Tosca Bios

DEBORAH VOIGT

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Floria Tosca)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Six roles since 1993-94, most recently Isolde/Tristan und Isolde (2008-09); Empress/Die Frau ohne Schatten (2007-08); title role/Salome (2006-07).
Also this season: Elektra, Metropolitan Opera; Tristan und Isolde, Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona); La fanciulla del
West, San Francisco Opera.

The renowned American soprano finds Tosca best summed up in her aria, “where she is really kind of angry with God. I’m a person of faith, I have a relationship with God, and that’s an interesting moment for me to explore the questioning: ‘Why, when I’ve lived the way I think you want me to live – why am I in this situation?’ I tend to sing the end angry, not melancholic.” Voigt debuted in the role at Florida Grand Opera, directed by Renata Scotto: “She really brought the character out of me, encouraged me, and was so complimentary about my vocal mechanism, which was extremely flattering.” Voigt has reprised her portrayal of Puccini’s heroine at the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna Staatsoper. In 2008 she returned to the Opéra National de Paris as Amelia/Un ballo in maschera, one of her many roles at the Met, where she is a great favorite. She has won critical praise there as heroines of Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Ponchielli, and Strauss. A celebrated Straussian, Voigt recently sang the final scene of Salome at the Edinburgh Festival and London’s BBC “Proms” concerts. She has starred as Strauss’s Empress (Met, Covent Garden, Berlin, Dresden, CD); Ariadne (Lyric, Met, San Francisco, Vienna, Munich, London, CD); the Egyptian Helen (Met, CD); the Marschallin (Berlin, Vienna); and the title role/Die Liebe der Danae (Salzburg). Concert and recital venues recently graced by Voigt include New York’s Rose Theater, Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall and London’s Barbican Centre. Among her recorded roles are Gioconda (DVD), Isolde, Leonore, Senta, Cassandre/Les Troyens, and Rezia/Oberon (all on CD).

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VIOLETA URMANA

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Floria Tosca – Jan. dates)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season:  Tristan und Isolde, Vienna Staatsoper; Attila, Metropolitan Opera; Cavalleria rusticana, Hamburg Staatsoper.

“You need so many emotions, and you must control those emotions so well,” says the celebrated Lithuanian soprano of Tosca, in which she has starred at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Florence’s Maggio Musicale, Covent Garden, the Vienna Staatsoper, and Los Angeles Opera. “In everything Tosca says, she’s always expressing very real feelings. You can always discover something new in her. I know that when I’m preparing to sing Tosca, I’m very concentrated on what I will live onstage. Everything is always so dramatic, so you just have to be prepared psychologically within yourself.” Initially established internationally as a mezzo-soprano, Urmana debuted in soprano repertoire as Sieglinde (Bayreuth, 2001) and Gluck’s Aulide Iphigénie (La Scala, 2002). She is now renowned as Verdi’s Lady Macbeth (La Scala, Paris, London), Aida (La Scala), the Ballo Amelia (Florence, Madrid), Elisabetta (Turin, Met), and the Forza Leonora (Vienna, London, Munich, Florence). She has also triumphed as Norma (Dresden),  Maddalena/Andrea Chénier (Vienna, Met), Isolde (Rome, Japan on tour with the Opéra Bastille), Gioconda (London, Met, Madrid), Kundry/Parsifal (Barcelona, Berlin, Munich), and Ariadne (Met, Berlin).Her much-acclaimed recitals include recent appearances at Paris’s Salle Pleyel, Dresden’s Semperoper, and Vienna’s Konzerthaus. Urmana’s latest recordings include Strauss lieder and “Puccini Ritrovato” (with Plácido Domingo and the Vienna Philharmonic). She can be seen on DVD as Aida, Eboli, Santuzza, and Kundry (the latter in Tony Palmer’s film The Search for the Holy Grail).

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VLADIMIR GALOUZINE

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Mario Cavaradossi)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Four roles since 2000-01,most recently Canio/Pagliacci (2008-09); Calaf/Turandot (2006-07); Des Grieux/Manon Lescaut (2005-06).
Also this season: The Gambler, Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona); The Queen of Spades, Houston Grand Opera; Pagliacci, Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain).

