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Brandon Jovanovich
Photo by Terrence McCarthy.
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STARRING BRANDON JOVANOVICH IN THE TITLE ROLE WITH CAMILLA NYLUND, PETRA LANG, GERD GROCHOWSKI AND KRISTINN SIGMUNDSSON
OCTOBER 20–NOVEMBER 9, WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE
CONDUCTED BY NICOLA LUISOTTI AND DIRECTED BY DANIEL SLATER
SAN FRANCISCO (October 15, 2012)—San Francisco Opera presents Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin at the War Memorial Opera House, opening on October 20 with six subsequent performances through November 9. American tenor Brandon Jovanovich sings the title role opposite Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund, appearing as Elsa von Brabant. Also appearing in this new-to-San Francisco Opera production, which was designed by Robert Innes Hopkins and is directed by Daniel Slater, are veteran Wagnerians Petra Lang as Ortrud, Gerd Grochowski as Friedrich von Telramund and Kristinn Sigmundsson as Heinrich der Vogler, as well as Brian Mulligan as the King’s Herald.
Following his great success as Siegmund in San Francisco Opera’s most recent Die Walküre, American tenor Brandon Jovanovich returns to the Company to make his title role debut in Wagner’s Lohengrin. Of his appearance in 2011’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen, the San Francisco Chronicle called Jovanovich a “first-rate Wagner tenor.” Other recent appearances with the Company include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (2007), Luigi in Il Tabarro (2009) and Froh in 2011’s Das Rheingold. Later this season the tenor will appear as Pinkerton with Los Angeles Opera, Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut in Brussels and Sergey in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Zurich.
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| Petra Lang |
Mezzo-soprano Petra Lang appears as Ortrud, a role she has previously sung in Berlin, Budapest, Bucharest, Vienna, Geneva, London, and Edinburgh; she will reprise the role later this season at the Bayreuth Festival. The noted Wagnerian made her San Francisco Opera debut as Venus in 2007’s Tannhäuser, a role she has also sung at Milan’s La Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Baltimore Opera.
German bass-baritone Gerd Grochowski made his San Francisco Opera debut as Jaroslav Prus in 2010’s The Makropulos Case and returned as Donner and Gunther in the 2011 Ring cycle. He appears in this production as Friedrich von Telramund, a role he has also sung in Tokyo, Berlin and London.
Kristinn Sigmundsson returns to San Francisco Opera as Heinrich der Vogler, a role he has previously performed in Munich, Berlin and Madrid. The bass made his San Francisco Opera debut as Méphistophélès in the 2002 production of La Damnation de Faust and has since returned to the Company as King Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier and most recently, Sarastro in The Magic Flute.
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| Camilla Nylund |
Baritone Brian Mulligan returns to San Francisco Opera in his role debut as the King's Herald. Mulligan garnered wide acclaim last season for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in John Adams' Nixon in China. His recent San Francisco Opera appearances include Valentin (Faust), Albert (Werther), Ragueneau (Cyrano de Bergerac) and Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), all in 2010. Other notable engagements include Valentin at the Metropolitan Opera; Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Washington National Opera, and the title role of Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer with Opera Theater of St. Louis.
Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts his first Wagner opera of his career, and British stage director Daniel Slater directs this co-production of Houston Grand Opera and Grand Théâtre de Genève. Slater previously directed San Francisco Opera’s 2004 production of Janácek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. This production of Lohengrin, designed by Robert Innes Hopkins, is set in a post-World War Two Eastern Bloc state and updates Wagner’s mythical story for a contemporary audience.
San Francisco Opera Guild will present an Insight Panel Discussion featuring members of the cast and production team from Lohengrin. The discussion will take place on Monday, October 15 at 6 p.m. in the Green Room at the War Memorial Veterans Building (401 Van Ness Avenue). Insight panels are free for Opera members and $5 for the general public; tickets can be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to the discussion.
Sung in German with English supertitles, the seven performances of Lohengrin are scheduled for October 20 (7 p.m.), October 24 (7 p.m.), October 28 (1 p.m.), October 31 (7 p.m.), November 3 (7 p.m.), November 6 (7 p.m.), and November 9 (7 p.m.), 2012.
Cast: Production Team:
Lohengrin Brandon Jovanovich♪ Conductor Nicola Luisotti
Elsa von Brabant Camilla Nylund* Director Daniel Slater
Ortrud Petra Lang Scenic and Costume Designer Robert Innes Hopkins
Friedrich von Telramund Gerd Grochowski Lighting Designer Simon Mills
Heinrich der Vogler Kristinn Sigmundsson Chorus Director Ian Robertson
King’s Herald Brian Mulligan♪ Movement Director Leah Hausman
* San Francisco Opera Debut ♪ Role Debut ● OperaVision Performance
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT 415-864-3330 OR SFOPERA.COM
