NCPA Opera Festival 2014
Venue
Dates
Duration
Approximate 180 mins (Intermission Included)About
Synopsis
Conductor
Artist
Presenter
As the first co-production of the Mariinsky Theatre and NCPA, Eugene Onegin will raise the curtain of NCPA Opera Festival in 2014. With the joint efforts of Chinese and Russian artists, maestro Valery Gergiev, general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, will take the baton.
Eugene Onegin is an opera in three acts, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto, organised by the composer and Konstantin Shilovsky, very closely follows certain passages in Alexander Pushkin's novel in verse, retaining much of his poetry. Eugene Onegin is a well-known example of lyric opera, to which Tchaikovsky added music of a dramatic nature. The story concerns a selfish hero who lives to regret his blasé rejection of a young woman's love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend.
The opera was first performed in Moscow in 1879. On February 2nd, 2014, this new production was premiered in the Marrinsky Theatre.
Evening falls. Long drawn-out singing can be heard; the harvest complete, the peasants bring their mistress a decorated sheaf of wheat according to custom. Unexpectedly guests appear – it is the young poet Lensky, Olga's fiancé and the Larins’ neighbour, and Onegin, his friend and a man of the world.Tatiana is deeply perturbed by her meeting with Onegin. Once alone with Olga, Lensky declares his love for her.
Scene 2. Night-time. Tatiana is overflowing with the new emotion that has so unexpectedly gripped her. In vain, Filippevna the nursemaid attempts to dispel Tatiana's pensiveness by telling her about days gone by. All Tatiana's thoughts are of Onegin; he has stirred the heart of this provincial girl.Absorbed by this hitherto unknown passion, Tatiana writes a letter to Onegin.
Scene 3. The voices of servant girls can be heard in the distance. Tatiana is waiting for Onegin. The young girl is seized with confusion: 'Why did I write that letter?' But it is too late! Onegin is already here, in the garden. His words form, cold and passionless. He is touched by Tatiana's sincerity, but cannot return the feeling.
Act II
Scene 1. A ball is being held at the Larins' house. Many guests have come to celebrate Tatiana's name-day party. Triquet, a Frenchman, sings some couplets in Tatiana's honor. Onegin is driven to utter boredom with the provincial ball and its gossip and idle chatter. Onegin begins to pay court to Olga. Lensky is indignant at his friend’s behaviour and his fiancée's coquettish and frivolous manner. During a mazurka, a quarrel develops. Insulted and in a fit of pique and despair, Lensky challenges Onegin to a duel.
Scene 2. A cold frosty morning, and Lensky has come to the place where the duel will take place. Sad and pained at the forthcoming duel, he thinks "What does the coming day hold for me?" Zaretsky, Lensky's second, is awaiting Onegin. Onegin finally arrives; the preparations for the duel are complete, but the former friends tarry. Both understand the absurdity of what has happened. Zaretsky gives the signal to start. A shot rings out. Lensky falls. Onegin is horrified to see he is dead.
Act III
Scene 1. Guests are assembling for a ball at a mansion in St Petersburg; Onegin, home from his travels around Europe, is there too. Neither changes of scenery nor high society have dispelled his anguish. Prince Gremin and his wife arrive and Onegin recognises her to be Tatiana.
Scene 2. The last encounter between Onegin and Tatiana. His words are full of confession and repentance. But the past cannot be revisited. Calling on Onegin's honour and pride, Tatiana asks him to leave her: "To another by fate have I been given, I will never leave him." Onegin’s entreaties are all in vain. Ultimately he understands that he has lost Tatiana forever. Onegin is left alone.