Italian roles have brought the celebrated Russian tenor to many of the world’s leading theaters, including during the past two seasons Houston Grand Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Covent Garden, and the Royal Opera de Wallonie (Canio); Barcelona (Calaf); Paris and Geneva (Otello). His Otello has been acclaimed at the Metropolitan Opera, Paris, Vienna, and Brussels, his Calaf at France’s Chorégies d’Orange festival, and his Cavaradossi at Covent Garden. Galouzine is today’s most highly praised interpreter of Russian dramatic-tenor repertoire, including Sergei/Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Metropolitan Opera), Dmitri/Boris Godunov (Salzburg Festival), and Alexei/The Gambler (La Scala). He has set a new standard as Ghermann/The Queen of Spades, first heard at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater/Kirov Opera and reprised in ten other major theaters, including Lyric, Covent Garden (new production) and most recently in Monte Carlo, Paris, and Baden-Baden, the latter under Valéry Gergiev. Galouzine’s association with the Kirov has given him “great joy. The Kirov is an institution with an incomparable tradition,” he told Das Opernglas magazine, asserting that “the commitment and fantastic work there have given my career and my life their true meaning. The Kirov is one of the few houses with potential to present the Russian repertoire in such quantity. That doesn’t mean, of course, that this repertoire can’t be successful and performed elsewhere in a manner that is true to the work.” With Gergiev, “who invited me to the Kirov and forecast a promising future for me,” Galouzine has recorded six leading roles at the Mariinsky Theater.

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MARCO BERTI

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Cavaradossi – Jan. dates)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season:  Il trovatore, San Francisco Opera; Turandot, Teatro de la Maestranza (Seville); Il tabarro, Opéra National de Paris.

The Italian tenor has starred as Cavaradossi at the Metropolitan Opera (2005 opening-night
gala), Florence’s Teatro Comunale, and Vienna Staatsoper performances with Plácido Domingo conducting. He has also sung under Domingo at the Met (company debut as Pinkerton) and in the Verdi Requiem (Munich). Berti achieved his international breakthrough at the 1999 Edinburgh Festival as Macduff/Macbeth. He enjoys close associations with Covent Garden (Simon Boccanegra, new productions of Madama Butterfly and Carmen, role debut in Il trovatore), and the Verona Arena (his first Radames and Don José, the latter on DVD). Among other recent role debuts are Don Carlo (Athens), Calaf (Parma, reprised in Bilbao and Berlin), and Puccini’s Edgar (Torre del Lago). Berti’s many other successes in Verdi include Un ballo in maschera (Vienna), Simon Boccanegra (Houston), Aida (Met, Tokyo, Palermo), and Ernani (Turin, CD). He has recorded an acclaimed solo album, “Rare Verismo.” Berti first attracted attention winning the 1990 “Giacomantonio” competition at Cosenza: “It was a decisive year for my career, after so much studying,” he told the Fondazione dell’Arena di Verona. “That year initiated my first contacts with theaters and conductors. Along with the satisfactions came the sacrifices, and the need to keep studying. Every year, every season, every theater, every performance, involves new motivations. Each time I go onstage, I have intense feelings, because there I can always be myself, explaining what I feel and transmitting new emotions.”

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JAMES MORRIS

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Baron Scarpia)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Six roles since 1979, most recently Wotan/Ring cycle (2004-05, individual Ring operas in 2003-04, 2002-03); title role/Der fliegende Holländer (2000-01).
Also this season: Simon Boccanegra, Hamlet (both for “Live in HD” series), Lulu, all at the Metropolitan Opera.

“Scarpia is one of my favorite roles,” says the legendary American bass-baritone. “The Te Deum and the whole second-act scene with Tosca are vocally and dramatically very satisfying. I like to make him as multi-dimensional as I can. With Tosca he’ll be elegant and suave, but he’ll turn in a flash into a monster and then back again, always keeping her off guard. You’re dealing with real people and raw emotions, which is what makes it so interesting.” Morris has brought his Scarpia to San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna, Munich, Paris, and to the company where his career began, Baltimore Opera. Repertoire by Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Offenbach, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Mozart, Gounod, and Britten has brought Morris acclaim with virtually every leading opera company and orchestra worldwide. Acknowledged as his generation’s greatest Wotan, Morris has recorded the Ring twice and starred in it at the Met (most recently last season), in Vienna, Munich, Berlin, San Francisco, and many other major houses. Also long celebrated as the Dutchman, he made his eagerly awaited role debut as Hans Sachs in San Francisco (2001), later reprising that portrayal at the Met. Other engagements last season included Eugene Onegin (Met), Don Carlo (Cincinnati), Tosca (Paris), Die Meistersinger (Philadelphia Orchestra), Mahler’s 8th Symphony (San Francisco Symphony), Simon Boccanegra (Boston Symphony), and Dayton Opera’s Star Gala Recital Series. Morris has documented his art on DVD (Ring, Macbeth, Otello) and CD (operas of Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, and Strauss).

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LUCIO GALLO

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Scarpia – January dates)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Iago/Otello (2001-02); Ford/Falstaff (1999-00).
Also this season: L’elisir d’amore, Netherlands Opera; Der fliegende Holländer, Hamburg Staatsoper; Tosca, Deutsche Oper Berlin.

