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).

Verdi's A Masked Ball

A love triangle, a forbidden passion, and a fortune-teller's horrifying prediction are woven into a tangled web of jealousy, vengeance and murder at a lavish masked ball. Tenor Ramón Vargas ("the sheer beauty of his sound was thrilling" - Houston Chronicle) returns to HGO as Riccardo, while soprano Tamara Wilson makes her role debut as Amelia. Carlo Guelfi ("tremendous" - The New York Times) and contralto Ewa Podles ("uninhibited and vocally thrilling" - The New York Times) star as Ulrica and Renato. Patrick Summers leads the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

Verdi's A Masked Ball
Oct 19 - Nov 2, 2007
www.houstongrandopera.org