The Dallas Opera is Proud to Present a Love Like No Other
Richard Wagner’s TRISTAN & ISOLDE
Source: The Dallas Opera
Dallas | January 11, 2012
See also: Tristan & Isolde Performance Details >>
A star-studded international cast including tenor Clifton Forbis as Tristan and soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet as Isolde, conducted by Music Director Graeme Jenkins, staged by Director Christian Räth, projections by Elaine J. Mccarthy
OPENING NIGHT: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012 7:00 PM (Note Special Time),
The Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, AT&T Performing Arts Center
With Additional Performances on Feb. 19(m), 22 and 25, 2012
CROW HOLDINGS, PRODUCTION UNDERWRITER
Performance Underwriters: John and Arlene Dayton,
Amy and Vernon Faulconer, Dr. and Mrs. Tom G. Mayer,
Mr. James R. Seitz, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Kern Wildenthal,
Dr. Jean D. Wilson and the National Endowment for the Arts
The Dallas Opera is tremendously proud to present Richard Wagner’s intense and passionate drama, TRISTAN & ISOLDE, for the first time in nearly forty years. This new TDO production opens Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 7:00 PM in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Downtown Dallas.
Subsequent performances of TRISTAN & ISOLDE are scheduled for February 19(m), 22, 25, 2012. Flex subscriptions are still available, beginning at just $75, and single tickets start at $25. Contact the Dallas Opera Box Office at 214.443.1000 or purchase online, 24/7, at dallasopera.org.
Based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Strassburg and a tale that harkens back to European antiquity, Composer/librettist Richard Wagner was the dominating force behind this 1865 masterpiece which propelled opera into a bold new direction with its powerful depiction of obsessive love and desire, as well as Wagner’s revolutionary use of tonality, orchestral coloring and harmonic suspension.
TRISTAN & ISOLDE will be conducted by acclaimed Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director Graeme Jenkins and staged by German director Christian Räth, who staged TDO’s acclaimed productions of Fidelio (2002) and Luisa Miller (2005). Räth is a frequent guest at prominent opera companies both here and abroad. Most recently, he served as Associate Director of the new production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at San Francisco Opera.
Elaine J. McCarthy played a pivotal role in shaping the look of our critically acclaimed 2010 world premiere production of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick. She is back to bring her cutting-edge projection design to this atmospheric new production of TRISTAN & ISOLDE. This production will also feature newly designed costumes by Susan A. Cox in her Dallas Opera debut.
This new production of TRISTAN & ISOLDE is being generously underwritten by Crow Holdings, with additional support from John and Arlene Dayton, Amy and Vernon Faulconer, Dr. and Mrs. Tom G. Mayer, Mr. James R. Seitz, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Kern Wildenthal, Dr. Jean D. Wilson, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Texas Tenor Clifton Forbis, recently installed as the Chair of the Voice Program at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts, returns to the Winspear stage as Tristan, after singing the title role in TDO’s new production of Verdi’s Otello (2009) to open our inaugural season in the Margot & Bill Winspear Opera House.
Mr. Forbis, according to cultural icon, policy wonk, and commentator Andrew Moravcsik, is that “rarest of singers: a genuine dramatic Heldentenor whose clarion top rests on a dark baritonal base.” Ultimately, this prompted Moravcsik to ask, “Who today sings a finer Tristan?”
Joining Forbis is American Soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet as his Isolde.
“These two amazing artists have been acclaimed around the world for their interpretations of these challenging roles,” says Dallas Opera Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, “and it is a privilege to welcome them back to Dallas for this production. They last appeared together in North Texas as ‘Sieglinde’ and ‘Siegmund’ during the 1999 Season, in Die Walküre, part of the Dallas Opera’s memorable Ring Cycle.”
Miss Charbonnet also appeared with the Dallas Opera in the role of Ortrud in our critically acclaimed production of Wagner’s Lohengrin (2007). Texas Monthly Associate Editor Chester Rosson wrote, “The villains were embodied in Russian baritone Sergei Leiferkus and Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, a powerful duo who might have stolen the show in a lesser production.”
Mezzo-Soprano Mary Phillips will be singing Brangäne in her role debut. She has been described as “a vocal powerhouse as well as a compelling actor” (Edward Reichel, Deseret News) and last appeared with TDO in our unforgettable 2006 production of Rodelinda in the role of Eduige. She made her company debut in 1996 as Ceres in Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest and subsequently appeared as Rossweise in 1999’s Die Walküre.
