Katya Kabanova Bios
KARITA MATTILA
(Katya)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Five roles since 1988-89, most recently title role/ Manon Lescaut (2005-06); title role/ Fidelio and Donna Anna/ Don Giovanni (both 2004-05).
Also this season: Kaija Saariaho’s Emilie du Châtelet, Opéra de Lyon (world premiere), Netherlands Opera; Tosca, Metropolitan Opera, Munich Opera Festival.
“Janáˇcek’s combination of words and music is so organic,” says the Finnish soprano. She relishes “the colors and the freedom, his total desire to get singers to express the story, to take musical liberties to make the text very alive. He encouraged singers not to be too strict with the rhythms he’d written, but to follow the rhythm of the language, the coloring of expression, to feel the freedom. I love the fact that Janáˇcek was fascinated by stories of different kinds of women, who are remarkable because they’re very special from within.” Mattila has triumphed as Katya in San Francisco,Madrid, and at the Metropolitan Opera. Among her other Met successes are Elsa, Tatyana, Jen°ufa, and the title roles of new productions of Fidelio, Salom e, and Tosca (the latter opened the 2009-10 season). Mattila studied at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy with Liisa Linko-Malmio, and since 1984 her teacher has been Vera Rozsa. Having made her initial impact internationally in Mozart (Lyric, Met, Munich, Paris, Covent Garden), she is now celebrated for a notably wide repertoire. Exemplifying her versatility are recent performances in Fidelio (Barcelona, London, Paris), Jen°ufa (Los Angeles), Manon Lescaut (San Francisco), and Arabella (Paris). Mattila’s collaborations with major stage directors include Luc Bondy’s Don Carlos (Paris, London, Edinburgh) and Tosca (New York); Lev Dodin’s Salome (Paris), Elektra (Salzburg), and The Queen of Spades (Paris); and Robert Wilson’s Lohengrin (Met). A Grammy winner for Die Meistersinger and Jen°ufa, Mattila has also recorded Mozart, Weber, and Verdi operas; 11 solo discs; and DVDs of Fidelio (from the Met) and Don Carlos (from the Châtelet in Paris).
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JUDITH FORST
(Kabanicha)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Herodias/ Salome (2006-07).
Also this season: The Turn of the Screw, The Queen of Spades, Houston Grand Opera.
“You have to be careful with these largerthan-life characters,” says the Canadian mezzo-soprano, “or they become cartoons. Kabanicha is an overprotective, over-involved mother who wants what she wants from a daughter-in-law who shows signs of independence. Kabanicha is all about show – the familymust look like the pillars of society. But something is going on between her and Dikoj; their short scene shows another side of Kabanicha and helps you build her. Because the opera moves so quickly, relationships have to be set up very cleanly and clearly.” In recent years Forst has earned great acclaim as Janáˇcek’s Kabanicha (La Scala, Met, Santa Fe) and Kostelniˇcka/ Jen°ufa (Met, Prague Cincinnati, Vancouver, Montreal, Portland). Having begun her career in mezzo roles such as Octavian, Rosina, Cenerentola, Carmen, and certain soprano roles such as Donna Elvira and Marie/ Wozzeck throughout North America (including the Met, San Francisco, and Toronto), Forst is now celebrated as one of today’s foremost dramatic mezzos. Among other successes have been Herodias/ Salome (Lyric, San Francisco, Dallas, Ottawa, Vancouver), Klytämnestra/ Elektra (Vancouver, Santa Fe), Mme. de Croissy/ Dialogues des Carmélites (Vancouver, Amsterdam), Jocasta/ OedipusRex (Montreal), and such comic characters as Mme. de la Haltière/ Cendrillon (Santa Fe) and the Witch/ Hänsel und Gretel (Met, Arizona Opera, Milwaukee Symphony). Forst’s many world-premiere productions include Transit of Venus (Manitoba), The Golden Ass (Toronto), and both Dangerous Liaisons and A Streetcar Named Desire (San Francisco).
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BRANDON JOVANOVICH
(Boris)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: Jen°ufa, Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich); Carmen, Metropolitan Opera; Madama Butterfly, The Dallas Opera.