The Italian baritone has scored great successes as Scarpia at La Scala, Covent Garden, Vienna, and Dresden. His repertoire also encompasses Don Giovanni (Tokyo), Enrico/Lucia di Lammermoor (Vienna, Bologna), Escamillo (Met, Munich), Gérard (Zürich), and such dramatic Verdi roles as Macbeth (Berlin), Carlo/Ernani (Turin), Rigoletto (Dresden, Parma, Hong Kong), Boccanegra (Covent Garden), and Iago (Munich, Tokyo). Gallo has made a major impact in German roles, including Pizarro/Fidelio (Zürich, Barcelona), Telramund/Lohengrin (Bologna), Klingsor/Parsifal (Rome), Sebastiano/Tiefland (Frankfurt), and Wozzeck (Rome). A noted recitalist, he has also taught at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese and the Scuola Superiore “Hugo Wolf.” Gallo can be heard on CD in the complete songs of Respighi and on both CD and DVD in operas of Mozart, Piccinni, Donizetti, Rossini, and Puccini. After graduating from Turin’s Verdi Conservatory (where he studied with Elio Battaglia), the Taranto native triumphed internationally in Mozart and Rossini before moving into Verdi and Wagner. “I do between 42 and 50 performances a year – no more,” he told Opera magazine. “I need to stay at home for a month during the summer. I love the sea, and we have a house in Taranto. It’s not easy with a family, but when I sing in Europe they can come. When I’m in Japan or the United States, it’s more difficult. But my career is fantastic…I love the job. I am lucky to have these powerful vocal cords, and the people I’ve met have helped me to discover my talent more and more, and have given me the opportunity to do better.”

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DALE TRAVIS

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Sacristan)
Previously at Lyric Opera: 22 roles since 1994-95, most recently Benoit and Alcindoro/La bohème (2007-08); Marquis/Dialogues of the Carmelites (2006-07); Geronte/Manon Lescaut (2005-06).
Also this season: The Merry Widow, Lyric Opera; Albert Herring, Santa Fe Opera; The Makropulos Case, San Francisco Opera.

The American bass-baritone, who portrayed the Sacristan in Lyric’s two previous Toscas, considers it “an honor to follow in the footsteps of my most inspirational dramatic teacher, bass Italo Tajo. He sang this role here in three different seasons, and now I’m matching his record at Lyric! Maestro Tajo’s greatest lesson was that if you’re true to the composer’s genius, the drama will develop naturally. Puccini is a perfect fit for this technique. Not only is there a wealth of dramatic musical punctuation – he also notates and inscribes detailed directions, such as the physical ‘tic’ for the Sacristan.” Travis’s other Puccini credits include Geronte/Manon Lescaut (Houston, Met), his much-acclaimed Benoit and Alcindoro/La boheme (more than 30 performances at Lyric), and several roles in Gianni Schicchi at Lyric, San Francisco Opera, and the Met. Marking his 25th anniversary of singing professionally this season and with a vast repertoire of more than 50 roles, Travis is in demand at prestigious opera companies and festivals in America and abroad, including the major companies of Houston (Dulcamara, Grand Inquisitor, Zeta/The Merry Widow), Los Angeles (Bartolo/Barbiere, Bailli/Werther, Brétigny/Manon), Denver (Osmin, Don Alfonso, Rocco, Daland), Turin (Flint/Billy Budd), Genoa (Starek/Jen°ufa), Berlin (Don Alfonso), Tel Aviv (Don Pasquale), and Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival (Doctor/Wozzeck, Harasta/The Cunning Little Vixen). Travis is proudest of his wonderful artistic relationships with Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera (more than 25 roles since 1988), and Santa Fe Opera (12 roles since 1992).

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JOHN EASTERLIN

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Spoletta)
Previously at Lyric Opera : Five roles since 2001-02, most recently Hunchback Brother/Die Frau ohne Schatten (2007-08); Fourth Jew/Salome (2006-07); Curzio/The Marriage of Figaro (2003-04).
Also this season: Salome, Vienna Staatsoper; The Gambler, Royal Opera House/CoventGarden; Billy Budd, Opéra National de Paris (Opéra Bastille).

