Houston Grand Opera Presents Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos 4/29-5/10

Marvel at some of the most spectacular coloratura arias in the repertoire when Houston Grand Opera presents Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, April 29 - May 10, 2011, featuring three glamorous and acclaimed sopranos; Christine Goerke (Prima Donna / Ariadne) Susan Graham (Composer) and Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta).

All of the major principal roles demand singers of the highest caliber and HGO has assembled a cast which is second to none. Susan Graham, one of the world's leading mezzo sopranos, returns to HGO to perform the role of the Composer. This role has become a signature calling card for Graham with many invitations from opera houses around the world. American soprano, Christine Goerke, who performed Ortrud in Lohengrin last season, performs the role of Ariadne, while soprano Laura Claycomb, recently seen as Tytania in HGO's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, performs Zerbinetta. Tenor Alexey Dolgov returns to HGO as Bacchus, after singing Cavaradossi in last season's production of Puccini's Tosca.

The ravishing score will be conducted by HGO Music Director, Patrick Summers and this sparkling production is designed and directed by legendary opera director, John Cox.

This seldom-produced gem of the repertoire offers much for lovers of both music and theatre. Premiered in 1916, Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera about an opera and takes place at the home of the richest man in Vienna. To entertain his guests, he has invited a commedia dell'arte group and an opera company- who will perform a serious opera, Ariadne on Naxos. However, he decrees the fireworks for his party should begin at 9 o'clock, which means the companies must perform simultaneously.

At first, everyone complains and bickers. The comedians' relaxed 'the show must go on' approach in the face of the 'prima-donna' behavior of the opera company is, though, matched by their humanity when they hear of Ariadne's heartbreak over Theseus. Through Strauss' soaring music and Hofmannsthal's witty and intelligent libretto, the message becomes clear; love is the great common denominator.

Ariadne auf Naxos is the second opera in HGO's planned multi-year exploration of the German repertory, following Wagner's Lohengrin in 2009/10 season. German masterworks by Wagner, Beethoven and Strauss represent some of the greatest challenges an opera company can undertake. Under HGO Music Director, Patrick Summers, the musical forces of Houston Grand Opera have the skill and virtuosity to do justice to these demanding operas. Maestro Summers said, "Ariadne auf Naxos is a wonderfully paradoxical work: it is of immense difficulty on every level, vocal, orchestral, linguistic, philosophical, dramatic, and narratively - yet it is also such an enjoyable delight, easy on the ear and eye, thoroughly entertaining and, to me, deeply touching. I'm so happy that Houston Grand Opera is facing its challenges with such a divine cast and an orchestra now up to the task."

"Director John Cox ... has knit the entire Ariadne production together seamlessly, bringing out the dichotomous nature of the theme with subtlety and finesse." -Culture Vulture

BIOGRAPHIES:

CHRISTINE GOERKE, recipient of the 2001 Richard Tucker Award, has established an outstanding reputation with many of the world's leading opera houses and orchestras,not only for her beautiful soprano voice, but her outstanding dramatic and comedic abilities. Ms Goerke created a sensation with critics and the public alike as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus for her San Francisco Opera debut. Noting the agile richness and size of her soprano, one critic simply wrote, "Ecco la Brunnhilde." A busy opera season for Christine Goerke in the 09-2010 season included Wagner's Lohengrin, performing the role of Ortrud under Patrick Summers at Houston Grand Opera, and covering the roles of Chrysotemis and Ariadne in Strauss' Elektra and Adriadne auf Naxos, respectively, at The Metropolitan Opera. Symphony appearances included a return to Japan's Saito-Kinen festival under Seiji Ozawa performing Britten's War Requiem and the St. Louis Symphony under Robert Spano, singing Vaughan-Williams' A Sea Symphony. Ms. Goerke's recording of Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Classical Recording and Best Choral Performance.. Other recordings include the title role of Iphigenie in Iphigenie en Tauride for Telarc and the Britten War Requiem, which won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.

"Christine Goerke...steals the show. Her stage presence and vocal charisma are so strong...breathtaking and memorable."
Concerto.net

Susan Graham, one of the world's foremost stars of opera and recital, is a compelling and versatile singing actress. At home and abroad, mezzo-soprano Graham has sung leading roles from the 17th to 20th centuries in the great opera houses of the world, including Milan's La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Dresden's Semperoper, and the Salzburg Festival, and she has appeared with most of the world's leading conductors and orchestras. Dubbed "America's favorite mezzo" by Gramophone magazine, Grammy Award-winning Graham captivates audiences with her expressive voice, tall and graceful stature, and engaging acting ability in both comedy and tragedy. Graham, a leading participant in the international Christoph Willibald Gluck opera revival, has sung the title role of Iphigénie en Tauride in a new production staged for her by the Metropolitan Opera, and at Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. The Chicago Tribune wrote: "Graham put her own stamp on the part, bringing both nobility and vibrant vocal beauty to her affecting performance." Born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, Graham studied at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music, which also awarded her an honorary Doctor of Music in 2008. She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Schwabacher Award from San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program, as well as a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. Graham was Musical America's 2004 Vocalist of the Year and, in 2006, her hometown of Midland, Texas, declared September 5 "Susan Graham Day" in perpetuity.

"Graham's mezzo-soprano is a voice without regrets, healthy, rounded, ineffably musical, and eager for a challenge."

