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Approximate 150 mins (Intermission Included)About
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Myung-Whun Chung began his musical career as a pianist and won the second prize at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1974. He became Carlo Maria Giulini's assistant in 1979 at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and two years later named the Associate Conductor. He has conducted virtually all the prominent European and American orchestras and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1986 with Simon Boccanegra. At the end of the 1987-88 season, he received the 'Premio Abbiati' award from Italian critics, and the following year awarded the 'Arturo Toscanini' prize.
From 1989 to 1994, Myung-Whun Chung served as the Music Director of the Paris Opera. He opened the inaugural season at the new Bastille Opera House with Berlioz's complete Les Troyens and received highly praised reviews from the music circle. In 1991, the Association of French Theatres and Music Critics named him 'Artist of the year' and in 1992 he received the 'Legion d'Honneur' for his contribution to the Paris Opera.
From 1997 he has been the Music Director of the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, from 2000 the Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, from 2001 the Special Artistic Advisor of Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and from 2006 the Art Director and Principal Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
An exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon since 1990, many of his numerous recordings have won international prizes and awards. He has been the Special Artistic Advisor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2001 and was as awarded the highest Record Academy Prize by Japanese critics following his performances in Japan. In addition to being awarded numerous music prizes, Myung-Whun Chung has also been honoured with Korea's most distinguished cultural award 'Kumkwan' for his contribution to Korean musical life and was named 'Man of the year' by UNESCO.
Simon Boccanegra |
Maria Boccanegra |
Jacopo Fiesco |
Gabriele Adorno |
Paolo Albiani | |
20/8 |
Vittorio Vitelli |
Zhou Xiaolin |
Sergei Artamonov |
Han Peng |
Yang Xiaoyong |
21/8 |
Plácido Domingo |
He Hui |
Tian Haojiang |
Mikhail Agafonov |
Vincenzo Taormina |
22/8 |
Vittorio Vitelli |
Zhou Xiaolin |
Sergei Artamonov |
Han Peng |
Yang Xiaoyong |
23/8 |
Plácido Domingo |
He Hui |
Tian Haojiang |
Mikhail Agafonov |
Vincenzo Taormina |
Elijah Moshinsky (born 8 January 1946) is an Australian opera director, theatre director and television director who has worked at the Royal Opera House, theMetropolitan Opera, the Royal National Theatre, BBC Television and numerous other venues.
He graduated from the University of Melbourne and in 1973 won a scholarship to St Antony's College, Oxford, where he specialized in the study of Alexander Herzen. While still at St Antony's, Moshinsky directed a production of As You Like It for the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company. When Sir John Tooley, the General Director at Covent Garden, saw the play, he offered Moshinsky a post as a staff producer for The Royal Opera.
In 1975, Moshinsky made his operatic debut at the Royal Opera House with 'a stripped-down, low-budget production of Peter Grimes which won enormous popular and critical success.' Subsequent productions there include Lohengrin, Tannhaeuser, The Rake's Progress, Macbeth, Samson and Delilah, Die EntführungausdemSerail, Otello, Attila, Simon Boccanegra and Stiffelio. At the Metropolitan Opera, he has directed, as well as Otello, Samson et Dalila and Samson, Un ballo in maschera, Ariadne auf Naxos, The Queen of Spades, The Makropulos Affair, Nabucco and Luisa Miller. At English National Opera in 1982, he directed the British premiere of Le Grand Macabre as well as Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and The Bartered Bride. Other engagements have included Wozzeck for the Adelaide Festival, A Midsummer Night's Dream with Opera Australia and productions in Paris, Geneva and Florence.
For the theatre stage, his credits include Troilus and Cressida and Thomas Bernhard's The Force of Habit at the Royal National Theatre in 1976, and, elsewhere in London: Three Sisters and Robert Storey's Light Up the Sky in 1987, Ivanov, Much Ado About Nothing and Another Time (all in 1989), Becket(1991), Ronald Harwood's Reflected Glory (1992), Cyrano de Bergerac (1992–1993), Richard III (1999), plus Shadowlands in New York (1990–1991).
Francesco Zito graduated in Architecture in Florence and later studied theater design at the Slade School of Art in London.
He has been designing sets and costumes in both Italy and abroad since 1977,in which year he made his début in a ballet performance at La Fenice Theatre in Venice.
He has collaborated with various directors and theatres, including the French director Jorge Lavelli at the Paris Opera House, the Théatre National de la Colline , the ‘’Festival d'Aix en Provence, Teatro Real in Madrid and in Barcelona at Teatro del Liceu, La Fenice Theatre in Venice,at B.A.M. in New York, San Carlo Opera House in Naples, Centro Dramatico National in Madrid, and Colon Theatre in Buonos Aires, etc.