“Before Spoletta delivers his report to Scarpia, he says under his breath ‘God help me!’ That gives me a lot of information,” says the American character tenor. “Even though he’s mean and ruthless, there’s a part of him that’s running for his own life. His life and wellbeing are not guaranteed by working for Scarpia.” Easterlin returns to Lyric after debuting at Glimmerglass Opera as the Magician/The Consul, where he performed a record-breaking 40 tricks in the role. At the Metropolitan Opera he has appeared in Salome (debut 2004, seen on “Live on HD” 2008), Der Rosenkavalier, and The Gambler. In 2007, he portrayed Jack O’Brien/Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in his Los Angeles Opera debut (PBS telecast, DVD release, two Grammy Awards, Peabody Award, Emmy nomination). Additionally, he has also appeared at the New York City Opera and the major houses of San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, and Philadelphia, as well as at the Ravinia Festival and Spoleto USA. He debuted in Europe with the Opéra National de Paris in Die Frau ohne Schatten. Additional international debuts include Opéra de Québec (The Abduction from the Seraglio, Dora Maver Moore Award), the New Israeli Opera, (Ariadne auf Naxos), and Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival (Wozzeck). Easterlin eagerly anticipates his Vienna Staatsoper debut: “For my first time out as Herod, I feel honored that the Staatsoper has asked me to come and present this role in their acclaimed antiquity-set production.”

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DAVID CANGELOSI

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Spoletta – Jan. dates)
Previously at Lyric Opera: 23 roles since 1996-97, most recently Goro/Madama Butterfly, Guillot/Manon (2008-09); Dr. Caius/Falstaff (2007-08).
Also this season: Falstaff, Washington National Opera; Il tabarro, Metropolitan Opera; Madama Butterfly, The Dallas Opera.

“He ranks right up there with the nastiest people I play,” says the American character tenor of Spoletta. “He’s certainly very slimy and devious – the consummate ‘Scarpia wannabe.’ There is a knitted relationship between the two, as if Scarpia may even be grooming Spoletta for the future.” Cangelosi, who appeared in Lyric’s 2000-01 and 2004-05 Toscas, relishes not just the role, but also his colleagues: “In addition to Lyric, I’ve also done Spoletta at the Metropolitan Opera, at The Dallas Opera, and in Benoit Jacquot’s film version. In every instance, I’ve been privileged to be part of extraordinary casts in this opera.” The Ryan  Opera Center alumnus has appeared at the Met in six roles, most recently Goro/Madama Butterfly, L’Incredibile/Andrea Chénier, and Tinca/Il tabarro (new production, movie theater HD broadcast). Among other recent successes have been Bob Boles/Peter Grimes (Washington), Mime/Das Rheingold and Valzacchi/Der Rosenkavalier (San Francisco), Monostatos/The Magic Flute (Hollywood Bowl), and the Noctambuliste and Pape des Fous/Louise (Spoleto Festival USA). Cangelosi has also been heard at the Opéra National de Paris (The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro), Carnegie Hall (L’heure espagnole with the Cleveland Orchestra), Washington National Opera (Pagliacci, telecast on PBS), and on CD (The Consul, Tosca under Antonio Pappano, and the Siegfried “Forging Scene” with Pappano and Plácido Domingo).

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CRAIG IRVIN

Irvin(Angelotti)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Imperial Commissioner/Madama Butterfly, Doctor and Professor of Medicine/Lulu, Sergeant/Manon (all 2008-09).

“I’m excited to be the first voice that anyone hears onstage this season,” says the Iowa-born bass-baritone, a second-year Ryan Opera Center member, who has sung Angelotti at Opera North and Orlando Opera. “This is also a great chance to be around Tosca for an extended period, soaking up as much of Scarpia as I can.” Last season Irvin especially enjoyed “being around the principals in Manon and Lulu – artists who really were driven to act.” Another highlight was “doing the Hoffmann Diamond Aria at the Rising Stars concert. Lyric had the orchestral parts only in the high key, and I’m glad I sang it in that key – it worked out very well. Hoffmann is definitely an opera I hope to do someday.” Irvin has been heard in leading roles with the opera companies of Naples, Florida (L’elisir d’amore), Augusta (Camelot) and Des Moines (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). In two seasons as a resident artist at Orlando Opera, Irvin won the Heinz Rehfuss Singing Actor Award and portrayed Mozart’s Figaro, the Pirate King/The Pirates of Penzance, Abimelech/Samson et Dalila, the Mandarin/Turandot, and Elder Ott/Susannah. He has also appeared at Knoxville Opera and in more than 700 performances of Beauty and the Beast at Walt Disney World. He is an alumnus of Simpson College and the University of Tennessee. Craig Irvin is sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. James W. Cozad.

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PAUL CORONA

Corona(Sciarrone)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Seven roles since 2007-08, most recently Steersman/Tristan und Isolde, Bonze/Madama Butterfly, Servant/Lulu (all 2008-09).
Also this season: Ernani, Lyric Opera.

