17 / 24
15
Venezuelan conductor
DOMINGO HINDOYAN
, who opens the current Lyric season leading
La bohème
(debut), enjoys a vibrant career leading renowned ensembles internationally. Starting
from the 2019/20 season, he will serve as principal guest conductor of the Polish National Radio
Symphony Orchestra. Highlights among his many prestigious engagements this season include
Turandot
(Vienna State Opera),
Luisa Miller
(the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona), and a
concert with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Last season Hindoyan made
acclaimed debuts at the Metropolitan Opera (
L’elisir d’amore
), the Mariinsky Theater (
La bohème
),
Oper Stuttgart (
Tosca
), the Semperoper in Dresden (
La traviata
), and L’Opéra de Monte-Carlo
(
I puritani
). Recent symphonic highlights included guest engagements with the Dresden Philharmonic, Hamburger
Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National de Belgique, and Malmö Symphony
Orchestra. From 2013 to 2016 Hindoyan was first assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera. Since then,
he has become a prominent guest conductor there, having led a vast array of works including
La traviata, Tosca, L’elisir
d’amore, La bohème, The Barber of Seville, The Rake’s Progress, Orfeo ed Euridice, and The Rite of Spring
(ballet).
MICHAEL BLACK
has been Lyric’s chorus master since the 2013/14 season, after beginning his
association with the company as interim chorus master for 2011/12. During his tenure as chorus master
of Opera Australia (2001 to 2013), Black prepared more than 90 operas and many concert works. He
has also served in this capacity for the Edinburgh International Festival, Opera Holland Park (London),
and, in Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Choir, Motet Choir, and
Cantillation chamber choir. Black has also worked with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Sir
Andrew Davis. Recent activities include preparing the chorus of
The Damnation of Faust
, continuing
his association with Grant Park Music Festival, where he has worked for two seasons. He has served
as chorus master on four continents, and his work has been recorded and/or aired on ABC, BBC, PBS, and for many HD
productions in movie theaters as well as on television. He has also been a lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music,
of which he is an alumnus.
Michael Black is the
Howard A. Stotler Chorus Master Endowed Chair
.
Soprano
MARIA AGRESTA
, acclaimed as one of the most remarkable Italian singers of her
generation, opens the Lyric season in her signature role, Mimì/
La bohème
, after scoring a great
success last season in her Lyric debut as Liù/
Turandot
. Her Mimì has triumphed at the Metropolitan
Opera, Milan’s La Scala, the Opéra National de Paris, and the major houses of Vienna, Munich,
Venice, the Verona Arena, and Torre del Lago’s Puccini Festival. She is a celebrated Verdian, with
successes including the exceptionally demanding roles of Lucrezia/
I due Foscari
(Vienna, London),
Leonora/
Il trovatore
(London, Milan, Amsterdam), the title role/
Giovanna d’Arco
(Graz), Amelia/
Simon Boccanegra
(Frankfurt), Violetta/
La traviat
a (Munich, Berlin), and her career-breakthrough
role, Elena/
I vespri siciliani
(Turin). Other career highlights include Donna Elvira/
Don Giovanni
(La Scala), the title
role/
Norma
(Tel Aviv, Zurich, Paris), Marguerite/
Faust
(Salzburg), and the title role/Donizetti’s rarely heard
Gemma
di Vergy
(Bergamo, La Scala, Amsterdam, Salerno). On CD Agresta sings sacred music of Verdi under the baton
of Antonio Pappano, and she can be seen on DVD in
Gemma di Vergy
(Bergamo),
I due Foscari
(Covent Garden),
Pagliacci
and
Faust
(both from the Salzburg Festival).
Australian-born American soprano
DANIELLE
de
NIESE
opens Lyric’s upcoming season as
Musetta/
La bohème
, a role she debuted this summer at Covent Garden to critical praise. She has
previously won acclaim at Lyric as Cleopatra/
Giulio Cesare
, Susanna/
The Marriage of Figaro
, and
Roxane/
Bel Canto
(world premiere, PBS telecast). Metropolitan Opera successes include Susanna,
Cleopatra, Despina/
Così fan tutte
, Euridice/
Orfeo ed Euridice
, and Ariel/
The Enchanted Island.
She
has had five starring roles at Glyndebourne, most recently Rossini’s Rosina. She sings Norina/
Don
Pasquale
this season at La Monnaie (Brussels) having sung the role at Vienna State Opera. Other
portrayals include Donna Elvira/
Don Giovanni
(Dresden), Hanna/
The Merry Widow
(Sydney),
Galatea/
Acis
and Galatea
(Covent Garden, DVD) and Poppea/
L’incoronazione di Poppea
(Madrid, Glyndebourne,
Lyon, Chicago). Concert successes include “Last Night of the Proms”/Royal Albert Hall, the inaugural performance of
the new Philharmonie de Paris, and her London Symphony debut with Sir Simon Rattle in Bernstein’s
Wonderful Town
.
De Niese’s many acclaimed recordings include four solo discs for Decca. Among her awards are the ECHO Award for
New Artist of the Year and France’s Orphée D’Or.
Ryan Opera Center alumna
ELIZABETH D
e
SHONG
has sung 13 roles at Lyric, most recently
Adalgisa/
Norma
, Fenena/
Nabucco
, and Hansel/
Hansel and Gretel
. Her portrayal of Hansel brought
the American mezzo-soprano to the Edinburgh International Festival earlier this summer. Highlights
of her 2017/18 season include Handel’s
Messiah
(San Francisco Symphony), Sesto/
La clemenza di
Tito
(LA Opera), and the title role/
Rinaldo
(Glyndebourne). DeShong’s triumphs at the Vienna
State Opera, Glyndebourne and Canadian Opera Company as Rossini’s
Cinderella
are among her
numerous successes in bel canto opera, which also have included Arsace/
Semiramide
(Metropolitan
Opera), Orsini/
Lucrezia Borgia
(London, San Francisco, DVD), Rosina/
The Barber of Seville
(Los
ARTIST PROFILES