Francesco Zito has also worked in Turin (dramas by De Musset, Pascoli and Brusati),in Milan at the Piccolo Teatro and La Scala (a ballet with Carla Fracci), in Athens (at the National Opera House, at Megaron Opera House and at Erode's Atticus Odeion,on the Acropolis, for the Athens Festival), in Palermo (operas and ballets by Bartòk, Ibert, Ferrero, Scarlatti and Verdi's Falstaff 'and Ernani' Adam’s Le Toréador, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana...), in Bologna at Teatro Comunale (Ernani, perfomed also in Tokyo in occasion of the 150th anniversary of unification of Italy),in Rome (at the Argentina Theatre Possession, by Abraham Yehoshua, Summer by Bond ,at the Rome Opera House Charlotte Corday by L.Ferrero and the ballets Le Corsaire and Don Quixote).
He worked also at Sao Carlos Opera House in Lisboa, in Spoleto for The Festival of the Two Worlds, in Verona (Paolo Arca's Gattabianca, Stravinsky's Pulcinella and Petroushka...), and at the Montecarlo Opera House ( Lucrezia Borgia and Le Convenienze e Inconvenienze teatrali by G. Donizetti).
From 2011 to 2013, Vinicio Cheli has been the lighting designer for NCPA productions of Tosca, Der Fliegende Hollander, Un Ballo in Maschera, Lohengrin, Otello and L'Italiana in Algeri.
From 1974 to 1979, Vinicio Cheli works at the 'Maggio Musicale Fiorentino' involved in all productions. Since 1979 he joined the 'Piccolo Teatro' of Milan and became the light collaborator of Giorgio Strehler , he making the entire production of Piccolo until 1989. Since 1987, for four years, he worked with the 'Rossini Opera Festival' to produce shows with several directors.
At the same time since 1989 he worked at the Salzburg Festival, Theatre Champs-Elysees, Chalet Theatre in Paris with the set design by Pier Luigi Pizzi, then respondeed to the La Scala in Milan. Recollaborated some years with the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
The 90s of the last century saw himwork in the Opera Bastille, National Theatre of Prague,Festival of Aix en Provance, Ravenna Festival, the Opera of Monte Carlo, Opera of Geneva, Maggio Musical Fiorentino, Baroque Festival of Versailles, Opera Garnier in Paris, Easter Festival in Salzburg, Teatro Liceu in Barcelona, Atticus Theater in Athens, Ginza Saison Theater in Tokyo, Theatre of the axes of Brussels, Amsterdam Opera, Teatro Comunale of Bologna, Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, Opera of Toulouse, National Theatre of Catalunya in Barcelona,Teatro Real Madrid, Metropolitain in New York, and collaborated with P.L.Pizzi,Ezio, Frigerio, Hugo de Ana, KM Gruber, Henning Brockaus, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, to name just a few.
In the new miennium, Vinicio Cheli continued to expand his collaboration with Ezio Frigerio, Hugo de Ana, F. Zeffirelli, V. Gergiev, Claudio Abbado, Nicola Joel, Quirino Conti, Mario Gas, in productions covering a vast realm of the opera repertoire.
In 2010, he set up La donna del lago of Rossini direqued by Luis Pasqual with scenes by Ezio Frigerio and costumes by Franca Squarciapino; Boris Godunojv directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
In the beginning of 2011, he worked in Senso a new opera directed scenes and costumes by Hugo De Ana. July 2011 'Medea' directed by Theodorakis in Syros Festival of the Aegean. In November of 2011, he worked in 'The sleeping beauty', first ballet of reopening of Bolshoi Theater. Vinicio Cheli also taught theatrical lighting at the New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan and at the Professional School of La Scala.
Sergio Metalli was born in Rimini in 1956 and he is dedicated to his passion for electronics that bring him to choose studies along those lines.
His versatility led him to perform collaborations in all areas at the highest levels like the State television, to have daily collaborations with artists like Dario Fo, Tonino Guerra, Mietta Corli, Hugo de Ana, Nicolas Joel, Ezio Frigerio, Josep Maria Flotats, Lindsay Kemp, Pier'Alli, Gianni Quaranta, Raffaele Curi, Lluis Pasqual, José Carlos Plaza, Tito Egurza, Margherita Palli, Luca Ronconi, William Landi, Peter Stein, Vladimir Vasiliev and many others passing from international conferences until the Theatre which he has a very special feeling.
