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Streaming through Oct 31: Donato Cabrera Leads Opera San José in Online Production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri
[Note: Photo of Donato Cabrera by Lenny Gonzales available in high resolution at www.jensenartists.com/donat
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press contacts: Maggie Stapleton, Jensen Artists
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Donato Cabrera Leads Opera San José in 2021-22 Season Opener with Online Production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri
Available to Stream Beginning Thursday, September 30, 2021 at 6pm PT and On-Demand Through October 31, 2021
Tickets are $40 per household (includes 30 days of on-demand streaming access), available at www.operasj.org
“He's a passionate, heart-on-the-sleeve conductor, with eclectic musical tastes and a wealth of experience.” – San Jose Mercury News
San Jose, CA – Today, Opera San José launches its 2021-22 season with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely-seen opera Mozart and Salieri, presented virtually to opera lovers throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Conducted by Donato Cabrera and directed by Fenlon Lamb, Mozart and Salieri will begin streaming at 6pm PT on Thursday, September 30, 2021 with a virtual VIP Cast Party offered at 8pm PT, and then will be available to stream on-demand through October 31, 2021. This performance was captured in Opera San José’s Heiman Digital Media Studio, with strict observance of health and safety protocols that met or exceeded local and state COVID-19 guidelines.
In this intimate psychological thriller, Vienna’s leading composer, Antonio Salieri, is seething over the upstart Mozart – a brash newcomer whose genius is undeniable. How can this vulgarian possibly compose divine music fit for the Almighty? As the two composers clash over the very nature of artistic genius, Salieri’s jealousy turns venomous. Based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1830 play exploring the rumor that Salieri poisoned his famous rival, this fully-produced work offers bravura performances from multi-award-winning baritone Sidney Outlaw (Salieri) and Grammy-nominated baritone Simon Barrad (Mozart). This production will also feature members of the celebrated Opera San José Chorus and lauded Opera San José Orchestra.
Members of the creative team for Mozart and Salieri include Donato Cabrera (Conductor), Fenlon Lamb (Director), Steven C. Kemp (Set Designer), Pamila Z. Gray (Lighting Designer), Alyssa Oania (Costume Coordinator), Sharon Peng (Hair and Makeup Designer), Rapt Productions (Video Production), Geoffrey Loff (Assistant Conductor), Tara Branham (Assistant Director), Christopher James Ray (Chorus Master), and Veronika Agranov-Dafoe (Music and Language Coach/Rehearsal Pianist).
Tickets are $40 per household (includes 30 days of on-demand streaming access). For more information or to book tickets, the public can visit operasj.org or call (408) 437-4450 (open Monday through Friday, 9am–5pm).
About the Artists:
Sidney Outlaw (Salieri)
Lauded by The New York Times as a “terrific singer” with a “deep, rich timbre” and by the San Francisco Chronicle as an “opera powerhouse” with a “weighty and forthright” sound, baritone Sidney Outlaw has regaled audiences across the US and abroad with his rich and versatile baritone and engaging stage presence. A graduate of the Merola Opera Program and the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Outlaw recently added a Grammy nomination to his list of accomplishments for the Naxos Records recording of Darius Milhaud’s 1922 opera trilogy, L’Orestie d’Eschyle in which he sang the role of Apollo. He was also the Grand Prize winner of the Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballé in 2010. Recent career highlights include his San Francisco Opera debut as the First Mate in Billy Budd, returning to Minnesota Opera for the World Premiere of Joel Puckett’s The Fix, and debuting with Mill City Opera as Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte.
Simon Barrad (Mozart)
The versatility of Grammy-nominated baritone Simon Barrad has been heard in genre-bending concerts across the United States and Europe. His talent for unique and innovative programming and arranging – melding new and old, jazz and drama, classical technique and heartfelt folk idioms –has led to featured performances in the United States at the Art of the Piano Festival, Ravinia Festival, Stanford Live, Marlboro Music Festival, and West Edge Opera. Following his time as a Fulbright scholar (2015-16), Barrad headlined concerts across the Atlantic at Helsinki’s Musiikkitalo, Finland’s National Opera House, and the Berlin Philharmonie. As a performer and mentor for ArtSmart, which provides free music and singing lessons to teenagers in underserved communities, Barrad strives to build a more equitable world of empathy and understanding through music. A native of Long Beach, CA, Barrad holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Voice with a French minor from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach. Other appearances this season include recital debuts at Wigmore Hall in London and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
Donato Cabrera (Conductor)
Donato Cabrera is the current Music Director of the California Symphony and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and one of only a handful of conductors in history who has conducted performances with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, and San Francisco Ballet. ?As Resident Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, Cabrera worked closely with its Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and frequently conducted the orchestra in a variety of concerts, including all of the education and family concerts, reaching over 70,000 children throughout the Bay Area every year. He also led the San Francisco Symphony Chorus with organist Paul Jacobs in the World Premiere of Mason Bates’ Mass Transmission, subsequently conducting it in Carnegie Hall. Cabrera is equally at home in the world of opera, frequently conducting productions in the United States and abroad. He has also been an assistant conductor for productions at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Ravinia Festival, Festival di Spoleto, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West. Cabrera was also recognized by the Consulate-General of Mexico in San Francisco as a Luminary of the Friends of Mexico Honorary Committee, for his contributions to promoting and developing the presence of the Mexican community in the Bay Area. He makes his company debut with Opera San José for this production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri.
Fenlon Lamb (Stage Director)
Fenlon Lamb was recognized by The Kansas City Star as “one of the most creative forces in the city…presenting satisfying and ingenious productions.” Seen and Heard International praised her “well-honed theatrical sensibility.” As the co-creator and Artistic Director of Papermoon Opera Productions, she has created and produced new, alternative medium productions of Madama Butterfly with Inland NW Opera and Don Giovanni with Pensacola Opera and remounted Papermoon’s flagship Hänsel und Gretel for Palm Beach Opera’s inaugural family series. Fenlon directed the world premiere production of Riders of the Purple Sage at Arizona Opera and returned to the company for a “fantastic revival of this timely western” (Opera Wire). Recently, she directed new productions of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird for Arizona Opera and Scalia/Ginsburg for Opera Delaware. Fenlon has directed Carmen for Pensacola Opera, Annapolis Opera, North Carolina Opera, Mill City Summer Opera and Dayton Opera along with engaging productions of Tosca, La Bohème, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Don Pasquale for Palm Beach Opera. Other highlights include, Der Fliegende Höllender for Opera Carolina with Greer Grimsley in the title role and Werther with Gran Wilson at Mobile Opera. As the Director of Opera and Vocal Programming of the Bar Harbor Music Festival, Fenlon has conceived and directed engaging productions of Carmen, L’elisir d’amore, Madama Butterfly, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le nozze di Figaro, La bohème, La Cenerentola, Don Giovanni and Hänsel und Gretel. Upcoming productions include a new Papermoon Production of Il barbieri di Siviglia with Baltimore Concert Opera and OperaDelaware, Hänsel und Gretel with Amarillo Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor with Madison Opera, Elisir d’Amore with Palm Beach Opera and La bohème for New Orleans Opera.
Opera San Jose´ is an opera company located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Maintaining a resident company of artists, OSJ presents four mainstage productions annually in San Jose’s historic California Theatre, while regularly broadcasting fully-produced productions from its state-of-the-art Heiman Digital Media Studio. Entering its 38th season, OSJ specializes in role debuts, serving as an artistic incubator for established and emerging artists alike, producing world-class operatic performances for diverse audiences throughout the Bay Area and around the globe. More information is available at www.operasj.org.
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