The Illinois-born bass-baritone, a third-year Ryan Opera Center member, relished the four productions he performed in last season: “The stars were all so down-to-earth – there was no drama. It was so interesting to watch Natalie Dessay, who is Manon, hashing scenes out and always discovering something new. The great artists at Lyric aren’t on auto-pilot – they’re really thinking singers.” Corona greatly enjoyed Deborah Voigt’s master class, where “I got to talk with her about vocal technique. In Wagner, she said, ‘your technique has to be perfect, so you can worry about the next 300 pages of German, instead of about your singing!’” Earlier this summer Corona made his first Ravinia appearances, first in the Mahagonny Songspiel of Kurt Weill and then as Marullo/Rigoletto. Corona has portrayed Osmin/The Abduction from the Seraglio, Antinoo/The Return of Ulysses, and Somarone/Beatrice and Benedict, all with Chicago Opera Theater. The Northwestern University alumnus, a 2006 Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, has received awards from the Sullivan Foundation and the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation. A 2006 Santa Fe Opera apprentice artist, Corona has appeared in concert at Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Chicago’s Symphony Center. Paul Corona is sponsored by Julie and Roger Baskes.

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SAM HANDLEY

Handley(Jailer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Imperial Commissioner/Madama Butterfly, Innkeeper/Manon (2008-09).
Also this season: The Elixir of Love student matinees,Lyric Opera.

“I’m thrilled to be part of not one but two amazing Tosca casts,” says the bass-baritone, a second-year Ryan Opera Center member. “I’m also excited to be doing the Elixir student matinees, since I’m expecting Dulcamara to be a mainstay in my career.” Last season’s highlight was covering Schigolch/Lulu: “It was the one opera I was not originally assigned to that I was most interested in doing. When I found out I was ecstatic – and so excited I didn’t know to be scared! It’s gritty, tightly knit music, and you just have to dig into it and digest it.” Handley is a former participant of San Francisco Opera’s Merola program and Santa Fe Opera’s youngartist program. Performance credits include La Cenerentola (Merola), Don Pasquale (Santa Fe Opera tour), Robert Nelson’s A Room with a View (DVD), Acis and Galatea and Telemann’s Don Quichott (both with Houston’s Mercury Baroque). Handley’s interest in contemporary music has brought him several world premieres, including music of Scott Gendel and Dan Black (Madison Contemporary Orchestra) and Kenneth Schermerhorn (Nashville Symphony). He has also performed with the Houston Symphony, the National Symphony, and the Santa Fe Symphony. Handley can be heard on several CDs, including Dominick Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming. Sam Handley is sponsored by Lois B. Siegel, Drs. Joan and Russ Zajtchuk, and the Capt. Bernardo Iorgulescu, USMC Memorial Fund.

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ANGELA MANNINO

Mannino(Shepherd)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Blonde/The Abduction from the Seraglio, 15-Year-Old Girl/Lulu, Maid/Manon (all 2008-09).
Also this season: Giannetta/The Elixir of Love, Barbarina/Le nozze di Figaro, both at Lyric Opera.

“I love Tosca, truly one of my favorite operas,” says the New Orleans native, a second-year Ryan Opera Center member. Last season, besides performing in Manon (“Natalie Dessay is a very dear person who makes you feel com pletely at ease”), the highlight was portraying Blonde for the Abduction opening night: “Normally the assistant director and conductor want to meet with the understudy all afternoon, but Sir Andrew Davis and our director, Chas Rader-Shieber, didn’t need to because they thought I was ready to go. It was comforting for me to know that everybody else was comfortable.” Mannino studied at Loyola University and Indiana University. At I. U. the soprano portrayed Mozart’s Despina and Blonde, Puccini’s Musetta, and Miss Titmouse/Edwin Penhorwood’s Too Many Sopranos (“I was also a dresser for Tosca – I dressed the men’s chorus!”). Mannino is a former apprentice artist with Central City Opera (2005, in Britten’s Paul Bunyan) and Santa Fe Opera (2006, 2007, in Strauss’s Daphne). In 2006 she debuted as Mozart’s Barbarina at New Orleans Opera, returning as Genovieffa/Suor Angelica and Lauretta/Gianni Schicchi. Concerts include Fauré’s Requiem (Missoula Symphony). Mannino has been a first-place winner of the Mobile Opera Rose Palmai-Tenser Vocal Competition and an award-winner in the Gulf Coast Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Angela Mannino is sponsored by Mrs. C. G. Pinnell.

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CHICAGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR

Previously at Lyric: Five operas since 2000-01, most recently Pagliacci (2008-09); La bohème (2007-08); Carmen (2005-06).