In over a decade of successful career he has made over 360 productions and he has worked with major opera theatres around the world.
Tiziana Carlini begins her piano studies at the age of six, and achieves her diploma in Piano.
At the Conservatory of Parma "Arrigo Boito", she gains her diploma as Orchestral Conductor, to then achieve her Kappelmeister degree at the Hochschule fur musik in Graz, Austria.
Among her numerous teachers, of particular influence have been Franco Ferrara, Milan Horvat, Leopold Hager and Carlo Maria Giulini.
From 1986 to 1997 she was Kappelmeister and Chordirektor within the Operahaus of Graz, in which period she has conducted La Traviata, Carmen, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Stiffelio, Aida, Don Giovanni, Romeo e Giulietta (Prokofiev) and others, participating in 97 different titles among opera, operettas and musicals as the Choral Conductor.
In 1997, she was invited by the Bellini Theater in Catania, Italy, to fill the role of Choral Conductor. From 1997 to 2014 she has therefore been responsible for every operatic production of the theater, as well as the copious symphonic production, which she has conducted not only with the theater of Catania but also in numerous tourneés abroad in Japan and Russia.
She was invited in 2013 by Claudio Abbado to prepare the choir for Verdi's Requiem in Taipei, Taiwan China.
She has recorded numerous CDs and DVDs with the choir of the Bellini theater, among which Norma, Gioconda, La Battaglia di Legnano, I Puritani, La Straniera, Bianca e Fernando, Capuleti e Montecchi, Il Trovatore, Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana with Andrea Bocelli, Donizzetti's Requiem, both for Decca and EMI.
She has been awarded national prizes for her interpretation of the Italian operatic repertoire and, as choral conductor, she has been given prestigious prizes such as the Danti Alighieri prize.
She is currently teacher at the Conservatory of Rome "Santa Cecilia".
She has just concluded the opera season at the Verdi theater in Salerno, Italy, under the conduction of Maestro Daniel Oren.
Plácido Domingo has been described in the international press as 'the King of Opera,' 'a true Renaissance man in music,' and 'the greatest operatic artist of modern times.' As of 2015, Domingo has sung over 3,700 performances of 146 roles – figures unmatched by any other celebrated opera singer in history, and he has recently added several baritone roles to his long list of achievements as a tenor. His more than 100 recordings (in addition to numerous music videos and four feature films of operas) have earned him nine Grammy Awards and four Latin Grammys, and he has won two Emmys for his television appearances. During the 1990s he and his colleagues José Carreras and the late Luciano Pavarotti – the Three Tenors – performed with enormous success all over the world and attracted new fans to opera. As a conductor, Domingo has worked with many of the world's greatest opera companies and symphony orchestras, and as General Director of Los Angeles Opera he is a major force in opera administration.
Born in Madrid in 1941 to parents who were zarzuela performers, Plácido was brought to Mexico at the age of eight. He attended Mexico City's Conservatory of Music and made his debut at eighteen with Mexico's National Opera; his first performance as a leading tenor took place two years later. In 1965, after three seasons with the Israel National Opera, he launched his international career, and since then he has performed at all of the world’s most prestigious opera houses.
In 1993, Domingo founded Operalia, an annual international voice competition that has helped launch the careers of many of today’s opera stars. In 2012, Operalia celebrated its 20th Edition at NCPA, China. He was also the prime mover behind the creation of Young Artist programs in Washington, Los Angeles, and Valencia. He has received official recognition from the governments of many nations, and he has raised millions of dollars through benefit concerts to aid the victims of natural disasters in Mexico, Central America, Asia, Australia and the United States.
Now well into his eighth decade, Plácido Domingo shows no signs of slowing down.
Vittorio Vitelli was born in Ascoli Piceno, where he made his debut in the role of Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor followed by Luna in a Il Trovatore production in Jesi and Mantua.
Having won Placido Domingo's Operalia Competition, he started his career singing in Italy in Venice (Ford), in Bologna (Ford, Marcello), in Florence (Pagliacci, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Fanciulla del West), in Parma (Luna, Germont), in Naples (Aida, Simone Boccanegra), Verona (La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor), Ravenna (Il Trovatore, La Gioconda), Palermo (Verspri Siciliani, Adriana Lecouvreur), Genoa (Un Ballo in Maschera, Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana), Rome (Lucia di Lammermoor, Pagliacci), Triest (Lucia di Lammermoor), Torino (Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff, Il Trovatore, Manon Lescaut), Martina Franca (Simone Boccanegra, Siberia) and at Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata (Aida, Macbeth).
