The Dallas Opera 2021-2022 - The Barber of Seville/The Pearl Fishers

19 THE PEARL FISHERS PERSPECTIVE The Pearl Fishers is inherently a problematic piece, rife with Orientalism. When tasked with directing this opera “war horse,” we recognized this inherent flaw. Production values cannot wash this original sin from the opera and they can certainly exacerbate them. In our staging, we aim to remove any reference to an existing culture, but rather to take the inherent themes of the dramatic conflict on which to focus. This community of citizens elects a leader in good faith. That leader uses his office to satisfy his personal desires. Opposite him stands the community’s leader of faith, a vestal virgin who betrays her vows by falling in love. Rather than try to bend the rules, she tries to sacrifice herself for the good of all. The piece asks questions of leadership, corruption, and ethical practice in offices of faith and leadership. Our staging attempts to engage with these issues—appropriate for our contemporary audiences to grapple with, while acknowledging the inherent problematic nature of the piece itself. Shawna Lucey & James Smith, co-directors • ABOUT THE ARTISTS Joyce El-Khoury (Leïla) The Dallas Opera debut The Lebanese-Canadian soprano has earned worldwide acclaim in a highly varied repertoire. In Great Britain she has starred as Violetta in La traviata at Glyndebourne and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (where she has also been heard as Musetta in La bohème and Sylvia in Donizetti’s L’ange de Nisida ) and as Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux at Welsh National Opera. Among her successes elsewhere in Europe are the title role in Rusalka (Amsterdam), Musetta (Madrid), Imogene in Il pirata (Bordeaux), and concerts with Elina Garanca (Austria) and Juan Diego Flórez (Spain). Appearances in North America include a triumph in the title role of Maria Stuarda , as well as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin , Liù in Turandot , Salomé in Hérodiad , Micaëla in Carmen , and Tatyana Bakst in Jake Heggie’s Great Scott . The soprano’s debut solo album, “Echo,” a program of bel canto repertoire with the Hallé Orchestra, is available on the Opera Rara label, as are her performances in L’ange d e Nisida and two other Donizetti rarities, Les Martyrs and Belisario . She is an alumna of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. René Barbera (Nadir) A San Antonio native, Barbera is one of today’s foremost interpreters of bel canto repertoire. His successes in Rossini include Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville (LA Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Vancouver Opera, Opéra National de Paris, and others); Giannetto in La gazza ladra and Narciso in Il turco in Italia (both at Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival), Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri (Metropolitan Opera), Don Ramiro in La cenerentola (San Francisco Opera), and Rodrigo in La donna del lago (Santa Fe Opera). Other major successes include La sonnambula , Don Pasquale , Anna Bolena , The Elixir of Love , and I puritani . Barbera’s repertoire extends from Mozart ( La clemenza di Tito, Idomeneo ) to Berlioz ( Les Troyens ), Verdi ( La traviata ), and Puccini ( Gianni Schicchi ). The tenor can be heard on CD in Opera Rara’s recording of Donizetti’s Il paria . An alumnus of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, Barbera is a former winner of the three top prizes at the prestigious Operalia competition.