MESE MARIANO LE VILLI - Spoletousa

OPERAMESE MARIANO LE VILLIof Chicago; Madama Butterfly at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; SuorAngelica and Cavalleria rusticana at the Opera Theatre of SaintLouis; Rigoletto at Parma’s Verdi Festival; Simon Boccanegra at TheSanta Fe Opera; Vivaldi’s Montezuma at the São Carlos NationalTheatre in Lisbon; Samson et Dalila at the St. Galler Festpiele;Rigoletto at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing;Il barbiere di Siviglia at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse; Acis andGalatea at the Macao International Music Festival; and I Lombardialla prima crociata at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Among hismany activities dedicated to social work, Vizioli has directedMenotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors in the Pagliarelli prison.MATT FREY (lighting designer), designer for Spoleto FestivalUSA’s 2012 production of Feng Yi Ting, has designed lights fortheater, opera, multimedia performances, and dance. Recentwork includes The Rite of Spring with Ridge Theater and ThePhiladelphia Orchestra; Appropriate, directed by Gary Griffin, andGnit, directed by Les Waters, with Actors Theatre of Louisville;Dog Days, directed by Robert Woodruff, with Peak Performances;The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian with the San FranciscoSymphony; What Rhymes With America, directed by Daniel Aukin,with Atlantic Theater Company; Golden Child, directed by LeighSilverman, with Signature Theatre; and Long Day’s Journey IntoNight, directed by Les Waters, with Actors Theatre of Louisville.Frey has also collaborated with Brooklyn Academy of Music,Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra,The Corn Exchange in Dublin, Steppenwolf, Soho Rep, PlaywrightsHorizons, Naked Angels, The New Group, Manhattan ClassCompany, New York Theatre Workshop, Second Stage Theatre,and Paper Mill Playhouse, as well as many other regional andinternational theaters.NEIL PATEL (set designer) is an award-winning designer practicing in disciplinesincluding theater, opera, dance, film,television, and live events. He is bestknown for developing new work and boldinterpretations of classic texts. Past creditsinclude Side Man for Broadway, London’sWest End, and The Kennedy Center; Dinnerwith Friends in New York and on nationaltour; the world premiere of Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao at TheSanta Fe Opera; Amon Miyamoto’s production of Cos fan tutte atthe Nissay Theatre in Tokyo, which earned a Japanese NationalArt Festival Award; production design for HBO’s In Treatment; andPilobolus Dance Theatre’s Shadowland in Europe. He has twicebeen recognized with an Obie Award for sustained excellence andhas been the recipient of the Helen Hayes Award and numerousHenry Hewes and Drama Desk nominations. He is a graduate ofYale College and the University of California at San Diego.ROBERTA GUIDI DI BAGNO (costumedesigner) has a worldwide reputation as aset and costume designer. She has workedfor many major opera houses and balletcompanies around the world, includingTeatro alla Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, Teatrodell’Opera di Roma, Spoleto Festival USA,Royal Albert Hall, Lyric Opera of Chicago,Pacific Northwest Ballet, San FranciscoBallet, Joffrey Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Houston Ballet, Deutsche OperBerlin, Semperoper Dresden, Chorégies d’Orange, Opéra de Nice,Royal Danish Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, SydneyEntertainment Centre, and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In 1997,Guidi di Bagno was awarded the Leonide Massine Prize for balletfor her artistic achievement. Other credits include Don Pasquale,conducted by Riccardo Muti; Otello; L’incoronazione di Poppea;Parsifal; La belle Hélène; Nabucco; John Cranko’s Eugene Oneginstarring Roberto Bolle; The Taming of the Shrew; Don Quixote;The Nutcracker; Sleeping Beauty; Afternoon of a Faun starringRudolf Nureyev; and Cinderella.PIERLUIGI VANELLI (choreographer andassistant director) studied dance in Florence,London, Paris, and New York, and hasworked in Italy as a dancer, choreographer,and teacher. He was a member of the CarlaFracci Ballet Company for two years, dancingat Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Gran Teatro LaFenice in Venice, Maggio Musicale Fiorentinoin Florence, and Teatro Massimo in Palermo.Vanelli was also a soloist at Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania for18 years. As choreographer and assistant director, he has workedin Italy, Spain, Korea, and Slovenia. His productions include Labohème, Madama Butterfly, La rondine, La traviata, Un ballo inmaschera, Rigoletto, Tosca, Turandot, Nabucco, Lakmé, I puritani,Adriana Lecouvreur, and La sonnambula, among others. In 2002,he worked for Baltimore Opera Company with their productionsof Rigoletto and Lakmé. He is an esteemed ballet teacher and haswon several awards for his choreography.CASTLEVI HERNANDEZ (baritone, Guglielmo,Le Villi) is a sought-after artist on the operaticstage, having been seen with the Lyric Operaof Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and LosAngeles Opera. In the 2012–13 season,Hernandez returned to the MetropolitanOpera for Carmen, sang Sharpless in MadamaButterfly for Nashville Opera, appeared withOpera Memphis as Marcello in La bohème,and sang Handel’s Messiah with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra.Other recent highlights include a reprise of Sharpless in MadamaButterfly with both Minnesota Opera and Intermountain Opera;Tobias Mill in La cambiale di matrimonio with Opera Omaha; hisEuropean debut as Tomski in Pique Dame with Komische OperBerlin; and his South American debut as Dulcamara in L’elisird’amore with the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Ecuador. He also sangwith Houston Grand Opera and Virginia Opera as Sharpless inMadama Butterfly, as well as the role of Leporello in Don Giovanniwith Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.31