Mar. 14/16 | Mar. 15/17 | |
Eugene Onegin | Andrei Bondarenko (14) | Yuan Chenye |
Dmitry Zuev (16) | ||
Tatiana | Maria Bayankina | Ke Luwa |
Vladimir Lenski | Evgeny Akhmedov | Jin Zhengjian |
Olga | Yekaterina Sergeyeva | Weng Jopei |
Gremin | Tian Haojiang | Tian Haojiang |
Nianja Filipp'evna | Elena Vitman | Guo Yanyu |
Larina | Svetlana Volkova | Chen Guanfu |
Triquet | Andrei Zorin | Lu Zhiquan |
Guard's captain | Li Ao | Li Ao |
Zareckij | Zhao Ming | Zhao Ming |
He has been a stage director at the Mariinsky Theatre since 1993. Alexei Stepanyuk's Mariinsky Theatre debut came with a production of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Sadko. Ever since 1993, this production has enjoyed unfailing success and has been performed at the world’s leading opera houses and at the Edinburgh Festival in 1995. Renowned musicologist John Allison wrote in The Times that “Alexei Stepanyuk’s production is as faithful as it is possible to be. But its authenticity does not make it a museum exhibit, quite the reverse – each of the opera's seven scenes is filled with true theatrical life.
In 1994 together with Valery Gergiev, Alexei Stepanyuk staged a production of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia. The production caused a furore both in Russia and abroad. Renowned Rimsky-Korsakov expert Alexei Kandinsky wrote: 'Of the five productions of Kitezh I have seen, the Mariinsky Theatre's 1994 staging is the most integral, both musically and artistically – a tremendous feat in itself (...) The production holds everything in an ideal balance: the soloists, orchestra, chorus and the directing with highly significant symbolism. And the utterly brilliant scene of Fevronia writing to Grishka was staged musically and dramatically in such a way that, perhaps for the first time, everything was absolutely clear: the end, time has passed, and now... eternity.'
At the Mariinsky Theatre Alexei Stepanyuk has staged productions of Verdi's La Traviata and Stravinsky's Les Noces. In 1998 at the Mariinsky Theatre Alexei Stepanyuk staged Verdi's Aida with revived sets by Pyotr Shildknecht. In summer 2004 Alexei Stepanyuk staged a new production of the opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia. This was to coincide with the return of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God to Russia.
Alexei Stepanyuk's most recent premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre was a production of Bizet's opera Carmen. At the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre Alexei Stepanyuk has staged productions of the operas The Enchanted Wanderer (2008), Il barbiere di Siviglia (2009) and The Mystery of the Apostle Paul (2010). Alexei Stepanyuk has also directed numerous works abroad, such as Eugene Onegin, staged in 1998 (San Francisco, Artistic Director and Conductor – Yuri Temirkanov). Alexei Stepanyuk has worked extensively and to great acclaim in theatres throughout Russia and the CIS.In 2004 he staged the opera The Queen of Spades at the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, followed by Tristan und Isolde in 2005. His productions of the operas Carmen (Novosibirsk) and The Queen of Spades (Chelyabinsk) were nominated for the Golden Mask award as 'Best Production of the Year', while his staging of The Enchanted Wanderer won the prize in the categories 'Best Female Role in Opera' and “Best Work by a Composer in Musical Theatre.'
Alexei Stepanyuk was named 'Director of the Year' by the newspaper Music Review and the Russian Union of Theatre Workers in 2002. Alexei Stepanyuk has staged a total of over seventy opera productions. In 2006 he was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of Russia.
He staged the ballets Antigone (part of Georgy Kovtun's production Preludes by Bach, St. Petersburg State Cappella, 2009), The Burial of the Sardine (International Week of Conservatories, 2011), participated in staging the operas The Story of Kai and Gerda by Banevich (St. Petersburg Philharmonia for Children and the Young, director Ivan Volodin, 2011), Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart (St. Petersburg Philharmonia for Children and the Young, director Ivan Volodin, 2011 and the Zazerkale Theater, director Andrei Petrov, 2012), The Dam by Mosolov (From the Avant Garde to the Present Dayfestival, director Sofia Sirakanyan, 2012), and the musical Him and Her by Zhurbin (Omsk State Music Festival, director S. Felker, 2012).
