Opera Boston Announces 07-08 season

Opera Boston will stage the regional premiere of Boston-based Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar, presenting the Peter Sellars production originated by Santa Fe Opera; it will be the first Boston staging of Mr. Sellars' operatic work since his Marriage of Figaro in 1991.

Says General Director Carole Charnow, "This is an exciting season for us, because it hits many of the marks we're known for. In Ainadamar, we have the highly-anticipated Boston premiere of a work by a great contemporary composer with close ties to the city. With Semele, we revisit the rich collaboration with Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque that brought us so much acclaim with Alceste. And we chose Ernani specifically for Barbara Quintiliani, whose career trajectory has been particularly satisfying to watch. This is her third starring role with us, as she has really emerged as a world class talent. We're proud of our accomplishments, and look on this season as one that perfectly illustrates what we do well."

Opera Boston offers three performances of each opera: Friday evenings at 7:30 pm, Sunday afternoons at 3 pm, and Tuesday evenings at 7:30 pm.

Gil Rose, Opera Boston's Music Director, conducts Ainadamar and Ernani, and Martin Pearlman, founder and Artistic Director of Boston Baroque, leads his own period ensemble in Semele.

THE 2007-2008 SEASON

Ainadamar: Osvaldo Golijov, Libretto by David Henry Hwang, Boston Premiere, October 19, 21, 23

Golijov's Ainadamar, is a mystical and poetic meditation on memory, politics, and exile, based on the life and work of Federico Garcia Lorca. Dawn Upshaw reprises the role of Margarita Xirgu, a Catalan actress and Garcia Lorca's muse, which she created at Tanglewood and Santa Fe Opera. Mezzo Kelley O'Connor, who created the role of poet Federico Garcia Lorca, makes her Opera Boston debut. Jessica Rivera makes her Opera Boston debut as Nuria, a student of Margarita Xirgu. She has previously performed this role at Santa Fe Opera, and at Lincoln Center; her most recent Boston appearance was as the soprano soloist in Adams' El Niño with the BSO.

Opera Boston presents Ainadamar in a production that originated at the Santa Fe Opera in 2005 and was originally conceived and directed by the visionary Peter Sellars. Mr. Sellars' collaborator Robert Castro will oversee Opera Boston's staging, and the production will use scenic designs created by Gronk for the Santa Fe Opera. Said Charnow, "With Ainadamar, Opera Boston departs from our practice of creating all-new productions because Peter's definitive production must be seen by Boston audiences."

Semele: George Frideric Handel, February 1, 3, 5

After the success of 2005's sold-out and internationally acclaimed performances of Gluck's Alceste, Opera Boston again collaborates with Martin Pearlman and the Boston Baroque Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus to present Handel's Semele starring Lisa Saffer. Handel's Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare with Boston Baroque) and Berg's Lulu (English National Opera: Olivier Award nominee). Mezzo-Soprano Margaret Lattimore makes her Opera Boston debut in the role of Juno; she has appeared locally in recital with the Celebrity Series and in Harbison's Requiem with the BSO.

Conductor Martin Pearlman will lead the Boston Baroque period instrument orchestra and chorus in this production. He previously conducted Semele in his Kennedy Center debut with the Washington National Opera. Stage Director Sam Helfrich, who will direct The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for Opera Boston, returns to stage this all-new production.

Ernani: Giuseppe Verdi, May 2, 4, 6, 2008

Soprano Barbara Quintiliani returns as Elvira for her third starring role with Opera Boston, after receiving critical and audience acclaim for the title roles of Verdi's Luisa Miller (2004) and Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia (2006). Elvira, a woman betrothed to her guardian, harbors a secret love for the nobleman Don Giovanni di Aragona, disguised as the bandit Ernani. Baritone Jason Stearns makes his Opera Boston debut as Don Carlo, the king (later Holy Roman Emperor) that Ernani is called upon to assassinate. Mr. Stearns was awarded First Prize in the 2005 Chester Ludgin American Verdi Baritone Competition, judged by James Morris, Regina Resnik, and Plácido Domingo. -- www.operaboston.org