Q-Seattle Events: Tacky Tourist Clubs

So here it is [although the information hadn't yet made it to the website as we post this] -- the official announcement from Seattle Opera about the 2009 Ring that we mentioned the other day. (And which we flubbed embarrassingly by saying somewhere in the post that there are three operas in the cycle when everyone knows there are four. But, hey... we did try to indicate in that post that we are tyros on all this -- just to pull in a vague but oh-so-appropriate Nietzsche reference.)

From the press release:

Seattle Opera's General Director, Speight Jenkins, officially announced today the international cast for the company's 2009 presentation of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen. New to the production are American soprano Janice Baird as Brunnhilde, Danish tenor Stig Fogh Andersen as Siegfried, and Australian tenor Stuart Skelton as Siegmund.

Baird previously has appeared as Brunnhilde in numerous houses in Europe, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Opera de Marseille, but this will be her American debut as the Valkyrie. Andersen, a member of the Royal Theatre Copenhagen, has sung Siegfried in London, New York, Dresden, Munich, Berlin, Helsinki, and Mannheim among other cities. Besides appearing in Wagner roles throughout Europe, Skelton sang the role of Siegmund in the State Opera of South Australia's Ring, for which he received a Helpmann Award for "Best Male Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera." ...

"With Stephen Wadsworth as director, every repetition of the Ring is rehearsed as if it were a new production," said General Director Speight Jenkins. "In this, our third repetition of the Cycle, I decided to cast several new singers, to vary the mix extensively. I think we have a cast that will give our audiences a rewarding and new experience in the Seattle Ring, and one that I hope will make the best Ring we have ever presented."

Robert Spano, music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, also returns to Seattle Opera to conduct the Ring. Spano previously conducted his first Ring for the company in 2005. ...

The 2009 Ring is directed by Stephen Wadsworth, with sets designed by Thomas Lynch, costumes designed by Martin Pakledinaz, and lighting designed by Peter Kaczorowski. This team, highly active in theater as well as opera, has worked on several Seattle Opera productions. ...

The Wadsworth production of Wagner's Ring, Seattle Opera's third Ring production, was first presented in the summer of 2001 and was repeated in the summer of 2005. Both the 2001 and 2005 cycles sold out nearly a year in advance. In 2005, Seattle Opera's Ring was enjoyed by audiences from 49 states and 19 countries.

The four operas will be performed in three cycles of cycles starting August 9, 2009. The first cycle runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through August 14. The second cycle is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday -- August 17-22. The concluding cycle is Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday -- August 25-30.

Labels: events, Seattle