In 2012 he was an assistant to Georgy Kovtun in staging the ballet Medea as part of the production Preludes by Bach. In March 2013 he took part in a production of the opera L'elisir d'amore at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre.
Mr. Bondarenko graduated from the National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music of Ukraine in 2009. In 2005–2007 he was the soloist of the National Philharmonic of the Ukraine. In 2007 he joined the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers.
Repertoire at the Mariinksky Theatre: Eugene Onegin (Eugene Onegin), 3d company officer (The Carriage), Proletov (The Lawsuit), Podkolesin (The Marriage), Minsky (The Station Master), Silvano (Un ballo in maschera), Guglielmo (Cosí fan tutte), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Papageno (Die Zauberflote), Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande).
He was the first performer of the role of Minsky in the world premiere of Alexander Smelkov's opera The Station Master, staged at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre in 2011. In 2010, Andrei Bondarenko made his debut at the Salzburg Festival in the opera Roméoet Juliette with Anna Netrebko in the lead female role. In 2011 he made an acclaimed debut recital at Carnegie Hall (New York) in a programme of works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky celebrating one hundred and twenty years since the opening of the hall. In 2011-2012 Andrei Bondarenko performed the roles of Malatesta (Don Pasquale) and Marcello (La Bohème) at the Glyndebourne Festival (Great Britain), where he will return in coming seasons as Onegin (Eugene Onegin) and Guglielmo (Così fan tutte). He has also performed as Onegin in Cologne.
The 2013-14 season will see his recital debut at Wigmore Hall (London). In 2013 Andrei Bondarenko performed the title role in the Russian premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd at the Mikhailovsky Theatre for which he was awarded a Golden Sofit, St Petersburg's most prestigious theatre prize.
He has toured to Italy, France, the UK, Switzerland and Finland.
He is the professor of the Voice & Opera Department of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
In October, 2001, he made his debut in Huston Grand Opera, singing the title role of Rigoletto. Subsequently, he has performed the role with Sacramento Opera, Welsh National Opera, Minnesota Opera, Washington Opera International, etc.
His other operatic engagements include La Traviata, Aida, Falstaff, Lucia di Lammermoor, L'elisir d'amore, Pagliacci, Carmen, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Boheme, Little Women, and Nixon in China, among others, with such prestigious theatres as San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Boston Lyric Opera. Among these engagements, Little Women and Nixon in China were released on DVD and CD by Ondine and Naxos respectively.
Moreover, he has also performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Dvorak's Te Deum, Hadyn's The Creation with companies such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, and Bamberg Symphony. He has held recitals in the U.S.A, Finland, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Beijing. He was the featured soloist in the inauguration ceremony concert for Plácido Domingo as Artistic Director of Washington Opera. He was invited by Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to the White House.
He is the only Chinese golden prize winner of International Tchaikovsky Competition (Vocal) so far. He also won the first award of Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition.
Since 2006 he has been a soloist of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre (Stanislavsky Opera). Parts: Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte by W. A.Mozart), Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor by G. Donizetti), Marcello (La Boheme by G.Puccini),Albert (Werther by J. Massenet), Demetrius (A Midsummer Night's Dream by B. Britten), Onegin (Eugene Onegin by P. Tchaikovsky), Andrei Volkonsky (War and Peace by S.Prokofiev), Don Ferdinand (Betrothal in a Monasteryby Prokofiev).
He also masters the parts: Mizgir (The Snow Maiden by N. Rimsky-Korsakov), Eletsky (The Queen of Spades by P. I. Tchaikovsky; his concert repertoire includes Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellenby G.Mahler
He has toured Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Estonia, Azerbaijan. He has participated in the productions of the Sobinov Festival in Saratov, the Shostakovich Festival in Moscow, the Riccardo Zandonai Festival in Riva del Garda (Italy).
He was the winner of the Russian and Italian International Voice Competitions.
