Ravinia 2022, Issue 4

KRISTINN INGVARSSON (SIGMUNDSSON); PAUL SCALA (PIRGU); YAN BLENEY (CAR) I I I I ; I ; KRISTINN SIGMUNDSSON, bass Before studying voice at the Reykjavík Acad- emy of Singing in his native Iceland and Vienna’s University of Music, Kristinn Sig- mundsson trained as a biologist. The bass took many of his first bows at the Hessische Staatstheater in Wiesbaden and has since reg- ularly appeared with Paris Opera. In the past year, Sigmundsson portrayed The Chamber- lain in Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg at the Enescu Festival, Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House Muscat, and La Roche in Strauss’s Capriccio at Bavarian State Opera. Sigmundsson made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2000 as Hunding in Die Walküre for the company’s staging of Wagner’s complete Ring cycle, later returning as Frère Laurent in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette , Rocco in Bee- thoven’s Fidelio , Osmin in Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio , Vodník in Dvořák’s Rusal- ka , and Baron Ochs in Strauss’s Der Rosenka- valier . His Wagnerian credits include Daland in The Flying Dutchman in Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, and Strasbourg; King Heinrich in Lohengrin in Berlin, Los Angeles, Madrid, Munich, and San Francisco; Landgraf in Tannhäuser in Amsterdam, Geneva, and To- kyo; King Marke in Tristan und Isolde in Ber- lin, Chile, Dallas, and San Francisco; Fasolt in Das Rheingold in Houston; and Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Berlin, as well as performances of Hunding in Cologne, Naples, and Venice. Sigmundsson’s repertoire also includes roles by Verdi (Philip II and the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo , Zaccaria in Nabucco , Count Walter in Luisa Miller , and Sparafucile in Rigoletto ) and Mozart (the Commendatore in Don Giovanni , Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro , and Sarastro in The Magic Flute ) as well as Louis XVI in Coriglia- no’s The Ghosts of Versailles , Ghost in Dusap- in’s Macbeth Underworld , Melchtal in Rossi- ni’s Guillaume Tell , Don Basilio in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville , King Créon in Cheru- bini’s Médée , Méphistophélès in Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust , the Cook in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges , and Raimondo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor . Kristinn Sigmundsson made his Ravinia debut in 2014 in the casts of Don Giovanni and The Mar- riage of Figaro and returned in 2015 for The Flying Dutchman . SAIMIR PIRGU, tenor Albanian native Saimir Pirgu began studying music at age 7 and initially focused on vio- lin while attending the national conservato- ry. After hearing a performance by Luciano Pavarotti, the then 19-year-old left for Italy’s Conservatorio Monteverdi, where he began to cultivate his tenor voice under the tutelage of Vito Brunetti. During his two years at the conservatory, Pirgu won the Enrico Caruso and Tito Schipa Competitions, and then in 2003 he made his international stage debut as Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte under the direction of Claudio Abbado. After re- prising the role at the Salzburg Festival, Pirgu returned to Albania to perform Nemorino in Donizetti’s Elixir of Love , which soon be- came the vehicle of his Vienna State Opera debut. He has returned to the company reg- ularly in a variety of roles, including Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff , Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni , Alfredo in Verdi’s La travia- ta , Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute , Ro- dolfo in Puccini’s La bohème , and the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto . Pirgu made his Covent Garden debut as Rinuccio in Verdi’s Gi- anni Schicchi , which he reprised for debuts at Paris Opera, Los Angeles Opera (also his American debut), and Metropolitan Opera, and made his San Francisco Opera debut as Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi . Over the past year, he has appeared at Covent Garden as Steva in Janáček’s Jenůfa , Théâtre des Champs-Elysées as Des Grieux in Mas- senet’s Manon , the Duke at Gran Teatre del Liceu and Berlin State Opera, and Rodolfo at Teatro Colón. Pirgu’s repertoire also includes Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor , the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo , Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth , the title role of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito , Fernand in Donizetti’s La favorite , and Pinkerton in Puccini’s Mad- ama Butterfly , and he recently made role de- buts as the title character of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann (at Zurich Opera) and in Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová (at Teatro dell’Op- era di Roma). Saimir Pirgu made his Ravinia debut