Synopsis   |

Cast Bios   |

Fun Facts  |

Composer   |

Conductor: Anthony Barrese

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!

Floria Tosca: Catherine Naglestad*	Mario Cavaradossi: Massimo Giordano	Baron Scarpia: Wolfgang Brendel*	Spoletta: David Cangelosi*

Cesare Angelotti: Thomas Forde	A Sacristan: Scott Sikon	Sciarrone: Michael Kimmons	A Jailer: John Bates	A Shepherd Boy: Ava Pine	Stage Director: Guilio Chazalettes	Production Design: Ulisse Santicchi*
Lighting Design: Marie Barrett	Chorus Master: Alexander Rom

* Dallas Opera Debut
** American Debut

Catherine Naglestad * (Floria Tosca)
Soprano – San Jose, California

Highlights: In 2006, the awarded the title of “Kammersängerin” by the German Ministry of Fine Arts for her outstanding command of a wide range of repertoire; Opernwelt magazine’s “Singer of the Year” for portrayals of Alceste and Norma; festival appearances at Salzburg, Baden-Baden, Bregenz, Edinburgh, the Ruhr Triennale, the Budapest Spring Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival and NHK Symphony Orchestra live broadcasts from Tokyo’s Suntory Hall; appearances in leading roles at Covent Garden, San Francisco, Paris (the Bastille and Palais Garnier), Lyon, Marseille, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart. Several of Ms. Naglestad’s performances in Paris and Stuttgart have been recorded live for international television and are now available on DVD.

After Tosca: Floria Tosca at Paris Opera Bastille and Vienna State Opera; Aida at Osaka Festival and Tokyo; Un ballo in maschera at the Berlin State Opera; Busoni’s Dr. Faust (Munich Festival); Manon Lescaut in Marseille and concert appearances in Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig.

Massimo Giordano (Mario Cavaradossi)
Tenor – Pompeii, Italy

Highlights: Des Grieux in Manon (Metropolitan Opera debut); Ruggero in La Rondine (Dallas Opera debut); Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi (Glyndebourne Festival, Metropolitan Opera); Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (Vienna State Opera); Lyric Opera of Chicago, Frankfurt, Munich and Pittsburgh Opera debuts as Roméo; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (Naples, Turin, Rome); Rodolfo in La bohème (Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Los Angeles); the title role in Werther (Berlin); Alfredo in La traviata (Santa Fe, La Scala, Berlin, Tokyo, Moscow’s Bolshoi); Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff (Salzburg Festival); a concert performance of Mignon with Opera Orchestra of New York (Carnegie Hall debut); and Verdi’s Requiem in performances conducted by Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Chailly.

After Tosca: A new production of Eugene Onegin at Glyndebourne and La Rondine with Angela Gheorghiu in Turin.

Wolfgang Brendel * (Baron Scarpia)
Baritone – Munich, Germany

Highlights: Heard in opera houses from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to Glyndebourne and Bayreuth, his most recent engagements include San Francisco Opera’s Die Fledermaus in the role of Gabriel von Eisenstein; Baron Scarpia in Tosca and Amfortas in Parsifal in Berlin; Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West in Essen; Scarpia in Tosca and Mandryka in Arabella in Munich; the role of Altair in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Die ägyptische Helena and Ford in Falstaff in a Jonathan Miller production in Tokyo. Mr. Brendel has participated in numerous televised opera performances, including broadcast presentations of Die Zauberflöte in which he sang the role of Papageno, Tannhäuser, Eugene Onegin and Arabella and has also recorded 40 CDs and DVDs. Awarded the German Order of Merit in 1995 for his service to the arts and became the youngest artist in the history of Munich State Opera to receive the honorary title of “Kammersänger.”