“I enjoy singing in Czech, which has a lot of open vowels you don’t necessarily have in French or German,” says the American tenor, whose recent successes in Czech roles include Števa/ Jen°ufa (Munich) and the Prince/ Rusalka (Glyndebourne). “ Katya Kabanova is steeped in tension, even though Janáˇcek’s style is generally so conversational. Boris reminds me of Pinkerton – ignorant of all that’s going on around him. He’s infatuated with Katya, but she’s emotionally unstable from the start, and he doesn’t want all that baggage. Despite his being the scoundrel of the piece, I don’t think it’s difficult to humanize him.” After earning his undergraduate degree in theater performance, Jovanovich participated in the Santa Fe and Seattle young-artist programs before ascending to international prominence. His successes range from Norma (Trieste), Carmen (Houston, Glyndebourne), and Cavalleria rusticana (Houston) to Peter Grimes (Naples) and Die Vögel (Los Angeles). The tenor’s challenging 20th-century roles also encompass Bocconion/ TheMines of Sulphur (Glimmerglass Opera, CD), Sergei/ Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Austin), Quint/ The Turn of the Screw (Athens), Bill/ Flight (American premiere, St. Louis), and Levin/ Anna Karenina (Miami world premiere, St. Louis reprise). Jovanovich has won praise in more familiar romantic leads in both opera – Hoffmann (La Scala), Turiddu (Dallas, Houston), Pinkerton (San Francisco, Stuttgart), Cavaradossi (Bordeaux, Seattle, Nice, Bregenz) – and operetta ( Candide, Naples). Jovanovich has received the Richard Tucker Award (2007) and the ARIA Award (2004).
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LIORA GRODNIKAITE
(Varvara)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: La traviata, Royal Opera House/Covent Garden in London and Tokyo; Faust, The Queen of Spades, Israeli Opera.
“Varvara seems to be a real flesh-and-blood woman,” says the Lithuanian mezzo-soprano, “which makes her interesting to me and, I think, to the audience as well. She can be sweet, feisty, obedient, naughty, compassionate, and courageous. She doesn’t give up. Hers is a tough life, but one feels she deserves better and wishes her success.” Grodnikaite studied at the Lithuanian Music Academy before continuing her training at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Opera North (New Hampshire) young-artist programs. She then joined Covent Garden’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme (“Extremely generous with quality and quantity of coaching, and the opera house was generous with its trust in young artists”). Her more than 15 Covent Garden roles include Varvara, Maddalena/ Rigoletto, Siébel, and Cherubino. Other London appearances include the heroines of La favorite and Cendrillon (ChelseaOpera Group). Grodnikaite has appeared with many eminent conductors, including Davis, Mackerras, Elder, Pappano, and Jurowski. Recent stage appearances include The Little Prince (Lithuanian National Opera), Charlotte/ Werther (Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra), Isaura/ Tancredi (Vienna’s Theater an der Wien), Carmen (Latvian National Opera and on tour toMoscow’s Bolshoi), Savitri (Brazilian Opera), Oedipus Rex (Brazilian Symphony Orchestra), Götterdämmerung (BBC Proms Concerts), and Bernstein’s Jeremiah (Bologna’s Teatro Comunale).
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GARRETT SORENSON
(Kudrjáš)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: Salome, San Francisco Opera; Carmen, Canadian Opera Company; Verdi Requiem, Alabama Symphony.
