Opera Colorado - New Heights in Grand Opera

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The Artists

Conductor: Sebastian Lang-Lessing
Sebastian Lang-Lessing is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He served for eight years as Conductor in Residence at Deutsche Oper Berlin at the invitation of Götz Friedrich, and his relationship with that company enabled him to build a wide repertoire and work with internationally-renowned singers and stage directors. Maestro Lang-Lessing is an active symphonic conductor and has led major orchestras all over the world. His recent discography includes a new recording of the four Schumann symphonies and a complete world premiere recording of six symphonies by Guy Ropartz. He also released numerous CDs with the TSO on ABC Classics, including: a disc of Romantic overtures, music for piano and orchestra by Saint-Saëns and Franck, and the Bruch and Mendelssohn violin concertos.


Director: Andrew Sinclair
Australian stage director Andrew Sinclair made his San Diego Opera debut in 2000 with Lohengrin, followed by Aida in 2001 and the highly successful The Pearl Fishers in 2004, a production he has since directed for Opera Colorado, Michigan Opera Theater, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera and San Francisco Opera. He returned in 2006 to stage Lucia di Lammermoor and earlier this season Mary, Queen of Scots. He is a Staff Director with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where his revivals include Don Pasquale, Lohengrin, Tosca, Peter Grimes, Der Rosenkavalier and Katya Kabanova. Sinclair began his association with Opera Australia in 1981, directing new stagings of La Bohème and The Bartered Bride. From 1983 to 1985 he was Principal Resident Director of that company, more recently returning for productions of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, Peter Grimes and Lohengrin. He has directed for all the major Australian companies. Other United States engagements have included Norma for San Francisco Opera, The Marriage of Figaro in Seattle and L'Elisir d'amore for Indiana University.


Inna Dukach as Mimi (Opera Colorado debut)
Born in Moscow and raised in New York, soprano Inna Dukach recently made her Royal Opera, Covent Garden debut as Musetta in La Bohème. MusicOMH wrote of her performance there, "It was, however, Inna Dukach's portrayal of Musetta that stole the show. She earned mid-aria applause with a spell binding pianissimo in act 2, and even managed to inject some humanity into the usually shallow man-eater." Further recent performances of note include the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro for Hawaii Opera Theatre; Walter in La Wally with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Pamina in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Hong Kong; Liù in Turandot for the Savonlinna Opera Festival; Tatiana in Eugene Onegin with Opéra Lyra Ottawa; Violetta in La traviata with Zagreb Opera in Croatia; Mimì in La Bohème with Opera North and New York City Opera; and Marguerite in Faust for Opera New Jersey.


Richard Troxell as Rodolfo (Opera Colorado debut)
Richard Troxell’s beautiful lyric tenor voice has been heard on operatic and concert stages in the United States and around the world. On film, he can be seen in the Sony Pictures release in the role of Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, a film that was widely acclaimed by music and film critics alike. The New York Times calls his portrayal “ the most dramatically satisfying vocal characterization” in the film. Mr. Troxell can also be seen on the recently released Decca Classics label DVD as Prunier in the celebrated Marta Domingo production of La Rondine (Washington Opera; TV PBS) as well as Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac which Opera News hailed as “a fine production.” Mr. Troxell’s latest engagements in 2009-2010 include Carmen (Don José) at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing (directed by Francesca Zambello) and a concert version with the Orlando Philharmonic, as well as Handel's Messiah (tenor soloist) Pittsburgh Symphony, Manon (role début Des Grieux) for Calgary Opera, Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) for Theater Basel, Carmen (Don José) for Opera Australia performed in Taipei, Taiwan, and Rigoletto (the Duke of Mantua) for Portland Opera. For Opera Lyra, he was Lenski in Eugene Onegin, and he reprised the title role in Zampa for Opéra Comique.

Sari Gruber as Musetta (Opera Colorado debut)
Hailed as “nothing short of sensational” by Opera Magazine and “a real creature of the stage” by Opera News, soprano Sari Gruber’s exciting and moving performances have firmly established her as one of today’s most sought-after artists on the international stage. In opera, she has garnered praise for her “shining soprano and vibrant presence” (Opera News), her “direct musicality” (New York Times), as well as her “detailed, charming, resourceful and sympathetic” characterizations (Boston Herald). Sari Gruber’s engagements for the 2009-10 included her return to Austin Lyric Opera as Musetta in La Bohème and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Pittsburgh Opera. Her 2008-09 season featured her debut with Arizona Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni; a return to New York Festival of Song in “A Bernstein and Bolcom Celebration;” performances of Handel's Messiah with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra; a concert of Bernstein music at the Gaelen Center for the Performing Arts; an appearance as featured soloist with the Grand Tour Orchestra in a scene from Telemann’s dramatic cantata, Ino, and the North American premiere of two works for soprano and strings by Baldassare Galuppi.

Morgan Smith as Marcello (Opera Colorado debut)
Mr. Smith made his professional debut in 2001 at the Seattle Opera singing the role of Donald in Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd. He has become known for the musical versatility, athleticism and dramatic intensity that he brings to his performances. Smith has performed with numerous opera companies and symphonies across North America, and has been heard in a number of roles at the Seattle Opera, including the title role in Don Giovanni, Silvio in I Pagliacci, Riccardo in I Puritani, and Peter Niles in Mourning Becomes Electra. Opera News praised his portrayal of Silvio in Seattle: "Nuccia Focile's duet with the Silvio of Morgan Smith was riveting. Smith has a delightfully easy-sounding baritone that on this occasion was charged with passion: Silvio's ardor provided extraordinary relief amid the rest of the opera's meanness and misery. He almost stole the show." During the 2009 -2010 season, Smith made his European debut at Oper Leipzig, singing Rossini’s Figaro, Papageno, Marcello and Leandre in Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges. He created the role of Starbuck in the World Premiere of Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick with Dallas Opera, and will reprise the role at the San Diego Opera in 2012. He was also heard as Escamillo in Ft. Worth, Morales and Zuniga at LA Opera, and Germont and Papageno in Spokane and Skagit Valley, WA.

Elliot Madore as Schaunard (Opera Colorado debut)
A winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Canadian baritone Elliot Madore is already gaining international notoriety for his voice and artistry. He will be a member of the prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera for the 2010 – 2011 season. Mr. Madore was recently seen at the Tanglewood Music Festival as Harlekin and the Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos. Previously at Tanglewood, he was seen in the title role in Don Giovanni. While pursuing his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Madore was seen as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, as well the title role in Don Giovanni, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Sid in Albert Herring and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas.