Toronto Opera Repertoire
OPERA FOR THE REST OF US!
1967-2010: Celebrating 43 Years of Great Community Opera!
Chorus members praise the Countess.
Elizabeth McLeod as Cherubino and Brad Hoover as Figaro.
Lindsay Moore as the Countess
Ivan Lemus as Don Basilio and chorus
Brittany Stewart as Cherubino
Terence Shawn, Hanny Djuwati and Ivan Lemus.
Brittany Stewart as Cherubino and Christina Lianos as Susanna.
Terence Shawn as the Count and Rob Maxwell as Antonio.
Christina Lianos as Susanna and Brad Hoover as Figaro.
Terence Shawn as the Count and Lindsay Moore as the Countess.
Hanny Djuwati as Susanna and Terence Shawn as the Count.
The septet that ends Act 2.
Gerald Hannon, M.Renee Sekula and Ivan Lemus.
Lindsay Moore as the Countess.
Lindsay Moore as the Countess and Hanny Djuwati as Susanna.
M.Renee Sekula as Marcellina, Brad Hoover as Figaro and Gerald Hannon as Bartolo.
Kate Madden as Barbarina.
Chorus members Silvia Croci, Tetyana Shkymba and Jacqueline McIntyre.
Rob Maxwell as Antonio.
Kate Madden as Barbarina and chorus member Peter Price.
Scenes from our February, 2010 production of Mozart's enduring comedy,
The Marriage of Figaro.
The Story
ACT I. While preparing for their wedding, the valet Figaro learns from the maid Susanna that their employer, Count Almaviva, has the hots for her. Dr. Bartolo enters with his housekeeper, Marcellina, who wants Figaro to marry her to cancel a debt he cannot pay. After Marcellina and Susanna trade insults, the horny teenage page Cherubino arrives. He hides when the Count shows up, furious because he caught Cherubino flirting with Barbarina, the gardener's daughter. The Count tries to seduce Susanna but hides when the gossiping music master Don Basilio enters. He reveals himself, however, when Basilio suggests that Cherubino has a crush on the Countess, and is enraged when he discovers Cherubino in the room. Almaviva posts Cherubino to his regiment in Seville, and leaves Figaro to cheer up the unhappy boy.
ACT II. In her room, the Countess laments her husband's infidelities but plots to reform him, encouraged by Figaro and Susanna. They will send the boy Cherubino, disguised as Susanna, to a romantic rendezvous with him, and when he arrives they begin to dress him up as Susanna. While Susanna goes out to find a ribbon, the Count knocks at the door, furious to find it locked.
Cherubino hides in a closet, and the Countess admits her husband, who, when he hears a noise, is skeptical of her story that Susanna is inside the wardrobe. He leaves with his wife to fetch some tools with which to force the door. Meanwhile, Susanna, having observed everything from behind a screen, helps Cherubino out a window, then takes his place in the closet. Both the Count and Countess are amazed to find her there. The drunken gardener, Antonio, storms in with crushed geraniums from a flower bed below the window. Figaro, who announces that the wedding is ready, pretends it was he who jumped from the window. Marcellina, Bartolo and Basilio burst into the room waving a court summons for Figaro, which delights the Count, as this gives him an excuse to delay the wedding.
ACT III. Susanna leads the Count on with promises of a rendezvous in the garden. Almaviva, however, grows doubtful when he spies her conspiring with Figaro; he vows revenge. Marcellina is astonished but thrilled to discover that Figaro is in fact her long-lost natural son by Bartolo. Mother and son embrace, provoking
Susanna's anger until she too learns the truth. The Countess joins Susanna in composing a letter that invites the Count to the garden that night. Later, during the marriage ceremony of Figaro and Susanna, the bride manages to slip the note, sealed with a hatpin, to the Count, who pricks his finger, dropping the pin, which Figaro retrieves.
