From TOLEDO OPERA
Toledo Opera will present Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” on Friday, April 22, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 24, at 2 p.m. at the Valentine Theatre, 400 North Superior, Toledo. For tickets visit: toledoopera.org
Performed by Toledo Opera for the first time in 10 years, this production boasts a star-studded cast and a world-class creative team. Toledo Opera will also host a free Pre-Opera Talk one hour before each show in the Grand Lobby of the Valentine Theatre. Local scholars provide historical context and insight and are available to take questions after the talk.
First performed in 1853 at the Teatro La Fenice located in Venice, Italy, “La Traviata” takes place in Paris, France in the mid-19th Century. The action centers on Violetta Valéry, a young courtesan, famous in the Parisian high society, and her romance with Alfredo Germont. At a party in her Paris salon, Violetta meets Alfredo and quickly falls for him. After the lovers run away together, they live in bliss for a very short time. However, Alfredo’s father, Giorgio, starts to interfere, concerned that Violetta’s reputation will affect the marriage prospects of Alfredo’s sister. Violetta’s health and declining circumstances make for a typically tragic operatic ending.
“La Traviata” stars internationally renowned Metropolitan Opera soprano and Toledo Opera audience favorite, Kathryn Lewek as Violetta and Metropolitan Opera tenor Zach Borichevsky as Alfredo. This real-life couple will bring smoldering emotions to one of Verdi’s best scores stage directed by Toledo favorite Marc Verzatt and conducted by Maestro Joseph Colaneri.
Kathryn Lewek, who will be debuting the role of Violetta, has established herself as one of opera’s most thrilling coloratura sopranos of this generation. She has performed some of the most vocally challenging roles in the repertoire, joining the top-ranking operatic performers of all time.
Lewek’s fellow leads – tenor Zach Borichevsky as Alfredo, baritone Malcolm MacKenzie as Giorgio Germont, soprano Jessica Dold as Annina – bring international musical prowess of their own, with past performances at the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Finnish National Opera, Washington National Opera, and Paris Opera (Bastille), among many others. Also joining the cast are mezzo-soprano and Toledo Opera Resident Artist Katherine Kincaid (Flora Bervoix), baritone-bass Michael Colman (Doctor Grenvil), baritone Jason Budd (Baron Douphol), tenor and Toledo Opera Resident Artist Fran Daniel Laucerica (Gastone), and baritone and Toledo Opera Resident Artist Andrew Payne (Marquis d’Obigny).
For Toledo Opera’s Executive Director Suzanne Rorick, La Traviata’s exquisitely romantic story, told through Verdi’s incomparable music with one heart stopping beautiful melody after another, is representative of the particular significance of opera and its value to the Toledo community.
“Toledo Opera is honored that Katie has chosen to debut the role of Violetta with our company. This is the third iconic lead role that she has sung with Toledo Opera. Our community is so lucky to have this caliber of soprano performing again for us. As the sole standard-bearer of the operatic tradition in our area, Toledo Opera provides a form of cultural stewardship that no other organization can. As opera companies consider the path forward for the art form, it is the unique power of this tradition – with the operatic voice such as Katie’s at its heart – that must guide us into the future,” said Rorick. “In his recent farewell column, long-time New York Times classical music critic Anthony Tommasisni wrote that one thing about classical music should not change: ‘the sheer, splendid sound of music. A magnificent voice carrying through a spacious opera house.””
La Traviata is made possible by Key Bank Trustee Walter E. Terhune Memorial Fund and the Elizabeth T. Wolfe Family Charitable Foundation.