New Yorker

LAURA CLAYCOMB, a native Texan, Ms. Claycomb garnered critical acclaim last season as Romilda in the HGO production of Handel's Xerxes. She has also appeared as Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (2009), Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto (2001), Cleopatra in Handel's Julius Caesar (2003) and in the Donizetti roles of Marie in The Daughter of the Regiment (2007) and the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor (2003). A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, she has appeared as Ginevra in Handel's Ariodante in Paris and Munich, Cunegonde in Bernstein'sCandide with Opera Pacific, Konstanze in Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio at both Berlin State Opera and Flemish Opera and Olympia in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann and the title role of Handel's Semele at Flemish Opera. She recently sang Gilda in Rigoletto (Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi in Salerno, Italy and the Dallas Opera) and in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor (Pittsburgh Opera). Her upcoming engagements include Dircé in Cherubini's Medée at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Belgium, Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio at Geneva Opera, and the soprano solo in Mahler's Second and Fourth Symphonies on European Tour with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony (Smetana Hall, Prague; the Vienna Concert House; Salle Pleyel, Paris; and the Coliseu in Lisbon).

Laura Claycomb's high notes were her glory ..... and the vivacious soprano floated many ethereal pianissimo phrases in

her first-ever Romilda." -William Albright, Opera, September 2010

ALEXEY DOLGOV, Tenor Alexey Dolgov sang Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca in HGO's 2009-2010 season. He made his HGO debut in Puccini's La bohème in 2008, singing Rodolfo. A principal at the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre (SND), he appears there regularly in leading Russian roles, as well as in heroic lead tenor roles from the Italian bel canto and verismo repertoire. United States credits include the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at Washington National Opera, Aldredo Germont in Verdi's La traviata at Los Angeles Opera. He has also sung Alfredo Germont in Salerno, Italy, and has appeared at the Teatro alla Scala as Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Credits at SND include Sergey in Shostokovich's Moskva Cheryomushki, Rodolfo in La boheme, Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoore, Ferrando in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Nemorino in The Elixir of Love. An alumnus of the New Siberia State Conservatory, he completed his studies at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow.

PATRICK SUMMERS Conductor
Mr. and Mrs. Albert B. Alkek Music Director Chair

Patrick Summers is Music Director of Houston Grand Opera. Earlier this season he conducted Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Britten's Peter Grimes and the Houston premiere of Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally. Next season at HGO, he will conduct Verdi's La Traviata and Don Carlos, Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and Donizetti's Mary Stuart. Following his acclaimed company debut in 1999 conducting La Traviata, Maestro Summers has conducted more than thirty operas at HGO, including the world premieres of Brief Encounter by André Previn and John Caird; The Refuge by Christopher Theofanidis; Three Decembers by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer; Cold Sassy Tree by Carlisle Floyd; and Resurrection by Tod Machover. Maestro Summers recently conducted the world premieres of Moravec's The Letter at the Santa Fe Opera and Heggie's Moby-Dick at the Dallas Opera. He has conducted numerous productions at the Metropolitan Opera, including Madame Butterfly, Richard Strauss's Salome, Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. He is principal guest conductor at San Francisco Opera, where next fall he will conduct Handel's Xerxes and the world premiere of The Heart of a Soldier by Christopher Theofanidis. A guest artist at Opera Australia for fifteen years, he returns to that company this summer to conduct both Richard Strauss's Capriccio and Floyd's Of Mice and Men. Maestro Summers led the Orchestra of Saint Luke's on Renée Fleming's Grammy Award - winning solo recording Bel Canto, available from Decca, and conducts the HGO premiere of Brief Encounter by André Previn and John Caird, available this spring from Deutsche Grammophon.

JOHN COX Director
Internationally acclaimed director John Cox made his HGO debut with Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier in 1975; his other HGO credits include Richard Strauss's Arabella and Rossini's Tancredi. He recently directed Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at Garsington Opera, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at Glyndebourne, Mozart's Così fan tutte at London's Royal Academy of Music and the Dallas Opera and Massenet's Thaïs at the Metropolitan Opera. His productions have been seen at the world's leading opera houses and he has enjoyed long-standing collaborations with the Opera of Monte Carlo, San Francisco Opera, Opera Australia and Garsington Opera. He has served as general administrator and artistic director at Scottish Opera, and principal stage director at Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Among his many notable credits are Puccini's Tosca at the Royal Opera, Verdi's La traviata at the Salzburg Festival and Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten at Los Angeles Opera. Mr. Cox will direct Richard Strauss's Capriccio for Opera Australia this season and Ariadne auf Naxos at Lyric Opera of Chicago next season.

Many of the opera's important supporting roles will be sung by HGO Studio artists.

Cast
Susan Graham, Composer, Patrick Summers, Conductor
Laura Claycomb, Zerbinetta John Cox, Director
Christine Goerke, Ariadne Robert Perdziola, Set and Costume Designer
Alexey Dolgov, Bacchus
John Fanning, Music Master
Rodell Rosel, Dancing Master
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Richard Bado, Chorus Master

DATES: April 29, May 4, 7, 10 7:30pm.
May 1 2:00pm.
DURATION: 2 hours, 35 minutes including 1 intermission
VENUE: Wortham Theater Center's Brown Theater, Texas Avenue at Smith Street, Houston, Texas. 713-228-6737
LANGUAGE: Sung in German with projectEd English translations
TICKETS: Single tickets for Ariadne auf Naxos are on sale now and start at $24
For tickets and general information,go to: http://www.houstongrandopera.org/1011season
or call 713-228-6737 or 1-(800)-626-7372

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