Finnish bass-baritone Jukka Rasilainen will be making his American operatic debut portraying Kurvenal, one of Tristan’s retainers.
“He has sung this part often in Europe,” explains Mr. Pell, “and in concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Just this past summer, Mr. Rasilainen repeated the role at the Bayreuth Festival.”
The Classical Source describes Rasilainen as having a “rich voice but at the same time…a wonderfully incisive and cutting quality and a huge amount of power”.
Icelandic bass Kristinn Sigmundsson will be making his Dallas Opera debut in the role of King Marke of Cornwall, a role he has sung to great acclaim around the world, including San Francisco Opera. “One figure towered above the rest on Friday, literally and figuratively,” wrote Martin Bernheimer of The Financial Times. “His tone dark and his dynamic range broad, he exuded raw power, crusty lust and comic bravado, all reinforced by a trace of gravitas.”
Making his American Debut is British Baritone Stephen Gadd as Melot, a role he has sung to great acclaim at London’s Royal Opera, and at the Glyndebourne and Baden Baden Festivals. The Daily Telegraph’s Michael White praised his “crisp, dark diction…superb."
Lighting design will be by Alan Burrett, with wig and make-up designs for TRISTAN & ISOLDE by David Zimmerman.
Chorus preparation will be by Dallas Opera Chorus Master Alexander Rom.
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.
Love and death are inexorably intertwined in this opera based upon an ancient Celtic legend. In this incomparable work, Wagner, through a combination of musical genius and the sheer force of his personality, shaped radical philosophical ideas about desire, sacrifice, and redemption into a groundbreaking work of art that continues to influence composers worldwide. This intense drama is sparked by a chance meeting and a powerful potion that drives a Cornish knight and an Irish princess—the wife of his mentor and king—into each other’s arms; creating a fiery love triangle that can only be fully consummated in death!
Three-Performance FLEX subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now (prices and discounts subject to availability) through the Dallas Opera Ticket Services Office at 214.443.1000 or online at www.dallasopera.org. Student Rush best-available tickets are available for $25 (one per valid Student I.D.) at the Winspear box office, ninety minutes prior to each performance.
TRISTAN & ISOLDE KEY BIOS:
GRAEME JENKINS (Conductor)
London, England
The Dallas Opera’s Mrs. Margaret McDermott Music Director, Graeme Jenkins, has conducted more than 160 productions of over one hundred different operas including Billy Budd and Jenůfa (Vienna State Opera); Così fan tutte (English National Opera); Baz Luhrmann’s La bohème and DieMeistersinger (Australia); The Cunning Little Vixen and Fromthe House of the Dead (Berlin); Le nozze di Figaro for Theater an der Wien in Vienna; Simon Boccanegra,Der Fliegende Holländer and Il re pastore (Amsterdam); La clemenza di Tito (Copenhagen) and numerous production with The Dallas Opera including the Ring cycle, Macbeth, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute, and company premieres of Billy Budd, Nabucco,Wozzeck, Katya Kabanova, Mary Queen of Scots and Rodelinda. He has also conducted world premieres of works by Tobias Picker (Thérèse Raquin at The Dallas Opera) and Stephen Oliver’s Timon of Athens (English National Opera). Concert engagements have included the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the Galicia Symphony Orchestra of Spain and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic. In addition to conducting our Spring 2011 production of Boris Godunov, Jenkins ended the season with Billy Budd in Vienna (with Neil Schicoff) and Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci with José Cura. Mr. Jenkins also made his concert debuts in Ottawa and Iceland.
CHRISTIAN RÄTH (Stage Director)
Hamburg, Germany
Christian Räth studied opera directing under Professor Götz Friedrich. His productions include Falstaff at the Washington National Opera, Fidelio at the Dallas Opera, Roméo et Juliette at the Houston Grand Opera, Die Zauberflöte at the Cairo Opera House in Egypt and Carmen at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva. He is currently the Associate Director of the new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle at the San Francisco Opera. Recent Productions include Salome at the Matsumoto Festival in Japan, Ariadne auf Naxos at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen, Die Walküre at the San Francisco Opera and Siegfried at the Washington National Opera. Christian Räth has directed revival productions of L’elisir d’amore at the Teatro alla Scala, Billy Budd at the Opéra Bastille in Paris and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Il trovatore and West Side Story at the Bregenz Festival, Of Mice and Men at the Houston Grand Opera and Luisa Miller at the Dallas Opera and the Teatro Real de Madrid. He has been the Associate Director of La traviata and Platée at the Santa Fe Opera and Der Rosenkavalier and Das Rheingold in Bilbao. He has worked on the directorial teams of major opera houses throughout the USA and Europe, collaborating on productions such as Die Walküre at the Washington National Opera, Porgy and Bess, Les Contes d’Hoffmann and La Vie parisienne at the Opéra de Lyon, Les Paladins at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and the world premieres of Perelа and Espace dernier at the Opéra Bastille, Pelléas et Mélisande, the musical Rebecca in Vienna and The Cunning Little Vixen at the Matsumoto Festival in Japan. Future projects include Tristan und Isolde at the Dallas Opera, Der Ring des Nibelungen at the San Francisco Opera and La Fille du régiment at the Metropolitan Opera.
