Mardi Byers to Perform Dual Roles for Dallas Opera
By: Tyler Peterson Feb. 25, 2014
The Dallas Opera has announced a cast change for the third production of the company's 2013-2014 "By Love Transformed" Season, Erich Wolfgang Korngold's late-Romantic masterpiece, DIE TOTE STADT ("The Dead City").
DIE TOTE STADT will open on Friday, March 21, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in the Dallas Arts District.
Die tote Stadt features an extraordinary international ensemble cast that includes tenor Jay Hunter Morris in the role of Paul, fresh from his triumphs as Ahab in the San Francisco Opera revival of Moby-Dick and as Siegfried in the Met's new Ring Cycle, and critically acclaimed American soprano Mardi Byers as Marie/Marietta, replacing Danish soprano Ann Petersen who reluctantly withdrew from the production due to back problems.
Ms. Byers was praised by Opera News for her Bolshoi Theater performances as Marie in Wozzeck, "coloring phrases with a fine expressive sense;" and by The New York Times for her "memorable" characterization - "singing with a wealth of vocal colors." The Colorado-born soprano (who now resides in Switzerland) has a repertoire that includes Wagner, Verdi, Puccini and Richard Strauss - as well as Korngold. This production will mark Ms. Byers' TDO debut.
Before Alfred Hitchcock filmed the 1958 James Stewart / Kim Novak classic, "Vertigo," Erich Wolfgang Korngold created Die tote Stadt, the tale of one man's dark obsession with the woman he loved and lost. Dallas Morning News Classical Music Critic Scott Cantrell recently wrote "No opera ever composed has music more gorgeous, more sumptuous." This hauntingly beautiful Dallas Opera production was originally created for Royal Danish Opera by Mikael Melbye.
Production underwriters are Marnie and Kern Wildenthal.
DIE TOTE STADT will be sung in the original German with English language translations projected above the stage. Additional performances are planned for March 23(m), 26 and 29, concluding with a final Sunday afternoon matinee on April 6, 2014 in the magnificent Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Single tickets range from $19 to $250 (box seats may be higher for select performances).
Single tickets for The Dallas Opera's 2013-2014 Season start at just $19 and are available by visiting www.dallasopera.org or by consulting with TDO's ticket office professionals at 214-443-1000.
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