At Scala Milano he made his successful debut as Amonasro (Chailly, Zeffirelli) with a new contract for Sharpless. Furthermore he was heard in Spain at Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona as Luna, at Teatro Real in Madrid as Germont, at Festival de Santander as Marcello, in Las Palmas as Escamillo, in Bilbao as Amonasro and Belcore and at Mahon as Simone Boccanegra.
In Germany he sang at Deutsche Oper Berlin in the Aids Gala Amonasro, in Bonn for Simone Boccanegra, in France in Nice for Lucia di Lammermoor, Simone Boccanegra and Un Ballo in Maschera and in Toulon Luna. He made his successful debut in America as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Washington with new contract for Belcore. He sang in Tokyo Marcello, in Athens for Gioconda, in Bern for La Forza del Destino, in Pisa for Macbeth, in Turin for Germont, in Palermo for Adriana Lecouvreur and in Leipzig for Manon Lescaut.
Vittorio Vitelli has worked with conductors such as: Claudio Abbado, Marco Armiliato, Gary Bertini, Bruno Bartoletti, Daniele Gatti, Giuliano Carella, Zubin Metha, Daniel Oren, Nello Santi, Carlo Rizzi, and directors like Hugo De Ana, Giuseppe Bertolucci, Liliana Cavani,, Gilbert Deflo, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Lamberto Puggelli, Roberto De Simone and Graham Vick.
His CDs and DVDs include Simone Boccanegra (title role) conducted by Renato Palumbo, Giordano's Siberia for Dynamic, Turandot for RCA (Zubin Metha), Aida (Daniel Oren), I Puritani (Giuliano Carella), La Traviata with Mo. Carlo Rizzi and Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci conducted by Bruno Bartoletti.
He Hui has performed in NCPA's productions of Un Ballo in Maschera, Il Trovatore and Aida.
In 2003 Chinese soprano He Hui burst onto the international musical scene with her performance of the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at L'Opera de Bordeaux. She has gone on to become not only of one of the most famous interpreters of that role to be heard today, but also one of the most acclaimed interpreters of the titles roles in Aida and Tosca. Her wide repertoire also includes Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, Leonora in Il Trovatore, the title role in Manon Lescaut, Liu in Turandot, and many others. Since her breakout performance in 2003, she has sung in most of the world's leading theaters such as the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as becoming a favorite at the Arena di Verona.
In the 2012/2013 season, projects included her debut as La Gioconda in Salerno under Daniel Oren, and Madama Butterfly in Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Munich. Engagements for the 2013/2014 season include performing at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in La Giocanda, with the Teatro alla Scala in Beijing as Aida in 2013 and return to the Metropolitan Opera as the title role in Madama Butterfly.
During the 2010/2011 season He Hui starred as Aida at the 2011 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino production under Zubin Mehta, in a new production at the Cologne Opera, in Valencia, in Munich, and with the New Israeli Opera at Masada. She made her Chicago Lyric Opera debut in 2012 as Aida and returned to the Metropolitan Opera in the same role.
Born in China's old imperial capital, Xi'an, today known for its legendary terra cotta army, she completed her musical and vocal studies in China and in September 2000 won the 2nd prize at the International Competition “Placido Domingo Operalia” in Los Angeles. After the competition, she was invited by Maestro Domingo to sing a concert with him in Shanghai in 2001. In April 2001 He Hui won the First Prize at the Voci Verdiane in Bussetto where she was especially praised by the legendary Turkish soprano, Leyla Gencer. She subsequently made her Italian stage debut in February 2002 as Tosca at the Teatro Regio in Parma. This debut was followed by Alzira in Parma, Aida in Florence, Naples, Rome, Busetto, Lucca, Piacenza and Catanzaro, Un Ballo in Maschera in Verona and Bolzano. Following her debut in Bordeaux important debuts followed in quick succession. In 2004 He Hui sang Madama Butterfly at the the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago and at the Vienna VolksOper.
She was also chosen to star in the Italian production of Madama Butterfly which celebrated the centenary of it first performance and which was seen throughout Italy. He Hui debuted at the Vienna State Opera as Lina in Verdi’s Stiffelio and at the Arena di Verona as Liu in Turandot. She also returned to Bordeaux as Tosca. In 2006 He Hui made two very important debuts, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milano in Tosca, conducted by Lorin Maazel, and at Opéra-Bastille in Paris in Madama Butterfly. In 2007 she debuted in Munich as Tosca, and it was in this role that she made her New York Philharmonic debut in concert performances under Lorin Maazel in 2009. This was followed by her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010 as Aida. She has returned to the Arena di Verona every season as Aida, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Liu.