ACT IV. In the moonlit garden, Barbarina, after unsuccessfully trying to find the lost hatpin, tells Figaro and Marcellina about the coming assignation between the Count and Susanna. Figaro damns all women and leaves, missing Susanna and the Countess, ready for their masquerade. Alone, Susanna sings of her love for Figaro, but he thinks she means the Count. Almaviva courts his wife, whom he thinks is Susanna. By now Figaro understands the joke and makes exaggerated love to Susanna in her Countess disguise. The Count, outraged, calls everyone to witness his judgment, but the real Countess appears and reveals the ruse. Grasping the truth at last, the Count begs her pardon.
The scene at the Comedie Française when the play opened in April, 1784, was a madhouse. The play had so much pre-performance notoriety that there were scalpers in the streets, a near riot when the doors finally opened, and not a seat to be had. The aristocracy had flocked there as well and they laughed -- at themselves. Baronne d'Oberkirch was one aristocrat who went to see the play and was angry at herself for laughing at it, saying "the nobility showed a great want of tact in applauding it, which was nothing less than giving themselves a slap in the face. They laughed at their own expense... They will repent it yet...."
The French Revolution began in 1789. As Napoleon would later say, "Figaro was the Revolution in action."
Figaro and Revolution
It's difficult today to understand the impact this opera, and the Beaumarchais play it was based on, had in the 18th century. To us, it seems the very model of classical elegance and restraint. Sure, there are aristocrats and there are servants, and the servants often seem to have the upper hand - but the opera ends with a Count and a Countess reconciling their differences, re-establishing the social order that puts them at the top and everyone else deferentially lower.
That's not how it was seen when The Marriage of Figaro, with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, opened in Vienna on May 1, 1786, with Mozart conducting from the fortepiano. The audience would have known the long history of censorship that had kept the play from being publicly performed in France for years, and the need to get the Austrian emperor's permission to have it performed in Vienna. The ruling class found the work offensive: the servants and peasants on stage outwit their aristocratic masters, who are often portrayed as bumbling or corrupt or pathetic. The audiences laughed at them, and the ruling class was smart enough to realize that such laughter is fuelled by contempt and a prelude to taking action. The French Revolution would prove they were right to be afraid.
The opera was a hit in Vienna and took Prague by storm when it opened there in December, 1786.
The Marriage of Figaro is the second of three connected plays by the French writer, inventor and businessman, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (24 January, 1732 - 18 May, 1799). The first play, The Barber of Seville, premiered in 1775 and introduced some of the characters - Figaro, the Count, Rosina, Dr. Bartolo and others - who would appear both in Figaro and the last play, The Guilty Mother. Rossini would set The Barber as an opera in 1816 (if you want to hear the famous aria used so often in cartoons, where the singer repeats 'Figaro, Figaro' over and over, it's The Barber you should listen to, not The Marriage of Figaro).
The Barber of Seville was a hit in 1775. Beaumarchais fully expected that The Marriage of Figaro would fare equally well but it took some six years of struggle with French censorship to get it on stage. Louis XVI read it privately and hated the play - he could not abide the aristocracy being mocked by the servant class. Interestingly, his wife, Marie Antoinette, loved it and tried to persuade the king to lift the ban but he would not do so until 1784, and only after Beaumarchais had made revisions to the most incendiary speeches.
The Marriage of Figaro
Sung in Italian with English TorTitles. All performances take place at the Bickford Centre, 777 Bloor St. W
Figaro, a valet
Susanna, a maid
Count Almaviva
Countess Almaviva
Cherubino, a page
Marcellina, a housekeeper
Bartolo, a doctor from Seville
Don Basilio, a music teacher
Don Curzio, a judge
Antonio, a gardener
Barbarina, his daughter
Brad Hoover
Hanny Djuwati (Feb 10, 21, 27) / Christina Lianos (Feb 13, 19, 24)
Terence Shawn
Lindsay Moore
Elizabeth McLeod (10, 19, 27) / Brittany Stewart (Feb 13, 21, 24)
M.Renée Sekula
Gerald Hannon
Ivan Lemus
Rob Maxwell
Kate Madden
Performances: Feb 10, 13, 19, 24 and 27 at 7:30 pm. Matinee: Sunday, Feb 21 at 2 pm.
Chorus: Don Ballanger, Silvia Croci, Sergio Emer, Sarah Helmers, Karen Johnston, Ayse Kinnaird, Alan Li, Christina Lianos, Kate Madden, James Matthews, Rob Maxwell, Jacqueline McIntyre, Elizabeth McLeod, Giovanni Minardi, Peter Price, William Redelmeier, Tetyana Shkymba, Brittany Stewart, Henry Tang, Leah Wiener
Director
Conductor
Pianist
Rehearsal Pianist
Beatrice Carpino
Adolfo De Santis
Valentin Bogolubov
Henry Renglich
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Managers
Supertitles
Make-up Artist
Enza Bambina
Anna Plugina, JoAnna Black
Gerrit Seppenwoolde
Lighting Design
Lighting Board
Stage Crew
Set Design
Gabriel Graziano
TBA
Robert Balogh, Gabriel Graziano
Giuseppe Macina
Beatrice Carpino received her BFA in Music from York University and her Teacher's ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music. As well as formal music education, Beatrice grew up in an artistic environment - her mother is a soprano and her father was a tenor as well as an internationally known performing chef. She saw her first opera at the age of four and was hooked. The opera was the COC's production of Madama Butterfly, starring Maria Pellegrini. In 2002, as fate would have it, Beatrice had the honour of singing with Maria Pellegrini in a tribute to Giuseppe Verdi.
Beatrice's vocal flexibility, commanding presence, and dramatic abilities have given her the opportunities to perform the title roles in Carmen and Cenerentola, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Musetta in La Boheme, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana.
As well as opera, Beatrice enjoys performing the songs of Broadway and classic jazz standards. She has been invited to perform at many community functions throughout Ontario. Last year she performed in Florida with a touring company in the show From Russia with Love. In November 2009, Beatrice will be a guest performer in the Christian Festival Concert at Roy Thomson Hall .
Beatrice is very excited about having been invited to be the stage director for this year's production of The Marriage of Figaro. She sees this as the beginning of a new chapter in her musical career.
Ivan Lemus (tenor) is a native of El Salvador, where he studied voice at the Salvadorean Opera Association. He was also a member of the UCA university choir and participated in several recitals. He discovered his passion for acting in New York, where he studied dramatic arts at Uta Hagen's HB Studio and the Raul Julia Training Unit. He is the founder and director of Crisalida, a Spanish-speaking theatre group in Toronto.
Elizabeth McLeod is delighted to be back at TOR this year in the contrasting roles of Cherubino (Figaro) and Mamma Lucia (Cavalleria Rusticana). A health care professional in real life, she has enjoyed a variety of roles with TOR, including Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, the Principessa in Suor Angelica, Maddalena in Rigoletto and Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera.
Hanny Djuwati completed her Bachelor degree at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, and her Master's degree in France. She has participated in several international voice competitions, taking second place at the UPMCF (L'union Professionelle des Maitres du Chant Francais) in Paris, semi-finalist at Bilbao International Voice Competition in Spain, the Guangzhou International Voice Competition in China, and the Asia Voice Competition in Singapore.
She is currently studying with Maria Kastellitz and Stuart Hamilton.
Brittany Stewart is excited to be playing the role of Cherubino, having loved this role since she first became aquainted with opera. This is her fourth year with TOR, having performed Serpina in La Serva Padrona, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica and Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore. She has been studying singing privately for the last four years. Last year, she was fortunate enough to study in Dublin, Ireland with Mary-Anne O'Sullivan as well as Victoria Massey at Rathmines College of Music and Drama. She also took lessons with Ireland's best teacher, Veronica Dunne, at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She performed with the school at the National Concert Hall in Dublin in a production of Don Giovanni. Currently, she is in her second year at University of Toronto, majoring in Celtic and Classical studies. Once she has finished her degree she plans to continue her operatic studies either in Toronto or in Europe.
