Randall Scotting leads Cavalli's Eliogabalo

Countertenor Randall Scotting Sings Leading Role

in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo with West Edge Opera

Live Performances at outdoor Bruns Theater near Berkeley, CA

July 31, August 6 and 8

Eliogabalo, written in 1667, is based on the life of Roman emperor Heliogabalus, whose reign of debauchery ended in murder

(May 12, 2021) In one of the first live opera performances since the pandemic began in the United States, Countertenor Randall Scotting will take the leading role in West Edge Opera’s production of Francesco Cavalli’s Eliogabalo in July & August 2021. The opera will be performed outdoors at the Bruns amphitheater in California’s Bay Area. Scotting recently won praise for his lead performance in Seattle Opera’s Flight, with Opera News noting that his “cool, lovely countertenor was perfect” and Musical America calling his performance “marvelous, his plangent, rich-toned instrument possessing just the right tone of otherworldliness.”

West Edge is known for their daring and provocative stagings of opera that regularly raise eyebrows for all the best reasons. “I will be performing the part of the bad boy, the youthful and sex-obsessed Roman emperor, Heliogabalus.  He is opera’s filthiest rich kid with infinite power to procure what (and who) he wants,” says Scotting. “The scandalous high-drama and dark comedy of Eliogabalo come wrapped in the gorgeous melodies of Cavalli, and the opera’s themes of power, betrayal, love, and loyalty could not be more timely. I just can’t wait to perform in front of a live audience again!”

Eliogabalo will have three performances – July 31, August 6 and 8 - at the Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda, CA. This production is best for mature audiences and will contain some nudity. Eliogabala is part of West Edge Opera’s 2021 season at the Bruns, which also includes performances of Janacek’s Katya Kabanova and Elizabeth Cree by Kevin Putts and Mark Campbell. For further information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.westedgeopera.org/eliogabalo

Though written in 1667 for the Venice Carnival season, Eliogabalo did not have its world premiere until 300 years later, in 1999, at the Teatro San Domenico in Cavalli’s home city of Crema, Italy. The work was removed from the 1668 Venetian season before it opened for unknown reasons: perhaps it was due to objections from the Catholic Church, or it may have been that Cavalli, at the end of his prolific career, was writing in an outdated style reminiscent of his teacher, Monteverdi. In recent years, Eliogabalo has drawn interest for its bold content and beautiful melodies and it has been presented by a number of international companies, including a memorable production by the Opéra de Paris in 2016 and at The Box burlesque theatre in New York City in 2013, in which Randall Scotting performed the role of Giuliano.

Randall Scotting

Randall Scotting has performed with some of the world’s leading opera houses, most recently in Seattle Opera’s streamed film of Jonathan Dove’s Flight in April 2021. He performed for sold-out audiences at Convent Garden in 2019 in the role of Apollo in Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice, he joined the Metropolitan Opera in 2020 to cover Agrippina, and he was invited to sing the title role in Handel’s Xerxes in concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées but performances were cancelled due to the pandemic. Known for the rich, full warmth of his voice, as well as his skill at dramatic interpretation, Scotting’s singing has been described as “expressive, flexible…excellent” by the New York Times. He has performed with the Santa Fe Opera, at Carnegie Hall, National Sawdust, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London’s National Gallery, and Italy’s Spoleto Festival, among many other venues. He recently recorded an album with Grammy Award-winning lutenist Stephen Stubbs that will be released in 2022. Scotting, who holds a PhD in 18^th-Century Italian opera from London’s Royal College of Music, will return to London later this year to record a highly-anticipated album of 18^th-Century virtuosic Italian castrato arias with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, to be released by Signum Classics in late 2022.

West Edge Opera Eliogabalo

Conductor/Music Director              Adam Pearl

Director                                       Mark Streshinsky

Cast:   Randall Scotting                  Heliogabalus

            Derek Chester                   Alessandro

            Nikki Einfeld                      Gemmira

            Matheus Coura                   Giuliano

            Aura Veruni                        Eritea

            Shawnette Sulker                Atilia

            Jean-Paul Jones                   Lenia

            Nathan Stark                       Nerbulone

            Jonathan Smucker               Zotico

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Media contact:

Kate Merlino, kmerlino@tiac.net

(917) 710-6973