Representations
May 12 (7:00 p.m.), 15, 17 and 19 (8:00 p.m.), 2012
Guest conductor: Giuseppe GRAZIOLI
Director: Jacques LEBLANC
Ford
Mrs Alice Ford
Mrs Meg Page
Dame Quickly
Fenton
Nanette
Bardolph
Pistol
Jean-François LAPOINTE, baritone
Lyne FORTIN, soprano
Marie-Josée LORD, soprano
Sonia RACINE, mezzo-soprano
Antonio FIGUEROA, tenor
Pascale BEAUDIN, soprano
Jeremy BLOSSEY, tenor
Taras KULISH, bass
Le Chœur de l’Opéra de Québec
L’Orchestre symphonique de Québec
Original Italian versions with supertitles
Verdi, in Falstaff - his very last opera (1893), playfully staged a most amusing farce! With sparkling music, a touch of fantasy doubled with refinement, this master composer delivers still another masterpiece, a fantastic comedy. This is a huge burst of laughter worthy of Verdi!
Falstaff, a fat, jovial, unprincipled and cynical personage, sends identical love letters to Mistress Page and Alice Ford. The ensuing intrigue initiates a series of amusing situations concerning jealousy, vengeance, dupery and comedy, that all contribute to the ultimate resolution of this preposterous burlesque. This is a magnificent example of musical and scenic fireworks!
Distribution
Giuseppe GRAZIOLI, Guest Conductor
Giuseppe Grazioli earned degrees in piano and composition, and studied orchestral conducting with some of the grand masters: Gianluigi Gelmetti, Leopold Hager, Franco Ferrara, Peter Maag and Leonard Berstein. This led him to conduct the major Italian orchestras. In 2001, he conducted the last symphonic concert at La Scala di Milano before it was closed for restoration. He also conducted the final concert of Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition at the Théâtre du Châtelet. At that occasion, Plácido Domingo invited him to Washington to conduct Lucia di Lammermoor. He is just as comfortable in the classic repertoire as he is in contemporary music; he conducted the Italian creation of Leonard Bernstein's Mass, Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio and Nicola Piovani's ballet Fellini, as well as the world premiere performance of Marco Tutino's Vita, in 2003, with the orchestra of La Scala di Milano. Since 1999, he has conducted many works in France, Italy and Spain (Metz, Rennes, Avignon, Rouen, Tours, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nantes, Angers, Turin, Rome, Genoa, Milan, Bologne, and Seville). The public and international critics alike appreciate his recordings, which include rare twentieth century works by De Falla, Auric, Martinu, Casella, Malipiero, Rieti, Lambert, Bax, Bartok (3 CDs) and a number of Nino Rota's compositions. During the current season, and in the near future, he will conduct Cavalleria rusticana/Le Vili in Metz, Le Comte Orly in Nantes and Angers, the Beggar’s Opera in Bologne, Kiss me Kate in Milan, Così fan tutte and Idomeneo (the Richard Strauss version) in Saint-Étienne, Macbeth in Rennes and Lorient, The Barber of Seville in Nantes and Angers and a Puccini concert in Rennes. Last fall, Maestro Grazioli returned to Washington to conduct a production of Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles. Here in Québec, he conducted a very successful Lucia di Lammermoor just last May.
Jacques LEBLANC, Stage Director
Jacques Leblanc has played in a great number of theatre productions at the Trident, the Bordée, the Nouvelle Compagnie théâtrale, the Dame Blanche, the Bois de Coulonge, and many other theatres. He has worked for some of Québec’s most prestigious stage directors, including Robert Lepage, Philippe Soldevilla, Lorraine Côté, Patric' Saucier, Carl Béchard, Reynald Robinson, Serge Denoncourt and Marie-Thérèse Fortin, to name only a few. Jacques Leblanc appeared in the TV series 4 et demi, in dramas by Jeannette Bertrand and others, and in a number of shows for children. He has also appeared on the large screen, and has been involved in a number of radio programs as producer (Comme un roman), narrator, reader or actor. In this respect he has participated in a score of dramas. Jacques Leblanc has staged works by Marie Laberge, Yvon Brochu, Martin Doyon, and others, including a number of collective efforts. Having received training in music, he is also greatly interested in musical theatre. He staged the operetta L'Auberge du Cheval Blanc, the musical comedy The Phantom of the Opera and, more recently, Benjamin Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Handel’s Serse, two productions of l'Atelier d'opéra de l'Université Laval of which he is now in charge. In October 2000, he successfully stage directed his first opera project with the Opéra de Québec, the immensely successful Hansel and Gretel, and returned again in 2001 for the Merry Widow. During his career, he has been awarded a large number of prizes including: le prix Paul Hébert, le prix Janine-Angers and le prix Nicky-Roy (awarded to an actor selected as the revelation of the year). He received the Prix des abonnés du Théâtre du Trident three times, and recently, he received honors for the best stage direction with Corneille’s Menteur at the Théâtre de la Bordée, where he has served as artistic director since 2004.