Zhou Xiaolin's NCPA appearance include A Village Teacher, La Boheme, Carmen, Chinese Orphan, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, and Rickshaw Boy.
Ms. Zhou graduated from Central Conservatory of Music where she has studied with Yang Xiaoping and serves as soloist of PLA's General Political Department Opera Troupe, gaining in popularity in recent years. In 2007, she won recognition in the training program run by the Central City Opera House, Colorado, U.S. in the summer of 2007, receiving full scholarship and was invited to participate in the world premiere of Poet Li Bai composed by Chinese composer Guo Wenjing. It is worth mentioning that she succeeded in holding recitals in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan and won an award in Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition, came in first and won Anna and John J Sie award in Carlo Bergorzi Maestro Class, the golden prize in China Gold Bell Award Bel Canto Group and the second prize in Wenhua Vocal Competition awarded by Ministry of Culture.
Zhou performed as the soprano soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with German Philharmonic Orchestra during its China tour, in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 conducted by Lorin Maazel as a soprano cantor and in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy as the soprano cantor. Additionally, she sang the role of Mimi in La Bohème by Puccini, starred Yang Caihong in A Village Teacher, NCPA's first realistic opera, and appeared as Micaela in Carmen by Georges Bizet and Princess in NCPA's The Chinese Orphan. She also sang the role of Antonia in NCPA's production of Offenbach's opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann.
Tian Haojiang has performed in NCPA productions of Turandot, Chinese Orphan, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Aida (concet version), Eugene Onegin, Rickshaw Boy, Norma and Aida.
Since his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1991, Tian Haojiang, a native of Beijing, has sung over 1300 performances of 40 operatic roles worldwide. He has been on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera for 19 years in 300 performances of 26 operas. Tian has also been highly praised for his appearances in many international theaters such as the Berlin State Opera, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Arena di Verona, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Canadian Opera Company, and other major opera houses in the three continents.
Among highlights of his recent and current engagements, he performed as Timur at the Metropolitan Opera, King Philip in Don Carlo at Liege/Belgium, Le Cid in Valencia/Spain with Plácido Domingo, Ramphis in Aida in San Francisco, world premiere of Tian's one-man show Sing Brother Sing in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, title role of Poet Li Bai in Los Angeles, title role of The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci in Hong Kong, Verdi's Masnadieri with the Washington Concert Opera, and a solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York.
His autobiography, Along the Roaring River: My Wild Ride from Mao to the Met, was released in 2008 worldwide by Wiley and Sons as a Lincoln Center Book.
Sergey Artamonov was born in Russia. He graduated at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. Tchaikovsky. In the years 1997- 2001 he studied at the Kalinigrad-city musical college, named after S. V. Rakhmaninov, in the class of V. A. Zhukov. In the years 2001-2006 Moscow state conservatory named after P. I. Tchaykovskiy, with professor B. N. Kudyavtsev. During 2006-2008 he took part in several International vocal craftwork schools; since 2003 he is soloist of the Moscow municipal theatre Novaya opera named after Y. V. Kolobov where he performs leading parts of the repertoire: title role in Borodin's Prince Igor, Ruslan in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, Gremin in Tchaikovsky's Evgeny Onegin, Rene in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, Varlaam in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Monterone in Verdi's Rigoletto, King Herald in Lohengrin, Don Basilio in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Zaccaria in Verdi's Nabucco and others; in 2008 he took part in the Kazan City Opera European tour.
In his repertoire: the title role and Prince Galitskiy in Borodin's Prince Igor, Ruslan in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila; Prince Gremin in Tchaikovskiy's Eugene Onegin, Rene in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, The Archbishop in Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orléans, Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov, Moroz in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden, Malyuta in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, Varlaam in Musorgskiy's Boris Gudonov, Prince Gudal in Rubenstein's Demon; King's Herald in Wagner's Lohengrin, Don Basilio in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Zaccaria in Verdi's Nabucco, Bass in Verdi's Requiem.
His last engagements are Leporello in Don Giovanni (Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile), Faraone e Il Re in Aida (Arena di Verona e Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile), Colline in La Boheme (La Fenice, Venezia), Oroveso in Norma and Verdi's Requiem (Bologna), Escamillio in Carmen (Teatro Bolshoi di Mosca), Zaccaria in Nabucco (Bologna), Ferrandoin Il Trovatore (Arena di Verona),Frere Laurent in Romeo et Juliette (Festival Alejandro Granda in Lima), Gualtiero Valton in I Puritani (Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile).
