 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DUCHESS Irena Sylya
|
|
Reviews
A witty chamber opera, based on the scandalous life of the Duchess of Argyll, acclaimed for its brazen story-telling and mischievous score. Revelations of a voracious sexual appetite, evidenced by a shocking Polaroid snapshot, led to a notorious divorce trial. Condemned as depraved by the court, the divorced Duchess entertained the princes of the old and new worlds in her lavish London hotel suite. Living now in her glamorous past, the Duchess confronts new realities, transforming the hotel's manager, maid and maintenance man into personages and events that had shaped her destiny. See also Coincidences. |
||||||||
|
BIOS |
Thomas Adès Irena Sylya sang the Duchess in the 1996 German premiere of Powder Her Face in Magdeburg. She has appeared as Kostalnicka in Jenufa in Tel Aviv, as Kundry in Parsifal at Bergenz, Ortrud in Lohengrin in San Francisco, in the world premiere of Berthod Goldschmidt's Beatrice Cenci in Hannover, and most recently as Turandot in Prague. Donald Sherrill has appeared as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola at Los Angeles Opera, Sulpice in La Fille du Regiment at Boston Lyric Opera, as the Father in Hansel und Gretel and as Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Dallas Opera, as Mephistopheles in Faust at Austin Lyric Opera, and as the four Villians in Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Hong Kong. Catherine Ireland, maid, has appeared at L.A. Opera as Frasquita in Carmen, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, Gianetta in L'elisir d'amore, and Yvette in La Rondine. At San Diego Opera she has appeared as Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro. In her native Australia she performed the title role in Fauré's Pénélope. James Schaffner, Electrician, sang Clifford in the world premiere of Scott Eyerly's The House of the Seven Gables at New York's Manhattan School of Music, recorded on Albany Records. Also at the Manhattan School he has appeared as the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, as Paolino in Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto and as Alfredo in La Traviata. Neal Stulberg, conductor, has conducted From the House of the Dead (1997), Wozzeck (1998) and Elegy for Young Lovers (1996) at Long Beach Opera. Mo. Stulberg has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta, Buffalo, Milwaukee, St. Louis and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among many others in the U.S. and abroad. David Schweizer, stage director, has directed The Indian Queen (1998) and Elegy for Young Lovers (1996) at LBO. Locally he has directed The Waiting Room at the Mark Taper Forum, and recently Berlin Circle at the Evidence Room and Salome for the Actors Gang. In New York he recently directed Rindy Eckhert in the Obie winning And God Created Great Whales. Andrew Lieberman, set design, designed L'etoile for Glimmerglass Opera, The Italian Girl in Algiers and The Rake's Progress for Wolf Trap Opera, Roberto Devereux for New York City Opera, and The Merchant and the Pauper for Opera Theater of St. Louis. Upcoming is Tears of the Knife at for New York's Henry Street Chamber Opera. Kaye Voyce, costume design, designed Luisa Miller for Spoleto Festival USA, The Good Soldier Schweik for Chicago Opera Theater, and Le Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein for L'Opera Francais de New York. Recent designs for theatre include Mary Stuart for Chicago's Court Theatre, and Cymbeline for the California Shakespeare Festival. Geoff Korf, lighting design, has lighted Elektra, Euridice, and Bluebeard's Castle at Long Beach Opera. Locally he has designed production at the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, Cornerstone Theater, the La Jolla Playhouse and at San Diego's Old Globe. Nationally he has light productions at Tulsa Opera, Trinity Repertory and the Guthrie Theater, among others.
|
||||||||||
