Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and the U.S. Professionally Staged Premiere of Handel’s Tolomeo opens at Glimmerglass Opera

Cooperstown, N.Y. – Glimmerglass Opera’s 2010 Festival continues this weekend with the opening performances of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro on Saturday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. and the U.S. professionally staged premiere of Handel’s Tolomeo on Sunday, July 18 at 2:00 p.m. These new productions, along with Copland’sThe Tender Land and Puccini’s Tosca, will run in rotation in the Alice Busch Opera Theater in Cooperstown through August 24, 2010.

Patrick Carfizzi as Figaro and Aurhelia Varak as Cherubino in Glimmerglass Opera's 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro. Photo: Karli Cadel/Glimmerglass Opera.

The Marriage of Figaro is directed by Leon Major and conducted by David Angus, Glimmerglass Opera’s Music Director. Patrick Carfizzi sings Figaro in his role and company debut and Lyubov Petrova sings the role of Susanna. Aurhelia Varak performs the role of Cherubino, Mark Schnaible sings The Count and Caitlin Lynch, an alumna of Glimmerglass’s Young American Artists Program, returns as a guest artist to sing the role of The Countess. Members of the Young American Artists Program, the company’s apprentice program for young singers, complete the cast. The role of Bartolo is sung by Adam Fry, Marcellina is sung by Courtney McKeown, Basilio is sung by Alex Mansoori and Antonio is sung by Robert Kerr. The role of Don Curzio is sung by Steven Brennfleck, Barbarina is sung by Haeran Hong, First Bridesmaid is sung by Marie-Eve Munger and the role of Second Bridesmaid is sung by Cathleen Candia. Donald Eastman designed the sets, Matthew Pachtman designed costumes and Jeff Harris designed lighting.

Joélle Harvey as Seleuce in Glimmerglass Opera's 2010 U.S. professionally staged premiere of Tolomeo. Photo: Claire McAdams/Glimmerglass Opera.

Tolomeo is directed by Chas Rader-Shieber, who directed Handel’s Orlando at Glimmerglass in 2003. The production is conducted by Christian Curnyn in his company debut. Anthony Roth Costanzo sings the title role in the production. Costanzo is an alumnus of the Young America Artists Program and most recently performed with the company in 2009 as the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas. Julie Boulianne returns after performances last summer as Angelina in La Cenerentola to perform the role of Elisa. Young American Artists Program alumna Joélle Harvey sings the role of Seleuce. Karin Mushegain sings the role of Alessandro and Steven LaBrie performs as Araspe. Mushegain and LaBrie are both members of the 2010 Young American Artists Program. Donald Eastman designed the sets, Andrea Hood designed costumes and Robert Wierzel designed lighting.

The 2010 program also includes Pucinni's Tosca, and Copland's The Tender Land. These premiered earlier this month, and have been previewed in this Review. As well, a Glimmerglass song recital featuring works by Copland and Ives was given a glimpse here.

Julie Boulianne as Elisa in Glimmerglass Opera's 2010 U.S. professionally staged premiere of Tolomeo. Photo: Claire McAdams/Glimmerglass Opera.