AVA Opera Blog

Friends helping friends...

My favorite thing to do when I receive my new Opera News publication is to rip and open and see how many AVA names I can see in it (doesn’t everyone?)

In the last issue Brian Kellow wrote of megastar Aprile Millo’s concert of November 17, 2009 at Rose Hall in NYC. That’s news enough, but to have three of the AVA family invited to share the stage with her is wonderful news to my eyes.

Tenor Michael Fabiano “made piercing drama out of Zaza’s Ammogliato” writes Kellow. “She (Millo) and baritone Luis Ledesma (pictured) offered an incendiary Udiste?...Ah, dove sei, crudele from Il trovatore, with Danielle Orlando’s brilliantly virtuoso piano accompaniment…”

Ms. Millo has been a very good friend of AVA. She was an honored guest soloist at our 70th Anniversary gala in 2005. She also gave a private master class at AVA during that same time.

She has been known to attend AVA opera productions, the last being Lucia di Lammermoor with Angela Meade in the title role, and Michael Fabiano singing the role of Edgardo.

AVA alums abound in Philly...

If you’re in the Philadelphia area the next few weeks, don’t miss AVA these alums in performance:

LyricFest
Biography in Music: Tchaikovsky
Saturday 3/27 at 5 pm and Sunday 3/28 @ 3 pm
AVA Russian coach and pianist Ghenady Meirson with a cast that includes alums Jessica Julin and Michael Fabiano, sends you on a special musical documentary featuring the life, works and writings  Tchaikovsky through great composer’s opera, songs and letters.
One of the founders of and directors of Lyric Fest is alumna Suzanne DuPlantis.

The Three Tenors!
An Evening of favorites starring AVA's Cody Austin, with resident artists  Noah Van Niel, and Sean Arnold
Michele Scanlon, piano
Wednesday, March 3 at 6:30 pm
Joe Palombo's Mirabella Cafe - Cherry Hill, NJ
Four-course dinner with wine, plus raffle
$55 per person - please call 856-354-1888 for reservations

 

The Pennsylvania Ballet
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff
March 4-13
No, AVA is not providing dancers for this production, but alums Richard Troxell, tenor and Eric Dubin, baritone (pictured) will be singing the baritone solos in this powerful work by Orff.

The South Jersey Opera Association of AVA presents

Opera at Tomasello Winery, Hammonton NJ
Opera Gala Series Wine dinner with AVA alums
Sunday, March 7 at 2 pm
Starring Jessica Julin, Nina Yoshida Nelsen, Cody Austin, and Markus Beam
Michele Scanlon, music director and piano
$65 per person Call 1-800-MMM-Wine for reservations

Got a light?...

A favorite opera of many is La bohème, which has always been among the top three most produced operas in the USA, and has seen its share of AVA singers portray the characters in this opera. In January two AVA alumnae did their turn as the fateful Mimi.

Ellie Dehn was preparing for her debut as Mimi with Minnesota Opera (where she sang Juliet to James Valenti’s Romeo a few seasons ago). She made lots of press in opera circles for stepping into the role a few months earlier by replacing a colleague at San Diego Opera. This was her company debut in San Diego, but she is no stranger to Southern CA. She made her debut last season for LA Opera as Freia in their production of Das Rheingold by Wagner.

LA Times said of her performance, “She stepped onto the San Diego Civic Center stage on opening night and sang Puccini’s fragile heroine for the first time with an expansive, clear tone and simple, straightforward characterization.”

You can hear her Mimi again with Minnesota Opera from March 6-14 as she teams up once again with AVA alum James Valenti.

Just a few states away, Elaine Alvarez coughed and expired as Mimi on the stage of Arizona Opera, also in January. Elaine made opera circle headlines a few years ago when Chicago Lyric Opera brought her in at the last minute to replace the star Mimi of that production. The Chicago Tribune said of her performance, "As the consumptive seamstress Mimì, Alvarez on Monday revealed an appealingly natural stage presence and a big, vibrant lyric soprano the color of deep burgundy. The voice bloomed under pressure the way you want a Puccini voice to bloom, yet kept its warm tonal finish when she floated the high pianissimos opera lovers wait for in rapt anticipation”

Elaine is no stranger to Puccini characters. She opened the 2009 – 2010 season with her Oper Frankfurt debut in La bohème. She’s back there now for concert performances of La rondine for Frankfurt's Alte Oper. That is followed by a much-anticipated Florida Grand Opera debut in her hometown of Miami as Micaela in Carmen.

Don't miss AVA's production of La bohème, May 1-15 in Philadelphia, Bucks County, Montgomery County and Camden County.

We love a good competition...

Most opera lovers know about the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, which we in the ‘business’ call the Met Competition. The rest of the world now knows about it from the documentary on the 2007 competition called The Audition which featured soprano Angela Meade and tenor Michael Fabiano, both winners that year.

It’s now time for the 2010 version when the competition will move to New York City for the semi-finals round on March 6th.

This year three sopranos associated with AVA will be in the competition and hope to move to the final round to sing the final round concert on the Metropolitian Opera stage on March 14. AVA resident artists Jan Cornelius and Corinne Winters with alumna Kisma Jordan all aspire to be among the winners.

There is no rest for the AVA resident artist singers before they move to NYC. They have other obligations as part of the schedule. Jan Cornelius is starring in AVA’s production of Capriccio, and will not end her run of that the show until March 2. Corrine Winters is working on the title role in Giuditta by Fran Lehar which she performs on March 20 & 21 in Philadelphia.

AVA is so proud of all who have gone down this road before, with many previous winners from AVA.
Best of luck, ladies!