Gaétan LAPERRIÈRE, baritone (Falstaff)
With a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Gaétan Laperrière is one of Québec's most visible lyric artists on the international scene. He has played all the major baritone roles, and has participated in a number of creations. Québec audiences have heard him in several important roles: Marcello, La Bohème; Sharpless, Madama Butterfly; Germont, La Traviata; Scarpia, Tosca; the title role in Rigoletto; Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana and Tonio in I Pagliacci. In 2004, again in Québec, he was Renato (Un ballo in maschera) a role that he has also sung at the Opéra Bastille, in Hong Kong, Avignon and Ottawa. He has been seen and heard on stage throughout Canada and the United States, including New York Opera, San Francisco, Minnesota, Houston, Baltimore, New Orleans, Santa Fe and Boston. He also sings regularly in Europe (The Marquis in Dialogues des Carmélites at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, Germont and Escamillo at Metz, Tours and Rennes, Ottone in L'Incoronazione di Poppea in Marseille, Escamillo in Nice, Kruschina in The Bartered Bride in Geneva, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande in Bologna, the Directeur in Les Mamelles de Tirésias in Spoleto and Billy Budd at La Fenice di Venezia). He was a member of the cast for the world premiere of Cyrano at the Michigan Opera. He was Amonasro in Aïda at Opera Carolina, Germont in la Traviata with the Jacksonville Symphony, Scarpia in Tosca in Calgary, and Henri in Lucia di Lammermoor in Cincinnati. He was busy in 2009 as he held down the quadruple role of the four villains in the Tales of Hoffmann in Boston and again in Colorado before personifying Don Magnifico in la Cenerentola at the Florida Grand Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly in Hamilton and Manitoba and Falstaff in Cleveland. During this season, he will once again be Alfio and Tonio (Cavalleria rusticana / I Pagliacci), Rigoletto (a title role), Scarpia (Tosca), Germont (La Traviata) and Amonasro (Aïda).
Jean-François LAPOINTE, baritone (Ford)
Originally from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Jean-François Lapointe studied under the guidance of Louise André at Laval University, where he was awarded a Master’s degree in interpretation, before going to the USA where he continued to work with Martial Singher. He has been awarded numerous prizes including three at the prestigious Concours International de Chant de Paris. Since his debut performance at the age of 17, Jean-François Lapointe has sung more than 60 roles on the greatest stages of the world. He has received excellent reviews for his interpretations of Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas in Copenhagen, Trieste and Geneva, and as Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette) in Cincinnati, Orange and Tokyo. He also held the role of Valentin (Faust) in Turin, Madrid, Monte-Carlo and Orange in August 2008. He recently performed the role of Albert (Werther) at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. His preferred role is Pelléas, which he has performed in North America (Toronto and Cincinnati, among others) and in Europe, and for which he was invited to La Scala di Milano in 2005, and to Paris in 2007, under the baton of Bernard Haitink. Jean-François Lapointe has not hesitated to invest his energy in less well-known works. In this respect, he participated in the French creation of Bernstein’s Candide, in the title role, and toured with it throughout Europe. Although he is in great demand for French repertoire, he does not disdain Italian or Russian music. He has been Figaro (The Barber of Seville) at the Opéra-comique, Count Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro) in Nancy, and Don Giovanni in Trieste. He recently added the role of Prince Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades) to his repertoire, at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Jean-François Lapoint appears often in concerts, both oratorios and recitals. He has earned an excellent reputation for his interpretations of Duparc, Fauré and Poulenc. He also conducts, and has directed numerous master classes. He will appear as Don Giovanni in Marseille in April and will return to the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie for Les Hugenots in June.
Lyne FORTIN, soprano (Alice Ford)
Lyne Fortin is one of Canada's most highly renowned sopranos. At the Opéra de Montréal, she has interpreted all of the great soprano roles. In Québec, she has held the title role in numerous productions. She has also sung in Canadian opera companies in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Hamilton; and in the United States, in Baltimore, Seattle, Connecticut, Opera Pacific, Arizona, Detroit, New Jersey and Portland. At the Opéra de Flandres she created the role of Madame de Tourvel in a contemporary opera inspired by Les Liaisons dangereuses. She has also been attached to the Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal as a professor for several years. In 2005, she also interpreted the role of Stella Spotlight in Starmania with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, a production that was repeated at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, and again at the Festival international d'été de Québec. In 2007, she made her debut as Carmen in Edmonton and then participated in a production of the Dialogues des Carmélites at the Vlaamse Opera (Belgium). In May and July 2008 she again, with brio, incarnated Stella Spotlight in the world premiere of Starmania opera, presented by the Opera de Québec. In the fall of 2008, in Québec, she accepted the extraordinary challenge of Schönberg's Erwartung. Robert Lepage called her the "ideal interpreter" of this piece. For her part in this production the Opéra de Québec decorated her at the awards ceremonies for the Prix d'excellence des arts et de la culture de la Ville de Québec (2009). She held the role of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) in Calgary and will be Lady Macbeth next Fall in Victoria.