Chicago Children’s Choir (Josephine Lee, artistic director) is a multiracial, multicultural choral music education organization, shaping the future by making a difference in the lives of children and youth through musical excellence. Founded in 1956, the Choir currently serves 2,800 children, ages 8-18 through choirs in 45 schools, after-school programs in eight Chicago neighborhoods, and the internationally acclaimed Concert Choir. Chicago Children’s Choir collaborates regularly with Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Joffrey Ballet, River North Chicago Dance Company, Millennium Park, Ravinia Festival, and Grant Park Music Festival. As a national and international touring ensemble, the Choir has performed throughout the United States, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, Korea, Japan, Canada, and Europe and for such dignitaries as Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Choir has also performed with or for such celebrities as Luciano Pavarotti, Quincy Jones, Beyonce Knowles, Enrique Iglesias, Celine Dion, Denyce Graves, Samuel Ramey, Bobby McFerrin, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In 2008, the Choir received a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for the documentary Songs on the Road to Freedom.

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SIR ANDREW DAVIS

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Conductor)
Previously at Lyric Opera: 35 productions since 1987, most recently The Abduction from the Seraglio, Tristan und Isolde, Madama Butterfly, (all 2008-09).
Also this season: Faust, The Damnation of Faust, Lyric Opera; Hansel and Gretel, Metropolitan Opera; concerts with the major orchestras of Montreal, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto.

Music director and principal conductor of Lyric Opera since 2000, Sir Andrew is conductor laureate of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (previously principal conductor), conductor laureate of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (previously chief conductor), and former music director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has conducted all of the world’s renowned orchestras, from the CSO to the Berlin Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw, and at major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera (eleven works to date, most recently Don Giovanni, Die Walküre, and a concert with Renée Fleming, all on the 2006 tour to Japan), the Bayreuth Festival, Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and the Opéra National de Paris. He spent the summer of 2009 leading performances at Milan’s La Scala (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), the BBC Proms, the Munich Philharmonic, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Perth’s West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Sir Andrew has also recently appeared with the major orchestras of Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Detroit, and abroad with those of London (Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic), Rotterdam, Paris, and Leipzig. His vast discography, which appears on seven major labels, includes Elgar’s violin concertos with James Ehnes and the Philharmonia Orchestra that received Gramophone’s “Best of Category – Concerto” award and a solo operatic recital with soprano Nicole Cabell and the London Philharmonic Orchestra that won the Solti Prize from the French Académie du Disque Lyrique. Glyndebourne productions of Rossini, Mozart, and Janáˇcek operas conducted by Sir Andrew are currently available on DVD.

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STEPHAN LORD

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Conductor – January dates)
 Lyric Opera debut
Also this season:  Rigoletto, English National Opera; A Little Night Music, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Les contes d’Hoffmann, Santa Fe Opera.

The American conductor, who has led Tosca in Boston, St. Louis, and Tulsa, considers his favorite portion of this opera “the opening of Act Three, a beautiful moment of repose in an opera that otherwise has no repose in it. You can easily imagine where you are, feeling the atmosphere of the morning in Rome, the coolness after a hideously hot day.” Lord’s grasp of Italian style was heavily influenced earlier in his career by assisting conductor Nicola Rescigno: “At his first Tosca rehearsal he said to me, ‘You know, you cannot be called ‘Maestro’ unless you can teach the piece you’re doing.’ He showed me, too, that anything you need onstage in Tosca is totally in the music.” Formerly Boston Lyric Opera’s music director, Lord is currently music director for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he most recently led last season’s muchacclaimed Salome. He followed that production with La bohème (Wolf Trap Opera) and Rigoletto (English National Opera debut). During 2008-09 he led works of Donizetti, Verdi, and Puccini in Portland, Denver, Montreal, and Detroit. Other recent highlights include the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals, Candide at Wolf Trap Opera, and debuts with San Francisco Opera (Rigoletto) and The Dallas Opera (La rondine, previously his debut vehicle at New York City Opera). Lord’s Opera Omaha credits include the world premiere of the complete critical edition of Les contes d’Hoffmann. He was recently named one of “the twenty-five most powerful people in opera” by Opera News magazine.

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FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI

(Original Production)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Five operas since 1961, most recently Tosca (2004-05); Pagliacci (1982); Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci (1978).
Also this season: Turandot, Metropolitan Opera; La traviata, Teatro dell’Opera (Rome); Carmen, Vienna Staatsoper.

The internationally celebrated director-designer has been responsible for some of the most beloved and enduring productions of the past half-century. Zeffirelli scored his first great success as an opera director with La Cenerentola (1953) at La Scala, where he subsequently created a triumphantly successful La bohème, Un ballo in maschera, and Otello. In addition to the legendary 1964 Tosca with Maria Callas at Covent Garden, he directed the Greek-American diva in La traviata (Dallas, 1959) and the last new production of her career, Norma at the Opéra de Paris (1965). Zeffirelli paid homage to Callas in his 2002 film, Callas Forever. In addition to a lavish Tosca, his Metropolitan Opera productions have included Falstaff (debut, 1964), Antony and Cleopatra, La bohème, Otello, Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci, Turandot, Carmen, Don Giovanni, and La traviata. In addition to Otello and La traviata, Zeffirelli’s many remarkable films over the past three decades have included Romeo and Juliet (Academy Award nomination), Jesus of Nazareth, Hamlet, and Tea with Mussolini. His book, Zeffirelli: An Autobiography, was published in 1986. The Florence native, who became a member of the Italian senate in 1996, received an honorary knighthood from the United Kingdom in 2004.

