This original illustration by Tomi Um beautifully conveys the essence of operamission‘s upcoming North American professional stage premiere of Georg Friedrich Händel’s first opera, which he wrote in 1704 when he was working in Hamburg, Germany, at age 19:

ALMIRA, Königin von Castilien

(Almira, Queen of Castile)

Performed in its original German & Italian, Almira will be staged with baroque orchestra. Jennifer Peterson conducts, Jeff Caldwell directs. The cast:  sopranos Christy Lombardozzi, Nell Snaidas and Kristen Plumley; tenors Keith Jameson and Karim Sulayman; baritones Michael Weyandt and David Kravitz; and bass Mark Risinger.

Visit Brown Paper Tickets and type in “Almira” or just click this link to purchase your tickets in advance.

THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY:

Saturday May 26, Tuesday May 29, and Thursday May 31, all at 7:30 PM

presented by operamission and Neke Carson at the Gershwin Hotel

7 E. 27th Street, New York, NY 10016

And don’t forget to send your tax-deductible love to operamission through Fractured Atlas by clicking this link.

We have also launched a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo which is easy to share through your own favorite websites – spread the word, spread the link - http://www.indiegogo.com/almira – and thanks for your support!

Click here to view a PDF of the program.

Please feel free to share the Press Release, and visit our ‘meet the cast’ page.

operamission

a Poulenc Cabaret

Thursday, February 2, 8:00 PM – one show only

$20 cover, tickets at the door

Gershwin Hotel, 7 East 27th Street, just east of 5th Avenue, New York

This year, for our annual winter cabaret slot,  operamission is presenting potent readings of Francis Poulenc‘s most sensual and alluring songs. We’ll cross between the vocal genres, and will feature a select offering of his most touching instrumental works, performed by outstanding soloists.

Not in New York? — watch the live videostream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/poulenc-cabaret

PDF of the program

The performers:

co-curated by Jessica Goldring and Jennifer Peterson

selections to include:

This beautiful three-act opera which was written in 1704 by the talented and precocious nineteen-year-old composer, soon to take the opera world by storm, has a libretto in both German and Italian. It was premiered in Hamburg and has never before been professionally produced outside of Germany and Austria.

Three performances: Saturday May 26, Tuesday May 29, & Thursday May 31, 2012, all at 7:30 PM at the Gershwin Hotel in New York

Staged with Baroque Orchestra

Cast:

Almira, Königin von Castilien (HWV 1)

~ complete ticket information coming soon ~

CONTRIBUTE and SHARE…

Processing, planning, moving forward…

August and September of 2011 have made up a true whirlwind of operatic activity. We attacked, both in unique operamission fashion, two of the greatest operas in the repertoire – Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Puccini’s La Bohème. We’re thrilled to be connecting to new audiences every day. Thank you for following operamission‘s progress and supporting the vision.

Video clips of both productions are being shared on operamission’s YouTube channel, along with some fine footage of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat from June 2011.

operamission recently received a very nice nod in the October 2011 issue of London’s Opera Now magazine. Robert Levine reports on the New York opera scene, with informative coverage of the Met and NYCO, and then spends a nice healthy page exposing what he calls “The New York Fringe.” Not available online, please take a look at this PDF version of the article, and don’t miss the giant photo of soprano Marcy Richardson by photographer Cory Weaver. Well, it’s hard to miss… Enjoy the article.

You may also enjoy this recent interview with conductor Jennifer Peterson on YAP Tracker, which is an online resource for young opera professionals.

The current exciting news happens to be the announcement of our Spring 2012 production:

operamission will present the North American Premiere of G. F. Händel’s first opera, Almira.

Three-act opera from 1704, in German & Italian, premiered in Hamburg, never before produced outside of Germany & Austria.

Three performances: Saturday May 26, Tuesday May 29, & Thursday May 31, 2012, all at 7:30 PM at the Gershwin Hotel in New York

Staged with Baroque Orchestra

Cast:

Eager for casting and ticket information? Tweet @operamission or @gaspsiagore,  visit the contact page or leave a comment below. Please support operamission, tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas.

