Tulsa Opera commences 70th Anniversary Season
The grand finale of Tulsa Opera’s 70th Anniversary Season will feature Giacomo Puccini’s final and most musically adventuresome opera, Turandot. This show includes the world’s most recognizable tenor aria, ‘Nessun dorma’.
“Turandot’s line up of exciting artists making their Tulsa debuts also include the return of audience favorites from seasons past,” Tobias Picker, Artistic Director, said. “We continue to bring the best creative teams and most beautiful productions available to Tulsa in our commitment to excellence.”
Turandot is a legendary fable about the beauty of a woman who men literally died to wed. Critics say it is a distinctive finale to Puccini’s career, combining and distilling all that was great in his art. Turandot is the perfect opera to rejoice North America’s twelfth oldest opera company, Tulsa Opera.
Leading the music in his return to Tulsa will be Maestro James Lowe, described by The Houston Chronicle as one who conducts “with sweepingly intense storytelling.”
In her Oklahoma debut and bringing “impressive power and dimension...handling the high notes and vocal challenges with aplomb,” is Alexandra Loutsion. Her passionate performances and vocal versatility make her a “singer to watch,” according to the Washington Post.
Jonathan Burton, as Calaf, first wowed the Tulsa audience as Don Jose in Carmen in 2014. With debuts at Welsh National Opera and Florida Grand Opera, Burton comes to Tulsa with “a wonderfully shaded ‘Nessun dorma’ that included brilliant top notes,” Opera News said.
It is a rare find, states the Herald Tribune, to have “a tenor who can add substantial flesh to Calaf as well as deliver the most famous aria of Italian grand opera.”
Jessica Rose Cambio joins the production in her Oklahoma and role debut as Liù. Cambio is thrilling audiences with her “full-bodied Italianate soprano” (WQXR, New York) and her “impressive development of the pathos of the character throughout.... [She is a] powerful soprano intop form vocally and largely at ease at the top and with something spicy in the colour of the voice that makes her genuinely exciting to hear,” according to Bachtrack, London.
Bass-baritone Wayne Tigges returns to Tulsa to debut in the role of Ping alongside Oklahoma debuts of Julius Ahn as Pang and Joseph Hu as Pong, solidifying the Turandot production.
Tulsa Opera is one of the nation’s oldest and most veteran regional opera companies and is a historic incubator of rising operatic talent. “Only eleven other U.S. cities can claim a longer commitment to opera than Tulsa,” Greg Weber, General Director and Chief Executive Officer, said. “Our 70th Anniversary exudes everything that makes our city a haven for great art.”
Turandot performances will be held at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Friday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m.
For additional information, visit www.tulsaopera.com or call (918) 587-4811.
The Gayly. April 20, 2018. 9:51 a.m. CST.