OPERAMESE MARIANO LE VILLITHERE WILL BE ONE INTERMISSION.Additional support is provided by the Brand Foundation of New York, Inc.Opera programming is endowed by the Arthur and Holly Magill Foundation.These performances are made possible in part through funds from the Spoleto Festival USA Endowment, generously supported byBlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.Mese Mariano is performed by arrangement with Theodore Presser Company, agents for Casa Musicale Sonzogno, publisher andcopyright owner. Le Villi is performed by arrangement with Hendon Music, Inc., a Boosey & Hawkes company, Sole Agent in the U.S.,Canada, and Mexico for Casa Ricordi/Universal Music Publishing Ricordi S.R.L., publisher and copyright owner.SYNOPSESMESE MARIANOOn a Sunday morning in May at an orphanage in Naples, childrensing for the countess, the patron of the orphanage, and receivepresents. As they take the gifts back to their rooms, Carmelaenters the orphanage with a cake for her son who has been livingthere. Carmela asks Suor Pazienza if she can see him and, unableto shoulder her guilt alone any longer, tells her how her son cameto live there: as a young girl, she was seduced by a man, becamepregnant, and was then deserted to raise her baby alone. Whenshe married, her new husband would not allow another man’s childin his house, so she was forced to send her son to the orphanage.While Carmela prays alone in the chapel, Mother Superior learnsthat her child has died the night before, but decides to tell her thathe is rehearsing for the Mary’s Month celebration and cannot besummoned. Carmela leaves in tears. 2013 Leah HarrisonLE VILLIVillagers are celebrating the engagement of Roberto and Anna,daughter of the head forester, Guglielmo. Roberto is about toleave the village to collect an inheritance. Anna brings him a posyof forget-me-nots to keep him mindful of their vows (“Se comevoi piccina”). In their duet (“Tu dell’infanzia mia”), he tells her todoubt the existence of God himself rather than his own constancy.All join in a prayer (“Angiol di Dio”) to send him on his way.At the beginning of the second scene, a verse of poetry describeshow Roberto has fallen into the clutches of a siren and during thefirst intermezzo (“L’abbandono”), we see the desperation of theforgotten Anna, who has gone mad with grief.A second intermezzo (“La tregenda”) depicts the Willis, avengingspirits of maidens forsaken by their lovers. Outside his cottage,Guglielmo grieves for his daughter and inveighs against herfaithless lover (“Anima santa della figlia mia”). Roberto returnspenniless and devoured by remorse, recalling his love for Anna(“Torna ai felici dì”). After seeing Anna and the ghosts of theabandoned women, guilt drives Roberto to his death.Based on an entry in Oxford Music Online by Julian Budden30CREATIVE TEAMMAURIZIOBARBACINI(conductor)is one of today’s most sought-after operaconductors. In a distinguished career, hehas appeared with New York’s MetropolitanOpera, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian StateOpera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and theKomische Oper Berlin. In addition, he hasheld positions as principal conductor ofthe Finnish National Opera and the OperaCompany of Philadelphia. Engagements in recent seasons includeMadama Butterfly with Semperoper Dresden; Il turco in Italia,Madama Butterfly, Don Pasquale, and Un ballo in maschera withBavarian State Opera; La traviata and Don Pasquale with KomischeOper Berlin; Turandot with Opera Company of Philadelphia; Labohème and Carmen with New National Theatre, Tokyo; TheRape of Lucretia and Lucia di Lammermoor with Oper Frankfurt;Il trovatore with Teatro Verdi Trieste; Manon Lescaut and Labohème with Paris Opera; La traviata and Aida with DeutscheOper Berlin; La traviata and L’elisir d’amore with the MetropolitanOpera; Tosca, L’elisir d’amore, and Il barbiere di Siviglia, with SanFrancisco Opera; Manon Lescaut and Falstaff with CincinnatiOpera; Il turco in Italia with Bavarian State Opera; and Rigolettowith Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Barbacini has made a number ofrecordings, including a disc of opera arias with Denyce Graves andthe Munich Radio Orchestra, which is available on the RCA RedSeal label. Before becoming a conductor, he enjoyed a successfulcareer as a singer and sang the role of Gaston in Franco Zeffirelli’sfilm of La y recognized opera director,debuted at the Opera Barga Festivalwith Domenico Sarro’s L’impresario delleisole Canarie in 1979. Collaborating withoutstanding artists and designers, he takesa special interest in contemporary opera,unknown baroque masterpieces, andproducing opera for wider audiences. Viziolidirected the first Italian performances of Rimsky-Korsakov’sMay Night, Douglas Moore’s The Devil and Daniel Webster, andDominick Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming. His production ofIl barbiere di Siviglia with Ferrara Musica conducted by ClaudioAbbado and Don Pasquale with Teatro alla Scala conductedby Riccardo Muti are still performed all over the world. He hasbeen a visiting professor at the University of Cincinnati, IndianaUniversity’s School of Music, and the University of Texas in El Paso.His work in recent seasons includes Rigoletto at the Lyric Opera