“Kudrjáš is a smart fellow,” says the Indianaborn tenor, “and I like him because he’s able to find joy in whatever circumstance he finds himself in. He’s a bit confused by Boris’s choices, but who isn’t confused sometimes by what their friends do? It’s interesting, with Kudrjaš and Varvara, to have an obvious contrast with the trapped existence of Boris and Katya.” Sorenson’s introduction to Janáˇcek came two seasons ago, when he sang The Diary of One Who Vanished with New York’s Gotham Chamber Opera.Major role debuts in recent seasons include Werther (Louisville – “It was wonderful to sing that role with my wife, Elizabeth Batton, as Charlotte”), the Duke of Mantua (Phoenix/Tucson), Lenski (Boston), Hoffmann (St. Louis), and – perhaps most significantly for Sorenson – Rodolfo (Houston): “I kept thinking about the iconic quality, the ‘Pavarotti-ness,’ of the first act of Bohème. For me, nothing else will ever be like singing my first Bohème performance.” Among Sorenson’s other successes have been La traviata (Boston) and Der Rosenkavalier (Los Angeles). He is an alumnus of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, where he has sung ten roles, among them Cassio/ Otello, Da-Ud/ Die ägyptische Helena, and Froh/ Das Rheingold. He has performed concerts with the major orchestras of New York, Boston, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Baltimore, and has been presented in recital by both the Marilyn Horne Foundation and the George London Foundation.
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ANDREW SHORE
(Dikoj)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Four roles since 2000-01, most recently Bartolo/ The Barber of Seville, title role/ Falstaff (both in 2007-08); Frank/ Die Fledermaus (2006-07).
Also this season: The Elixir of Love, English National Opera; L’heure espagnole, Royal Opera House/Covent Garden; Ring cycle, Bayreuth Festival.
“Dikoj would make an interesting Freudian study,” says the English baritone. “He bullies everyone, but he seems to need an outlet for his masochistic side. He finds it in his strangely dark relationship with Kabanicha. The erotic charge of their scene is rather coarse, contrasting with the innocent Kudrjaš/Varvara relationship and the passion of Boris and Katya.” Shore’s Czech repertoire also includes Krušina/ The Bartered Brid e (Glyndebourne) and two Janáˇcek roles: Kolenaty/ The Makropulos Affair (“The character with possibly the largest number of words per bar to sing in any opera!”) at Glyndebourne and Shishkov/ From the House of the Dead (English National Opera). The summer of 2009 was Shore’s fourth at Bayreuth as Alberich (now on CD), one of his English National Opera roles. The baritone’s versatility encompasses both Wozzeck (Opera North) and Falstaff (Lyric, Glyndebourne, ENO, Opera North, Berlin, Santa Fe). Last season with the opera companies of Luxemburg, Amsterdam, and Brussels he sang the seven baritone roles in Britten’s Death in Venice. Shore’s many acclaimed appearances in comedy include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (La Scala), The Elixir of Love (Metropolitan Opera debut), The Merry Widow (Dallas), and Così fan tutte (ENO). He has also appeared at Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, and Scottish Opera. His Leandro/ The Love for Three Oranges, originally seen at Opera North, was reprised at the Edinburgh Festival, where he also sang Beckmesser. Shore has recorded Falstaff, Leporello, Bartolo ( Barber ), Dulcamara, Don Pasquale, and Wozzeck.
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JASON COLLINS
(Tichon)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, Radio Philharmonisch Orkest (Utrecht, Netherlands); Messiah, National Symphony Orchestra; Idomeneo, Teatro Comunale (Bologna).
“Tichon isn’t a bad person,” says the South Carolina-born tenor. “He’s just been beaten down by Kabanicha, his mother. After she insists that he order Katya not to look at young men, he asks Katya, ‘Are you mad at me?’ It’s actually a very tender moment. And then, at the end, when he stands up to Kabanicha, it’s heroic, and you see this man come out of himself – he’s finally telling his mother to let go.” Collins previously appeared in Chicago asGiove/ Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and in the title role/Kurka’s The Good Soldier Schweik, both with Chicago Opera Theater. The versatile tenor has won successes in Wagner as Froh/ Das Rheingold (San Francisco) and in The Flying Dutchman as both Erik (Arizona Opera) and the Steersman (Seattle Opera). He also sings Russian works (Lenski/ Eugene Onegin, Louisville; Zinozy/ Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Austin), French (Chevalier/ Dialogues of the Carmelites, Glimmerglass Opera) and 20thcentury English-language repertoire (Quint/ The Turn of the Screw, Pittsburgh Opera Center; Drum Major/ Wozzeck, Kimmel Center and the title role/ The Rake’s Progress, Philadelphia – “That was both a lot of fun and one of the hardest pieces I ever learned!”). He has appeared in concert with the major orchestras of Washington, Pittsburgh, and San Diego. Collins is an alumnus of The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Pittsburgh Opera Center. Among his many awards is the RichardTucker Foundation’s coveted Career Grant.
