SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

 

Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at The Royal Opera (BK)

CAST A: 28, 31 January, 5, 8, 26 February at 7.30pm / 2 February, 1 March at 7pm / February at 12.30pm

CAST B: 7, 13, 22, 27 February at 7.30pm

David McVicar’s 2003 production of Die Zauberflöte returns for its third revival at the Royal Opera House with two casts.  Lee Blakeley is the revival director.  Designs are by John Macfarlane, lighting by Paule Constable and choreography by Leah Hausman.

German conductor Roland Böer conducts all performances except 26, 27 February and 1 March.  He has previously conducted Die Zauberflöte in Frankfurt.  He made his debut at the Royal Opera House when he conducted Der Kaiser von Atlantis for the Young Artists concert in 2004.  Recent productions he has conducted include La clemenza di Tito for English National Opera and L’Heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges for La Monnaie, Brussels.

Head of Music of The Royal Opera David Syrus conducts the performances on 26, 27 February and 1 March.  He previously conducted Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni for the Company.

German tenor Christoph Strehl makes his debut with The Royal Opera singing Tamino in cast A.  He recently made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York as Tamino, a role he has also sung in Vienna, Munich and Aix-en-Provence.  Recent roles also include Ferrando (Così fan tutte) in Salzburg and Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in Aix-en-Provence.

Also making his debut with The Royal Opera is Slovak tenor Pavol Breslik who sings Tamino in cast B performances.  He made his debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the role in 2004 and has also sung Tamino in Munich, Berlin, Vienna and Aix-en-Provence.  Recent roles include Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) in Berlin and Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in Brussels.

Following her Royal Opera House debut as Sandrina in Mozart’s early opera La finta giardiniera in 2006, Austrian soprano Genia Kühmeier now returns as Pamina for all cast A performances.  She made her debut in the role in 2003 at the Ruhr-Triennale and has also sung as Pamina at the Salzburg Festival and in Vienna.  Her more recent roles have included Ilia (Idomeneo) and Zdenka (Arabella) in Vienna.

For cast B performances British soprano Kate Royal sings Pamina, a role she has previously sung for Glyndebourne Festival Opera.  She made her Royal Opera House debut as Miranda (The Tempest) in 2007.  Recent roles include Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) and Governess (The Turn of the Screw) for Glyndebourne on Tour and Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) for Teatro Real, Madrid and Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

British baritone Simon Keenlyside once again reprises the role of Papageno which he sang in the original production as well as the revivals in 2003 and 2005.  He has previously sung the role at La Scala, Milan, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, in Paris, Vienna and Salzburg.  This is his second role of the Season, having earlier sung the role of Oreste (Iphigénie en Tauride).  He returns later in the Season to sing Rodrigo (Don Carlo).

He made his debut at Covent Garden as Silvio in Pagliacci in 1989 and his roles for The Royal Opera include the title roles in Don Giovanni, Billy Budd and Hamlet as well as Prospero (The Tempest), Valentin (Faust), Winston in the world premiere of 1984 and Pelléas (Pélleas et Mélisande).

British baritone Christopher Maltman will take over the role of Papageno on 7, 13, 26, 27 February and 1 March.  He made his Royal Opera debut in the 1997 Farewell Gala and his subsequent roles have included Sebastian (The Tempest), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Doctor Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Nardo (La finta giardiniera) and most recently his role debut as Ramiro (L’Heure espagnole).  Recent roles include the title role in Billy Budd in Munich, Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia) in San Diego and his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York as Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos).  He returns later in the Season to sing Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos) for The Royal Opera.

Jette Parker Young Artist Sri Lankan soprano Kishani Jayasinghe sings the role of Papagena in both casts.  She made her Royal Opera debut in the role of Prilepa (The Queen of Spades) in 2006 and also sang Ines (Il trovatore) in 2007.  Her other roles during the 2007/8 Season include Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore) and Barbarina

(Le nozze di Figaro).

Hungarian soprano Erika Miklosa will sing Queen of the Night for cast A performances, having previously sung the role for The Royal Opera in this production in 2005.  She has sung Queen of the Night over 200 times across the world including in Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Zurich and New York.

Cast B sees the return of Finnish soprano Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, who made her debut in the role at the Royal Opera House in 2005.  She has previously sung Queen of the Night in Salzburg, Berlin, Savonlinna, Frankfurt and Dresden and will sing the role at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in November 2007.  Recent roles include Fiakermilli (Arabella) and Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail).

Having sung the role of Hunding (Die Walküre) in all the Ring cycles, Danish bass Stephen Milling now returns to sing Sarastro.  A member of the Royal Danish Opera, he has previously sung the role of Sarastro for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Copenhagen and Berlin.  He made his Royal Opera debut as Hunding (Die Walküre) in 2005.

