Synopsis |

Cast Bios |

Fun Facts |

Composer |

Music Director, Graeme Jenkins

Where Stars Shine Brightest Although we are always happy to support the careers of local artists, The Dallas Opera attracts international casts from as far away as Russia and China in order to bring North Texas audiences the very best the world has to offer. This is the place where opera legend Plácido Domingo made his U.S. debut. Opera’s greatest stars are always shining at The Dallas Opera!

Macbeth: Alberto Gazale**	Lady Macbeth: Tatiana Serjan**	Banquo: Eric Halfvarson	Macduff: Brandon Jovanovich

Lady in Waiting: Ava Pine	Malcolm: Joseph Hu	Doctor: Mark McCrory	Macbeth's Servant: John Bates	Stage Director: Bernard Uzan	Production Designer: Robert Israel*	Lighting Designer: Marie Barrett
Chorus Master: Alexander Rom

* Dallas Opera Debut
** American Debut

Alberto Gazale** (Macbeth)
Baritone - Sassari, Italy

Highlights: Specializing in Verdian operas including La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Aida, Nabucco, Rigoletto, Stiffelio, La battaglia di Legnano, Otello, La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Don Carlos and Macbeth at the Vienna State Opera as well as leading Italian venues including Milan’s La Scala, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Busseto, Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro Massimo in Palermo. Mr. Gazale has also performed leading roles in works by Puccini (La bohème, Madama Butterfly); Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor, L’elisir d’amore, Don Pasquale); Mascagni (Cavalleria rusticana, L’amico Fritz, Guglielmo Ratcliff); Rossini (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Petite Messe Solonnelle) and others, including such standards as Andrea Chénier, Adriana Lecouvreur, Samson et Dalila and Faust. A winner of numerous competitions, he also recorded the “Cantolopera” project for G7 Music.

Tatiana Serjan** (Lady Macbeth)
Soprano – St. Petersburg, Russia

Highlights: Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in Trieste; Lady Macbeth (Turin, Athens, Palermo, Madrid, Bologna, Trieste) and in Tokyo with Teatro alla Scala under the direction of Riccardo Muti; title role in Tosca (Bologna, Palermo); selections from Norma at the Ravenna Festival; Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna (La Scala, Ravenna Festival, Lisbon); the role of Amelia in Un ballo in maschera (Ancona, Rovigo, Trento, Catania); Verdi’s Requiem with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra; Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich for the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society; the dual roles of Antonia and Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann and Mimi in La bohème at the St. Petersburg State Musical Theater.

After Macbeth: Tosca (Bregenz); Sancta Susanna in New York City with Maestro Muti; Lady Macbeth in Oviedo, Amelia in Amsterdam, Il trovatore in Geneva.

Eric Halfvarson (Banquo)
Bass – Aurora, Illinois

Highlights: Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin (Covent Garden, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Pacific, The Dallas Opera); Sparafucile in Rigoletto (Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden); Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier (Finnish National Opera, Metropolitan Opera, The Dallas Opera); Hagen in Götterdammerung (The Dallas Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bayreuth, Barcelona, San Francisco); Claggart in Billy Budd (Covent Garden debut, Paris, Vienna); Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte (Vienna, Metropolitan Opera, The Dallas Opera); King Philip and the Inquisitor in Don Carlos (Vienna, Torino); Heinrich in Lohengrin (Bayreuth Festival, Edinburgh Festival); Hunding in Die Walküre (The Dallas Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago) and La Roche in Capriccio (Sante Fe, New York City Opera).

After Macbeth: King Marke in Tristan und Isolde (Los Angeles Opera); the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos (Covent Garden, the Met); Hagen in Götterdammerung (Vienna) and the Commendatore at Covent Garden.

Brandon Jovanovich (Macduff)
Tenor – Billings, Montana

Highlights: Winner of the 2007 Richard Tucker Award; Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana (The Dallas Opera, Palm Beach Opera, New York City Opera); Levin in world premiere of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina (Florida Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis); Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (New York City Opera, Stuttgart, Dallas Opera School Performances); title role in Dido and Aeneas (La Scala); Bill in American premiere of Flight (Opera Theatre of St. Louis); title role in Candide (Teatro San Carlo, Naples); Cavaradossi in Tosca (Bregenz Festival, De Vlaamse Opera); title role in Werther (Opéra de Lille) American premiere of Lowell Lieberman’s The Picture of Dorian Gray as Lord Geoffery (Florentine Opera); title role in world premiere of Bohmler’s The Tale of the Nutcracker (Opera San Jose); Steva in Jenufa (Angers/Nantes Opera).