Marie-Josée LORD, soprano (Mistress Meg Page)
Marie-Josée Lord began her professional career during the fall of 2003, with the Opéra de Québec, as Liù in Turandot, and returned shortly thereafter for the first edition of the Gala de l’Opéra de Québec (20th Anniversary Gala). Shortly thereafter, the Montréal public was conquered by her interpretations of Mimi in La Bohème in a production of the Opéra de Montréal and Liù, before she personified Marie-Jeanne in the symphonic version of the rock opera Starmania with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. This concert was subsequently repeated in Paris (2005). She was invited to return to the Opéra de Montréal to incarnate the effervescent Laoula in Chabrier’s L’Étoile (2005) and again for the title role in Suor Angelica (2006). In 2005, she received the Prix de la Fondation de l’Opéra de Québec during ceremonies celebrating excellence in arts and culture, and was selected to represent Canada at the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World competition. She was the original Marie-Jeanne in the world première of Starmania opera, a production created by the Opéra de Québec in May 2008 and repeated by the Opéra de Montréal in March 2009. She was Nedda in the Opéra de Montréal’s production of I Pagliacci in October 2009. Marie-Josée Lord’s eponymous debut album was released during the fall of 2010 under the Atma label, and contains airs by Gershwin, Puccini, Leoncavallo, Catalani, Gounod, Cilèa, Mascagni, Bizet and Plamondon/Berger.
Sonia RACINE, mezzo-soprano (Dame Quickly)
Sonia Racine is well known to Québec audiences. During the early part of her career, she earned numerous awards and distinctions such as the grand prize and the first prize of the CBC National Radio Competition for Young Performers and the Prix d’excellence de la culture on two occasions. She was selected as “Soloist of the year” by the Communauté des radios publiques de langue française (Belgium, France, Swizerland and Canada) and was a finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition in Philadelphia. Since then, in Canada and in Europe, her principal roles have included Dalila (Samson et Dalila), Amneris (Aïda), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), Fenena (Nabucco), Carmen (Carmen), Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande), Filipievna (Eugene Onegin), Mère Marie-de-l’Incarnation (Dialogues des Carmélites), Charlotte (Werther), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), The Princess (Suor Angelica) and Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), which she also held here in Québec in 2004. She returned in 2007 as Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette). She has performed masterworks with orchestras and has recorded French melodies for the Radio Suisse Romande. Maestro Charles Dutoit twice invited her to the Saratoga Performing Art Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She sang in the Canadian Première performance of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio under the baton of Carl Davis, and repeated the concert in Cleveland. Since August 2010, she teaches voice at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec.
Antonio FIGUEROA, tenor (Fenton)
Antonio Figueroa received a scholarship from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for young Canadian opera singers, was a member of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal and continues to study with maestro César Ulloa. He made his debut in Avignon as Nadir in les Pêcheurs de Perles. He has been awarded a number of prizes, and received particular attention from the International Vocal arts Institute (IVAI-Tel Aviv) who awarded its Silverman prize in 2006 for his interpretation of Belmonte (The Abduction from the Seraglio). In 2007-2008, he was Nemorino in l’Elisir d’amore in Tours, and Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette in Toulon and participated in several oratorios. At the Opéra de Montréal, he interpreted Venditore (Il Tabarro), Gastone (La Traviata) and Hérisson de Porc-Épic (L’Étoile). During the spring of 2007, he was Ecclitico in the Atelier lyric’s production of Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna, and Quint (The Turn of the Screw). He interpreted Schubert’s cycle Die schöne Müllerin during a series of concerts for Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He also sang the role of Fernando (Così fan tutte) in a production of the IVAI, and Nemorino (L’Elisir d’amore) at the Festival di Musica da Camera (Italy). He has participated in events for the promotion of lyric arts, such as TechnOpéras, the Society for Arts and Technology, and Journées de la Culture. He was in the creation of Isabelle Panneton’s l’Arche, an opéra for children, based on a work by Anne Hébert in a coproduction of the Festival des Coups de Théâtre and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. He sang in the 2006 edition of the Gala de Opéra and held the role of Ziggy in the production of Starmania opéra by Luc Plamondon and Michel Berger (2008) and Beppe in I Pagliacci (2009) here in Québec. During the current season, in addition to oratorio work, he will play Beppe at the Opera Lyra Ottawa, Tamino in Mozart’s Magic Flute and Ferrando in Così fan tutte. He is also a member of the cast of Peter Brook’s adaptation of A Magic Flute.