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GARNETT BRUCE

Tosca Voigt Headshot(Stage Director)
Previously at Lyric Opera:  Doctor Atomic, La traviata (both as associate stage director, 2007-08); Turandot (2006-07).
Also this season: The Marriage of Figaro, Opera Omaha; La bohème, Austin Lyric Opera; Madama Butterfly, The Dallas Opera.

In reviving this legendary production, the American director is “honoring the theatrical intentions of Zeffirelli’s original Covent Garden staging. I think Tosca’s faith should be emphasized – it’s the rock of her character. That makes her different from Cavaradossi, who simply disregards the trappings of the church, and from Scarpia, who uses it for personal gain. All three principal characters have something to lose in Act Two, which is very skillfully organized by Puccini and his librettists. Scarpia is able to play his hand – a mousetrap of sorts – and part of the adventure is to see him put it together. By the time you realize the structure, you’re already trapped by it.” Bruce previously directed Tosca in Houston, Denver, Cleveland, and Costa Mesa. Other Puccini credits include Madama Butterfly (San Diego) and remountings of David Hockney’s Turandot production (Lyric, European debut in Naples) and Francesca Zambello’s Madama Butterfly (San Diego). Turandot has also brought him to Dallas, Cleveland, Louisville, and Grand Rapids. Among his other productions in North America are La clemenza di Tito (Wolf Trap), Die Zauberflöte (Kansas City), La Cenerentola (Kansas City, Austin, Wolf Trap), Macbeth (Vancouver), Rigoletto (Kansas City), Aida (San Diego), Otello (Louisville), Pagliacci (Pittsburgh), Street Scene (Wolf Trap), and Vanessa (San Diego). Bruce has assisted and remounted productions nationwide by Francesca Zambello, Bruce Beresford, and Ann-Margret Pettersson. Closely associated with the Aspen Music Festival, he is also a guest stage director on the faculty of Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory of Music and both artistic adviser and principal stage director at Opera Omaha.

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PAULA SUOZZI

Suozzi(Associate Stage Director – January dates)
Previously at Lyric Opera:  Eugene Onegin (2007-08).
Upcoming: World premiere of Donald R. Davis’s Rio de Sangre, Florentine Opera (Milwaukee).

The American stage director finds Tosca “one of the staples of the repertoire for very good reasons. Puccini really tapped into qualities of artists and strong emotions, which are so beautifully matched by the music.” Among Suozzi’s previous Puccini productions have been Madama Butterfly (Milwaukee’s Skylight Opera Theatre) and La bohème (Ashlawn-Highland Opera Festival). Suozzi’s productions have been seen at the major companies of Tulsa, Cincinnati, Hartford, and Toronto. After debuting at Skylight Opera Theatre with The Marriage of Figaro, she spent seven seasons there as associate artistic director, creating productions of repertoire ranging from Donizetti and Gounod to Weill and Britten. She later returned to Skylight for David Carlson’s The Midnight Angel. Also in Milwaukee, Suozzi has directed Verdi’s Macbeth for the Florentine Opera; and Twelfth Night, as well as plays by Harold Pinter, Thornton Wilder, and Nicky Silver, for the Bialystock and Bloom Company. A former San Francisco Opera assistant stage director who has served the Met in that capacity since 1991, Suozzi has also coached singers for young-artist programs at Lyric, the Met, and Tanglewood: “I find myself asking young singers, ‘What do you need to make this note happen?’ I can then help them find an emotional reason behind the technique that makes the singing easier. When they have their singing under control, it’s easier to say. ‘Let’s work with the technique but let’s add another layer.’ It gets everyone out of their heads and makes them live in the moment.”

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RENZO MONGIARDINO

(Set Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera:  Tosca (2004-05).

The late Italian designer’s international reputation stems not only from his theatrical work but also his stature as one of the most brilliant and imaginative architects and interior designers of the postwar period. Mongiardino was a close associate of Franco Zeffirelli, collaborating with the director not only on the Covent Garden Tosca (1964) but in numerous other projects including Don Pasquale (Genoa, 1958) and three celebrated films: The Taming of the Shrew (Oscar nomination for art direction, 1967), Romeo and Juliet (production design, 1968), and Brother Sun, Sister Moon (Oscar nomination for art direction, 1973). His book, Roomscapes: The Decorative Architecture of Renzo Mongiardino (1993), was one of the most popular and influential texts of its kind in recent years. Mongiardino died in 1998.

