by Washington Concert Opera
Antony Walker, WCO Artistic director and conductor, presents a WCO production of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I masnadieri. Musical excerpts will be performed by soprano Colleen Daly and tenor Rolando Sanz, accompanied on the piano by Patrick O’Donnell.
Washington Concert Opera presents this masterpiece as part of its 2013-14 Season “Celebration of Verdi”, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
ONLINE: concertopera.org
I Masnadieri (The Bandits) was written by Giuseppe Verdi on Andrea Maffei’s libretto, based on the tragedy Die Räuber by Friederich Schiller (1759-1805). Verdi himself conducted at the premiere in London on July 22, 1847, with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in attendance. The opera was performed frequently throughout Italy in the following years and has continued to enjoy some popularity there, but it has been rarely produced anywhere else in the world within the past century. WCO’s production will be the only U.S. presentation this year and only one of a handful of U.S. presentations in the past two decades.
This is a story of intrigue – featuring love as the central theme (love of family, of country and of a woman) but is very complicated by jealousy, deceit, power, and abuse. It is a four act opera of the genre “melodrama tragico” and features many more solo arias than we are used to with Verdi’s other operas, known for their large choruses and ensembles. As it sometimes happens, the composer had in mind some particular artists, and the score provides many fine opportunities to highlight the cast’s individual talents. Especially the role of the heroine, Amalia, was cut on one of Verdi’s favorite sopranos, Swedish Jenny Lind, who sang it in the premiere.
The story takes place in Franconia, Germany, sometime between seventeenth and eighteenth century.
in collaboration with
LOCATION
Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
RSVP
Please click on “Make a Reservation” by September 11, 2013 at 2 PM
The Reservation System will allow you to register until we reach
capacity or by the event’s date and time above (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.
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DOORS OPEN AT 6:30PM AND CLOSE AT 7PM PROMPTLY
THE OPERA
ACT 1
Scene One: A tavern on the borders of Saxony
Carlo, the son of Count Massimiliano joins a band of masnadieri (robbers) and gets caught up in many misdemeanors. He sends a letter to his father begging for forgiveness because he has realized that all he truly wants is to be home with his love, and cousin, Amalia. He is relieved when a letter arrives but is soon disheartened when the letter reveals his father’s dissatisfaction with him. Carlo, full of anger and the need for justice, pledges his allegiance to the masnaderi and is elected their new leader.
Scene Two: A room in the castle of Count Moor
Francesco, Carlo’s brother, is thrilled with himself on his clever success of intercepting the letter intended for his father and responding to Carlo with a letter that he is sure will rid him of Carlo in the future. If Count Massimiliano had got hold of it, Francesco is sure he would have forgiven his favorite son. Francesco plots his father’s death to ensure his own control over the family title. He convinces Armino, a castle servant, to disguise himself as a soldier and falsely announce Carlo’s death to the Count and Carlo’s fiancée, Amalia. Upon hearing the news Count Massimiliano falls into a dead faint.
ACT 2
Scene One: A precinct adjoining the chapel of the castle
Several months have passed since Amalia heard of Carlo’s passing, and she is now praying at the tomb of Count Massimiliano. Armino, filled with guilt, confesses everything about his involvement in Francesco’s scheme, including the fact that both the Count and Carlo are still living. Armino rushes out as Francesco ascends upon them. He asks Amalia to marry him, but she refuses. Francesco becomes filled with rage and Amalia pretends to have a change of heart in order to get close enough to him to stab him with his own dagger and escape into the woods.
Scene Two: The Bohemian Woods near Prague
Rolla, one of the robbers that Carlo is affiliated with is captured in Prague and Carlo goes to rescue him. He is successful, but ends up setting fire to a large portion of the city, setting off angry citizens with weapons in pursuit of the masnadieri.
ACT 3
Scene One: A secluded area on the edge of the forest near the castle
The masnadieri are celebrating their criminal activities when they encounter the distraught Amalia. She does not recognize Carlo at first, but is soon overcome with jubilation as they are rejoined. Carlo is livid as he learns of Francesco’s betrayal.
Scene Two: Evening, a clearing in the forest
Carlo is pondering suicide in the forest as he surveys his dismal future when he notices noise in the clearing and discovers Armino and his father, the Count Massimiliano. Though Count Massimiliano does not recognize Carlo as his son, they inform him of how Francesco attempted to bury the Count alive after he fainted at the news of Carlo’s “death”. Armino has saved him from this fate, and has been keeping him safe in the ruins for the last three months. Carlo leaves the Count to gather his men and storm the castle to get hold of Francesco.