Pascale BEAUDIN, soprano (Nannette)
Pascale Beaudin began her career at the Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal in the roles of Flaminia (Il mondo della luna), Flora (The Turn of the Screw) and the first witch (Dido and Aeneas). The Opéra de Montréal subsequently invited her to sing La Prima Cercatrice (Suor Angelica) and Oasis (L'Etoile). More recently, she received excellent critical acclaim for her interpretations of Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Oscar (Un ballo in maschera) with the Opéra de Montréal. In France, she personified Adèle in Rossini’s Comte Ory at l'Opéra de Nantes-Angers where she immediately received an invitation to return as Flaminia (Il mondo della luna) in January 2008. She made her debut appearance at the Opéra de Marseille in the role of Carmela (The Saint of Bleecker Street by Menotti) and will soon be onstage at the Opéra de Metz and the Opéra national de Lorraine. She has appeared in recital at the Festival Bel Canto de Knowlton, as Norina (Don Pasquale) with l’Orchestre de la francophonie canadienne conducted by Paul Nadler and in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with l'Orchestre symphonique de Québec. She has also performed with the Festival de musiques sacrées de Marseille, Les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, la Société musicale André-Turp, aux Idées Heureuses, le Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and Pro Musica. Pascale Beaudin has received scholarships from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for young Canadian opera singers and the Canada Council for the Arts; she was awarded a Bourse d'Excellence by l'Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal, won the audition for the Nouvelles Découvertes and was a co-Second-place winner of the Concours de l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Jeremy BLOSSEY, tenor (Bardolph)
Jeremy Blossey is Hawiian, and received much of his musical training in that state before moving to the Peabody Conservatory to continue his studies. His repertoire already contains over 30 roles, including the leading roles of Romeo in Romeo et Juliette, Alfredo in La Traviata, Borsa in Rigoletto, Spoletta in Tosca and the title role of Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor. He has sung with the Hawaii Opera Theater, the Baltimore Concert Opera, the Lyric Opera Cleveland, the Rutgers Opera, the Shreveport Opera, the Opera at Florham, the Washington Summer Opera Theater and the Young Victorian Opera Theatre in Baltimore. He regularly appears in concert, and has sung as tenor soloist in Haydn’s Creation, Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and many more. He will soon lend his voice to Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, in Hawaii, and Basilio/Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro at the Baltimore Concert Opera.
Taras KULISH, bass (Pistol)
Taras Kulish has sung professionally for 15 ans. Just recently, he sang with the Opéra de Montréal in Roberto Devereux and Gianni Schicchi, which won an OPUS award for the best classical concert of the year. In November he sang the title role in Ruslan and Lyudmila with Toronto’s Opera in Concert. In 2010, he was invited to sing the roles of Sarastro in The Magic Flute with the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil and Leporello in Don Giovanni with the Orchestre Métropolitain under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In 2009, he was the King in Gilles Tremblay’s creation l’Eau qui danse, la pomme qui chante et l’oiseau qui dit la verité with Chants Libres. This production also won an OPUS award as the creation of the year. For the past six years, Taras Kulish has served as the artistic director of the Green Mountain Opera Festival, the only professional opera festival in the entire state of Vermont. Fluent in five languages, Taras Kulish has studied in the music departments of McGill and Toronto universities, the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal and the Vancouver Opera. Taras Kulish has sung leading roles with the following companies: Vancouver Opera, Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, l’Opéra de Montréal, Manitoba Opera and several others. His career regularly calls on him to perform in France, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, under the direction of several renowned maestros such as Seiji Ozawa, Julius Rudel, Kent Nagano, Jacques Lacombe and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In March of this year, he will return to the Opéra de Montréal as the First Soldier in Salome. This fall, he will be Simone in Gianni Schicchi at the Calgary Opera.
Programmation
-
Falstaff de Verdi
Verdi, in Falstaff - his very last opera (1893), playfully staged a most amusing farce!
Synopsis -
La Traviata
Praesent augue lacus, lacinia non tempor at, consectetur ac quam. Phasellus lacinia sem ac urna malesuada egestas...
-
Le Gala
Praesent augue lacus, lacinia non tempor at, consectetur ac quam. Phasellus lacinia sem ac urna malesuada egestas...
-
La Vie parisienne
Praesent augue lacus, lacinia non tempor at, consectetur ac quam. Phasellus lacinia sem ac urna malesuada egestas...
