rose made his New York City Opera debut in March 2016 conducting the world premiere of David Hertzberg's Sunday Morning.

For more information and tickets, please visit: nycopera.com/il-pigmalione-pigmalion/

Since its founding in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as "The People's Opera" New York City Opera has been a critical part of the city's cultural life. During its history, New York City Opera launched the careers of dozens of major artists and presented engaging productions of both mainstream and unusual operas alongside commissions and regional premieres. The result was a uniquely American opera company of international stature.

For more than seven decades, New York City Opera maintained a distinct identity, adhering to its unique mission: affordable ticket prices, a devotion to American works, English-language performances, the promotion of up-and-coming American singers, and seasons of accessible, vibrant and compelling productions intended to introduce new audiences to the art form. Stars who launched their careers at New York City Opera include Plácido Domingo, Catherine Malfitano, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey, Beverly Sills, Tatiana Troyanos, Carol Vaness, Shirley Verrett, among dozens of other great artists.

In 1999, New York City Opera founded VOX, Contemporary Opera Lab, an annual concert series that offered composers and librettists the opportunity to hear excerpts of their works performed by professional singers and musicians. For decades New York City Opera has been committed to introducing opera to the young, bringing the art form to new audiences with educational outreach performances in New York City's public schools.

Now, having returned to the stage, New York City Opera continues its legacy at a new, state-of-the-art home at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater with revitalized outreach and education programs, and programming designed to welcome and inspire a new generation of City Opera audiences. The 2016 - 2017 season included Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Rachmaninoff's Aleko, the New York premiere of Tobin Stokes' Fallujah, 10 sold-out performances of Harold Prince's production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, and the U.S. premiere of Literes's baroque opera, Los Elementos, at Harlem Stage. City Opera opened New York City's 2017/2018 cultural season with a new production of Puccini's beloved La fanciulla del West. In October 2017, City Opera presented the first installment of its Chamber Opera series with the New York premiere of Tobias Picker's Dolores Claiborne, based on the novel by Stephen King and presented in a new chamber adaptation prepared for City Opera by the composer. In January 2018, City Opera presented the New York premiere of the world's first mariachi opera, José "Pepe" Martinez's Cruzar la Cara de la Luna as part of its Ópera en Español series. The Chamber Opera series continues in March with a unique pairing of Rameau's Pigmalion and Donizetti's first opera Il Pigmalione. Having presented Respighi's rarely heard La campana sommersa in April 2017, City Opera presents another 20th-century Italian rarity with Montemezzi's L'Amore dei tre Re in April 2018. City Opera began its singular LGBT Opera initiative last June with the New York premiere of Péter Eötvös's Angels in America and continues that initiative this May with the long-awaited U.S. premiere of Charles Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain.