Mastodon A Wagner Concert Including Die Walküre (Act 1) with the Colorado Symphony - June 11 &12 - The Wagnerian

A Wagner Concert Including Die Walküre (Act 1) with the Colorado Symphony - June 11 &12

Written By The Wagnerian on Sunday 5 June 2011 | 5:38:00 pm

Christian Arming joins the Colorado Symphony for a season finale featuring:

Prelude to Act III and Bridal Chorus from "Lohengrin"
Chorus from Act II of "Der Fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman")
Prelude and "Wach' auf!" from "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" ("The Mastersingers of Nuremberg")
Act I from "Die Walküre"


Guests:

Christian Arming first came to public attention when, at just 24, he was appointed chief conductor of the Janácek Philharmonic in Ostrava. Other European positions followed, and since 2003 he has been music director of the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo. Arming's career successfully spans both the orchestral and operatic worlds. Opera highlights have included new productions of Britten's "The Turn of the Screw" in Cincinnati and "Rosenkavalier in Triest" as well as "La Bohème" in Lucerne, "Salome" and "Elektra" in Verona, and "Der Fliegende Holländer" and "Jenufa" for Frankfurt Opera. Arming has made a number of recordings including works by Janácek, Schubert and most recently Brahms Symphony No. 1 and Mahler Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5 with the New Japan Philharmonic on Fontec.





Amber Wagner is a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals and was featured in the documentary film "The Audition," which opened to audiences nationwide in 2009. The 2010/11 season has Wagner returning to Lyric Opera of Chicago to sing Elsa in Wagner's "Lohengrin" conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Symphonic highlights include a return to Grant Park Music Festival to sing Beethoven's Mass in C Major under Maestro Carlos Kalmar. In 2009/10, she began her third and final season as a member of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Debut symphonic appearances included Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Grant Park Festival, and with the Oregon Symphony performing Rossini's Stabat Mater, both under the baton of Carlos Kalmar.



Simon O'Neill. A native of New Zealand, he is a principal artist with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala, and both the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals, appearing with a number of illustrious conductors including James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Colin Davis, Edo de Waart, Donald Runnicles and Pietari Inkinen. A consummate musician - he is both a pianist and tuba player - O'Neill's operatic highlights include both Florestan in "Fidelio" and the title role of "Lohengrin" at the Royal Opera House; Metropolitan Opera tour of Japan with "Die Walküre;" "Lohengrin" with Houston Grand Opera; and Mao in John Adams' "Nixon in China" with Minnesota Opera. He also had the honor of touring Europe with Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra performing Act I of "Die Walküre."

Burak Bilgili recently made his San Francisco Opera debut as Ferrando in Verdi's "Trovatore," a role he has also sung at the Metropolitan Opera and in Geneva. He has sung Duke Alfonso in Donizetti's "Lucrezia Borgia" at Teatro alla Scala, Leporello in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in Geneva, Giorgio in Bellini's "Puritani" at the Savonlinna Festival, and Zaccaria in Verdi's "Nabucco" and Dulcamara in Donizetti's "Elisir d'amore" at Michigan Opera Theatre. Other roles have included Colline in Puccini's "Bohème," Walter in Verdi's "Luisa Miller," and Escamillo in Bizet's "Carmen." He has been seen at Canadian Opera Company, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and Palm Beach Opera, among others. Most recently, he sang Fiesco in Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra" in Montréal. A recipient of numerous awards, Bilgili received First Prizes in the Belvedere International Competition 2002 in Vienna, the International Alfredo Kraus Competition 2002 in Las Palmas, and the 2001 Neue Stimmen International Opera Competition.

Dates:

Saturday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 12 at 2:30 p.m.
Come early and enjoy a Prelude to these performances.

Program Notes: PDF

Tickets:
Tickets are on sale now at www.coloradosymphony.org, the Colorado Symphony Box Office: (303) 623-7876 or (877) 292-7979 or in-person in the lobby of Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Hours are Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.