David Cangelosi * (Spoletta)
Tenor – Cleveland, Ohio

Highlights: Beppe in Pagliacci (Washington Opera, with Plácido Domingo, telecast on “Live from the Kennedy Center” on PBS); Torquemada in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole (Carnegie Hall debut with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra); Viva Domingo Opera Gala (San Francisco); Spoletta in CD/film version of Tosca (Venice Film Festival 2001); Sellem in The Rake’s Progress (San Francisco Opera); Don Juan in Don Quichotte and Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette (Washington Opera); Goro in Madama Butterfly (St. Louis); and numerous roles for Lyric Opera of Chicago, including Pang in Turandot, Beppe in Pagliacci, Tobias in Sweeney Todd, Spoletta in Tosca, Guillot in Manon, Mr. Buchanan in Street Scene and Uncle Donato in Lyric’s world premiere of William Bolcom’s A Wedding.

After Tosca: Mime in Das Rheingold (San Francisco), Goro at the Metropolitan Opera and Chicago Lyric, and Guillot in Manon in Chicago.

Thomas Forde (Cesare Angelotti)
Bass – Chicago, Illinois

Highlights: Fifth Jew in The Dallas Opera’s Salome; Marchese d’Obigny in La traviata (Central City Opera); covered the roles of Sarastro in The Magic Flute and Father Trulove in The Rake’s Progress (Des Moines Metro Opera); Francis Nurse (also covered the role of Reverend Hale) in The Crucible (Utah Festival Opera); Masetto in Don Giovanni (University of Illinois Opera Theatre); various roles for Moores Opera Center including Frank Maurrant in Street Scene, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin and Selim in Il turco in Italia. Upcoming engagements in the fall of 2007 include Zuniga in Carmen and Antonio (covering Figaro) in Le nozze di Figaro (Houston’s Opera in the Heights).

After Salome: The Mandarin in Turandot (also covering Timur) and covering Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Fort Worth Opera Festival).

Scott Sikon (A Sacristan)
Baritone – Carbondale, Illinois

Highlights: Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, Schaunard in La bohème, Dikoy in Katya Kabanova, Handwerkbursche in Wozzeck, Second Armed Man and Second Philistine in Samson et Dalila (San Diego Opera); the Mayor in Jenufa, the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, Narumoff in The Queen of Spades, Pritschitsch in The Merry Widow and Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème and Don Magnifico (school performances) in Cinderella for The Dallas Opera; Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow and Montano in Otello (Hawaii Opera Theatre); world premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies The Number 11 Bus (Vienna); Bertrand in world premiere of Conrad Susa’s The Dangerous Liasons (San Francisco).

After Tosca: Reinmar von Zweter in Tannhäuser (San Diego); the Sacristan in Tosca (San Diego and San Antonio); Monterone in Rigoletto.

Michael Kimmons (Sciarrone)
Baritone – Dallas, Texas

Highlights: Roles for The Dallas Opera include An Officer in The Barber of Seville and the Wigmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos (2006) and, this season, an Apparition in Macbeth and Vicomte Cascada in The Merry Widow. Mr. Kimmons also sang the roles of Papageno in The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Cascada in The Merry Widow, Sid in Albert Herring, Schaunard in La bohème, Beaumarchais in Ghosts of Versailles, Koko in The Mikado, Frank Maurrant in Street Scene, Armchair in L’enfant et de sortileges, Zurga in The Pearl Fishers, Silvio in Pagliacci and El Gallo in The Fantasticks at SMU. He was honored with SMU’s Thomas Hayward Award as outstanding undergraduate vocalist of the year (2001).

John Bates (A Jailer)
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 Schicchi, 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 at various theaters and venues.

Ava Pine (A Shepherd Boy)
Soprano – Galveston, Texas

Highlights: Anna in Nabucco (Dallas Opera debut); double role of Yvette/Off-stage Voice in La Rondine, Lady-in-Waiting in Macbeth and First Page in Lohengrin; Frasquita in Carmen, Sophie in Werther and covering Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Chautauqua Opera); Messiah and Bach’s Mass in B-minor (Dallas Symphony Orchestra); Amour in Rameau’s Pygmalion (Dallas Bach Society); Berta in The Barber of Seville-School Performances (TDO); Faure’s Requiem (Dallas Symphony Orchestra debut); Handel’s Messiah (Ft. Worth Symphony debut); 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.).

