Opera Colorado - New Heights in Grand Opera

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The Artists

Conductor: Alexander Polianichko
Alexander Polianichko is a distinguished symphonic conductor who has held the positions of Principal Conductor of the Minsk Chamber Orchestra and Bournemouth Sinfonietta. He gained an extensive operatic repertoire at the Mariinsky but has also worked with major opera companies throughout the world including English National Opera (Eugene Onegin and Carmen), Welsh National Opera (Hansel und Gretel and Mazeppa), Norwegian Opera (La Bohème), Stuttgart Opera (Queen of Spades, Lady Macbeth of Mstensk, Tosca, Boris Godunov, Turandot, La Traviata), Deutsche Oper Berlin (La Traviata), Danish Royal Opera (Queen of Spades, Love of Three Oranges), Gothenberg Opera (Queen of Spades, Boris Godunov), La Scala (Khovanschina), Opera de Paris (Mavra, The Prodigal Son, Seven Deadly Sins) Royal Opera Covent Garden (Queen of Spades), San Francisco Opera (La Bohème, Cunning Little Vixen) and Opera Australia (Carmen). Future engagements include Welsh National Opera (Eugene Onegin) and Danish Royal Opera (Makropoulos Case). Highlights of the 2009-2010 season included performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the first-ever production of Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.


Director: Eric Simonson
The 2010-2011 Nathaniel Merrill Honorary Director is Eric Simonson, made possible by a generous gift from Pamela Merrill.
Writer and Director Eric Simonson directed The Grapes of Wrath for The Minnesota Opera, Utah Opera and Pittsburgh Opera. He also directed and produced the documentary film A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, which was nominated for an International Documentary Association Award and won an Academy Award. Mr. Simonson wrote and directed several works including Carter’s Way for Kansas City Rep and Ahab’s Tale for Milwaukee Rep, which was selected as one of the top ten productions of the year by Time magazine. He is a company member of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago where he directed Mother Courage, an adaptation of Slaughterhouse-5, Nomathemba (co-author) and The Song of Jacob Zulu (Tony Nomination, Perth Arts Festival). Other credits include Hamlet and adaptations of The Last Hurrah and Bang the Drum Slowly at The Huntington Theatre; Rusalka, La Bohème, Bok Choy Variations and The Magic Flute at The Minnesota Opera. Mr. Simonson’s first film, a documentary called Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom, received nominations for an Academy Award and Emmy, and the 2001 IDA Distinguished Achievement Award. Other film credits include Hamlet (co-directed with Campbell Scott) for Hallmark Entertainment and Topa Topa Bluffs. As an actor, Mr. Simonson appeared in the Chicago, London and Broadway productions of The Grapes of Wrath and on television on “Seinfeld,” “The Untouchables” and “The Ben Stiller Show.”


Kelly Kaduce as Rusalka
Kelly Kaduce is swiftly gaining national recognition for her “plangent, amber-toned soprano, glamour girl looks and artless, affecting dramatic style.” (Opera News) Ms. Kaduce has garnered thunderous praise for her star-making turn in David Carlson's Anna Karenina for Florida Grand Opera and Opera Theater of St. Louis. A live recording during its run at Opera Theater of St. Louis is now available on the Signum Classics label. Entertainment News averred, "In a career making role, Kelly Kaduce dominates the stage. With high notes that thrill and a creamy middle range, this gifted young soprano delivers vocal velvet. But she is also a great singing actress. Kaduce brings Anna’s passion and tragedy vividly alive. Her death scene weaves a dramatic display of vocal colors and intense theatricality. This is an authentically great performance." The Dallas Morning News stated, "Kelly Kaduce's performance in the title role is a tour de force. She captures Anna's every nuance, from frustrated propriety to foolhardy infatuation to morphine-fueled disintegration, all the while singing gloriously. " Ms. Kaduce's 2009-2010 season included a return to her signature role of Mimi in La Bohème with Portland Opera; her role debut of Nedda in I Pagliacci with Opera Omaha and Florida Grand Opera; the title role in Suor Angelica, also with Florida Grand Opera; Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Michigan Opera Theatre and the East Coast premiere of Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul with Opera Company of Philadelphia. She opened the Santa Fe Opera's 54th season in a new production of Madama Butterfly during the summer of 2010.