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KATHRYN LEEMHUIS
(Glaša)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Giovanna/ Ernani (2009-10); Lady Artisan /Lulu, Javotte/ Manon (both 2008-09).
Also this season: Mosè in Egitto, Chicago Opera Theater; Candide, Ravinia Festival.
The Ohio-born mezzo-soprano, a second year Ryan Opera Center member, greatly enjoyed performing in Manon last season: “Natalie Dessay and Jonas Kaufmann had a particular wisdom onstage. Their singing was great, of course, but I was also so impressed with their acting. All of us in the Ryan Opera Center were overwhelmed by them. And in Lulu, Marlis Petersen was a great colleague – so sweet and, like Jonas and Natalie, a normal human being, totally cool and down to earth. Those three, and also Frank Lopardo in Madama Butterfly, showed me that no matter if you’re tired or stressed out, you always need to be considerate to all your colleagues.” Leemhuis has appeared as Dido/ Dido and Aeneas (Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires); Hermia/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Dorabella/ Così fan tutte (Tanglewood); Flora/ La traviata (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Third Maid/ Elektra ( Cleveland Orchestra); Hansel/ Hansel and Gretel and Tulip/Bolcom’s A Wedding (Indiana University); Cherubino/ The Marriage of Figaro (Oberlin); and concerts with the Carmel Bach Festival and the Marilyn Horne Foundation’s “The Song Continues” Festival (Carnegie Hall). Leemhuis is a former first-place winner in the Irma Cooper Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition and a former regional winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Kathryn Leemhuis is sponsored by Anne Gross and Robert C. Marks.
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PAUL LA ROSA
(Kuligin)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: The Merry Widow , Lyric Opera.
Born and raised in New Jersey, the baritone is a first-year Ryan Opera Center member: “I feel fortunate in continuing my training here at the highest level I can imagine. I want to work consistently, grounding my technique in as sound a foundation as possible. My goal at the moment is to keep singing healthily and lyrically, with Mozart and bel canto as my current repertoire.” A double major in philosophy and English at Williams College, La Rosa had planned to enter Boston University’s master’s program in philosophy (“I still read Hegel and the 19th-century German idealists, also Kant, Heidegger, and a lot of Aristotle”). After participating in Berkshire Opera’s resident-artist program he entered Juilliard, earning a master’s degree and artist diploma while performing with the Juilliard Opera Center as Raimbaud/ Le Comte Ory, Adam/Krenek’s Die Ehre der Nation, the Black Cat/ L’enfant et les sortilèges, Ford/ Falstaff, and Rambo/John Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer (the composer conducting). La Rosa was a 2008 Young Artist at Glimmerglass Opera, singing Curio/ Giulio Cesare. Previously he participated in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, singing Dandini/ La Cenerentola. La Rosa has performed in four New York Festival of Song/Juilliard collaborations and for Virginia’s Chateauville Foundation (Junius/ The Rape of Lucretia under Maazel). Paul La Rosa is sponsored by Donna Van Eekeren .
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AMBER WAGNER
(Fekluša)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Kate Pinkerton/ Madama Buttterfly (2008-09); Annina/ La traviata, Unborn Child/ Die Frau ohne Schatten (both 2007-08).
Also this season: Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Oregon Symphony Orchestra (Portland).
The California-born soprano, a third-year Ryan Opera Center member, met some significant challenges in 2008-09 at Lyric: “I was able to cover Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde and Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. Santuzza was all-out singing and a lot of fun. I loved Brangäne, and I have to credit Eric Weimer of Lyric’s musical staff for that – he’san amazing coach and prepared me very well. I wasn’t involved in Lyric’s Lulu last season, but Marlis Petersen’s singing and acting blew me away.” Singing Ariadne’s aria for Deborah Voigt was another highlight (“She talked a lot about the problem of getting so wordy that you forget the Strauss line”). Wagner earned critical praise in the 2008 “Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park” concert. She is a former winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals and appears in the Met’s full-length documentary “The Audition.” She has also won awards from the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, the Loren L. Zachary Vocal Competition, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition (Arizona Chapter). Wagner is an alumna of Arizona’s Grand Canyon University, where she sang Barber’s Vanessa and Mozart’s Countess. She has traveled throughout the Southwest with the Metropolitan Opera Showcase. Amber Wagner is sponsored by The Pauls Foundation.