OPERAMESE MARIANO LE VILLIJOEMILLER (choral preparation) isconductor of two of America’s mostrenownedchoralensembles—theWestminster Choir and the WestminsterSymphonic Choir. As director of choralactivities at Westminster Choir Collegeof Rider University, he also oversees anextensive choral program that includeseight ensembles. In addition to their annualresidency at Spoleto Festival USA, Miller’s 2012-13 season withthe Westminster Choir included a concert tour of the upperMidwest, several national radio broadcasts, performances at theAmerican Choral Directors Association National Conference inDallas, concerts in Princeton, a new recording project. He will alsoconduct the Westminster Symphonic Choir and the WestminsterFestival Orchestra in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijahin Princeton. As conductor of the Westminster SymphonicChoir, Miller has collaborated with some of the world’s leadingorchestras and conductors, earning him critical praise. After aperformance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” withthe Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst, The New YorkTimes wrote, “Joe Miller’s Westminster Symphonic Choir wassubtle when asked and powerful when turned loose.” Miller isalso founder and conductor of the Westminster Chamber Choir,a program that offers professional-level choral and vocal artiststhe opportunity to explore challenging works for two weeks eachsummer on the Westminster campus in Princeton. Additionally,he leads the annual Westminster Choral Festival, which welcomessingers and conductors to study and perform a major choralwork with orchestra. In demand as a guest conductor andclinician, his recent residencies have included Baldwin-WallaceConservatory of Music, Temple University, and the Berlin RadioSymphony Chorus.THE WESTMINSTER CHOIR is composed of studentsat Westminster Choir College, a division of Rider University’sWestminster College of the Arts in Princeton, New Jersey. Settingthe standard for choral excellence for 92 years, it has beenthe chorus-in-residence for Spoleto Festival USA since 1977,performing both in concert and as the opera chorus. In addition toits residency at the Festival, the ensemble’s 2012–13 season hasincluded a concert tour of the upper Midwest, two performancesat the American Choral Directors Association’s NationalConvention, a recording project and performances and broadcastsat its home in Princeton. The Westminster Choir has released tworecordings with Maestro Joe Miller. Noël, a collection of FrenchChristmas music and sacred works, also features Westminsteralumna Jennifer Larmore, the most recorded mezzo-sopranoof our era, and organist Ken Cowan. The recording was thecenterpiece of the PRI Radio broadcast “Noël – A Christmas fromParis,” hosted by Bill McGlaughlin. The choir’s debut recordingwith Maestro Miller, Flower of Beauty, received four stars fromChoir & Organ magazine and earned critical praise from AmericanRecord Guide, which described the Westminster Choir as “thegold standard for academic choirs in America.” The SymphonicChoir’s 2012–13 season included a performances of Verdi’sRequiem and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with The PhiladelphiaOrchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Berg’s Wozzeckwith the London Philharmonia conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen;and Villa-Lobos’s Chôros No. 10 and Estévez’s Cantata Criolla withthe Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela conductedby Gustavo Dudamel.DIANERICHARDSON (vocal coach)received degrees in music from OberlinCollege and Columbia University. Shecontinued her professional training at TheJuilliard School, where she studied pianowith Adele Marcus and vocal repertoirewith Sergius Kagen and Robert Starer. Shealso trained abroad at the Mozarteum inSaltzburg and L’Università per Stranieri inPerugia, Italy. Skilled in operatic and lieder repertoire, Richardsonhas toured extensively with leading artists throughout theUnited States and Europe. For more than a decade, she was anassistant conductor with New York City Opera and subsequentlytaught at the Yale School of Music. She also served as assistantconductor for the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, and hasbeen associated with Spoleto Festival USA since its first season.Richardson holds concurrent faculty appointments at The JuilliardSchool and Binghamton University.THE SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA ORCHESTRA appearsat the Festival in many different configurations, performing inopera, symphonic, choral, chamber, and contemporary musicperformances. Formed anew each year through nationwideauditions, the orchestra is largely comprised of youngprofessionals or players in advanced degree programs. Alumni ofthe Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra are on the rosters of leadingorchestras throughout the world, including the MetropolitanOpera Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The ClevelandOrchestra, and San Francisco Symphony, among others.33

Symphony No. 9 with the Columbus Symphony. YANZELMALEE RIVERA (soprano, Suor Cristina, Mese Mariano) is a graduate of the . Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Houston Ballet, Deutsche Oper . Rigoletto, Tosca, Turandot, Nabucco, Lakmé, I puritani, Adriana Lecouvreur, and La sonnambula, among others .