Lindsay Moore is thrilled to be making her Toronto Opera Repertoire debut as Contessa Almaviva in this season's production of The Marriage of Figaro. Moore began private lessons in 2002, and soon after changed her career dreams from teaching to performing. Lindsay's love of opera was cemented when her first vocal teacher introduced her to the music of Puccini.
Currently studying with renowned Canadian soprano Stephanie Bogle, Lindsay has recently completed her BFA Honours at York University. She has worked with acclaimed vocal and operatic coaches Nicole Bellamy, Nathalie Doucet-Lalkens, Raisa Nakhmanovic, and Sabatino Vacca, and has participated in master classes by some of Canada's best singers.
Lindsay made her operatic debut in the Aurora Opera Company's 2006/2007 season as Gretel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Later that season, she sang the role of Sister Osmina in the company's production of Puccini's Suor Angelica. At York University in 2007/2008, Lindsay sang the roles of Pamina and the First Lady in excerpts from Mozart's The Magic Flute, and the roles of the Mother and the Witch in the school's production of Hansel and Gretel. In 2008/2009 she sang the role of Contessa Almaviva in an excerpt from Le Nozze di Figaro at York University. Most recently, Lindsay had the privilege of singing the role of Sandrina in Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera in the Royal Conservatory of Music's Summer Opera Scene Study directed by Joel Katz and Jayne Smiley, and conducted by Sabatino Vacca.
Christina Lianos completed her Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music at York University and her Bachelor of Education in Music at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. She is currently an Elementary Drama and Dance Teacher with the TDSB.
In 2007, Christina sang the role of Oscar in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera with the Toronto Opera Repertoire, and has participated in the RCM Opera Scene Study Program as Marenka in The Bartered Bride, and the High Priestess in Aida. She also sang the role of the Comforting Angel in the musical Emmanuel at the New York City Dicapo Opera Theatre in 2005. Christina is very excited to be singing the role of Susanna in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro this year with TOR.
Gerald Hannon makes a living as an award-winning journalist while indulging a life-long passion for opera. In previous years he has sung the Sacristan in Puccini's Tosca, Frank in Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Schaunard and Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Sharpless in Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Dr. Bartolo in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Dr. Dulcamara in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, Giorgio Germont in Verdi's La Traviata and Don Magnifico in Rossini's Cinderella.
Terence Shawn, baritone, has sung Don Alfonso in Cosi
Fan Tutte with Opera By Request, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and Scarpia in TOSCA with Opera Lirica Italiana, and with Operesque
Classical Concerts in New York City, Rodrigo in DON CARLO, Count di Luna in IL TROVATORE and the the title roles in RIGOLETTO and NABUCCO. After
performing the Count in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, he will sing Don Carlo in
ERNANI with Operesque in New York. He has performed several times as a recitalist in Cuba. This marks his first performance with TOR in many years.
Kate Madden is so excited to be making her debut with Toronto Opera Repertoire as Barbarina. She has recently graduated from Burlington Central High School with the dream of developing a career in the theatre. Recent credits include Antigone in Antigone, The White Witch in Narnia:The Musical, Joanna Brown in Home Free, Antonia in Man of La Mancha, and Alice in Small World. Kate is currently studying with Susan Gudgeon, who has helped her find her true voice.
Brad Hoover is proud to be back for a third season with TOR. Past roles include Alidoro (La Cenerentola), Zuniga (Carmen), and Samuel (Un ballo in maschera). Other stage credits include leading roles in Into the Woods, A Chorus Line, Chess, West Side Story, and performances with the avante-garde troupe The Scandelles . A former student at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, Brad is currently at the University of Toronto studying English and Drama. He also studies voice and vocal pedagogy with Pattie Kelly.