Born in the Sverdlovsk Region. Graduated with distinction in 2009 from the vocals faculty of the Russian Gnesins' Academy of Music (class of Professor Sheveleva). From 2009 she was a post-graduate student at the Russian Gnesins' Academy of Music (class of Professor Sheveleva). From 2007 she was a leading soloist with the Petit Opera Creative Group (Board of the Open Stage project of the City of Moscow Department of Culture). Since 2010 she has been a soloist with the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers.
Her repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes: Kupava (The Snow Maiden), Violetta (La traviata), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin).
She studied at the Central Conservatory of Music from 1998 to 2006, and earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Voice and Opera Department. Her tutor was Professor Guo Shuzhen, one of China's best sopranos and vocal educators.
In 2005, she was invited to cooperate with China Philharmonic Orchestra to sing in the Chinese version of Song of Earth by composer Ye Xiaogang in the first performance in Beijing. And the show was later put on stage in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the US, Berlin Philharmonic Concert Hall in Germany, London Barbican Arts Center in Britain and in Italy.
Luwa is often invited to perform in important concert in China. In 2009, she performed in the opening ceremony of the Ninth Beijing Festival. She performed in the great hall when the former Secretary of State of US Hillary Clinton visited China in this year. In 2010, she successfully held her personal concerts in Taiwan and HongKong. In 2012, she was selected as China's top ten soprano by CCTV.
She began to star in a number of operas since 2004. These heroines include: Servilia in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème, and Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.
His repertory includes: Gaston (La traviata), Lensky, Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Chaplitsky, Emcee (The Queen of Spades), The Gamekeeper (Rusalka), Spoletta (Tosca), Almerich Iolanta), Novice (Billy Budd), Edmondo (Manon Lescaut), Beppo (Pagliacci), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni)
Since 2005, he has sung Jiao Daxing in China's original opera Wild Prairie for more than 30 times in various versions of the opera, including the 20th anniversary version, NCPA concert version, and mini-theater version.
In 2007, Jin participated in the premiere of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde in China, as the only Chinese performer in the opera and working with China Philharmonic and numerous world-class artists. In 2008, he performed in the premiere of the original Chinese opera Farewell to My Concubine (as Han Xin) in Beijing, and the six-city tour in the U.S., which was called the 'Ice-breaking Trip of Chinese Opera in America'. In April, 2008, he sang in the French opera Le roi d'Ys (as Mylio) in NCPA. His performance was highly praised by the French, and, as a consequence, he was sponsored by the French government to study in France. In June, 2008, he sang the leading role in the original Chinese opera Goodbye Again, Cambridge (as Xu Zhimo). In November, 2009, Goodbye Again, Cambridge, with Jin as the leading role, was staged in the Multi-functional Theatre in NCPA. In May and September, 2009, he sang in the premiere and second public performance of the Chinese original opera The Song of Youth, successfully portraying two distinctively different characters, Lu Jiachuan and Yu Yongze, in the opera. In 2010 and 2011, he sang Gastone in La Traviata in NCPA.
He has performed in many important events including Handel's oratorio Messiah as soloist or leading singer. As a Chinese artist, he has visited countries and regions including Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Slovenia, the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
The Fifth Sister, with Jin as the leading role, won the New Production Award and Grand Award of the Splendor Award in the 7th China Art Festival in 2004 and was named one of the 30 Works of Excellence on the Nation's Stage in 2005. In 1999, he was a finalist in the Japan Shizuoka International Singing Competition. As a Singer of Excellence, he took part in the Concert of Singers of Excellence in China zone of the Shen Xiang International Singing Competition.
In 2000, he won a silver prize in the BBK Young Singer Competition held by CCTV. In the same year, he won a Lark Cup silver prize for professional singers.
Yekaterina Sergeyeva was born in St Petersburg. She graduated from the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in 2005. She is Soloist with the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers since 2004.