After Macbeth: Tosca’s Cavaradossi in Seattle; Rusalka at Minnesota Opera and Carmen at Glyndebourne.

Ava Pine (Lady-in-Waiting)
Soprano – Galveston, Texas

Highlights: Anna in Nabucco (Dallas Opera debut); double role of Yvette/Off-stage Voice in La Rondine and First Page in Lohengrin; Berta in The Barber of Seville-School Performances (TDO); Faure’s Requiem (Dallas Symphony Orchestra debut); Handel’s Messiah (Ft. Worth Symphony debut); Amour in Rameau’s Pygmalion (Dallas Bach Society). Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Seagle Music Colony); Mozart’s Mass in C minor (Orpheus Singers of Dallas); Erato in Handel’s Terpsicore (New York Baroque Dance Co.). Upcoming: Frasquita in Carmen, Sophie in Werther and covering Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Chautauqua Opera).

After Macbeth: Zozo in The Merry Widow (The Dallas Opera); Messiah and Bach’s Mass in B-minor (Dallas Symphony Orchestra); Angel in Angels in America at Ft. Worth Opera.

Joseph Hu (Malcolm)
Tenor – Taipei, Taiwan

Highlights: Nathanael/Cochenille in The Tales of Hoffmann, Abdallo in Nabucco, a Priest in The Magic Flute, Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos, Chekalinsky in The Queen of Spades and Beppe in Pagliacci (The Dallas Opera); Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (Eugene Opera); Pong in Turandot, Count Lerma in Don Carlo and Gastone in La traviata (San Diego Opera); made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and earned a Masters in Vocal Performance/University of North Texas.

After Macbeth: First Jew in Salome (The Dallas Opera), Goro in Madama Butterfly (Palm Beach Opera, Opera Memphis); First Philistine in Samson & Delilah, Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, Ruiz in Il trovatore, Goro in Madama Butterfly, Borsa in Rigoletto and Spoletta in Tosca (San Diego Opera).

Mark McCrory (the Doctor)
Bass – Dallas, TX

Highlights: Fourth Noble in Lohengrin, The High Priest of Babylon in Nabucco, Perichaud/A Steward dual role in La Rondine, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos and Second Armored Man in The Magic Flute (Dallas Opera); title role in Le nozze di Figaro (Minnesota Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Opera Festival of New Jersey); title role in Don Giovanni (Madison Opera, Opera Pacific); Marco in A View from the Bridge (world premiere, Lyric Opera of Chicago); and most recently, the Count in Le nozze di Figaro (New Orleans Opera). University of North Texas alum/Lake Highlands grad. Upcoming: The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance (Living Opera) and Ferrando in Il trovatore (Kentucky Opera).

After Macbeth: Kromow in The Merry Widow and First Nazarene in Salome (The Dallas Opera); Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Virginia Opera).

John Bates (Macbeth’s Servant)
Bass – Dallas, Texas

Highlights: Crebillon in The Dallas Opera’s La Rondine; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Albert in Werther, Marcello in La bohème, Marco in Gianni Schicci, The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Colonel Calverly in Patience, Curly in Oklahoma!, Sid in The Pajama Game and Mr. Erlansen in A Little Night Music.

Graeme Jenkins (Conductor)
Music Director of The Dallas Opera – London, England
1985-92 Glyndebourne Touring Opera/Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Highlights: 150 operatic productions of a hundred different works including Billy Budd and Jenufa (Vienna State Opera); Così fan tutte (English National Opera); Baz Luhrmann’s La bohème and Der Meistersinger (Australia); The Cunning Little Vixen and From the House of the Dead (Berlin); Le nozze di Figaro for Theater an der Wien in Vienna; Simon Boccanegra, Der Fliegende Holländer and Il re pastore (Amsterdam); La clemenza di Tito (Copenhagen) and numerous productions for The Dallas Opera including the Ring Cycle, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute and company premieres of Billy Budd, Nabucco, Wozzeck, Katya Kabanova, Mary Queen of Scots and Rodelinda; performances with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Jenkins’ debut with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra of Spain, as well as a recent Bartok Celebration Concert with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic. World premieres of works by Tobias Picker (Thérèse Raquin at The Dallas Opera, on the Chandos label) and Stephen Oliver (English National Opera).