After Tosca: Angels in America at Fort Worth Opera Festival.

Anthony Barrese * (Conductor)
Chicago, Illinois

Highlights: Music Director and conductor for L’incoronazione di Poppea and Alcina (Opera North); La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Felix Company, Milan); Carmen (Commonwealth Opera, MA); Le nozze di Figaro and Lakmé (Sarasota Opera); Rigoletto (Fargo-Moorhead Opera); Music director of L’Orchestra Associazione Italiana Scuola di Musica, an Italian youth orchestra he took on tour to Northern Italy and Norway (2000) and I Solisti della Scala (1999), a chamber group comprised of first chair musicians of the La Scala Philharmonic; Assistant Conductor 2006-2007 Season of The Dallas Opera: Nabucco, Il barbiere di Siviglia (conducted school performances and additional concerts), Mary Queen of Scots, La Rondine and Lohengrin; Assistant Conductor Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco (Spoleto Festival USA); Assistant Conductor of Tosca (New York City Opera) and Rigoletto (Boston Lyric Opera); a performance of his composition “Apostolic Rag” on the “Music in Time” series, Intermezzi, a chamber orchestra concert and covered Gluck’s L’ile de Merlin at the 2007 Spoleto Festival USA; other engagements as a composer, conductor and musicologist – including his critical edition of Franco Faccio’s opera rarity, Amleto (Hamlet), in conjunction with Casa Ricordi. In October, conducting Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Southwest.

Giulio Chazalettes (Stage Director)
Collegno, Torino, Italy

Highlights: Tosca (Dallas Opera debut, 1987); at the Maggio Musicale, Florence he has directed the world premiere of Bortolozzi’s Tutto cio che accado ti reguarda, Love for Three Oranges and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, among numerous other productions. Other highlights include Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Cortese’s Le notti bianche, Cimarosa’s Il marito disperato, Maderna’s Satyricon and Massenet’s Werther (La Scala); Love for Three Oranges (US debut), I Capuleti e i Montecchi, L’elisir d’amore, Die Fledermaus (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Verdi’s Attila (Vienna); Don Pasquale (Munich); Madama Butterfly (Verona); Falstaff (Bregenz Festival); Die Zauberflöte (Geneva); Massenet’s Cherubin (Santa Fe) and La sonnambula at the Teatro Bellini in Catania.

Ulisse Santicchi (Production Design)
Trieste, Italy

Highlights: L’elisir d’amore (company debut, 1985) and Tosca (The Dallas Opera); Love for Three Oranges, I Capuleti e i Montecchi and L’elisir d’amore (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Satyricon and Werther (La Scala); A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Falstaff (Italy’s Spoleto Festival); Der Rosenkavalier (Spoleto Festival USA); and additional productions for Maggio Musicale (Florence), Cologne Opera, The Schwetzingen Festival, Vienna, Munich, Santa Fe and Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

Marie Barrett (Lighting Design)
Seattle, Washington

Highlights: Ariadne auf Naxos, The Barber of Seville, Salome, Macbeth, 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). Overseas, Ms. Barrett has designed for the Netherlands Opera, Opera Bastille in Paris, and at the Maggio musicale in Florence. She has worked with noteworthy directors including Jonathan Miller (Tosca, The Rise and Fall of Mahoganny, The Mikado), Andre Serban (The Fiery Angel), and Michael Hampe (Die Zauberflöte, Un ballo in maschera, Der Rosenkavalier). Ms. Barrett is also a production manager and has overseen the North American companies of “Riverdance” for ten years.

After Tosca: Tannhauser for San Diego Opera.

Alexander Rom (Chorus Master)
Kharkov, Ukraine

Highlights: Salome, Porgy & Bess (2008), Lohengrin, The Merry Widow, Macbeth, 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 Tosca: Preparations for the 52nd International Season of The Dallas Opera.

* Dallas Opera Debut
** American Debut