Inside Washington National Opera’s Production of Bellini’s Norma
Presented by Washington National Opera and the Embassy of Italy/Italian Cultural Institute. Join director Anne Bogart, Italian conductor Daniele Rustioni, and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop for a program of discussion and music that explores WNO’s new production of this bel canto masterpiece. Learn more about how a new opera production is created, how the director and conductor collaborate on a cohesive vision, and how singers approach one of the most challenging and beloved scores in the repertory.
Admission is free, but reservations are required.
MORE INFO:
Norma, about the program
Anne Bogart, director
Daniele Rustioni, maestro
Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano
Official WNO Norma page: CLICK HERE
ON STAGE: March 9-24, 2013
Performed in Italian with English supertitles.
Performance Timing: Act I – 82 min.; Intermission – 20 min.; Act II – 66 min. (168 min.)
in collaboration with
DOORS OPEN AT 6:15 AND CLOSE AT 7:00PM PROMPTLY
RSVP
Please click on “Make a Reservation” by March 05, 2013 at 2 PM
The Reservation System will allow you to register until we reach
capacity or by the event’s date at 2:00 PM (whichever comes
first.)
PLEASE NOTE: RESERVATION IS REQUIRED FOR OUR EVENTS FOR SECURITY REASONS. A RESERVATION IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF A SEAT. OUR VENUE HAS LIMITED SEATING AND WE WILL ACCOMODATE GUESTS ON A FIRST-COME FIRST-SERVED BASIS. GUESTS WITHOUT SEATS ARE WELCOME TO STAND IF THEY LIKE.
PHOTO ID REQUIRED
LOCATION:
Embassy of Italy/Italian Cultural Institute
3000 Whitehaven st Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
A secret affair across enemy lines becomes a war of hearts when love is betrayed. In the midst of the Gallic-Roman wars, the Druid priestess Norma secretly carries on a love affair with the enemy’s proconsul, Pollione. When a younger priestess, Adalgisa, catches Pollione’s eye, the mystic Norma turns warrior, prepared to seek revenge for this betrayal.
Fresh from acclaimed performances of Norma in concert, rising opera star Angela Meade makes her stage debut of the notoriously difficult title role opposite the formidable mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick, who sings the role of Norma’s rival, Adalgisa, in this thrilling new WNO production directed by Anne Bogart and conducted by Daniele Rustioni.
American director Anne Bogart makes her WNO debut with this production of Norma. She has participated in the American theater as a director, playwright, essayist, and teacher. In 1992 she co-founded the SITI Company with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki and has been the Company’s Artistic Director since its inception. Some of her productions with SITI Company include Trojan Women at the Getty Villa, American Document (with the Martha Graham Dance Company), Antigone, Freshwater, Who Do You Think You Are, Radio Macbeth, Under Construction, Hotel Cassiopeia, Intimations for Saxophone, Death and the Ploughman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Dispute, Score, Hay Fever, bobrauschenbergamerica, Room, War of the Worlds, Cabin Pressure, The Radio Play, Bob, Culture of Desire, Private Lives, Miss Julie, Alice’s Adventures, Small Lives/Big Dreams, Going, Going, Gone, The Medium, and Orestes. Recent projects include Café Variations at ArtsEmerson and A Rite (with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company) at Carolina Performing Arts. As a director, she has staged classical, modern, contemporary, and devised plays. She has also directed operas and musicals, most recently Carmen at The Glimmerglass Festival. She is a professor at Columbia University, where she also runs the Graduate Directing Program. She is the author of And Then, You Act; Making Art in an Unpredictable World; A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art and Theater; The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition, with Tina Landau; and the recently released Conversations with Anne. She served as president of the Theater Communications Group (TCG) from 1990 to 1992 and is a frequent speaker and lecturer on the international theater scene. Among her numerous honorary degrees and accolades are the American Theatre Wing Award (2005), a Rockefeller/Bellagio Fellowship (2004), the Elliott Norton Award for Outstanding Direction (2003), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2000-2001), and two Obie Awards (1990 and 1988). She received a bachelor’s degree from Bard College and a master’s degree from New York University.
Italian maestro Daniele Rustioni makes his WNO debut with this production of Norma, at the age of only 29. He studied in his native Milan and attended master classes with Gianandrea Noseda, who immediately became his primary mentor. He was then appointed Associate Conductor at the Royal Opera House in London, where he received Antonio Pappano’s personal guidance on operatic repertoire. After his operatic debut at the age of 24 at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, an impressive number of engagements followed. In October 2010 he made his debut at Teatro alla Scala and was immediately engaged for the 2012-2013 season. In March 2011 he appeared for the first time at the Royal Opera House, where he will return to conduct next season. In June 2011 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana, one of the most well-known Italian symphony orchestras. Earlier this year he was appointed Music Director of the Petruzzelli Foundation, which presents opera and concerts in Bari, Italy.
American mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop has been praised by Opera News for her “gorgeous voice” and is in equal demand for both opera and concert performances across the country. With a “burgundy mezzo-soprano” the Washington Post describes as “a rich well of color and emotion,” audiences and critics alike recognize her as one of this country’s predominant singing actresses. Her 2012-13 season engagements currently include a return to the Metropolitan Opera for its productions of Les Troyens and Das Rheingold, to sing as Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites; to the roster of Washington National Opera; singing Sieglinde in Act One of Die Walküre and Isolde’s “Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde in concert for North Carolina Opera; and Azucena in Il trovatore with Utah Opera. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1994, Elizabeth Bishop has returned several times in such roles as Fenena in Nabucco, Venus in Tannhäuser, Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites, and for its productions of War and Peace and Iphigenie en Tauride. She is a regular presence at Washington National Opera, having appeared as Eboli in Don Carlo, the leading role of the Marquise de Merteuil in Conrad Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons, Fricka in Das Rheingold, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and Emilia in Otello. A former Adler Fellow and member of its Merola Opera Program, Ms. Bishop has returned to San Francisco Opera to sing Tisbe in La Cenerentola, the Mother in Harvey Milk (recorded for the Teldec label), Antonia’s Mother in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte. She has also appeared in solo recitals in both San Francisco and Tokyo as well as for the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC. She is a former member of the Juilliard Opera Center and a winner of the 1993 Metropolitan National Council Auditions.