OperaDelaware Julie W. Van Blarcom, Executive Director Leland P. Kimball III, General Director Telephone: (302) 658-8063 Fax: (302) 658-4991 Box Office: The Grand Opera House, 1-800-37-GRAND www.operadel.org OPERADELAWARE OPENS WITH OTELLO For Immediate Release – July 9, 2001 Contact: Amy Watson or Julie W. Van Blarcom Wilmington, DE: On Saturday, October 27, 2001 OperaDelaware will present a new production of Verdi's tragic opera Otello to open its 57th season and to pay homage to Verdi on the hundredth anniversary of his death. The opening performance is at 8 p.m. at the Grand Opera House, 818 North Market St., Wilmington, DE. Other performances are November 1 at 7:30 p.m., November 3 at 8 p.m., and a matinee November 4 at 2 p.m. The opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles. Tickets are $19 to $64, and can be purchased online at www.operadel.org or by calling The Grand Box Office at 1-800-37-GRAND. This luminous period production will be shaped by the creative direction of Stephanie Sundine, who returns to OperaDelaware after the critical and box office success of Madama Butterfly, and by Verdi scholar David Lawton, who thrilled OperaDelaware audiences with The Tales of Hoffmann, returning once again to conduct. Adam Klein will sing the title role of Otello, Tamara Acosta will sing the role of Desdemona, Todd Thomas will sing the role of Iago, and Gary Seydell will sing the role of Cassio. SUMMARY The Moor Otello and his beautiful wife Desdemona live happily in the land he governs, the island of Cyprus. But when Ensign Iago is passed over for the lieutenant's job he so desperately wants, he becomes bitter and scheming. He convinces Otello that Desdemona is cheating on him with rival Cassio. Otello in turn vows to kill Desdemona. The final scene, played out in their bedroom chambers, is one of the most memorable in opera. Based on Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Othello, the Moor of Venice, Otello was Verdi's last dramatic opera and is considered one of his finest. "We have a spectacular cast and an enlarged chorus and orchestra to present this magnificent work in its full dramatic scope," said Leland Kimball, General Director. "The music and the emotions of this piece are electrifying." OperaDelaware's mission is to enrich the cultural life of people in the Delaware Valley by producing opera, educational and outreach programs. The company presents new and traditional operas performed in an innovative way, using a unique blend of nationally-known stars and rising talent. OperaDelaware programs are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mellon Foundation, Meet The Composer, Inc., and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to enhancing and supporting the arts in Delaware. Funding for lead singers is generously provided by First USA. The Cast Adam Klein, Otello, began his opera career as a child, when as a boy soprano he performed with New York's Metropolitan Opera. His roles in the last year have included De Grieux in Manon Lescaut with Opera Memphis, Don José in Carmen with Virginia Opera, and the Chevalier in Dialogues des Carmélites with Portland Opera. Mr. Klein has also performed with such companies as New York City Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Nashville Opera, Washington Opera, Dallas Opera, Edmonton Opera, and Chicago Opera Theatre. He has also won a number of awards, including first prize in the Toledo Opera Vocal Competition, the Jacksonville-McMurray Music Association Young Artists' competition and the Center for Contemporary Opera International Vocal Competition, and was the recipient of the New York City Opera’s Kolozsvar Award. Tamara Acosta, Desdemona, has been called by the New York Times "solid…her singing clarion-toned and ardent." She performed with Sarasota Opera as Elvira in Ernani, Leonora in La Forza del Destino and the title character in Janacek's Jenufa. She recently returned to Sarasota for two performances of the Verdi Requiem commemorating the 100th anniversary of Verdi's death and performed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Odabella in Verdi's Attila. She has also appeared in the world premiere of Judith Weir's The Vanishing Bridegroom with Opera Theater of Saint Louis and as Octavie in Massenet's Cléopâtre in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Todd Thomas, Iago, spent four years in Giessen, Germany at the Stadttheater Giessen as principal baritone. After his return in 1998, he performed with such companies as Harrisburg Opera, New York's DiCapo Opera Theatre and touring divisions of such companies as Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera. In addition to having won several awards and contests, including the Loren L. Zachary Award, the Pennsylvania Artists Fellowship Recital Grant, and a Sullivan Foundation Award, he was privileged to be associated with the world premiere of Nixon in China, where he was the cover artist for the role of Richard Nixon. Gary Seydell, Cassio, holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts in voice from the University of Delaware, as well as a Masters in Vocal Performance and an Artist Diploma in Opera from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Mr. Seydell was an Aspen Opera Fellow and was a finalist in the Paris National Opera's Lyric Center for Young Artists Competition. Professionally, Mr. Seydell has sung with the Cincinnati Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera and San Antonio Opera, at which he recently sang Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. He has also recently sung the Britten War Requiem with the Western New York Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Seydell's future engagements include the Beethoven 9th Symphony and Messiah with the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Seydell is currently on the faculty of SUNY College at Fredonia as a visiting assistant professor of voice. Rounding out the cast will be Roxanne Rowedder as Emilia, Ed Bara of Quakerstown, Pennsylvania, as Ludovico, Michael Thompson, of Dover, Delaware, as Roderigo, and Jeff Chapman, a student at the University of Delaware, as the Herald and Montano. _______ INSIDE OPERA LIVE Subscribers are invited to OperaDelaware's pre-opera INSIDE OPERA LIVE, a pre opera talk providing an inside perspective on Otello, Verdi and the social climate of the era in which the opera was created. INSIDE OPERA LIVE is one hour before each performance at The Grand Opera House. OPERADELAWARE WEBSITE The OperaDelaware website, at www.operadel.org, contains a synopsis of the production; OperaDelaware's season brochure in download format; and, in Discology, Otello recordings recommended by conductor David Lawton.