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P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
24
|
February 17 - March 16, 2018
ANA MARÍA
MARTÍNEZ
(
Fiordiligi
)
Previously at Lyric:
Seven roles since
2008/09, most
recently Tatyana/
Eugene Onegin
(2016/17); Concert with
Plácido Domingo (2015/16); Donna
Elvira/
Don Giovanni
(2014/15).
Performing an exceptionally diverse
repertoire, the Puerto Rican-born soprano
is internationally recognized as one of
today’s most remarkable artists. Highlights
of the current season include reprises of
Carmen
(LA Opera), Rusalka (Teatro
Colón – Buenos Aires), and Alice Ford/
Falstaff
(Covent Garden). Martínez’s roles
extend stylistically from Mozart’s Fiordiligi
(Salzburg, Ravinia, DVD), Countess
Almaviva (Houston, Munich), and Pamina
(San Francisco, Vienna, Bonn, Stuttgart)
to Rossini’s Rosina (Houston, Santa Fe);
Donizetti’s Paolina/
Poliuto
(Glyndebourne,
DVD); Verdi’s Violetta (Covent Garden,
Los Angeles), Luisa Miller (Paris, Berlin) and
Amelia Grimaldi (Paris, Los Angeles, San
Francisco); Puccini’s Mimì (Paris, Berlin,
Dresden, Santa Fe, San Juan), Butterfly
(a recent triumph at the Met and Covent
Garden, also Vienna, Houston, Washington,
Munich) and Liù (Amsterdam); and French
heroines including Carmen (Houston, Santa
Fe), Antonia (Paris), Micaëla (Metropolitan
Opera), Mélisande (Florence), and Blanche
(Hamburg). Last season Martínez returned
to Mozart’s Donna Elvira in San Francisco.
The soprano has appeared with many major
orchestras, including those of Milan (La
Scala), Berlin, Moscow, New York, and
Boston. Last summer she joined frequent
concert partner Plácido Domingo for
a zarzuela gala at the Arena di Verona.
Highlights of Martínez’s varied discography
include
Manon Lescaut
,
Pagliacci
, and a
recital of arias and songs.
MARIANNE
CREBASSA
(
Dorabella
)
Previously at Lyric:
Stephano/
Romeo and
Juliet
(2015/16).
The French mezzo-soprano, who scored a
great success previously as Dorabella at the
Opéra Municipal de Marseille, will be heard
this season as Irene/Handel’s
Tamerlano
(La
Scala), Sesto/
La clemenza di Tito
(Opéra
National de Paris), and Mélisande/
Pelléas
et Mélisande
(Berlin State Opera). At just
21, while studying musicology, voice,
and piano in Montpellier, Crebassa was
engaged by that city’s opera company for
Schumann’s
Manfred
. She returns annually
to Montpellier’s Opéra and Festival de Radio
France, where most recently she sang the
title role/Offenbach’s
Fantasio
. Following
her success as Isabella/
Wuthering Heights
in
2010, Crebassa was engaged by the Opéra
National de Paris’s Atelier Lyrique two-year
program, appearing as Gluck’s Orphée and
Ramiro/
La finta giardiniera,
as well as on
the Opéra’s mainstage in
Lulu
,
Rigoletto
,
and
Madama Butterfly
. She debuted at the
Salzburg Festival as Handel’s Irene and
returned as Cecilio/
Lucio Silla
, the title
role of Marc André Dalbavie’s
Charlotte
Salomon
(world premiere) and Sesto/
La
demenza di Tito
. Further appearances have
included Cherubino/
The Marriage of Figaro
(Berlin State Opera, debut), Cecilio/
Lucio
Silla
(La Scala, debut), and Siébel/
Faust
(Dutch National Opera). Last year the
mezzo-soprano’s first solo disc,
Oh, Boy!
,
a recital of arias for trouser roles, received
the prestigious 2017 Echo Klassik Award
for Solo Recording (Voice). Her new disc,
Secrets
, has just been released.
ELENA
TSALLAGOVA
(
Despina
)
U. S. debut
The lyric soprano
recently made her
North American debut as Pamina/
The
Magic Flute
with the Canadian Opera
Company, Toronto. This season, Tsallagova
will sing Berthe/
Le prophète
, Liù/
Turandot
,
and Corinna/
Il viaggio a Reims,
all with the
Deutsche Oper Berlin. Born in Russia, she
studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
On graduating she performed several roles
at the Mariinsky Theatre, also winning first
prize in the Rachmaninoff vocal competition.
In 2008 Tsallagova was invited to sing the
title role/
The Cunning Little Vixen
at the
Opéra National de Paris (DVD), a role to
which she returned last season for her Opéra
National du Rhin debut. She had a two-
year contract with Munich’s Bavarian State
Opera, where she sang Despina, Sophie/
Werther
, Nannetta/
Falstaff
, Zerlina/
Don
Giovanni
and Musetta/
La bohème
. She was
invited back in 2015 to sing Mélisande,
which she has also sung three times at the
Opéra National de Paris (DVD). Now a
company favorite at the Deutsche Oper
Berlin, Tsallagova has performed there as
Micaëla/
Carmen
, Adina/
L’elisir d’amore
,
Gilda/
Rigoletto
, Echo/
Ariadne auf Naxos
,
Oscar/
Un ballo in maschera
, Nannetta,
Pamina, and Liù. During the 2015/16
season, she sang Marfa/
The Tsar’s Bride
at
the Berlin State Opera – her first Russian
role in Europe. Concert performances
include the Lucerne Festival (Bach cantatas,
Rachmaninoff’s
The Bells
).