After Macbeth: The Merry Widow and Salome (TDO); Le nozze di Figaro and Don Carlos at Royal Danish Opera, Jenufa and Der fliegende Höllander for Vienna State Opera and a concert conducting the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Bernard Uzan (Stage Director)
Paris, France

Highlights: Macbeth (Seattle, Arizona Opera); Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Carolina, Michigan Opera, L’Opera de Montreal); Peter Grimes (Florida Grand Opera, L’Opera de Montreal); Manon (Michigan Opera Theatre, L’Opera de Montreal, Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Florida Grand Opera); Andrea Chenier (Opera de Monte Carlo, Baltimore Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia); Madama Butterfly (Baltimore Opera, Opera Colorado, Vancouver Opera); General/Artistic Director L’Opera de Montreal (1988-2002); General/Artistic Director Tulsa Opera; guest director/teacher, Merola program (San Francisco); has staged and/or produced more than 300 productions, worldwide. Ph.D.s in Literature, Theatrical Studies and Philosophy, Mr. Uzan emigrated to the U.S. after appearing as an actor in leading theaters throughout Europe to found “French Theater in America,” which toured for ten years. In addition to acting and directing, Mr. Uzan pursued an academic career as Professor of Literature, Acting and Directing at Wellesley College and Middlebury College.

After Macbeth: world premiere of Cyrano with libretto by Mr. Uzan (Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Florida Grand Opera); Il tabarro/Pagliacci (Seattle Opera); Roméo et Juliette (Baltimore Opera); I Capuleti ed I Montecchi (Florentine Opera).

Robert Israel* (Production Design)
Detroit, Michigan

Highlights: Former Chairman of the Theater Department at UCLA, Mr. Israel has designed four Philip Glass world premiere productions, Orphée, Satyagraha, Akhnaten and The Voyage. Other highlights include: The Yellow Sound commissioned by the Guggenheim Museum with performances in New York and Frankfurt; the Ring cycle (Seattle Opera); Falstaff, The Turn of the Screw and sets for Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera); The Fairie Queen (English National Opera); Florencia on the Amazon (Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington); Fidelio (Metropolitan Opera, broadcast on “Great Performances”); American premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale (Minnesota Opera); Jenufa (Brno Opera, Czech Republic, 100th anniversary of premiere); and Don Giovanni (Savonlinna Festival, Finland).

After Macbeth: Halevy’s La Juive for Zürich Opera and Tristan und Isolde for Cologne Opera.

Marie Barrett (Lighting Design)
Seattle, Washington

Highlights: Ariadne auf Naxos, The Barber of Seville, Turandot (southwest premiere of new ending by Luciano Berio), The Flying Dutchman, The Magic Flute, El amor brujo and La vida breve (The Dallas Opera); Un ballo in maschera and Die Fledermaus (San Francisco Opera); Salome and La traviata (Fort Worth Opera); The Magic Flute, Katya Kabanova and Vanessa (San Diego Opera); Roméo et Julliette (Houston Grand Opera). Ms. Barrett is also a production manager and has overseen the North American companies of “Riverdance” for ten years.

After Macbeth: Salome and Tosca (The Dallas Opera), Tannhäuser (San Diego Opera).

Alexander Rom (Chorus Master)
Kharkov, Ukraine

Highlights: Lohengrin, La Rondine and Mary Queen of Scots (2007), Nabucco, The Barber of Seville and The Magic Flute (2006), The Tales of Hoffmann (2005), Cav/Pag (2005), Madame Butterfly (1995, 2000, 2005), Jenufa (1993, 2004) Der fliegende Holländer (1993) and other productions – too numerous to name – for The Dallas Opera. A composer (and confirmed book lover) as well as an internationally renowned chorus master, Alexander’s works have been performed at Carnegie Hall. His arrangements of songs by Edvard Grieg have been performed at New York’s famed South Street Seaport and, in England, by members of the BBC Chorus under the direction of Bo Holten.

After Macbeth: Chorus preparation for The Merry Widow, Porgy and Bess, and Tosca.

* Dallas Opera Debut
** American Debut