August Amonov as The Prince (Opera Colorado debut)
Tenor August Amonov has worked with such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Nikolai Nekrasov, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Arnold Katz, Mark Ermler and Fuat Mansurov. He has toured to China, Korea, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands (Concertgebouw), Finland (Mikkeli Festival), Denmark, Australia, France and the UK (Albert Hall, London). He performs internationally and is on the roster of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre. His extensive repertoire includes the Nose (The Nose), Pollione (Norma), Ismaele (Nabucco), Riccardo (Un ballo in maschera), Don Carlo (Don Carlo), Radames (Aida), Benvenuto Cellini (Benvenuto Cellini), Don José (Carmen), Samson (Samson et Dalila), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos), Sobinin (A Life for the Tsar), Prince Yuri (The Enchantress), Yaromir (Mlada), Prince Vsevolod Yurievich (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia.) Mr. Amonov sang the title role in Don Carlos at the Mariinsky Theatre with Olga Guryakova, Ekaterina Gubanova, Vassily Gerello and René Pape and conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev. He debuted as Siegmund in Die Walküre with the Mariinsky Theater at the Metropolitan Opera. He also made his debut as Otello with Maestro Gergiev and the Mariinsky at Kennedy Center, Washington DC.


Catherine Cook as Jezibaba (Opera Colorado debut)
A regular favorite with San Francisco Opera, she performed there as Arlene Kamen and Wang Tai Tai in Wallace's The Bonesetter's Daughter, and The Innkeeper in Boris Godunov. She also sang as soloist in Elijah at UC/Davis. Recent successes included Mother Goose in The Rake's Progress for San Francisco Opera, her debut with Houston Grand Opera, and as soloist in de Falla's Sombrero de tres picos with San Francisco Symphony. Ms. Cook has also been a frequent performer with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where her roles have included Auntie in Peter Grimes, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the Innkeeper in Boris Godunov. Her other operatic credits include further performances of Marcellina with Santa Fe Opera and Hawaii Opera Theatre, Fox Goldenstripe in The Cunning Little Vixen with both Portland Opera and Tulsa Opera, the Marchand in Les Mamelles de Tirésias with L'Opéra Français de New York, the Countess de Coigny and Madelon in Andrea Chénier with Florentine Opera, Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier with the Hong Kong Festival, Jezibaba in Rusalka with Marin Opera, and both Fata Morgana in The Love for Three Oranges and the Old Lady in Candide with Portland Opera.


Dana Beth Miller as The Foreign Princess (Opera Colorado debut)
Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "the evening's biggest find," and praised by both the New York Times for "wielding a rich, substantial voice, along with a winning stage presence," and the Boston Globe for having a "voice full of alluringly dark colorings," Dana Beth Miller has been engaged by the leading opera houses in the United States including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Portland Opera, and Cincinnati Opera, among many others. Engagements for the 2009-2010 season included her first Carmen at Boston Lyric Opera, the mezzo-soprano soloist in the world premiere of Cary Ratcliff's Ode to Common Things with the Austin Symphony, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Pensacola Opera, a return to Tulsa Opera for Dulcinee in Massenet's Don Quichotte, the roles of Olga and Pauline in A Russian Affair: Highlights from Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades with Sacramento Opera, and Maddalena in Rigoletto with San Antonio Opera. Future seasons include her debut with Opera Colorado as the Foreign Princess in Rusalka, Charlotte in Werther with Opera Cleveland, and a return to Seattle Opera for their production of Tannhäuser.



Stefan Szkafarowsky as The Water Sprite (Opera Colorado debut)
During the 2009-2010 season, Mr. Szkafarowsky made his debut with the Nashville Opera performing in their production of Tosca, where he sang both the roles of the Sacristan and Sciarrone. He also debuted at the Macau International Music Festival as Dr. Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera to take part in their new production of The Nose. Later in the year he made his debut at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland in their production of Tosca, performing the role of the Sacristan. Other recent credits include the Metropolitan Opera for their productions of La Gioconda and Eugene Onegin, West Palm Beach Opera Company’s La Bohème, Dayton Opera as Timur in Turandot, and he played both Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Kuno in Der Freischütz at Des Moines Metro Opera.