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MARCEL ESCOFFIER

(Costume Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera:  Tosca (2004-05); La fille du régiment (1973).

The French designer’s costumes for Tosca, as worn by Maria Callas, were first seen in Covent Garden’s premiere of Franco Zeffirelli’s production in 1964. Escoffier returned to the company in 1966 to create costumes for Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti in La fille du régiment. That production’s success was repeated at both Lyric and the Metropolitan Opera. Escoffier also designed for the major companies of Rome, Palermo, and Venice, as well as the Edinburgh Festival. One of France’s most distinguished artistic figures of the postwar period, Escoffier was a set and costume designer for opera and theater, but also worked as a lighting designer, stage director, and painter. He made his international reputation largely through costume designs for film; his work in this area encompassed collaborations with many renowned directors, from Jean Cocteau (Beauty and the Beast, 1946, Orpheus, 1949) to Luchino Visconti (Senso, 1954), Max Ophüls (Lola Montes, 1955), Franco Zeffirelli (La bohème, 1965, Jesus of Nazareth, 1977), and Vittorio de Sica (Woman Times Seven, 1967). His costumes were worn by Sophia Loren in both the de Sica film and Lady L (1965), and by Catherine Deneuve in Mayerling (1968).

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CHRISTINE BINDER

Binder(Lighting Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Thirteen productions since 1997-98, most recently Madama Butterfly (2008-09); Eugene Onegin, La traviata (both 2007-08).
Also this season: Faust, Lyric Opera; David Schwimmer’s Trust, Lookingglass Theatre; Lookingglass Alice tour to Louisville, Syracuse, and Atlanta.

“The sets for this production use painted perspective to give the illusion of depth and dimension,” says the American lighting designer. “Soft strokes of light bring them to life. The spatial composition of the church’s architecture allows a ‘theatricalized’ natural light to stream in from outside. Act Two is about creating the effect of throwing the light from the huge fireplace onto the walls and the people, fading it off into purplish blue with shadows at the edges. Act Three moves through night into dawn, with a nice sunrise at the end.” Among Binder’s operatic credits are La clemenza di Tito, La tragédie de Carmen (Chicago Opera Theater), Hansel and Gretel (DePaul Opera Theatre), and I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Pittsburgh Opera). Her many recent credits in Chicago include The Brothers Karamazov for Lookingglass Theatre, The Oxherder’s Tale for Blair Thomas and Company, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore for Northlight Theater. Among other important credits in Chicago and nationally are productions for Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Tartuffe), Milwaukee Shakespeare (Love’s Labours Lost), Northlight Theater (Pride and Prejudice, Jeff-nominated), About Face (Winesburg, Ohio, Proust, Loving Repeating), Redmoon Theater (Frankenstein, The Ballad of Frankie and Johnny), Lookingglass Theatre, where she is an artistic associate (Sita Ram, 1984, Hillbilly Antigone, Lookingglass Alice – the latter toured to Princeton, New York, and Philadelphia), and several operas for DePaul University’s School of Music.

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DONALD NALLY

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 the category, ‘Favorite Window Slams in Opera,’ Tosca is my No. 1,” says Lyric’s chorus master. “Although the ironic, foreboding Te Deum that ends Act One is the opera’s most familiar choral moment by far, Puccini took the time to write a lovely, quite uncharacteristic (for Puccini, for opera, and for the church) Italianate motet that further accentuates the gulf between Scarpia and his obsessions, Tosca and her motivations, and the simple people who surround them. It’s a glorious motet and I’ve always wondered, if the window didn’t come down some night, with what beauty would Puccini have ended it.” 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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RICHARD JARVIE

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.

“There are a lot of payoffs in this show for makeup people,” says Lyric’s wigmaster and makeup designer. “The opera begins with Angelotti, who is always hairy and filthy. The Sacristan can be wonderful for a singer who’s fond of character-actor makeup, like the late Italo Tajo, whose Lyric performances in this role taught us so much. Scarpia works well with either black hair or the more familiar white wig. The real question is always whether he should be attractive to Tosca, even though she hates him! As for Tosca, a good starting place for her hair and overall look would be paintings of Napoleon’s Josephine by David. The sheer number of people in Tosca can be tricky logistically – it’s a challenge to get everyone ready for the five minutes at the end of Act One that they’re onstage.” Jarvie was wigmaster and makeup designer for Chicago’s Shakespeare Theater from 1989 to 2000. He has previously served as wigmaster for Minneapolis’s Tyrone Guthrie Theatre and wig/makeup supervisor for the Thomas Patterson Theatre of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.

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