PATRICIA RACETTE – Returns to San Francisco Opera as “Madama Butterfly”
3 December 2007Soprano Marie Plette alternates as “Cio-Cio San” 12/6 and 12/8
By Seán Martinfield
Sentinel Fine Arts Critic
Copyright © 2007 San Francisco Sentinel
Continuing Wednesday, December 5th at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, one of opera’s most-beloved masterpieces – Puccini’s tragically beautiful MADAMA BUTTERFLY. Patricia Racette repeats her celebrated interpretation of the role at the 1:00 matinee performances on December 5th and 8th at 1:00 p.m. Ms. Racette appeared here as “Cio-Cio-San” in 2006, and has also sung the role at the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, Los Angeles Opera, and the Houston Grand Opera. Making his San Francisco Opera debut tenor Brandon Jovanovich joins her as “Pinkerton”, a role he has performed with New York City Opera, Stuttgart State Opera, National Opera of Bordeaux, Toulon Opera, and the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY – Production photos by Terrence McCarthy
BRANDON JOVANOVICH (Pinkerton) and PATRICIA RACETTE (Cio-Cio-San)
American soprano Marie Plette (appears as “Cio-Cio-San”, 12/6 and 12/8) is an alumna of the Merola Opera Program. She has sung MADAMA BUTTERFLY at Seattle Opera, Connecticut Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Pacific, and Opera Memphis. As her “Pinkerton”, James Valenti appeared with San Francisco Opera at the Stern Grove Festival in August of this year, and makes his official Company debut in this production. Last summer Valenti performed the role opposite Patricia Racette in concert with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival; he has also performed the role at Dresden Semperoper, Marseille Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and in a production directed by Renata Scotto at Genoa Opera.
MARIE PLETTE (Cio-Cio-San) and JAMES VALENTI (Pinkerton)
Mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao appears in all performances as “Suzuki”, maid and confidante of “Cio-Cio San”. A native of Shanghai, a former Adler Fellow and Merola Opera Program participant, Ms. Cao holds degrees from the Shanghai Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music. This is her fifth season singing “Suzuki” with SF Opera; she has also performed the role at San Diego Opera, Opéra de Lyon, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.
ZHENG CAO – as Suzuki
MADAMA BUTTERFLY – Raymond Aceto, Katharine Tier, Stephen Powell, Matthew O’Neill
Raymond Aceto (”The Bonze”) made his San Francisco Opera debut as Monterone in the 1997 production of Rigoletto. Later this season Aceto sings “Sarastro” (Die Zauberflöte) at Houston Grand Opera; “Ramfis” (Aida) for his debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin, followed shortly by appearances there as Jacopo Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra). Other upcoming engagements include “Des Grieux” (Manon) at Lyric Opera of Chicago and “Escamillo” (Carmen) at Los Angeles Opera. First-year Adler Fellow Katharine Tier (”Kate Pinkerton”) made her San Francisco Opera debut this season as the Third Lady (The Magic Flute). The mezzo-soprano participated in the 2006 Merola Opera Program where she performed excerpts from Donizetti’s La Favorite at Yerba Buena Gardens. Baritone Stephen Powell (”Sharpless”) makes his San Francisco Opera debut in a role he has performed with New York City Opera, the San Diego Opera, Arizona Opera, and at the Aspen Music Festival. Upcoming engagements include “Germont” with Arizona Opera and “Figaro” (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) with Hawaii Opera. Current Adler Fellow Matthew O’neill (”Goro”) made his San Francisco Opera debut last season as “Borsa” (Rigoletto) and returned for the subsequent Company productions of Tristan und Isolde, Carmen, Manon Lescaut, and Der Rosenkavalier. This season he sang the role of “Heinrich der Schreiber” (Tannhäuser) and appeared as “Monostatos” in The Magic Flute for Families and the “First Priest” (The Magic Flute).
