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Forces of good and evil portrayed with devastating
power and impact
Toledo Opera will end its 2006-2007 season with Giacomo
Puccini’s Tosca. Cherished
not only for its heart-wrenching melodies, but regarded as a dramatic
masterpiece, Tosca is full of passion and intrigue as the
tension between love and betrayal ultimately clash in Puccini’s
thriller. Hailed as his greatest creative accomplishment, Tosca tells
of the beautiful opera singer, Floria Tosca, who finds herself torn
between the painter she loves and the loathsome chief of police who
holds her lover’s fate in his hands. Filled with treachery,
murder and unbreakable love, the opera captures the events of a mere
17 hours amid the political turmoil of 19th-century Rome.
Sets and
lighting for this production are designed by David Gano, and costumes
by John Lehmeyer. Lorna Haywood is the stage director and Maestro
Thomas Conlin will be conducting.
Maestro Conlin has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest
singers, including Kathleen Battle, Maureen Forrester, Marilyn Horne,
Cornell MacNeil, Robert Merrill, Sherrill Milnes, Roberta Peters,
Giorgio Tozzi and Frederica von Stade. He has served as vocal coach
for many artists currently on the rosters of San Francisco Opera,
Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera and other major companies.
Articles by or about Thomas Conlin have appeared in numerous international
publications, and he has lectured widely on opera and other musical
subjects.
Lorna Haywood comes to stage directing after an operatic
career that took her to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Glyndebourne
Festival Opera, English National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Chicago
Lyric Opera and numerous other American Opera companies, Lorna Haywood
is now in demand as an opera director. Ms. Haywood’s productions
include La traviata for Norway’s Opera Nordfjord, Le
nozze di Figaro, La traviata La bohème, Madama
Butterfly and Tosca for Madison Opera, Die
fledermaus and Il
trovatore for Opera San Jose, Die Zauberflöte and Fidelio for
Atlanta Opera and Amahl and the Night Visitors for Toledo
Opera. Ms. Haywood recently made her directorial debut with Virginia
Opera directing Le nozze di Figaro and returned to San Jose
for a new production of Don Giovanni.
Starring in the production
as Floria Tosca is soprano Fabiana
Bravo. Ms. Bravo made her professional debut in 1996 at
the Academy of Music in Philadelphia after winning the 5th Luciano
Pavarotti International Voice Competition. Since then she has appeared
with Central City Opera as Mimi in La bohème, Cio-Cio-San
in Madama Butterfly with both Dallas Opera and San Francisco
Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with New Orleans Opera,
Giorgetta in Il Tabarro with New York City Opera. In 2001
she joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera. As a concert artist
Ms. Bravo has performed in Europe, North and South America. In 2005,
she inaugurated the new theatre in Mendoza, Argentina with a Verdi
concert and sang Tosca in Shanghai, China. Her 2005-2006
engagements include a return to the Met roster for Aida and
the title role in L’Amore de tre re at Carnegie Hall
with Opera Orchestra of New York.
Her lover Cavardossi will be sung by Dinyar Vania,
one of the most exciting young tenors on the operatic stage. This
past season began with debuts at Connecticut Grand Opera singing
Rodolfo in La bohème, at Cedar Rapids Opera Theater,
Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and at Nevada Opera Theater
Cavaradossi in Tosca. In 2001, Dinyar celebrated his first
season at New York City Opera. Mr. Vania made his Carnegie Hall
debut as tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The 2006-07
season begins with performances as Rodolfo in La bohème with
New York City Opera. This is followed by a company debut with Syracuse
Opera as Edgardo in a production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Mr.
Vania was a prize winner in the prestigious Licia Albanese-Puccini
Competition, and he was a semi-finalist in Placido Domingo’s
Operalia in Madrid (Spain), one of only four Americans to compete
in the competition.
Michael Chioldi who thrilled Toledo Opera audiences
in the title role of Robert Ward’s The Crucible returns
as Scarpia, the tyrannical police chief. Recent performances have
included his debut with Palm Beach Opera in the role of Dr. Malatesta
in Don
Pasquale, Scarpia in Tosca with Fort Worth Opera,
Prince Otokkar in Opera Orchestra of New York’s Der Freischütz at
Carnegie Hall, and Escamillo in Carmen at Lyric Opera of
Kansas City. Other notable appearances include Fléville in Andrea
Chenier at Washington National Opera, and the title role in Don
Giovanni with Opera Atelier in Toronto. Over the next three
years, Mr. Chioldi is contracted to sing a total of ten roles with
the Metropolitan Opera.
Performances of Tosca are Saturday, April 28, and May 4,
2007 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm.
Single ticket prices begin at $25.00 and may
be purchased online at toledoopera.org or by phone at 419-255-7464.
Discounts are available for students, seniors and groups of 10
or more. Tosca will
be sung in Italian with English translations projected above the
stage. Generous support for this production is provided the Ohio
Arts Council.
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