Luca Pisaroni Enjoys Success in Houston Debut as Almaviva, Before Heading to Dallas for Beethoven and Glyndebourne for Rinaldo

By -
“Pisaroni exudes complete authority and magnetism.” – Houston Chronicle

The fast-rising Luca Pisaroni was a hit at Houston Grand Opera in his house and role debut last month as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. After opening night, the Houston Chronicle reported: “With his dashing looks and proud manner, Pisaroni exudes complete authority and magnetism. His potent bass-baritone unfurls with such grandeur and resoluteness that one can easily believe this is a fellow who has spent his entire life getting his way.” The singer has another engagement in the Lone Star State this month, singing in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (May 19-22). His next operatic engagement is another key role debut, when he returns to the U.K.’s Glyndebourne Festival to sing Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo (July 2 – Aug 22). Pisaroni also appears in a newly released EMI Classics DVD of Don Giovanni, starring as Leporello alongside the Don of Gerald Finley, Donna Elvira of Kate Royal, and Donna Anna of Anna Samuil. The DVD documents Glyndebourne’s first new production of Mozart’s iconic opera in ten years, with stage direction by Jonathan Kent and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Pisaroni reprises his Leporello in a live Don Giovanni at Germany’s Baden-Baden Festival conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin (July 18-24).

More praise for Pisaroni’s debut as Count Almaviva for Houston Grand Opera came courtesy of CultureMap Houston, which echoed the Chronicle, declaring that the singer’s performance made for “a definitive, vastly funny interpretation.” Pisaroni sang the Count in Houston’s Le nozze after more than 100 performances in the opera as Figaro. The bass-baritone made a name for himself in the latter role, being the Figaro of choice for three new music directors this season: Nicola Luisotti at San Francisco Opera, Philippe Jordan at Opéra de Paris, and Franz Welser-Möst at the Vienna State Opera. Switching parts in Mozart’s subversive comic masterpiece – from working-class hero Figaro to his upper-crust nemesis – was a “thrilling opportunity,” Pisaroni explained, adding: “I see this debut as the first stone in my process of building the bridge between roles like Figaro, Leporello, and Guglielmo – which are closer to my personality – and the ultimate goal, which is Don Giovanni.”

After appearing with the Dallas Symphony under Jaap van Zweden in Beethoven’s Ninth this month, Pisaroni sings in Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst on May 26 and 28. And before reprising his Leporello at the Baden-Baden Festival, Pisaroni returns to Glyndebourne on July 2, when he unveils his portrayal of another new “bad guy,” Argante in Rinaldo.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more