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MARKUS STENZ
(Conductor)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: Concerts with the major orchestras of Chicago, Amsterdam, Manchester, Cologne; Die Meistersinger, Ring cycle, Cologne Opera.
“It’s hard to think of a more opulent score in Janáˇcek,” says the renowned German conductor. “The Act Two love scene is ravishingly beautiful! As Katya liberates herself and allows herself to fantasize, to live and to love, the orchestra sings along. It’s mesmerizing to hear the orchestra display the full splendor and color of Katya’s inner life and the subtexts of everything happening onstage.” Cologne’s general music director, Stenz is principal conductor of the city’s 150-year-old Gürzenich Orchestra for both concerts and Cologne Opera performances. The former include an ongoing Mahler cycle: “The Fifth Symphony, our signature score, was written for the orchestra, with whom Mahler premiered it in 1904. It was a wonderful starting point for playing the whole cycle and recording it.” Last year Stenz toured China with the Gürzenich and led its BBC Proms debut. Besides Cologne Opera (where Katya Kabanova and Jen°ufa figure in his extensive repertoire), Stenz has conducted at Glyndebourne, English National Opera, and the Brussels, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt opera companies. Closely associated with Henze’s stage works, he debuted in opera with Elegy for Young Lovers (Venice), subsequently leading world premieres of Das verratene Meer (Deutsche Oper Berlin; Italian premiere, La Scala; American premiere, San Francisco), Venus und Adonis (Munich) and L’Upupa (Salzburg, DVD). Currently the Hallé Orchestra’s principal guest conductor, Stenz was previously principal conductor of the London Sinfonietta and artistic director/chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony. He has been highly successful with the major orchestras of Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin,Munich, Leipzig, Zurich, and Vienna, among many others) and America (Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Minnesota, Dallas).
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JONATHAN MILLER
(Original Production)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: Oedipus Rex, Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg); Così fan tutte, Royal Opera House/Covent Garden; La clemenza di Tito, Zurich Opernhaus.
This production marked the English director’s debut at the Metropolitan Opera (1991), where his other successes include Pelléas et Mélisande, The Rake’s Progress, and The Marriage of Figaro. Trained as a physician, Miller also acted while at Cambridge University, eventually earning wide attention in the early 1960s in Britain and on Broadway in the revue Beyond the Fringe. In 1966 he wrote, produced, and directed Alice in Wonderland for the BBC. A high point of his early years as a theater director was The Merchant of Venice, starring Laurence Olivier, in London’s West End. Miller began in opera in the mid-1970s with productions for Kent Opera, Glyndebourne, and English National Opera. His productions are regularly seen at both ENO and Covent Garden, as well as in other major European houses, including recently Zurich ( Nabucco ), Amsterdam ( Dido and Aeneas ), Genoa ( La bohème ) and Munich ( I puritani ). In America he has enjoyed a close association with Glimmerglass Opera, where his productions of La traviata and Dido and Aeneas were seen earlier this year. ENO’s Rigoletto and The Mikado are part of Miller’s large videography, which also includes six plays for the BBC’s Shakespeare series and five television series written and presented by Miller himself: The Body in Question (1978), States of Mind (1983), Madness (1991), Jonathan Miller on Reflection (1998), and Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief (2004).Miller was knighted in 2002.
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PAULA WILLIAMS
(Stage Director)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Andrea Chénier (1995-96).
Also this season: Falstaff, Pittsburgh Opera.