Her repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes: Blanche (The Gambler), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Polina, Milovzor (The Queen of Spades), Laura (Iolanta), Youngster, Lel (The Snow Maiden), Linetta, Nicoletta (The Love for Three Oranges), Storchenko's Dark-Haired Sister, Peasant Woman (Shponka and His Aunt) , Suor Dolcina (Suor Angelica), Third Lady (Die Zauberfloete), Siegrune (Die Walküre), Maid (Elektra), Dryad (Ariadne auf Naxos), Nicklausse (Les contes d'Hoffmann), The Beautiful Dulcinée (Don Quichotte), Girl (West Side Story in concert).
At the Hermitage Theatre she has appeared as Mary Magdalene (The Messiah, Son of Man). In 2009 together with Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra she took in a recording of the opera Elektra. In 2010 as part of Monaco National Day celebrations, the Congress Centre of the Grimaldi Forum hosted the premiere of a production of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin featuring Yekaterina Sergeyeva. She also featured in a production of the opera Iolanta alongside Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczara.
Together with the Mariinsky Opera Company, she has toured to Germany (Baden-Baden), Japan and the USA. In 2010 she took part in the Tiroler Festspiele.
Mezzo-soprano, Weng Jopei, received her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where she studied voice in the studio of Dr. Stanley Cornett and won the vocal first prize of the Young Artists Show Case from Bank SinoPac in 2005. In 2007 Weng was also the voice winner of the 12th New Voice competition (Asia region) in Yokosuka Japan. She was the only one Taiwanese singer invited by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to performed Ode to Joy of Beethoven's Symphony No.9 at the opening concert of Kaohsiung World Game in 2009. She was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award by National Taipei University of the Arts in 2012.
She has sang as a soloist in the Messiah and Solomon by Handel, Mozart's Requiem and Exsultate, Jubilate, Bach's Magnificat, St. Matthew Passion and Christmas Oratorio, Haydn's Creation, Seasons, Beethoven's Mass in C. As an opera singer, Ms. Weng has performed the role of Principessa from Puccini's Suor Angelica, Zita from Gianni Schicchi, Suzuki from Madama Butterfly, Un musico from Manon Lescaut, Hansel from Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Mamma Lucia from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, the second and third lady from Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Carmen from Bizet's Carmen, Orlovsky from J. Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Dryad from R. Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and the Rheinmaids from Wagner's Ring Cycle and Fricka from Die Walkure.
She is often invited as a guest performer with many prestigious orchestras and choirs, including Taipei Gloria Oratorio Choir, Moment Musical Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, NSO, NTSO and Taipei Philharmonic Foundation, Macao Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra... etc.
Since his Metropolitan Opera debut during the 1991/92 season, Tian Haojiang, a native of Beijing, has earned worldwide recognition as one of today's most talented basso cantantes, singing over 1300 performances of 40 operatic roles worldwide. He has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera for nineteen years, in 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, Chicago Lyric Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Washington Opera, and opera houses in France, Spain, Holland, Portugal, Chile, Japan and China. Tian has won acclaim for some of the greatest roles written for bass and these include Philip II in Don Carlos, Procida in I Vespri Siciliani and Mephistopheles in Faust.
Tian's recent and current engagements include a number of world premieres starting with the role of General Wang in Tan Dun's The First Emperor, opposite Plácido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera; the title role of Poet Li Bai in Denver, Colorado (USA), in Beijing and Shanghai, China, and in its European premiere in Rome, Italy; and the role of Chang in Amy Tan's Bonesetter's Daughter at the San Francisco Opera. Upcoming world premieres in 2010 include the title role in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci in Hong Kong; and the role of Mr. Pan in Le Peintre, Yu-lin with the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in Taipei.
Also in 2010, Tian completed eight performances of the role of Timur in Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera, and reprised this role in Pittsburgh, Beijing, Seoul, Taichung, and Guangzhou, inaugurating the new opera house under the baton of Lorin Maazel.
Recent engagements also include Philip II in Don Carlos in Liege, Belgium; two Verdi gala concerts at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Italy; Oroveso in Norma at the Metropolitan Opera; and Turandot at the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing, as a new production directed by Zhang Yimou. In Palermo, Italy, Tian will perform the role of the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos.