San Francisco Opera Music Director Donald Runnicles conducts the December 1st, 5th, and 8th (1:00 pm) performances. Conductor Julian Smith makes his San Francisco Opera debut conducting the December 6th and 8th (8:00 pm) performances. This popular San Francisco Opera production, directed by Kathleen Belcher, was conceived by Ron Daniels and designed by Michael Yeargan. It debuted in June 1997 at the Golden Gate Theatre. Sung in Italian with English supertitles, performances of MADAMA BUTTERFLY will last approximately two hours and 45 minutes. All performances will feature an Opera Talk by Rose Theresa fifty-five minutes prior to curtain. Opera Talks are presented free of charge to patrons with tickets for the corresponding performance.
To order tickets on-line:
Wednesday, December 5th, at 7:30 pm (Patricia Racette / Brandon Jovanovich)
Thursday, December 6th, at 7:30 pm (Marie Plette / James Valenti)
Saturday, December 8th, at 1:00 pm (Patricia Racette / Brandon Jovanovich)
Saturday, December 8th, at 8:00 pm (Marie Plette / James Valenti)
Visit Seán on YouTube: SAMSON & DELILAH – Meet Seán Martinfield
Related information:
JONATHAN VANDENBERG – Playwright/Director of “No Such Thing”
MACBETH – Double Trouble, Spoil and Rubble at SF OPERA
THE OLD MINT – Breathing New Life Into “The Granite Lady”
NO SUCH THING – World Premiere at NEW LANGTON ARTS
THE COLOR PURPLE – Musical Excellence At The Orpheum
JENNIFER SIEBEL – A Conversation
MARIE ANTOINETTE’S PETIT TRIANON COMES TO SAN FRANCISCO
MAGIC FLUTE – Entrancing Make-Believe at San Francisco Opera
APPOMATTOX – A Flag–Waving Victory for San Francisco Opera
SAMSON AND DELILAH – L’Amour et Glamour On the Re-Bound at SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
SWEENEY TODD – Sheared Ennui At A.C.T.’s 41st Anniversary
THE SCULPTURE OF LOUISE NEVELSON: Constructing a Legend
A CONVERSATION with JIM BROCHU and STEVE SCHALCHLIN – “The Big Voice: God or Merman?”
An Interview with PASCAL MOLAT, Principal Dancer of the San Francisco Ballet
Seán Martinfield is a native San Franciscan. He is a Theatre Arts Graduate from San Francisco State University, a professional singer, and well-known private vocal coach to Bay Area actors and singers of all ages and persuasions. His clients have appeared in Broadway National Tours including Wicked, Aïda, Miss Saigon, Rent, Bye Bye Birdie, in theatres and cabarets throughout the Bay Area, and are regularly featured in major City events including Diva Fest, Gay Pride, and Halloween In The Castro. As an Internet consultant in vocal development and audition preparation he has published thousands of responses to those seeking his advice concerning singing techniques, professional and academic auditions, and careers in the Performing Arts. Mr. Martinfield’s Broadway clients have all profited from his vocal methodology, “The Belter’s Method”, which is being prepared for publication. If you want answers about your vocal technique, post him a question on AllExperts.com. If you would like to build up your vocal performance chops and participate in the Bay Area’s rich theatrical scene, e-mail him at: sean.martinfield@gmail.com.
The Kindle has storage capacity for around 200 books, and doesn’t need to hook up to a PC thanks to a built-in EVDO radio connection to Amazon’s new Whispernet service, which over 90,000 books already online.
The e-book reader can download books in less than a minute, with new releases and New York Times bestsellers setting punters back $9.99. There’s no charge to use the wireless service, with all download fees included included in the cost of books. Thanks to the EVDO connectivity they won’t have to run about looking for an open Wi-Fi connection either.
A large selection of US-based newspapers and magazines are available including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly, Time, and Fortune, as well as some European newspapers like Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine and the Irish Times.
FREE BlackBerry 8800 PHONE (Cingular/AT&T)
Free with AT&T service plan and $50 mail-in rebate
THE INSIDER JOURNAL reaching San Francisco Stage, Film, Fashion, Dining, Travel, Business, and Political Communities
CREATE YOUR ADVERTISEMENT NOW
See Related: SAN FRANCISCO SENTINEL TEAM MEMBERS ACKNOWLEDGED AS EXPERT IN THEIR FIELD
No comments yet