“Janáˇcek is fabulous,” declares the American stage director. “His operas are very dramaturgically tight, with music and text extremely codependent, the intention being that the words be understood. My initial response to Katya was that it was much more immediate, in terms of the dramatic/psychological situation, than a lot of other operas. Jonathan Miller’s priority was to present the story as if in everyday life, when you’re sitting and doing something it’s just happening, even though there might be a million things going on in your mind. He wanted it to be very clean, not muddled with interpretations that would be laid over the story.” Williams has taken charge of Metropolitan Opera revivals of Katya Kabanova, Pelléas et Mélisande, and Tosca. She first directed at the Metropolitan Opera House with the Kirov Opera Festival’s Ruslan and Lyudmila, one of numerous works she has directed for San Francisco Opera. Other SFO productions include Aida, Andrea Chénier, La Cenerentola, La traviata, and The Magic Flute. Her recent engagements include Susannah (Arizona Opera), Tosca (Pittsburgh Opera), Don Giovanni (University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music), and The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Theater and Music Festival of Lucca). Other career highlights include The Barber of Seville (Pittsburgh Opera), and another production of The Marriage of Figaro (this one for UCC-CM, for which she received the National Opera Institute’s Best Opera award). Her work has also been seen at Hawaii Opera Theatre, Skylight Opera Theatre, Utah Opera, Edmonton Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera.
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ROBERT ISRAEL
(Set and Costume Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Fidelio (2004-05); Pelléas et Mélisande (1992-93); Satyagraha (1987-88).
The American designer, an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has been closely associated with major opera and theater companies worldwide for more than three decades. His Katya Kabanova designs were created for the Metropolitan Opera, where he has also designed Wozzeck, Fidelio, and the world premiere of Philip Glass’s The Voyage. His operatic work includes productions for the Vienna Staatsoper, London’s English National Opera, and the major houses of Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich, and Tokyo. Israel has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and an Obie Award. His designs for Satyagraha (one of four Glass world premieres designed by Israel) are part of the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Among the distinguished theaters where he has designed are London’s Royal National Theatre, Baltimore’s Center Stage, and the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Israel’s work has been exhibited at numerous museums and galleries, including the Whitney Museum and the Milwaukee Art Center. With landscape architects Kathryn Gustafson and Piet Oudolf, Israel designed the Lurie Garden of Chicago’s Millennium Park.
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DUANE SCHULER
(Lighting Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: More than 125 productions since 1977, most recently Ernani (2009-10); Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci, Tristan und Isolde (both 2008-09).
Also this season: The Marriage of Figaro, Lyric Opera; Lulu, La Scala; Elektra, Salzburg Festival.
“This production demands that a very severe look be maintained for each scene,” says the American lighting designer. “The set presents stark architectural shapes of buildings that suggest – but don’t try to fully realize – the world of the opera. The lighting gives you a very clear sense of source and direction. The shadows are long, and they’re single shadows as much as possible. There isn’t a lot of cueing; many operas have multiple internal cues that change the mood during a scene – the look here is very distinct and is in place for the entire scene. It is intended to feel relentless. This is definitely an actor’s opera.” Schuler’s work has been seen frequently in Europe, including recently Lyon ( Lulu, The Queen of Spades ), Baden-Baden ( Tannhäuser ), and Salzburg ( Benvenuto Cellini ). He has designed for Covent Garden, La Scala, and the major companies of Dresden, Vienna, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. Among Schuler’s 23 Metropolitan Opera productions are the recent Thaïs and La rondine, as well as the world premieres of The Great Gatsby and The First Emperor. Additional American opera credits include many productions in San Francisco (most recently Boris Godunov and Otello ), Santa Fe, Houston, and Los Angeles. Schuler has designed for American Ballet Theatre and the Stuttgart, Berlin, and Houston ballet companies. His theater credits include productions for theManhattan Theatre Club and the Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles). Schuler is a founding partner of Schuler Shook, a theater planning and architectural lighting design firm (Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas).
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DONALD NALLY
(Chorus Master)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Chorus master since 2007-08.
Upcoming: First season as music director of Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble; commissioned premieres of David Lang, Lansing McLoskey, and Paul Fowler with The Crossing, Philadelphia.