For previous AVA blogs on this topic click here for 2007, 2007, 2007, 2008, 2008, 2008, 2009 and 2009

And I thought Philadelphia was cold...

At the beginning of January I flew out to Chicago for Stephen Costello’s debut at Chicago Lyric Opera in The Merry Widow. Everyone knows I can’t pass up a good operetta, and this was going to be my second time to hear Stephen as Camille in this Lehár piece.

I wasn’t sure what winter traveling surprises I would come up against, but it was smooth sailing right to their condo on Michigan Avenue. I was invited to stay the weekend with Stephen and his wife Ailyn Pérez and I had the time of my frozen life. As soon as I arrived I was ushered off for a Chicago style hot dog and beef sandwich - both were delicious! The weather was a mere 8 degrees most of the time I was there so we didn’t do much walking.

Next evening was the opera, where Ailyn and I were guests of the Chicago Lyric Opera with wonderful orchestra seats. This new production of Widow has all the right elements: great singing, beautiful sets, and Can-can girls! Stephen was a suave Camille, and sang beautifully.  After the show I was invited to dinner with the wonderful Widow of the evening, Elizabeth Futral, and conductor Emmanuel Villaume.

  The following afternoon was more Chicago hot dogs and tickets to see the final performance of The Addams Family Musical before it heads to Broadway.  I would say that was a weekend to remember, even if it was freezing.

Any other AVA alums that want to invite me to see their performances – just call!

If you're in San Diego next month, you can hear Ailyn Perez and Stephen Costello in Romeo et Juliet with San Diego Opera, March 13-21

That's what friends are for...

A few weeks ago AVA presented a concert called Operatic Masterpieces, with selections from Norma and Il trovatore, held at the Perelman Theater in the Kimmel Center.

Alum Angela Meade returned, after a triumph at the Metropolitan Opera singing the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, to try out the role of Norma before singing the complete role this summer at the Caramoor Festival. (Olivia Vote, Noah Van Niel and Angela Meade pictured)

The Norma selections were in rehearsal and going great with the cast, but problems were creeping up with Act IV of Il trovatore. Our new Russian tenor, Viktor Antipenko, was sick the whole month of January, so we knew he was not able to perform. At the last minute, or should I say last day, tenor Zach Borichevsky also was not able to sing, so there was no one to sing Manrico in the scene.

I guess I have to say that AVA has the BEST alums around! The morning of the performance tenor Jeff Halili, who lived a few blocks from AVA stepped forward and said that he would fill in for that performance. Although this is not his tenor-fach, Jeff was wonderful in the role. As it turned out he also sang the concert the following night. You can hear Jeff along with AVA alums Nina Yoshida Nelsen and Daesan No in New York Cities production of Madama Butterfly in March and April.

There’s one concert left the following Tuesday, and all are hoping that Zach would be better by that evening, but that wasn’t the case. It was our luck on Monday that alum Michael Fabiano stopped into AVA, back home from his triumphal debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Stiffelio (more on that in a future blog!) When he heard that there was a chance that Zach was not going to be able to sing, he volunteered his “tenor” services, mentioning that Il trovatore is one of his favorite operas by Verdi. Show night comes and the audience is treated to a second alum singing the role of Manrico. 

AVA is blessed to have such wonderful alums that will come to the rescue of a concert. You can see many more alums return for AVA 75th gala concert – BrAVA Philadelphia! on March 31 at Verizon Hall.

Arriverderci Roma...

Third year tenor Taylor Stayton was the man of the month this January. Just off a major success as Fenton in AVA’s production of Falstaff in November '09, he was asked to make his debut in the same role for Roma Opera. No, not Rome, NY or Rome, GA but Roma, Italy!

With the blessing of his voice teacher Bill Schuman, Taylor flew to Rome on December 15. He found out a few days before his departure that rehearsals would begin later than usual, so he was able to play tourist for a few days in the Eternal City.

The production at Rome Opera was re-directed by legendary stage director Franco Zeffirelli from his 1964 production. Taylor had his trepidations working with a mega-star like Zefferilli, but I reminded him that he was put through his paces on this role by Tito Capobianco and Maestro Macatsoris!

During the rehearsal period, Taylor found out that he was to sing seven out of the eight productions of the opera.

This spring Taylor will make his debut as Osiride in Rossini's Mosé in Egitto with Chicago Opera Theater with performances on April 17, 21, 23, and 25, 2010.

The snow must go on...

I meant the show must go on!

By now everyone knows that Philadelphia has received the most snow this season in recorded history. Two snow storms in less than five days hasn’t been fun for the residents of the city, let alone AVA.

It wasn’t a big problem for us administrative types who can sync to our business computers at home and keep working.  For the singers who are still staging Strauss’ Capriccio, which opens on February 20, they need to be in the actual theater with the stage and music director.

Stage director Dorothy Danner is back at AVA for Capricco and La bohème. She didn’t have that much trouble with getting around in the snow. While in Philadelphia she stays within walking distance from AVA. On the other hand Luke Housner, the music director and accompanist, lives 10 miles from AVA on the NJ side of the river. He drove in on the first day of the second blizzard and got his car stuck on one of the small streets which was snow covered. He decided to take public transportation the following day for a full day of rehearsals.

Many of the singers also live within walking distance from AVA, so there was no time to sit at home with hot chocolate for them - it was work as usual.

All’s well that ends well, and dug out.  So the show is on track and we’re all looking forward to a wonderful opening and run. Just for all this effort you should buy a ticket!

*Photo by Monica Fonorow, AVA PR & marketing Associate. This was just a light dusting of snow in Philadelphia in January, not from the blizzard of February 6 & 9