German bass Hans-Peter Koenig sings Sarastro on 7, 8, 13 February and 1 March, marking his debut at the Royal Opera House.  A member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, he has previously sung the role in Berlin.  Recent roles include Hagen (Götterdämmerung) in Berlin and Heinrich (Lohengrin) at La Scala, Milan.

British baritone Thomas Allen sings the role of Speaker of the Temple in cast A performances, having sung the role in the original production.  He made his debut with The Royal Opera in 1971 and his more recent roles with the Company include Giorgio Germont (La traviata), Morone (Palestrina), Beckmesser (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), the Music Master (Ariadne auf Naxos), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), the title role in Sweeney Todd, Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) and  Prosdocimo (Il turco in Italia).

Senior Artist British bass Robert Lloyd sings Speaker of the Temple in cast B performances.  He made his debut at Covent Garden in 1972 in Khovanschina.  His recent roles with the Company include Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Old Man (The Greek Passion), Rambaldo (La rondine), Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro) and King Arkel (Pélleas et Mélisande).

New Zealand soprano Anna Leese sings First Lady for cast A performances.  She made her debut with The Royal Opera as Tamiri (Il re pastore) in the Linbury in 2006 and has also sung Musetta (La bohème) and Micaëla in a schools’ matinee performance of Carmen for The Royal Opera. Recent roles include Ilia (Idomeneo) in New Zealand and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia) for the Benjamin Britten International Opera School.  She returns later in the Season to sing Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos).

Jette Parker Young Artist Australian soprano Anita Watson sings First Lady for cast B performances.  Her roles this Season will also include a Flowermaiden (Parsifal) and the offstage role of Voice from Heaven in Don Carlo.  Recent roles also include Barena (Jenůfa) for Cologne Opera and the title role of Xerxes and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare) for Australian Opera Studio.

Singing the role of Second Lady with cast A is Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Liora Grodnikaite. She made her debut as a Young Artist in the role of Curra (La forza del destino) in 2004 and her recent roles for the Company include Desirée (Bird of Night), Mercédès (Carmen), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Dorotea (Stiffelio) and Myrtale (Thaïs).

Jette Parker Young Artist Estonian mezzo-soprano Monika-Evelin Liiv sings Second Lady with cast B.  She has previously sung the role for Finnish National Opera.  She made her Royal Opera debut singing the role of Flora Bervoix (La traviata) earlier in the Season.  Her opera roles have also included Paulina (The Queen of Spades) and Third Lady (Die Zauberflöte) for Estonian National Opera.

British mezzo-soprano Gaynor Keeble makes her Royal Opera debut singing Third Lady for cast A performances.  Her roles have included Maddalena (Rigoletto), Berta (The Barber of Seville) for Welsh National Opera and Marcellina (The Marriage of Figaro) for English Touring Opera.

Elizabeth Sikora sings Third Lady for cast B performances, having sung the role in this production in 2003.  Her recent appearances with The Royal Opera include Mother Superior (Cyrano de Bergerac), Masha (The Queen of Spades), Old Woman (The Greek Passion), Annina (La traviata) and Rossweisse (Die Walküre).

British tenor John Graham-Hall returns to the role of Monostatos which he sang in this production in 2005.  He made his debut at the Royal Opera House in 1989 in the title role of Albert Herring and has also sung Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro) and Dancing Master (Ariadne auf Naxos) for The Royal Opera.

Also returning to sing Monostatos for cast B performances is British tenor Adrian Thompson who sang the role in the original production in 2003 as well as 2005.  He made his debut with The Royal Opera in 1997 at the Barbican in The Pilgrim’s Progress and has also sung Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier) and Arv (Maskarade) at

Covent Garden.

The role of First Man in Armour is sung by former Jette Parker Young Artist New Zealand tenor Andrew Sritheran.  He made his Royal Opera debut as Snout (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and his roles for the Company have included Malcolm (Macbeth) and Chaplitsky (The Queen of Spades).

Making his debut at Covent Garden in the role of Second Man in Armour is South African bass Vuyani Mlinde, a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme.  His roles this Season include Cappadocian (Salome), Zaretsky (Eugene Onegin) and Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo).

British tenor Harry Nicoll sings the role of First Priest.  Recent roles at the Royal Opera House include Don Curzio (Le nozze di Figaro) and Le Remendado (Carmen).

British baritone Donald Maxwell sings the role of Second Priest.  He made his debut at the Royal Opera House in 1987 and his roles have included Baron Zeta (The Merry Widow), Dr Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier), Krušina (The Bartered Bride) and most recently Hortensius (La Fille du régiment).

 

INSIGHT EVENING

Monday 21 January, 7.30pm – 9.30pm

Tickets £14 (£6 Students and ROH Access List)

Clore Studio Upstairs

 

An Interview with Stephen Milling - Sarastron in this production will appear in Seen and Heard soon (Ed)

The Royal Opera Web Site is Here

 
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