Wednesday, January 7, 2009

A Midsummer Night's Dream

January 23 - February 6, 2009
Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
Purchase Tickets Online at www.HoustonGrandOpera.org

The course of true love never did run smooth...
The king and queen of the fairies are feuding, two mortal couples break up and make up thanks (or no thanks!) to the juice of a magic flower, and the Duke of Athens is getting ready to wed the Queen of the Amazons—there’s a whole lot going on in the forest just outside Athens!

Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, based on Shakespeare's play, opens January 23.


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).