in 2010 as Ferrando in Così fan tutte and returned in 2014 as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni . NICOLE CAR, soprano After completing her Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts, Australian soprano Nicole Car won the 2007 Herald Sun Aria competition, 2012 Australia Sing- ing Competition Opera Awards, and 2013 Neue Stimmen competition in Germany. She made her major professional debut in 2009 as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Vic- torian Opera, while another Mozart role, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro , was the vehicle of her American debut with Dallas Opera in 2014. Car made her European debut the following year as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Deutsche Oper Berlin, and it quickly became a signature role for the soprano after a reprise that same year at Covent Garden, where she also essayed Mi- caëla in Bizet’s Carmen as part of her debut season. She has since sung Tatyana with Paris Opera, the Vienna and Bavarian State Op- eras, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Australia. Car is a frequent guest of Opera Australia, where her credits have included Micaëla and Mozart’s Countess, plus Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème , Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust , Pam- ina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute , Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata , Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte , Leila in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers , the title role of Massenet’s Thaïs , and both Don- na Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni . She won a Helpmann Award in 2018 for her portrayal of the title character in Verdi’s Luisa Miller with the company, and that same year she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimì. Car has also sung Marguerite at Deut- sche Oper Berlin, Marseille Opera, and Vien- na State Opera; Micaëla and Donna Elvira at Paris Opera; Donna Anna at West Australian Opera; Fiordiligi at Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Met, and Semperoper Dresden; Violet- ta at Marseille Opera; and Mimì at Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Semperoper Dresden, and Vienna State Opera, and she has taken on Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma at Victorian Opera, Ellen Orford in Britten’s Peter Grimes with the Sydney Symphony, and Elisabetta in Verdi’s Don Carlo at Deutsche Oper Berlin. Last year she was made a Knight of France’s Order of Arts and Letters. Nicole Car is mak- ing her Ravinia and Chicago Symphony Or- chestra debuts. ERICA PETROCELLI, soprano Originally from Rhode Island, soprano Erica Petrocelli is a 2018 Metropolitan Opera Audi- tions national finalist who recently complet- ed residencies as a studio artist with Zurich Opera and a Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist with Los Angeles Opera. This coming season she will reunite with James Conlon at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to sing Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony. She will also return to Zurich as Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème and the First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute , having sung Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Delia in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims with the company, as well as covered the title role of Strauss’s Arabella and Stella in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann , as an Opera Studio member. Petrocelli took the LA Opera stage as Clorinda in Rossini’s La Cen- erentola and The Shepherd in Wagner’s Tann- häuser this past year, also portraying Pamina in TheMagic Flute withOperaTheater of Saint Louis and singing Mozart’s Requiem with the Saint Louis Symphony. She made her debut with OTSL during the 2019/20 season as Mi- caëla in Bizet’s Carmen , also singing Musetta and Mozart’s First Lady at LA Opera, where she debuted in 2018 as Mrs. Naidoo in Glass’s Satyagraha and returned as Annina in Ver- di’s La traviata . Petrocelli was previously an apprentice at OTSL, covering Fräulein Brüst- ner/Leni in Glass’s The Trial , and at Santa Fe Opera, where she performed scenes from Floyd’s Wuthering Heights and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin . Her opera credits also include Agnès Sorel in Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Or- leans , the Holy Virgin in Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc , and the First Maiden in Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg with Odyssey Opera of Boston, as well as Lia in Debussy’s L’enfant prodigue , Sa- lud in Falla’s La vida breve , and the title role of Massenet’s Cendrillon while a student at New England Conservatory. Erica Petrocelli is making her Ravinia and Chicago Sympho- ny Orchestra debuts. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 39