ACT 4
Scene One: A suite of several rooms at the Moor’s castle
Francesco awakens after a sleepless night full of nightmares. He summons the Priest and begs for forgiveness for his crimes, none of which the Priest will give him absolution for. Francesco then hears the swarms of men entering the castle hunting for him and makes a quick escape.
Scene Two: The same forest as in Act three, Scene two. Daylight is breaking
Massimiliano laments Carlo’s death, and although he still does not recognize his son standing before him, thanks the “unknown stranger” for saving his life. The masnadieri appear and reveal that they were not able to capture Francesco, which pleases Carlo as he has had a change of heart. Amalia is dragged in by the brigands and Carlo is forced to admit his role as the leader of the masnadieri. The Count expresses his disappointment and despair, but Amalia declares that she loves him despite everything. Carlo, however, has pledged his lifelong allegiance to the masnadieri and refuses to pull Amalia into this life of shame. He then chooses to stab Amalia to death, and rushes off the stage in search of his own death.
MORE INFO
WASHINGTON CONCERT OPERA
Washington Concert Opera (WCO) was founded in 1986 with the mission of bringing high quality, but infrequently performed, operas in concert form to audiences in the Washington metropolitan area at affordable prices. WCO presentations have featured both internationally acclaimed and rising young singers in concert with a professional chorus and orchestra. To date, it has presented nearly 50 different operas, many of them performed for the first time in this region.
WCO is one of only two major companies in the United States exclusively dedicated to presenting operas in concert form with orchestral accompaniment and distinguished vocal soloists for the last quarter century. The company has consistently garnered high praise from music critics under the batons of both Stephen Crout and Antony Walker. WCO has over the years offered the community the opportunity to hear, sometimes for the first time in the area, such world class singers as Renee Fleming, Ben Heppner, Deborah Voigt, James Morris, Celena Shafer, Alessandra Marc, Hei-Kyung Hong, Denyce Graves, Sumi Jo, Jerry Hadley, Lawrence Brownlee, Stephanie Blythe, Giuseppe Filianoti and Jennifer Larmore.
Antony Walker, WCO Artistic Director and Conductor
Antony Walker’s recent conducting appearances include English National Opera (The Tales of Hoffman, in a new production by Richard Jones), Pittsburgh Opera (Turandot, Pearl Fishers, Tosca, Abduction from the Seraglio, Rigoletto and Don Giovanni), Washington Concert Opera (Attila, Adriana Lecouvreur, Werther, Samson et Dalila, La Sonnambula, Maria Stuarda), Santa Fe Opera (Madame Butterfly), Canadian Opera Company (Maria Stuarda); Falstaff with Opera Australia and Rameau’s Castor et Pollux with Pinchgut Opera, both in Sydney, Australia. He holds positions of Artistic Director of Washington Concert Opera, Music Director of Pittsburgh Opera and Artistic Director of Pinchgut Opera in his native Sydney, Australia. He made his conducting debut with the Metropolitan Opera (Orfeo ed Euridice) and has conducted operatic performances with New York City Opera (where he received a Debut Artist award), Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Welsh National Opera, Bologna’s Teatro Comunale, among others. His orchestral appearances include the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Paris’s Orchestre Colonne, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and others in the U.S. and abroad.
Patrick O’Donnell, pianist
Pianist Patrick O’Donnell enjoys an active teaching and performing career throughout the metropolitan Washington, DC area and beyond. He currently holds faculty positions at the George Washington University and The Levine School of Music and has previously taught at The Ohio State University and Kenyon College. In addition to performing with Washington Concert Opera, Patrick has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival and the White House. He holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University, a M.M. from the University of Maryland and a D.M.A. from the University of Michigan.
Rolando Sanz, tenor
A Cuban American who is a native of the Washington DC Metropolitan area, Rolando Sanz is a graduate of the Masters program at the Yale School of Music. Mr. Sanz has won many competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Aspen Music Festival Vocal Concerto Competition. He recently made his Carnegie Hall debut and won special critical praise for his role as Notary in WCO’s 2013 production of La sonnambula.
Colleen Daly, soprano
Described as “dramatically powerful” (The Washington Post), Ms. Daly is demanding attention in today’s operatic arena. This season, she performs Musetta in La Bohème with Lyric Opera Baltimore, covers the role of Violetta in La Traviata with New York City Opera, and performs the title role of Thaïs at Opera Company of Middlebury.
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