Tian has created and performed nationwide and overseas his one-man show 'From Mao to the Met' based on his autobiography. This was recently taped with live audience in New York as a special one-hour program for television, and it has aired on PBS nationwide since December 2009.
Recording credits include Gomez's Il Guarany (on Sony Classical) and Tan Dun's The First Emperor (EMI Classics), both with Plácido Domingo. Tian's solo album of opera arias was released by Naxos in 2006. His autobiography, Along the Roaring River: My Wild Ride from Mao to the Met, was released in 2008 worldwide by Wiley as a Lincoln Center Book. Tian was nominated as a Principal Soloist for the 51st Grammy Award (2008) for Best Opera Recording of Tan Dun's The First Emperor.
Elena Vitman was born in the Far East. She graduated from the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire and an assistantship at the St Petersburg Conservatoire (class of Professor Irina Bogacheva). Elena Vitman has been a soloist at the Mariinsky Theatre since 1996, making her debut as Lyubava (Sadko).
Roles she has performed at the Mariinsky Theatre include: Xenia's nurse, Hostess of the Inn (Boris Godunov),Lyubov (Mazepa),Polina, the Countess (The Queen of Spades), Martha (Iolanta), Solokha (Christmas Eve), Bobylikha The Snow Maiden), Frosya (Semyon Kotko), Marya Bolkonskaya (War and Peace), Elderly Lady, Podtochina, Akhrosimova (The Nose), Preziosilla (La forza del destino), The Princess (Suor Angelica), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Hécube (Les Troyens), Grimgerde, Waltraute (Die Walküre), Erda (Das Rheingold) and Siegfried First Norn (Gotterdammerung), Clytemnestra (Elektra), Nurse (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Mrs. Grose (The Turn of the Screw), Old Buryja (Jenufa) and Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande).
Together with the Mariinsky Opera Company, Elena Vitman has toured to Great Britain (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Barbican Centre in London and the Cardiff Festival), Spain (Teatro Real, Madrid), Germany (Baden-Baden), Israel, Japan and the USA (the Kennedy Center in Washington). The singer frequently performs programmes of chamber music in St Petersburg and in towns throughout Germany.
In 2009 Elena Vitman became the first singer in Russia to perform the role of the nurse in Strauss' opera Die Frau ohne Schatten, and she also sang the role of Frosia in the premiere of a new production of Semyon Kotko at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1999. In 2009 Elena Vitman was involved in a recording of the opera The Nose on the Mariinsky label, and this recording received a Grammy nomination. The singer's discography also includes a recording of the opera Salome made by the Mariinsky Opera Company in Stockholm.
Her concert appearances include Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex at Alice Tully Hall with Robert Kraft; Verdi's Requiem with the New York Choral Society in Carnegie Hall; and Berlioz' Les Nuits d'été with Donald Runnicles and the San Francisco Chamber Symphony. Miss Guo has sung Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Mahler's Third symphony in America, Germany and Taiwan.
After graduating from Beijing Central Conservatory where she studied with Professor Guo Shuzhen, Guo Yanyu received her Master's degree at the Eastman School of Music, USA. She also studied at the Juilliard School's American Opera Center. As an Adler fellow in San Francisco Opera's young artist program, Ms. Guo studied with world famous artists such as Marilyn Horne, Regine Crespin, and Hans Hotter. She also performed Ariodante in Ariodante and Pauline in Pique Dame at the San Francisco Opera. Also at San Francisco Opera Miss Guo stepped in for Frederica von Stade in the role of Penelope opposite Thomas Hampson in Michael Hampe's production of Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, receiving critical acclaim.
Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes: Naina (Ruslan and Lyudmila), Susanna (Khovanshchina), Olga (The Maid of Pskov), Tsaritsa (Christmas Eve), Larina (Eugene Onegin), Pauline (The Gambler in concert), Fata Morgana (Love for Three Oranges), Sonya (War and Peace), Plyushkin (Dead Souls), Marsellina (Le nozze di Figaro), Brangne (Tristan und Isolde), Fricka (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre) and Herodias (Salome) among others.
The singer's recordings include the operas Aleko (Melodiya), Eugene Onegin (at the Metropolitan Opera with Dmitry Hvorostovsky), War and Peace (Philips Classics) and a solo CD called Mirage of Love. Svetlana Volkova has performed lead roles in the films La belle Hélène (Telefilm), Aleko (with Aleko performed by Yevgeny Nesterenko; Lenfilm) and Perikola (Lenfilm).
Roles he has performed at the Mariinsky Theatre include: Grisha Kuterma (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia), Kochkarev (The Marriage), Afanasy Ivanovich (Sorochintsy Fair), Khrushchev the Boyar, Jesuit, Misail (Boris Godunov), Minion, Scrivener (Khovanshchina), Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Chaplitsky, Master of Ceremonies (The Queen of Spades), Drunken Cossack (Mazepa), Balakin (The Enchantress), Alméric (Iolanta), Sopel (Sadko), 1st Herald, Bakula (The Snow Maiden), The Devil (Christmas Eve), Kashchei (Kashchei the Immortal), Japanese Ambassador (Le Rossignol), Hunch-Backed Gambler (The Gambler), German Interpreter (Semyon Kotko), Abbot, Monsieur de Beausset, Lieutenant Bonnet, First Staff Officer, Kanovnitsyn, Platon Karatayev (War and Peace), Eunuch, Ten Policemen, Seven Gentlemen (The Nose) and Selifan (Dead Souls) among others.
Has toured with the Mariinsky Opera Company to the UK, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Spain. He has given solo recitals in China and Japan. In 2003 he took part in the Mikkeli International Festival, where he performed as Kochkarev in The Marriage and as Vyrin (Alexander Smelkov's The Station Guard). At the VIII Moscow Easter Festival he performed the role of Don Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro).
Since 2007, he attended a course at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris in France alongside Isabel Garcisanz and received his Master in singing in 2008 and he received a Diploma as a Concert in April 2011. He won several scholarships of both Zaleski and Roussel.
Mr. Lu won the Special Prize of the International 'FLAME' Competition in Paris in 2009. This is the beginnings of his career as a professional singer who offered him to sing many roles mainly from the Classical period and the Bel Canto on the Eurasian continent. In his repertoire, Lu Zhiquan account including the roles of Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte by Mozart), Almaviva (The Barber of Seville by Rossini), Tonio (Daughter of the Regiment by Donizetti) and Nadir (The Pearl Diver by Bizet).
He has participated in many international opera productions and concerts these years.
The Chorus presented its debut performance in NCPA Opera Festival 2010, and has taken part in and gained critical acclaim from the performances of NCPA's Xi Shi, Carmen, La Traviata, L'elisir d'amore, Turandot, A Village Teacher, Tosca, Die Fledermaus, and The Chinese Orphan. As NCPA's resident chorus, it took part in Turandot (NCPA version) on the tour to Seoul Arts Center in January 2011 and gained high praise.
The Chorus has offered a great number of performances including Road to Revive, To the Music (debut), Roam About the Classics, To Our Motherland-- NCPA Chorus Concert for the Army Day, Arias of Love, Beethoven's ninth symphony, and Mahler's second symphony.
The Chorus has cooperated with top artists like directors Francesca Zambello and Giancarlo del Monaco; conductors Lorin Maazel, Lu Jia, and Li Xincao; singers Inva Mula, Juan Pons,Brandon Jovanovich, Dai Yuqiang, Warren Mok, Zhang Yalun, Zhang Liping, Sun Xiuwei, and Liang Ning. Its over-one-hundred performances have taken an active role in the further development of NCPA.
