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Michigan Opera Theatre Presents Gioacchino Rossini’s Comedic Masterpiece,
The Barber of Seville
Production to Grace Detroit Opera House Stage and
Wharton Center, East Lansing
DETROIT, Michigan, Oct 24, 2006…Michigan Opera Theatre’s 36th opera season continues, with a tale of love and deception like no other, Gioacchino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, November 11-18, 2006.
“The Barber of Seville is really the quintessential Italian comic opera, very whimsical and fun, and full of endearing characters. The music, some of opera’s most recognizable, is effervescent and light. Barber is a treat for the soul, and audiences always leave the theater laughing and humming,” said Dr. David DiChiera, Founder and General Director of Michigan Opera Theatre.
Premiered in Rome, February 20, 1816, the two-act opera features an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini, based on a comedy of the same name by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Today, The Barber of Seville is one of the most popular operas in the cannon. Michigan Opera Theatre’s 2006 production will mark the company’s fifth staging of the work, which last graced the Detroit Opera House stage in 1999.
The Barber of Seville is wildly funny story of love, in which two men, Count Almaviva and Dr. Bartolo, vie for the heart and hand of a lovely young Sevillian girl, Rosina. The Count, with the help of a local barber named Figaro, uses a variety of schemes and disguises to woo the young girl from keeper, Dr. Bartolo. In the end, love wins, and all wind up happy.
The production will feature a diverse international cast of stars, many of whom will make their Michigan Opera Theatre debuts. The opera’s Prima Donna, Rosina, will be sung alternately by Italian soprano Manuela Custer and Puerto Rican soprano Jossie Pérez. The love-sick Count, Almaviva, will be performed alternately by Japanese tenor Yasu Nakajima and American tenor Victor Ryan Robertson. Namesake of the production, the barber Figaro, will be sung by Slovakian baritone Dalibor Jenis and Italian baritone Gianpiero Ruggeri. Of these principal stars, only Ruggeri has appeared with Michigan Opera Theatre previously, in the company’s 2000 production of Cosi fan tutte. The role of Bartolo will be performed by American bass baritone Jason Budd, who last appeared with the company in 2005’s Tosca.
Italian maestro Edoardo Müller returns to conduct The Barber of Seville, his first production with Michigan Opera Theatre since Aida in Concert, 2000. Italian stage director Mario Corradi will direct. The Barber of Seville marks his 16th production with the company.
In addition to Michigan Opera Theatre’s five performances of The Barber of Seville at the Detroit Opera House, the company has decided to present a special one-night engagement of the production at the Wharton Center, in East Lansing, on November 21, at 7:30 p.m. During the 2005 fall season, the company presented a single performance of Puccini’s La Boheme at the Wharton Center, to much acclaim.
“We are thrilled that the Wharton Center has invited us back for a second year,” said DiChiera. “This is wonderful opportunity for people outside of the Detroit area to enjoy grand opera, and we’re very excited to share our productions with a wider audience.”
The Wharton Center engagement will feature Jossie Pérez, Victor Ryan Robertson and Gianpiero Ruggeri in the production’s three alternating roles.
Tickets
Tickets for Michigan Opera Theatre’s 2006 production of The Barber of Seville at the magnificent Detroit Opera House range from $28-$120, and are available at the Detroit Opera House ticket office (1526 Broadway, Detroit, 48226), by phone at (313) 237-SING (7464) and online at www.MichiganOpera.org. Tickets are also available at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at (248) 645-6666 or online at www.TicketMaster.com.
Tickets for Michigan Opera Theatre’s The Barber of Seville at the Wharton Center are available at 1 (800) Wharton, (517) 432-2000, or online at www.WhartonCenter.com.
Gioacchino Rossini’s
The Barber of Seville
Saturday, Nov. 11, 20067:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 12, 20062:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 20067:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 17, 20067:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 18, 20067:30 p.m.
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