WINTER OPERA PRESENTS GIUPSEPPE VERDI'S OTELLO

WINTER OPERA PRESENTS GIUPSEPPE VERDI’S OTELLO

The finale of Winter Opera’s 8th season is Otello by Giuseppe Verdi, on March 6 at 8:00 p.m. & March 8 at 3:00p.m., 2015. The production is sponsored by Nancy Pillsbury Shirley. Performances will take place at the Skip Viragh Center for Performing Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 South Lindbergh. Tickets are available online at www.winteroperastl.org or by calling 314-865-0038.

Otello is a grand opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy. It premiered in 1887 from a libretto by Arrigo Boito at La Scala opera house in Milan. The opera was Verdi’s next-to-last and marked a return from the composer’s self-imposed retirement.

Set on the island of Cyprus at the end of the 15th century, Otello tells the story of a victorious military hero, Otello, who returns home to find a warren of schemers set on both stealing away his wife and advancing their own careers at the expense of others. The devious Iago seeks to raise doubts in Otello’s mind about his wife’s fidelity, hoping that he can take down his own competitor, Cassio, in the process. Iago’s treachery succeeds as Otello gradually comes to believe that his fair wife Desdemona is unfaithful with Cassio. Racked with despair, Otello resolves to kill Desdemona, only to discover too late that he has been duped. In the final tragic scene, after reflecting on his past glories, Otelo tabs himself and goes to join his beloved in the next world.

About the Cast: Otello features Adam Herskowitz, Jacqueline Venable Simmons and Christopher Holmes in the starring roles of Otello, Desdemona, and Iago, respectively. Herskowitz (Otello) has spent five seasons at the Metropolitan Opera. Some of his highlights there include Don Riccardo in Ernani, First Armed Man in Magic Flute, The Messsenger in Aida, and Harry in La Faniciulla del West. He also took part in the Met’s Japan tour as the Herald in Don Carlo. Many of his performances have been broadcasted in movie theaters worldwide, including his performances as the Capitano in Simon Boccanegra, starring Placido Domingo. Herskowitz has been seen in previous seasons as Calaf in Turandot, which is quickly becoming one of his signature roles after having great success with it at Minnesota Opera, Toledo Opera and Union Avenue Opera of St. Louis. he has won many prestigious awards from the Wagner Society of New York, Liedergranz’s Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council. He has a degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois and a Masters’ Degree in Voice from the Manhattan School of Music.

Jacqueline Venable Simmons (Desdemona) has appeared with a number of U.S. operas since her graduation from the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, including New York City Opera in Montevardi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse, Hawaii Opera Theatre in Die Zauberflote, Dicapo Opera in Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz, and Verdi’s Il Trovatore, among others.
Christopher Holmes (Iago) With over 35 operatic roles to his credit, baritone Christopher Holmes has been featured by companies such as Austin Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, Eugene Opera, Opera Idaho, Phoenix Opera, San Antonio Opera, Utah Symphony and Opera, and Utah Festival Opera. As his voice is now comfortably settling into the Verdi repertoire with such roles as DI LUNA, GERMONT, and RENATO, he will debut IAGO in Otello with Winter Opera of St. Louis.

Equally adept in concert repertoire, Mr. Holmes has performed with entities such as Ballet West, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake Chorale Artists, Utah Symphony, Temple Square Chorale and Orchestra at Temple Square in concerts in St. John’s Passion, Brahms’ A German Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, the Faure Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G Major, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem and Verdi’s Messa di Requiem. He has also performed Handel’s Messiah on several occasions, selections from Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Porgy and Bess, and pops concerts with music of Gershwin, Kern, and Porter.

Having made his international debut in Italy as a guest of Opera Orvieto in the role of DON GIOVANNI, Holmes received music degrees from the conservatory at Oberlin College and Temple University.

Steven Jarvi will conduct the orchestra.

http://www.winteroperastl.org/

314-865-0038