The NCPA Orchestra demonstrates an abiding commitment to high levels of artistic excellence and prides itself on its long-term collaborations with the finest musicians of our day. Artists associated with the orchestra in the past two years include Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Gunter Herbig, Gilbert Varga, Lang Lang, Stephen Kovacevich, Leo Nucci, Wang Yuja and Han-Na Chang. Maestro Lorin Maazel praised the orchestra as "a hard-working excellence with great passion" after a series of concerts and the NCPA's new La Traviata in June 2010.
In its first season of 2011, China NCPA Orchestra gained critical acclaim for its performances in NCPA's new productions of Tosca (Directed by Giancarlo Del Monaco), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (co-produced with Castleton Festival), Die Fledermaus, and a new composed opera The Chinese Orphan. Apart from that, the orchestra was also deeply involved in NCPA's 2011 Gustav Mahler Project. Under the batons of maestros including Christoph Eschenbach, Yoel Levi, Jun Maerkl and Chen Zuohuang, the orchestra completed Mahler's Symphonies No. 1, 2, 3, 8 and 10.
In the season of 2012, China NCPA Orchestra won a highly successful acclaim for two NCPA's new productions: Der Fliegende Hollander and Lohengrin, both Wagner’s operas were Chinese premiere. It continually collaborates with prominent musicians around the world for concert programs, including Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yan Pascal Tortelier and the legendary pianist Rudolf Buchbinder.
In addition to its extensive domestic performances, the NCPA Orchestra also received a widespread international praise in 2012. The orchestra was invited by Kissingen Summer Music Festival and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in July 2012, and kicked off his first German tour in Nürnberg, Hamburg and Berlin under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach and Chen Zuohuang. This was followed by a successful concert at the Sydney Opera House with Maestro Chen Zuohuang in November.
In the season of 2013, the NCPA orchestra presents colorful programs on the commemoration of Wagner, Verdi and Britten, highlighting the Ring without words with 12 principals from Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Lorin Maazel. NCPA’s new opera productions that the orchestra is involved include Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Otello and Nabucco, which features her second successful collaboration with Placido Domingo.
The NCPA orchestra aims to build up a world-class orchestra with operation and management conforming to global practices while incorporating Chinese characteristics. Devoted to educational and outreach activities, the Orchestra also has presented a series of Weekend Matinee Concerts since its establishment. With specially selected repertoire, performances of high quality and extremely low ticket prices, these concerts have won great acclaim from both audience and critics. The orchestra is now embarking on a similar path with the complete Beethoven symphonies with Maestro Lu Jia.
Box officeNorth Gate of NCPA, No. 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing, China
Tickets collection hours9:30-19:30 (CST) on performance day
9:30-18:00 (CST) for days without performance
Booking line+86 10 6655 0000
Booking hours9:30-18:00 (CST) Monday to Friday
We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information, however the hours, prices, and program details may vary due to last minute changes.
WHAT'S ON
CALENDAR Full Calendar
GENREOperaConcertDance & BalletTheatreChinese Traditional Opera
Festivals & Series* NCPA May Festival 2024* NCPA Piano Virtuosos 2024* Charm of China—Maestros of Chinese Traditional Music
PRODUCTION
ProductionsRepertoireFilmsVideos
Resident CompaniesChina NCPA OrchestraChina NCPA Chorus
VISIT
Explore NCPA Buildings Exhibitions
Visit Info Opening Hours Guided Tours Services Getting Here
Dine&Shop Western Cuisine NCPA Café Arts Gifts
EXCHANGE & EDUCATION
NCPA & The World The Moment Arts Exchange Events World Music Series Co-operative Organizations
Education & Outreach Weekend Concert Classic Arts Lecture Enter the World of Record Taihu Weekly Concert Outreach
ABOUT US
THE NCPA Facilities Membership Philosophy Leadership Contact Us Operation
Tickets and Information:8610-6655 0000
No.2 West Chang'an Avenue,
Xicheng District,
Beijing, P. R. China
© Copyright 2024 China NCPA
Search
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.