Mikhail Agafonov was born in Moscow and attended the local Lunatscharsky Academy for Performing Arts. After receiving his diploma in 1993 he joined the Bolshoi Theatre singing roles like Lensky Lykov (Tsar's Bride), Rodolfo (La Boheme), Alfredo Faust and Pollione. In 1997 he won first prize at the Zimin International Vocal Competition and in the follow-up was contracted by Vienna Volksoper, where he appeared as Nemorino but also in operetta roles like Sou-Chong and Barinkay
In the course of guest performances, Mr. Agafonov appeared as Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier) at Vienna State Opera, as Pollione at Royal Opera Stockholm, Berlin State Opera and New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv and as Astrologer (The Golden Cockerel) at Royal Opera Covent Garden. As Rodolfo he was seen at Bavarian State Opera and Wiesbaden State Theatre, as Pinkerton at Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Manrico at Aalto Theatre in Essen and as Dick Johnson at Florida Grand Opera.
Mr. Agafonov is a regular guest at Canadian Opera in Toronto, where he has performed as Riccardo Calaf, Rodolfo (Luisa Miller) and Don Carlo. As a concert singer, he was heard at Alte Oper Frankfurt, Essen Philharmonic and Queen Elizabeth Hall in Antwerp.
Since 2001, Mr. Agafonov is a member of the ensmeble at Mannheim National Theatre where he has sung many important roles of his repertoire, including Duca Radames Assad (The Queen of Saba), Cavaradossi, Ismaele, Turridu, Canio, Don Alvaro, Aeneas and the title role in Andrea Chenier.
2008/2009 projects included Bacchus in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos, Erik, Luigi (Il Tabarro) and Stewa in Mannheim, Gabriele Adorno in Toronto and Cavaradossi with Opera National de Paris. In the 2009/2010 season Mr. Agafonov was heard as Andrea Chenier and Riccardo in Helsinki, as Pinkerton in Antwerp and Gent, as Cavaradossi at Semperoper Dresden and for the first time as Verdi's Otello in Mannheim.
Han Peng made his NCPA opera debut in The Chinese Orphan.
An young active tenor, Han Peng graduated from the Vocal Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music as the top level student. He has studied with Professor Chen Xing, Zhou Xiaoyan and renowned Chinese tenor Wei Song. In January 2009, he won the First Prize in Italy Verona Turandot International Opera Competition and the Best Tune Prize awarded by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. In May 2010, he won the First Prize in Riccardo Zandonai International Singers Competition, Italy. In 2013, he won the 2nd Prize in the 15th CCTV National Young Singers Competition for Bel Canto.
His opera performances include title roles and main roles in Attila, Carmen, Turandot, Cavalleria Rusticana, King of Chu, Le Villi, Eternal Beauty, Rigoletto, The Heart Sutra, and Song of Swallow, among others. In 2012, Han Peng performed Don Jose in Carmen co-produced by Opera Hong Kong, Slovenian National Opera and Shanghai Opera House, with a domestic touring of over 20 performance in nine cities.
In January 2009, he sang Calarf (Turandot) in Verona, Italy. In 2012, he sang in Attila co-produced by Shanghai Opera House and Palace of Arts, Hungary, and after the performance he was invited by maestro Daniel Oren to further explore his opera profession in Europe.
Born in Palermo, Vincenzo Taormina began to study singing during his studies in Architecture and in 2000 he moved to Bologna, followed by M° ParideVenturi and in 2003 won the international competition for the Teatro alla Scala Academy and moved to Milan where he still lives.
He attended some International master classes with Michael Aspinall, Lorenzo Arruga, Margaret Baker-Genovesi, Carlo Bergonzi, Enza Ferrari, Simone Alaimo, Renato Bruson, Ruggero Raimondi, Raina Kabaivanska, Ernesto Palacio, Christa Ludwig, Leo Nucci, Gianni Raimondi, LeylaGencer, Luigi Alva, Luciana Serra. He graduated at the Academy 'Carlo Bergonzi' in Busseto, under the guidance of the same Carlo Bergonzi. His other important teachers are Gianfranca Ostini, Luciana Serra and M° Vittorio Terranova.
Among the various competitions he won, include the 56th International Competition of the European Union Opera House in Spoleto 'A. Belli' in 2002 and the 24th International Competition 'Mattia Battistini' of Rieti.