JEANNE-MICHÈLE CHARBONNET (Isolde)
Soprano — New Orleans, LA
Ms. Charbonnet’s previous appearances with The Dallas Opera include the title role in Aïda, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Sieglinde in Die Walküre and Ortrud in Lohengrin. She is recognized as a leading force in the German and contemporary repertoire. In Europe, she has appeared on the stages of the Liceu, Barcelona, Opera National de Paris, Teatro Real, Madrid, Opera Frankfurt, Opera National de Bordeauz, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro La Fenice, the Bregenz Festival and the Teatero Comunale di Firenze. NEED A SENTENCE OR TWO ABOUT OTHER MAJOR AMERICAN HOUSES – ONLY DALLAS AND MILWAUKEE ARE LISTED IN THE INTERMUSIC BIO. She has performed the role of Isolde with the Geneva Opera, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Canary Islands Opera Festival, and the Teatro Municipal Santiago. Other roles include Venus in a new production of Tannhäuser for the Geneva Opera, Leonore in Fideleo, Senta in Der Fliegenda Holländer, Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle and the title roles of Vanessa, Elektra, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and the world premiere of Philippe Fenelon’s Judith.
CLIFTON FORBIS (Tristan)
Tenor — Nashville, TN
Clifton Forbis returns for his seventh role with The Dallas Opera. Notable performances with TDO include Boris in Katya Kabanova and Siegmund in Die Walküre, and the title role of Otello in our inaugural performances in the Winspear Opera House. Mr. Forbis has earned international acclaim for his portrayals of the title roles in Samson et Dalila and Tristan und Isolde. His Samson has thrilled audiences at the Metropolitan Opera, San Diego, Marseille, Bilbao, and Genoa. He has delivered stunning performances of Tristan in his debut with the Berlin State Opera, Paris Opera, and in a new production at Grand Théâtre de Genève. He has distinguished himself in the title role of Otello with his debut at La Scala, and performances with the Dresden Semperoper, Vienna State Opera, and with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival. He has been heralded for his performances of Siegmund in “Die Walküre” with Canadian Opera Company, Vienna State Opera, and in concerts of the opera’s first act with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood. Mr. Forbis was recently appointed Chair of the Voice Department, Division of Music, at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.
MARY PHILLIPS (Brangäne)
Mezzo-Soprano — Providence, Rhode Island
Mary Phillips made her Dallas Opera debut as Ceres in The Tempest. Other roles with TDO include Rossweise in Die Walküre and Eduige in Rodelinda. Ms. Phillips is in demand in the repertoire of Wagner, Verdi, Beethoven, and Mahler. She has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Schwertleite in Wagner's Ring. For the Canadian Opera Company, she has sung Fricka and Waltraute in Die Walküre, Waltraute in Götterdämmerung and Eboli in Don Carlo. She has sung Azucena in Il Trovatore at Seattle Opera and Austin Lyric Opera. She is perhaps best known for her Amneris in Aida. Concert highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the New York Philharmonic, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Atlanta Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in Beijing as part of the 2008 Summer Olympics festivities. Her many performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 include the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Utah Symphony and Opera, the National Symphony, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She has recorded Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.
