Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Berlioz: Beatrice and Benedict

October 30 - November 14, 2008
Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
Purchase Tickets Online at www.HoustonGrandOpera.org


Beatrice and Benedict trade insults for sweet nothings, while Claudio and Hero fall in love, out of love, and back in love again. Berlioz's operatic comedy, based on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, opens October 30. Starring Joyce DiDonato and Norman Reinhardt in the title roles.


Friday, October 3, 2008

Mascagni & Leoncavallo: Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci

October 17 - November 1, 2008
Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
Purchase Tickets Online at www.HoustonGrandOpera.org

Betrayal, jealousy and revenge—the perfect partners for an evening of irresistible theater. A powerhouse cast takes charge:
Brandon Jovanovich makes his HGO debut as Cavalleria’s caddish Turiddù, with Dolora Zajick in her signature role as the spurned Santuzza. In Pagliacci, Vladimir Galouzine returns to HGO as the titular clown—the wronged husband whose jealousy escalates to insanity—with HGO Studio alums Ana María Martínez and Scott Hendricks as his unfaithful wife and her paramour. Oleg Caetani conducts in his HGO debut.


Thursday, April 10, 2008

Puccini's La bohème

April 11 - May 3
Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
Purchase Tickets Online at www.HoustonGrandOpera.org

Love and heartbreak meet on the Left Bank of Paris, as four young bohemians test the boundaries of friendship and art. Ana María Martínez ("a lovely singer [and] a beautiful musician." - Newsday) and Garrett Sorenson ("[who] inhabited Alfredo with an attractive, Italianate sound and promising acting...: - Los Angeles Times), who triumphed in last season's Don Giovanni at HGO, take the stage with studio artist Albina Shagimuratova and alumni Joshua Hopkins and Nikolai Didenko. James Robinson's enchanting setting of Puccini's verismo tour-de-force, a co-production of Houston Grand Opera, The New York City Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera, returns to HGO.

Performances on May 1 and 3 feature soprano Cynthia Clayton ("a becoming Mimi, by turns shy, sweet and flirtatious...a lovely performance." - The New York Times) and Brian Mulligan ("Brian Mulligan's Marcello was a most likable fellow, with his velvety, evenly and effortlessly produced baritone and nuance-rich phrasing." - Tim Smith, Opera News).


Monday, January 14, 2008

Mozart's The Magic Flute

January 25 - February 9, 2008
Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
Purchase Tickets Online at www.HoustonGrandOpera.org

Sarastro, a priest of Isis and Osiris, takes Pamina to his temple in order to release her from the influence of her mother, the Queen of the Night. The Queen sends Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter - which he does, but not before he falls in love with Pamina and becomes the disciple of Sarastro. HGO Studio soprano Rebekah Camm and tenor Eric Cutler ("...an exceptionally heroic Tamino" - The Times, U.K.) star as Pamina and Tamino, while Albina Shagimuratova makes her role debut as Queen of the Night. Houston favorites Patrick Carfizzi ("magnificent" - The Houston Chronicle) and Raymond Aceto ("[a] smooth, textured, velvet voice" - Houston Press) return; Steven Sloane conducts the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus. David Hockney's sets and costumes will evoke a "mood of fairy tale innocence...his stage pictures unerringly [work] their magic" (The New York Times).