He made his debut in 2004 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice with Les Pêcheurs de Perles of G.Bizet, followed by the role of Yamadori in Madama Butterfly at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Nearque in C. Gounod's Polyeucte at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, Azzo Duca di Ferrara in Donizetti's La Parisina in Bergamo, Folco in Ugo Conte Di Parigi at Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Ruggiero in La Juive a tTeatro La Fenice in Venice, Riccardo in I Puritani in Palermo and the Savonlinna Festival, Fabrizio In La Gazza Ladra at Teatro Comunale in Bologna.
And then Lescaut in Manon Lescaut in Milan and in Palermo, Il Turco In Italia at Carlo Felice in Genoa, Guglielmo in Così Fan Tutte atTeatro Massimo in Palermo, Belcore in L'elisir D'amore atTeatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Verona Philharmonic Theatre, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Teatro alla Scala, Verona Philharmonic Theatre, on tour with La Fenice in Abu Dhabi and for Operaheatre in Rome. He also sang in La Bohème in the role of Schaunardat Arena di Verona and in the role of Marcello at La Scala, Bari, Palermo, Catania and at the Glyndebourne Festival.
Participate at the Salzburg Festival of Pentecost with a World Premiere production of G. Paisiello's Matrimonio Inaspettato in the title role of the Marquis Tulip, conducted by M° Riccardo Muti. at Teatro alla Scala in Milan he especially sang Sulpice in La Fille du Régiment, Marco in Gianni Schicchi in 2008 alongside Leo Nucci, Mamma Agata in Donizetti's Convenienze E Inconvenienze Teatrali, Taddeo in L'italiana In Algeri.
He made his debut with the company at Covent Garden in London on tour in Japan, in the role of Germont in La Traviata conducted by Antonio Pappano, and then again Enrico in Lucia Di Lammermoor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Rambaldo in La Rondine at Toulon, Masetto in Don Giovanni for the 90th opening performance for the Opera Festival at the Arena in Verona as well as Ping in Turandot again at Arena di Verona.
Yang Xiaoyong is a well-known baritone. He studied with Zhou Xiaoyan and Zhang Renqing in Shanghai Conservatory of Music and with Cheng Xiyi in Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
In 1988, he visited the USA as a scholar and sang in the opera Hansel and Gretel. He has since played important roles in more than 30 operas, including La Traviata, Otello, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Carmen, Die lustige Witwe, L'elisir d'amore, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, Attila, Xi Shi, Xiang Yu the Conquerer, Farewell, The Song of Swallow, A Spring River, among others. He has won the White Magnolia Performance Award and China Opera Festival Outstanding Performance Award.
The privileged German opera magazine Opernglas highly praised his role as Iago in Otello. Yang Xiaoyongs performance is highly persuasive, and his understanding of the libretto and the portrayal of characters are outstanding. Also, his performance in Attila has been highly acclaimed by the newspaper Beijing News: "The beautiful and dramatic voice of Yang Xiaoyong (as Ezio) simply dazzles. His Verdi-style lines are rich, lingering, and pure."NCPA Chorus was established on December 8, 2009, whose members were carefully selected from famous music schools in and out of China. Now the Chorus invites Wu Lingfen as the conductor, with many artists well-known in China and abroad giving instructions. Affiliated to NCPA, the highest palace of performing arts in China, the Chorus adheres to NCPA's guiding principles of 'for the people, for the arts, and for the world'. The Chorus mainly stages operas and concerts, and also takes part in kinds of cultural communication and arts outreach events.
Ever since its establishment, the Chorus has actively performed in more than 20 operas of NCPA production, such as NCPA's commission operas Xi Shi, The Chinese Orphan, and The Ballad of Canal, as well as other classical operas in and out of China: The White-Haired Girl, The Red Guards on Honghu Lake, Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, L'italiana in Algeri, Rigoletto,La Traviata, Otello, Der Fliegende Hollander, Lohengrin, Carmen, Turandot andTosca, etc. Its artistic quality receives rave acclaims from both the critics and the audience.
Besides operas, the Chorus has participated in many grand vocal works and themed concerts, such as Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mahler's Symphony No.2 and No.8, and the grand music and dance epic Road to Revive, etc. As NCPA's resident chorus, it has been to Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan to participate in performances and arts exchange, both to wide acclaims.
The Chorus has cooperated with many well-known artists ever since its establishment, receiving high praises from them all. Plácido Domingo once said it was his honor to cooperate with these talented young artists; Lorin Maazel ever praised it 'a chorus full of passion', so and so forth. On the stage of NCPA, the Chorus has cooperated with such directors as Francesca Zambello, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Chen Xinyi, Cao Qijing, Liao Xianghong, such conductors as Lorin Maazel, Daniel Oren, Lu Jia, Li Xincao, Zhang Guoyong, such vocalists as Plácido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Inva Mula, Brandon Jovanovich, Dai Yuqiang, Wei Song, Warren Mok, He Hui, Dilbèr, Zhang Liping, to name just a few. With more than a hundred performances each year, the Chorus is surely to play an active role in the further development of NCPA.