After Act I of ‘Puccini’s La Bohème: Assembly Required,’ the Festival called me up and offered me 60-90 minutes of weekday noontime festivities, so we will bring them a generous and refreshing slice of Mozart, expressly catered to the occasion…

Figaro al fresco – a comic cliffhanger

Superimposing the 18th-century Viennese outdoor wind band tradition of light entertainment onto the most brilliant of comic operas, operamission presents Acts I & II of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (‘The Marriage of Figaro’).

Staged by director Peter Kozma, a vibrant cast partners with a chamber band fit for Bryant Park’s Fall Festival Stage. Conductor Jennifer Peterson leads from the piano.

bass CORY CLINES (Figaro) • soprano SHARIN APOSTOLOU (Susanna) • baritone MICHAEL WEYANDT (Count) • soprano INNA DUKACH (Countess)

and rounding out our cast:

countertenor TYLER WAYNE SMITH as Cherubino

bass LAWRENCE LONG as Bartolo and Antonio

mezzo-soprano JANARA KELLERMAN as Marcellina

and tenor IVÁN RIVERA as Basilio

…joined by BORIS SHPITALNIK and GROVER EDWARDS on clarinets, KEITH KREINDLER on bassoon,  MIKE SAYRE and BRIAN HILL on horns, and KYLE COLINA on the double bass.

The concert is FREE, and we will be live-tweeting the synopsis at @fignyc!

operamission needs your support, now especially – tell anyone you know to send their dollars.

A ‘free concert’ is not free to produce! Spread the word of this worthy cause. Contact Jennifer Peterson if you’d like to know more.

Top image courtesy of http://adamapples.blogspot.com/ – used with permission, thank you Adam – great blog for the NY fall season!

CAST for Act IV, September 4:

 

Photos by Neke Carson, special thanks to the Gershwin Hotel

• Cast members from — La Scala, the Met, the old New York City Opera, Teatro Colon, Glimmerglass, and all over

• Full orchestra, unrehearsed, assembled on the spot

• Hosted by — conductor Jennifer Peterson, directors Eric Einhorn (I), Jonathon Field (II, III), Marc Verzatt (IV), dramaturg Cori Ellison

• Audience encouraged to interact digitally

• Live videostreaming via Ustream

Act I – Tuesday, August 16, 7-10pm

CAST: Roseanne Ackerley, Glenn Seven Allen, David Adam Moore, Michael Weyandt, Cory Clines, Lawrence Long

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Eric Einhorn, Cori Ellison

Act II – Sunday, August 21, 7-10pm

CAST: Roseanne Ackerley, Sharin Apostolou, Ryan MacPherson, Kenneth Overton, Michael Weyandt, Cory Clines, Ryan Allen

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Jonathon Field, Cori Ellison

Act III – Tuesday, August 23, 7-10pm

CAST: Kerri Marcinko, Caroline Worra, Ryan MacPherson, James Bobick

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Jonathon Field, Cori Ellison

Act IV – Sunday, August 28, 7-10pm RESCHEDULED TO SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 7-10pm

CAST: Kerri Marcinko, Caroline Worra, Ryan MacPherson, Ross Benoliel, Michael Weyandt, Oren Gradus

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Marc Verzatt

Click to view the press release, the postcard, and the program.

Interested in playing in the orchestra? Click here to view the Call for Orchestral Players.

And click to make a donation to operamission through Fractured Atlas, our Fiscal Sponsor.

Visit our UStream channel to watch the concert live Saturday, June 4 at 8:00 PM EDT.

Click to view the press release and a PDF of the program.