JUKKA RASILAINEN ** (Kurvenal)
Bass-Baritone — Helsinki, Finland
Finnish bass-baritone Jukka Rasilainen studied in Rome at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and at the International Opera Studio in Zurich. He started his international career in the title role of Der fliegende Holländer and was quickly invited to sing with major companies including Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera and Deutsche Oper; Hamburg State Opera, Dresden State Opera, Munich State Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, Paris Opéra-Bastille, London’s Covent Garden and at the new National Theatre in Tokyo. In 2004 he was awarded the coveted title of Kammersänger for his work in Dresden, Germany, where he has sung 27 principal roles, to date. In recent seasons, Rasilainen sang Kurwenal in “The Tristan und Isolde Project” by Peter Sellars and Bill Viola, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen (Paris, Los Angeles, New York’s Lincoln Center, London Royal Festival Hall, Rotterdam, Lucerne Festival). A year later he made his Bayreuth debut in the title role of Der fliegende Holländer and has regularly appeared since, most recently in the 2011 production of Lohengrin, directed by Hans Neuenfels. Jukka Rasilainen has worked with most of the leading conductors of our day including Semyon Bychkov, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christopher Eschenbach, Dan Ettinger, Valery Gergiev, Marek Janowski, Kent Nagano, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Schneider, Leif Segerstam, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Christian Thielemann, Hans Wallat and Franz Welser-Möst. Upcoming engagements include Nizza, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Madrid.
KRISTINN SIGMUNDSSON * (King Marke of Cornwall)
Bass — Reykjavik, Iceland
Mr. Sigmundsson makes his Dallas Opera debut in this production. He has also sung the role with the Deutsche Opera Berlin in addition to performances in Chile and San Francisco. For the San Francisco Opera, he has also sung Mephistopheles in La damnation de Faust, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Il Commendatore in Don Giovani and Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavaliaer. Performances at the Metropolitan Opera include Baron Ochs, Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Hundig in Die Walküre, Rocco in Fidelio, Frere Laurent in Romeo et Juliette and Vodnik in Rusalka. In Europe, he has regularly sung leading roles with the Staatsoper in Vienna, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Semperoper Dresden. In addition, he has sung nearly his entire repertoire with the Opera National de Paris. He is featured on recordings of Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Schumann’s Fasutszenen and both of Bach’s Passions (St. John and St. Matthew). Upcoming engagements include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with San Francisco Opera.
STEPHEN GADD ** (Melot)
Baritone — Bracknell, Birkshire, UK
Mr. Gadd makes his American opera debut with The Dallas Opera. He was a finalist in the inaugural Plácido Domingo Operalia Competition and also won the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship. He has performed with The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and other leading European opera houses, on BBC Radio and with orchestras throughout Europe and the Orient. His roles include the title roles in Verdi's Macbeth (Glyndebourne Festival Opera) and Don Giovanni (Opéra de Rennes, Opéra de Metz), Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Salzburg Festspiele in Japan), Melot in Tristan und Isolde (The Royal Opera Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival and the Baden Baden Festival), Germont Père in La Traviata (Den Norske Opera, Oslo), Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde (Grange Park Opera), Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera (English National Opera), Escamillo in Carmen (Welsh National Opera) and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor; Riccardo in I Puritani; and Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades for Opéra de Nantes. He has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Chandos and Naxos. Upcoming engagements include Mr. Redburn in Billy Budd (Glyndebourne) and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (Grange Park).
AARON BLAKE (A young sailor/A shepherd)
Tenor — Palos Verdes, CA
Returning for a second season as The Dallas Opera’s Young Artist in Residence, Aaron Blake made his company debut as Hervey in Anna Bolena. Other Dallas Opera roles include Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette, and Roméo in the school performance matinees of that opera. Mr. Blake recently sang the role of Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo with Opera San Jose. For the Utah Symphony and Opera, he has sung Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff, El Remendado in Carmen and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and was the Tenor soloist for Handel’s Messiah. Santa Fe Opera audiences have seen him as Evandre in Gluck’s Alceste. His repertoire includes Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Belfiore in La finta giardiniera, Sam Kaplan in Street Scene, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. He was the recipient of a Bagby Career Grant from the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts. Mr. Blake created the role of Brian in Nico Muhly’s opera Two Boys, in a workshop performance for the Metropolitan Opera. In addition to his work with The Dallas Opera this season, Mr. Blake will make his Carnegie Hall debut with the Oratorio Society of New York and will sing the role of Nemorino in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore with the Utah opera.
QUINCY ROBERTS (A helmsman)
Baritone — Dallas, TX
Mr. Roberts made his Dallas Opera debut as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto. Notable previous engagements include Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflote with Opera Carolina and Piedmont Opera, Joe in Show Boat with Mobile Opera, Red in the world premiere of Just Above My Head with the Opera Theater of Pittsburg, Hermann Ortel in Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg with the Cincinnati Symphony May Festival and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni with The Living Opera and Masterworks Festival. A Dallas native, Mr. Roberts is a graduate of the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He has been a resident artist with Opera Carolina and a studio artist with Chautauqua Opera. He attended the Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas' Arts District.
* Dallas Opera Debut
** American Operatic Debut
