April 30, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Sunday, June 3 at 3 pm, Chorus pro Musica, led by Music Director Jeffrey Rink, concludes its 2006–2007 season at NEC's Jordan Hall with a spectacular concert opera performance of the two most celebrated verismo operas: Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggiero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci.
Tenor Michael Hayes, who was Samson in Chorus pro Musica's electrifying 2005 performance of Samson et Dalila, will sing the roles of Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Canio in I Pagliacci. Also featured are Layna Chianakas (Santuzza), Maryann Mootos (Nedda), Jason Stearns (Tonio), David Murray (Alfio), and Joshua Benaim (Silvio), as well as the New England Conservatory Children's Chorus, Jean Meltaus, Director. At 2 pm in the hall, noted musicologist Steven Ledbetter will speak about the importance of these operas and the verismo movement. The lecture and performance are sponsored by Concert Opera Boston.
Exuberant, dramatic, poignant and lyrical, these two great works revolutionized the direction and sound of opera when they appeared in the 1890s. Though still favorites in the opera repertory, they have not been heard together in Boston since 1997, when Chorus pro Musica last performed them. The 1997 performance also included David Murray as Alfio.
The June performance continues Chorus pro Musica's tradition of a dozen years of exciting concert opera performances under Music Director Jeffrey Rink. In 2006 the chorus won acclaim for the premiere Boston performance of Verdi's Attila, and in 2005 they gave a “stunning” performance of Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila, featuring Michael Hayes as Samson. Earlier successes with Othello, Macbeth, Nabucco, and La traviata led to Rink's being hailed as “Boston's pre-eminent Verdi conductor” by the Boston Phoenix. Now in his 17th year as Music Director of Chorus pro Musica, Jeffrey Rink is the 2005 recipient of the New England Opera Club's Jacopo Peri Award for outstanding contributions in the art of opera.
Concert tickets are $30, $45 and $60, with discounts available on selected seats for groups, students, seniors and WGBH members. A limited number of $15 student rush seats (with ID) available an hour and a half before the performance. Reserved seats may be selected and tickets purchased at www.choruspromusica.org, or by phone (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) at 800-658-4CPM (800-658-4276). For wheelchair-accessible seats, call 617-267-7442.
Chorus pro Musica is a distinguished, independent Boston-based chorus, recognized for versatility and excellence in performing traditional, adventurous and seldom-heard works. The Chorus was founded in 1949 by the late Alfred Nash Patterson and has built a superb reputation for professional-level musical standards and innovative programming. This year, Chorus pro Musica was one of 45 cultural, environmental, and human service organizations profiled as “examples of excellence” in the Catalogue for Philanthropy.
See the Chorus pro Musica online press kit at: http://www.choruspromusica.org/press.shtml.
For more information or interview requests, please contact:
Toni Ballard, 508-633-8583, toniballard@townisp.com
Content maintained by Peter Pulsifer, promotion@choruspromusica.org.