RECITAL & LIVE RECORDING SESSION -

SOPRANO MARCY RICHARDSON sings ‘Seconda Donna’ Arias from Handel’s Italian Operas

presented by operamission and Neke Carson at the Gershwin Hotel

Showpieces rarely heard and recorded from:

Almira, Ariodante, Deidamia, Orlando, Il Pastor Fido, Serse, and Teseo

with countertenor Bryan DeSilva and the operamission HANDEL BAND on original instruments

Friday, April 29, 8:00 PM

Gershwin Hotel, the Living Room

7 East 27th Street, just east of 5th Avenue

$10 cover, pay at the door, general admission

wine will be served, courtesy of Vina Robles

click to view the program

Then, in May:

The CONCORDIUM HARMONIE ENSEMBLE

in their Manhattan Debut, Inaugural All-Mozart Program

presented by operamission and Neke Carson at the Gershwin Hotel

Monday, May 16, 8:00 PM

Gershwin Hotel

7 East 27th Street, just east of 5th Avenue

$10 cover, general admission

And then, in JUNE:

SCHOENBERG and STRAVINSKY

Defining classics.

Pierrot Lunaire, 1912

L’Histoire du Soldat – The Soldier’s Tale, 1918

also at the Gershwin Hotel

Friday & Saturday, June 3 & 4, 2011.

The luminous mezzo-soprano JENNIFER BERKEBILE will be featured in the Schoenberg.

Stay tuned for our fundraising drive, or drop by operamission’s support page, as well as the impending announcement of the much-demanded August 2011 ‘Assembly Required’ adventure…. if you’re up for holding the dates, we’re looking at sometime around August 15-21.

Dozens of videos of past events are posted on operamission’s YouTube channel — ENJOY, and let us know what you love from our broad range of programming – Handel, Mozart, Schubert, Weill, Borzoni and much more to come….

February 11

bass RYAN ALLEN – Der Song von Mandelay from Happy End

soprano DORA HASTINGS – Surabaya-Johnny from Happy End

soprano MARY ANN STEWART – “Youkali”

soprano JANINAH BURNETT – “Two Hearts” from A Kingdom for a Cow

mezzo-soprano HAI-TING CHINN – Nannas Lied

mezzo-soprano SARAH NELSON CRAFT – “Speak low” from One Touch of Venus

tenor GLENN SEVEN ALLEN – “Wooden Wedding” from One Touch of Venus

baritone DENNIS BLACKWELL – “I got a marble and a star” from Street Scene

bass-baritone KEVIN BURDETTE – “Let things be like they always was” from Street Scene

tenor TOMMY WAZELLE – “Lonely House” from Street Scene

soprano LAUREN WORSHAM – “Mr. Right” from Love Life

baritone JORELL WILLIAMS – “Lost in the Stars”

February 18

soprano KATE MANGIAMELI – Das Lied von den braunen Inseln from Petroleuminseln

soprano CHARLOTTE COHN – Surabaya-Johnny from Happy End

tenor KARIM SULAYMAN – Lotterieagents Tango from Der Silbersee

soprano LISA WILLIAMSON – “Es regnet”

soprano KERRI MARCINKO – “In diesem Leben” from Der Kuhhandel

mezzo-soprano ANNIE ROSEN – “Je ne t’aime pas”

soprano AMY VAN ROEKEL – “The river is so blue” from The River is Blue

bass-baritone STEPHEN BRYANT – September Song from Knickerbocker Holiday

baritone ROSS BENOLIEL - “Unforgettable”

soprano BEVERLY O’REGAN THIELE – “Somehow I never could believe” from Street Scene

soprano SHARIN APOSTOLOU – “What good would the moon be?” from Street Scene

baritone LIAM BONNER – “Lost in the Stars”

Marcy & Ian are taking care of everything else…

We will be streaming live at Ustream, feel free to share the link with anyone who can’t be in NYC for the shows: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kurt-weill-uncovered. The link is also active after the show is over, saved as a video. Just scroll down the page below the slide-show, and enjoy.

Here’s the program for 2/11 and some translations.

And for 2/18: program and translations.

Please scroll down or go to winter-spring 2011 for access to the complete details.

It’s going to be a fantastic show.