The name "Paul Potts" became familiar to people across the globe this past week as videos featuring his operatic performances of "Nessun Dorma" became among the most watched at YouTube.com. The popular aria from Puccini's "Turandot" earned the former mobile telephone salesman victory and worldwide celebrity in the hit British television series, "Britain's Got Talent," hosted by Simon Cowell.
"The popularity of these videos on YouTube proves that the intense emotional appeal of performances by operatic tenors is high up on the charts, even one by a gifted amateur," says Virginia Opera Artistic Director Peter Mark. Video clips of Virginia Opera performances on YouTube - a website that earned distinction as TIME Magazine's "Invention of the Year" for 2006 - have themselves been viewed a total of more than 15,000 times at www.youtube.com.
"After all," says Maestro Mark, "tenors have been king in the opera field for three decades now with superstars like Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti."
Virginia Opera has put forward its own star tenors over the years, singers whose resumes now include major performances at the Metropolitan Opera and abroad, and who may very well be among the next in line for the title of "superstar tenor."
The company's upcoming 2007-2008 season features four tenors Maestro Mark says are also candidates for the title: former U.S. Marine Daniel Snyder (Tristan & Isolde, 2005; La Traviata, 2005) in the title role of Tales of Hoffmann, Richmond native William Ferguson in the leading tenor role of Frederick in Pirates of Penzance, Patrick Miller (Susannah, 2006) as Lensky in the Virginia Opera Premiere of Eugene Onegin, and Spain's Israel Lozano in his anticipated debut in the leading tenor role of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. The four productions will be performed in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax, Va. -- www.vaopera.org
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