Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 6 Don Giovanni

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 21 MATTHEW ROSE | LEPORELLO Previously at Lyric: Baron Ochs| Der Rosenkavalier (2015|16). Highlights this season for the renowned British bass include Agrippina (Met premiere), Der Rosenkavalier (Brussels) and The Rake’s Progress (Glyndebourne). Rose’s close association with London’s Royal Opera includes diverse repertoire ranging stylistically from The Magic Flute to Boris Godunov to A Midsummer Night’s Dream . In the latter opera his portrayal of Bottom has been hailed at the Metropolitan Opera (where he currently serves as artistic consultant to the company’s young-artist program), La Scala, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, the Opéra de Lyon, and most recently Opera Philadelphia. His wide repertoire also encompasses Britten’s Claggart| Billy Budd (ENO); Mozart’s Figaro (Munich) and Osmin (Garsington Opera); Rossini (Walter| Guillaume Tell , BBC Proms); Donizetti (Callistene| Poliuto , Glyndebourne); Bellini (Oroveso| Norma , Met); Verdi (Grand Inquisitor| Don Carlo , Berlin); Wagner (King Marke| Tristan und Isolde , ENO); Puccini (Colline| La bohème and Ashby| La fanciulla del West , Met); and Stravinsky (Nick Shadow| The Rake’s Progress , Glyndebourne). A native of Brighton, Sussex, Rose runs a music festival there, Matthew Rose and Friends. YING FANG | ZERLINA Lyric debut The Chinese soprano has previously scored successes as Mozart’s Pamina| The Magic Flute (Zurich), Ilia| Idomeneo (new production, Salzburg Festival), and Servilia| La clemenza di Tito (Metropolitan Opera). Last season she also returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic, while also debuting with the major orchestras of Cleveland, Boston, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Houston. Fang debuted at the Met in Shostakovich’s The Nose (HD). Other achievements include Morgana| Alcina (Washington), Adina| L’elisir d’amore (Vancouver), and Noémie| Cendrillon (Met, HD). Fang has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall and has been heard with the Pittsburgh, NewWorld, and National symphony orchestras, as well as at the Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, and Ravinia festivals. The soprano is an alumna of The Juilliard School, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. In 2009, she became one of the youngest singers to win the China Golden Bell Award for Music. BEN BLISS | DON OTTAVIO Lyric debut The American tenor returns to Mozart repertoire later this season as Ferrando| Così fan tutte (Metropolitan Opera, where he premiered the recent new production). Other recent Mozart portrayals include Don Ottavio (Houston), Tamino| The Magic Flute (Met, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Des Moines), Ferrando (Toronto, Santa Fe, Seattle, Frankfurt), and Belmonte| The Abduction from the Seraglio (Glyndebourne, Met, Atlanta, Kansas City). Bliss has also been heard in the Mozart Requiem with the New York Philharmonic. Repertoire beyond Mozart ranges from Cassio| Otello (Atlanta) to Camille| The Merry Widow (Barcelona), the title role| The Rake’s Progress (Boston), Robert Wilson| Doctor Atomic (Santa Fe) and Tony| West Side Story (New York Philharmonic). The tenor’s recent U.S. recital tour included Carnegie Hall, DC Vocal Arts, and the Folly Theater in Kansas City. A 2016 recipient of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Martin E. Segal Award, Bliss has been a prizewinner in Operalia (2013) and numerous other important competitions. BRANDON CEDEL | MASETTO Lyric debut The American bass-baritone, a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann program, was recently an ensemble member of the Frankfurt Opera, where he appeared last season in works of Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Puccini, and Stravinsky. Also in 2018|19 he debuted as Collatinus| The Rape of Lucretia with Boston Lyric Opera and as Colline| La bohème with Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company, while also returning to the Met as Masetto and to Glyndebourne as Argante| Rinaldo (he first appeared in the U.K. at Glyndebourne, singing Masetto and Leporello). Other highlights include Isacio|Handel’s Riccardo Primo (St. Louis); Mozart’s Figaro (Philadelphia); and a Kennedy Center recital for DC Vocal Arts. Recent orchestral engagements include the BBC Philharmonic at a concert featuring Bernstein’s Songfest ; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Russian National Orchestra at the Napa Valley Festival del Sole; Panthée| Les Troyens with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; and Schumann’s The Pilgrimage of the Rose with Le Festival de Lanaudière. MIKA KARES | COMMENDATORE Lyric debut The Finnish bass studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and was a member of the Baden State Opera’s ensemble from 2005 to 2010. Recent roles include Balthasar| La favorite , Oroveso| Norma , and Raimondo| Lucia di Lammermoor , all at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera; the Commendatore at the Dutch National Opera; Fiesco| Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra National de Paris; Gremin| Eugene Onegin at the Vienna State Opera; Hermann| Tannhäuser at the Zurich Opera House; and the title role| Mefistofele at the Stuttgart State Opera. Among Kares’s ˇ