“In his wisdom – and he had great wisdom – Janáˇcek writes virtually no chorus in Katya Kabanova,” says Lyric’s chorus master, “until we hear the voices of the river that will carry the heroine away from her misery. She hears them faintly at first, increasing as we see her develop the idea that will be her destiny. Are they getting closer, or is her fate becoming clearer? The voices are foreboding and inviting. Katya, and her opera, are destined to give in to them.” Nally is winner of the 2009 ASCAP/Chorus America National Award for Adventuresome Program with The Crossing, his Philadelphia-based professional chamber choir that specializes in new music (their much-acclaimed recording of Kile Smith’s Vespers was released last April). Former chorus master of Welsh National Opera, Nally conducted that company on tour in major cities throughout England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. While in the U.K., Nally often guest-conducted London’s Philharmonia Chorus and collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru of Wales, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Nally was previously based in Philadelphia as chorus master at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, director of music at Saint Mark’s Church, and artistic director of the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia.He also collaborated regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet. Nally was for many years chorus master at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.
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YVETA SYNEK GRAFF
(Diction Coach)
Previously at Lyric Opera: The Cunning Little Vixen (2004-05); Jen°ufa (2000-01); The Makropulos Affair (1995-96).
A coach, lecturer, writer, and translator, the Prague native considers Katya Kabanova “Janáˇcek’s most melodic opera. More than in The Cunning Little Vixen, where there is so much fast talk, Katya has more chances to sail onto a high note or a pianissimo. The opera is an explosion of Janáˇcek’s love for Kamila Stösslová – so extraordinary that it almost kills any other expression of love I find in other composers! A remarkable scene occurs when Katya confides to Varvara everything going on inside her. She’s seemingly possessed by these feelings, although she’s talking mainly about finding relief from them.” Graff’s expertise as a coach has benefited the Metropolitan Opera’s Katya (its first opera in Czech), Jen°ufa, The Makropulos Affair; and several Rusalka revivals, most recently with Renée Fleming last season. Previously Graff coached Rusalka in Paris and for the Fleming/Mackerras recording. She prepared Karita Mattila’s Katya and Jen°ufa (both for the Met), Catherine Malfitano’s Kostelniˇcka/ Jen°ufa (Houston), and many other stars’ earliest experiences in Czech opera, including Sondra Radvanovsky, Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, Ben Heppner, and Sir Willard White. Graff has been associated with Covent Garden, Canadian Opera Company, and Seattle Opera; the New York Philharmonic; and the Italian and American Spoleto festivals. Her initial Jen°ufa in San Francisco marked that opera’s first American Czech language production. Graff’s translations with Robert T. Jones include Jen°ufa ( Met) and The Cunning Little Vixen (New York City Opera, also on CD in Covent Garden’s revival). She holds the Czech government’s Janáˇcek, Dvoˇrák, and Smetana medals.
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RICHARD JARVIE
(Wigmaster and Makeup Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Wigmaster and makeup designer since 2000-01; supervisor of the wig department and principal makeup artist, 1982-2000.
Also this season: The Magic Flute, Atlanta Opera; The Ghosts of Versail les, Northwestern University.
“My enthusiasm for Janáˇcek began with Lyric’s Jen°ufa in 2000,” says the company’s wigmaster and makeup designer. “It was so moving – I cried every night. The Janáˇcek operas are somehow so realistic for me emotionally. I’ve very much looked forward to Katya, although this production is fairly minimal in its approach to makeup. Of course, that creates its own challenge! The makeup has to achieve the effect of heightening the features so they can be seen without being obvious. It’s sort of an ‘anti-makeup’ opera, as opposed to our production of Janáˇcek’s Cunning Little Vixen, which was a ‘front-and-center’ makeup show.” Jarvie is also thrilled by the return to the company of Karita Mattila: “I remember all her Lyric performances so well. In Manon Lescaut we gave her three separate looks – things are much simpler in Katya!” Jarvie was wigmaster and makeup designer for Chicago Shakespeare Theater from 1989 to 2000. He has previously served as wigmaster for Minneapolis’s Tyrone Guthrie Theater and wig/makeup supervisor for the Thomas Patterson Theatre of the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. He currently teaches at both Northwestern University and DePaul University.
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