Houston Grand Opera Presents Donizetti's Bel Canto Drama LA FAVORITE

"Secret love bound by silence." Once the most performed opera of its time, Donizetti's Bel Canto drama, La favorite, features some of the most challenging arias ever written. Woven into this now-rarely performed opera is a classic love triangle among a noblewoman, king and warrior. Set in early 14th century Spain, this triangle involves the King of Castile Alphonse XI, the beautiful Léonor and a novice monk, Fernand. In the background, the Moors have invaded Spain, and a power struggle has begun between church and state. Opera powerhouse and HGO Studio alumna Jamie Barton and international star Lawrence Brownlee return to Houston for this HGO premiere. World-renowned opera, film, theater and event director Kevin Newbury directs La favorite.

La favorite runs two hours and 50 minutes with one intermission and will be sung in French with English projections.

Internationally-known mezzo soprano Jamie Barton returns to Houston Grand Opera in the role of Léonor de Guzman, which she debuted at Teatro Real Madrid. She has won the Beverly Sills Artist Award and Richard Tucker Award, both Main and Song Prizes at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is a Grammy nominee. Barton has been described by The Guardian as "a great artist, no question, with an imperturbable steadiness of tone, and a nobility of utterance that invites comparison not so much with her contemporaries as with mid-20th century greats such as Kirsten Flagstad."

Named 2017 "Male Singer of the Year" by both the International Opera Awards and Bachtrack, American-born tenor Lawrence Brownlee has been hailed by The Guardian as "one of the world's leading Bel Canto stars." His voice has been praised by NPR as "an instrument of great beauty and expression...perfectly suited to the early nineteenth century operas of Rossini and Donizetti," ushering in "a new golden age in high male voices" (The New York Times). HGO roles include Nadir in The Pearl Fishers (2019); Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio (2017); Lindoro in The Italian Girl in Algiers (2012).

South African-born baritone Jacques Imbrailo assumes the role of Alphonse XI, while Argentinian bass baritone Federico De Michelis will sing Balthazar. Imbrailo's first major success was his performance as Billy Budd in Britten's opera at Glyndebourne in 2010, and he has since appeared on the great opera stages around the world. He has performed Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with the Welsh National Opera and at the Aalto Theatre in Essen, Germany, Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Scottish Opera, Così fan tutte and The Rape of Lucretia with Houston Grand Opera and Die Zauberflöte with the Welsh National Opera.

De Michelis, whom Opera News praised as "singing with a deep-voiced authority," is also a recent graduate of HGO's Studio program and was previously a member of the Opera Studio of Teatro Argentino de La Plata, and a student at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. This season, he will make a house and role debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni with Florida Grand Opera and as Colline in La Bohème with Seattle Opera. In the 2018-19 season, De Michelis appeared with HGO, first as Colline in La bohème, then as Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers.

Tenor Christopher Bozeka (Don Gaspar) is another HGO Studio alumnus and has been recognized for his "expressively captivating" performances as well as his "beautiful, piercing tone" (San Francisco Chronicle). This season, he also appears in HGO's Aida and Salome, sings Nadir in Bottesini's Ali Baba with Opera Southwest, and performs as soloist in concerts with Ars Lyrica Houston and Firelands Symphony Orchestra.

Soprano Elena Villalón as Inès was an Audience Choice Award winner in HGO's 2019 Concert of Arias and is an alumna of HGO's Young Artists Vocal Academy. Originally from Austin, she was also a winner of the 2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In the spring of 2019, Villalón has been a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and returned during this past summer as a soprano fellow.

Tickets range from $25 to $270. For more information and to buy tickets, visit HGO.org or call the box office at 713-228-6737.

To post a comment, you must register and login.