Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 7 La Boheme #2

P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 22 | January 10 - 31, 2019 MARIA AGRESTA (Mimì) Previously at Lyric: Mimì (Oct. 2018 performances); Liù/ Turandot (2017/18). Acclaimed as one of the most remarkable Italian singers of her generation, the soprano is returning to Lyric for one of her signature roles, one that brought her to London’s Royal Opera last summer. Her Mimì has also earned acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera (company debut, 2016), La Scala, the Opéra National de Paris, and the major houses of Vienna, Munich, Venice, the Verona Arena, and Torre del Lago’s Puccini Festival. Also prominent among her Puccini roles is Liù (La Scala, Verona Arena, most recently last season at the Metropolitan Opera). She is also a celebrated Verdian, with successes including some of the most demanding roles in Italian opera, such as Lucrezia/ I due Foscari (Vienna, London), Leonora/ Il trovatore London, Milan, Amsterdam), the title role/ Giovanna d’Arco (Graz), Amelia/ Simon Boccanegra (Frankfurt), Violetta/ La traviata (Munich, Berlin), Desdemona/ Otello (with Jonas Kaufmann, Royal Opera House, DVD), and her career-breakthrough role, Elena/ I vespri siciliani (Turin). Other important highlights include Donna Elvira/ Don Giovanni (La Scala), the title role/ Norma (Tel Aviv, Zurich, Paris), Marguerite/ Faust (Salzburg), and the title role/ Donizetti’s Gemma di Vergy (Bergamo, Scala, Amsterdam, Salerno). On CD Agresta sings sacred music of Verdi with Antonio Pappano conducting, and she can be seen on DVD in Pagliacci, Gemma di Vergy, Faust, and I due Foscari. MICHAEL FABIANO (Rodolfo) Previously at Lyric: Rodolfo (Oct. 2018 performances). A winner of both the Richard Tucker Award and the Beverly Sills Artist Award, the American tenor premiered Richard Jones’s Bohème production to open the 2017/18 Royal Opera House season at London’s Covent Garden. He reprises his Met portrayal of Rodolfo this season, while also making role debuts as Faust/ Mefistofele (Met) and Carlo/Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco (Madrid). Highlights in recent seasons have been Fabiano’s role debut as Don José/ Carmen (Aix-en-Provence), as well as the title role/ Faust (Houston), the Duke/ Rigoletto (London, Paris, Los Angeles), Lensky/ Eugene Onegin (London), Des Grieux/ Manon (San Francisco, Bilbao), and Edgardo/ Lucia di Lammermoor (Met, Sydney). Fabiano triumphed in two rarities – Verdi’s Il corsaro and Massenet’s Hérodiade – at Washington Concert Opera. Other major venues include the leading companies of Milan, Madrid, Amsterdam, Dresden, and Berlin, as well as the major orchestras of Cleveland, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Vienna. Recent recital activities include a seven-city American tour and the tenor’s London recital debut at Wigmore Hall. On DVD, he can be seen in the title role/Donizetti’s Poliuto and Alfredo/ La traviata (both from Glyndebourne), Cassio/ Otello (Met), and Gennaro/ Lucrezia Borgia (San Francisco). Fabiano is the recipient of Australia’s prestigious Helpmann Award in the “Best Male Performance in an Opera” category, for Faust in Sydney. DANIELLE DE NIESE (Musetta) Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2007/08, most recently Musetta (Oct. 2018 performances); Roxane Coss/ Bel Canto (world premiere, 2015/16); Susanna/ The Marriage of Figaro (2009/10). The internationally celebrated Australian-born American soprano sang her first Musetta in June at London’s Royal Opera House, where she previously starred as Galatea/ Acis and Galatea (DVD). She has earned acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera as Despina, Euridice, Ariel/ The Enchanted Island , Susanna, and de Niese’s signature role, Cleopatra/ Giulio Cesare . Cleopatra, the vehicle of her European debut in Amsterdam, brought her stardom at Glyndebourne (DVD), where she has returned as Monteverdi’s Poppea, Donizetti’s Adina and Norina (DVD), Concepción/ L’heure espagnole , the Child/ L’enfant et les sortilèges, and Rosina/ The Barber of Seville . Her stage successes encompass Donna Elvira/ Don Giovanni (Dresden); Cavalli’s Calisto (Munich); Norina/ Don Pasquale (Vienna); Partenope (San Francisco); Susanna and Despina (Dutch National Opera, DVD); Anne Trulove/ The Rake’s Progress (Turin); and the title role/ The Merry Widow (Sydney). She returned to Brussels in December to star in Don Pasquale . Her numerous prestigious orchestral engagements include opening the new Philharmonie de Paris; BBC’s “Last Night of the Proms”; performances with the major orchestras of New York, Cleveland, San Francisco; and her London Symphony debut with Sir Simon Rattle in Bernstein’s Wonderful Town . De Niese’s many acclaimed recordings include four solo discs for Decca Records. Her many honors include an Emmy Award, the ECHO Award and France’s Orphée D’Or. ZACHARY NELSON (Marcello ) Previously at Lyric: Marcello (Oct. 2018 performances); Ping/ Turandot (2017/18); Donner/ Das Rheingold (2016/17). This season the American baritone appears as Peter/ Hansel and Gretel (Oregon Symphony) and Count Almaviva/ The Marriage of Figaro (Arizona Opera). Last season he reprised his portrayal of Mozart’s Figaro at Dresden’s Semperoper and Belcore/ L’elisir d’amore at Pittsburgh Opera. Other recent successes include Enrico/ Lucia di Lammermoor (Santa Fe) and Escamillo/ Carmen (Oslo, San Francisco, Palm Beach). He has portrayed Escamillo and Masetto/ Don Giovanni at Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company. In 2013/14 Nelson joined the Semperoper’s permanent ensemble, and has appeared with the company as Paolo/ Simon Boccanegra , Guglielmo/ Così fan tutte , Belcore, Marcello, and the Figaros of Rossini and Mozart. His portrayal of Mozart’s Figaro has been heard with the Aix-en-Provence Festival; on tour in Bahrain; and in Santa Fe, where he has also sung Malatesta/ Don Pasquale . Other successes include appearances with Japan’s Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project ( Die Fledermaus ) and Washington Concert Opera (Strauss’s Guntram ). The Maryland native is the recipient of many awards and honors, among them the George London Award from the George London Foundation and first prize from the Opera Index Competition, the Liederkranz Foundation Competition (General Opera Division), and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation. He is an alumnus of the Catholic University of America and Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts. ADRIAN SÂMPETREAN (Colline) Previously at Lyric: Colline (Oct. 2018 performances); Giorgio/ I puritani (2017/18); Raimondo/ Lucia di Lammermoor (2016/17). The Romanian bass, who has rapidly risen to international prominence, made his stage debut as Colline/ La bohème at the National Opera in his hometown, Cluj-Napoca. Guest engagements followed at the Opéra de Monte Carlo, the Opéra National de Paris, the Opéra de Bordeaux, Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein/ Düsseldorf-Duisburg, and the state operas in Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich, in roles such as Alidoro/ Cinderella , Don Basilio/ The Barber of Seville , Philip II/ Don Carlo , and Sparafucile/ Rigoletto . In his still-young career Sâmpetrean has already earned successes at La Scala in the title role/Verdi’s Oberto and Banco/ Macbeth ; the Salzburg Festival as Ferrando/ Il trovatore and Leporello/ Don Giovanni ; the Aix-en- Provence Festival as Selim/ Il turco in Italia ; the Verona Arena as Ramfis/ Aida ; the state operas of Hamburg (Raimondo/ Lucia di Lammermoor ) and Berlin (Ferrando); and the Teatro La Fenice in the title role/ Don Giovanni . As Leporello in the latter opera, he also appeared in Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Moscow, Paris, Monte Carlo, and Hamburg. Sâmpetrean will be featured later this season as Count Walter/ Luisa Miller in Monte Carlo, Leporello at France’s Chorégies d’Orange Festival, and Alidoro in Rome.