China NCPA Orchestra is the resident orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Beijing. Established in March 2010, the orchestra consists of highly accomplished musicians from around the world, who perform in more than a dozen opera productions presented by its home venue each year as well as in ballets and regular orchestral concerts in its own season. With a notably busy schedule, the young ensemble has fast established itself as one of the most adventurous and dynamic orchestras in the country. Lü Jia took up the post of Chief Conductor in February 2012, succeeding Chen Zuohuang, the current Conductor Laureate, NCPA's Music Director and also one of the founders of the orchestra. Yuan Ding was appointed Assistant Conductor in the same year.
The NCPA Orchestra demonstrates an abiding commitment to the highest levels of artistic excellence and takes pride in its long-term collaborations with the finest musicians of our time. Artists associated with the orchestra in the past two years have included Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Gunter Herbig, Gilbert Varga, Lang Lang, Stephen Kovacevich, Leo Nucci, Yuja Wang and Han-Na Chang, among many others. Maestro Lorin Maazel praised the orchestra for its "amazing professionalism and great passion in music'. After working with them in a series of concerts and the NCPA's new production of La Traviata in June 2010. Maestro Christoph Eschenbach also declared it "one of the finestorchestras in Asia".
In 2011 alone, the first season after its establishment, China NCPA Orchestra gained critical acclaim for its performances in NCPA's new productions of Tosca (directed by Giancarlo Del Monaco), The Barber of Seville (co-produced with Castleton Festival), Die Fledermaus, and a newly commissioned opera The Chinese Orphan. In addition, the orchestra also played a key part in NCPA's 2011 Gustav Mahler Project, performing his Symphonies No. 1, 2, 3, 8 and 10 under the batons of Christoph Eschenbach, Yoel Levi, Jun Maerkl and Chen Zuohuang respectively. These were followed by performances of two Wagner operas in 2012, in their Chinese premieres,Der Fliegende Hollander and Lohengrin. Most recently in 2013, the orchestra presented varied programmes marking major anniversaries of Wagner, Verdi and Britten, including a performance of the mammoth Ring without Words under the baton of its creator, Lorin Maazel. It continues to build on important partnerships with prominent musicians such as Mehta, Eschenbach, Ashkenazy, Placido Domingo and the pianist Rudolf Buchbinder.
Most recently, the NCPA Orchestra has flexed its wings on the international stage with high-profile touring work, receiving widespread international praise for its performances. In 2012, the orchestra was invited by Kissingen Summer Music Festival and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and its first German tour continued with concerts in Nürnberg, Hamburg and Berlin, followed by appearances at the Sydney Opera House. In 2013, the orchestra undertook its first Asian tour with concerts in Singapore, Seoul and Macau. During the 2014/15 season, the orchestra has participated in NCPA's opera productions including Eugene Onegin, Aida and Cavalleria Rusticana, as well as appearing on concert stage with conductors and soloists such as Lü Jia, Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Myun-Whung Chung, Anthony Wit, Lang Lang, Wang Jian and Yuja Wang. The orchestra has completed its very first North American tour in November 2014, under the baton of its Chief Conductor Lü Jia.
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Dedicated to the staging of epic operas, ballets and dance dramas, the golden Opera House is considered the centerpiece of the NCPA. Its main tone is golden color, which looks glamorous and splendid. In the auditorium are the stalls and three higher levels of balconies, which can seat an audience of 2,207, including the venue of SRO. It is equipped with a modern stage that can be moved up/down/backward/forward or rotated, a ballet stage that can slant, and a rising orchestra pit for the triple winds orchestra. All the cutting-edge staging mechanism provides artists with enormous possibilities of creative performance.
Dedicated to the staging of epic operas, ballets and dance dramas, the golden Opera House is considered the centerpiece of the NCPA. Its main tone is golden color, which looks glamorous and splendid. In the auditorium are the stalls and three higher levels of balconies, which can seat an audience of 2,207, including the venue of SRO. It is equipped with a modern stage that can be moved up/down/backward/forward or rotated, a ballet stage that can slant, and a rising orchestra pit for the triple winds orchestra. All the cutting-edge staging mechanism provides artists with enormous possibilities of creative performance.