Il Trionfo dell' Onore
("Honor Wins Out")
Underworld Productions Opera presents the NY premiere of Alessandro Scarlatti's only full-length comic opera -- a fast-paced romp of high and low characters laced with gorgeous melodies.
with Sinfonia New York orchestra
May 17, 7pm at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò
24 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10011
Purchase Tickets HERE
AND
May 22-23, 8pm at Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Peter Norton Symphony Space
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York, NY 10025
Purchase Tickets HERE
Premiered on
November 26, 1718 at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples, Il Trionfo dell’Onore is seminal in the development of opera buffa. Its libretto by Francesco
Antonio Tullio about four couples staying at two Pisan alberghi is a
fast-paced romp of high and low characters. It centers on the
exploits of the dissolute protagonist Riccardo, a precursor to Mozart’s Don Giovanni. At the premiere this
quintessential womanizer was played by a woman, soprano Caterina Testi.
Casting Riccardo as a
countertenor rather than the more typical tenor was inspired by this original
casting. Eric Brenner has been praised for his
"penetrating eloquence" and "astonishing solo singing" by The New York Times. Acclaimed singing
actress Maria Todaro is his love interest Leonora. Dorian Komanoff Bandy, one of the Los Angeles Times's
"101 Remarkable Young People," is music director. Stage direction is
by Gina Crusco, UPO’s New York Times-praised
Artistic Director.
The cast also includes Elise Jablow, soprano (Doralice); Briana Sakamoto, soprano
(Cornelia); Catherine Leech, mezzo-soprano (Rosina); Stephanie McGuire,
mezzo-soprano (Erminio); Christopher Preston Thompson, tenor (Flaminio); and
Stephen Lavonier, baritone, (Rodimarte). Designers are Michael Minahan, set; Kia Rogers, lighting; and Edgar Cortes, costumes.
Featured Artists
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| Dorian Komanoff Bandy, Music Director
Chosen as one of the Los Angeles Times's "101 Remarkable Young People,"
conductor Dorian Komanoff Bandy has garnered acclaim for his
"lighthearted mastery over gesture and dramatic development" in
performances of 18th-century opera and orchestral music. His varied background
includes baroque violin studies with Pavlo Beznosiuk and Rachel Podger and
fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and his operatic conducting credits range from
Mozart's Don Giovanni (Les Petits Violons, New York) and Così fan
tutte (Hampstead Garden Opera, London) to lesser-known works by Handel,
Haydn, Lully, Purcell and Rousseau.
A baroque violinist by day,
Dorian is in demand as an orchestral leader with ensembles across the United
States and Europe, and has performed as a concerto soloist in such venues as
London's Wigmore and Cadogan Halls and in the London Handel Festival. He is
co-director of Musica Poetica London, leader and a founder member of the Rococo
Consort, and frequent guest of the Amphion Consort (London), the International
Baroque Players, Brecon Baroque (Wales), Ensemble Cordia/Akademie für alte
Musik Bruneck (South Tyrol), and chamber ensembles in the Czech Republic. He
has also worked extensively as a fortepianist, harpsichordist and organist, and
is a specialist in the Lieder of Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. Dorian holds
degrees summa cum laude from the Royal Academy of Music, London,
and Cornell University. He is recipient
of the coveted Marshall Scholarship.
|
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| Eric S. Brenner as Riccardo
Countertenor
Eric S. Brenner has been praised for his "penetrating eloquence,"
"astonishing solo singing" (NY Times), & "auto-tuned Mr.
Roboto majesty" (Stage Mage). A Long Island, New York native, Eric
began his training on violin and viola before beginning to sing — as a tenor —
in high school. Some
of Eric's current projects include Giuliano (cover) in Cavalli's Eliogabalo
with Gotham Chamber Opera; The Poet in Virko Baley's Holodomor; Doodle
in Stefan Weisman's & David Cote's Scarlet Ibis; soprano soloist in
Handel's Messiah at Alice Tully Hall & the Cathedral of St. John's
in Albuquerque, NM; Alto soloist at the Boulder Bach Festival; Treble soloist
in Bernstein'sChichester Psalms at Avery Fisher Hall; Countertenor
soloist on Hannah Lash's Violations & Beast in Lash's Blood Rose;
D.A.V.E. in Kamala Sankaram's Miranda; Soloist/ensemble on
Guggenheim Fellow Toby Twining's new CD EURYDICE (Cantaloupe Music),
& area appearances with Toby Twining Music.
|
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| Maria Todaro as Leonora |
Maria Todaro, mezzo-soprano, was the lead singer of the “Art and Ecstasy of the Chaconne” with Sinfonia NY in Fall 2012. Acclaimed as a wonderful singing actress, she has performed roles such as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Valencienne in Merry Widow, Zerlina and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Meg Paige in Falstaff, Angelina in Cenerentola, Helena in Donna del Lago, Romeo in I Capuletti e i Montecchi, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Edwige in Rodelina, Nicklaus and Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Carmen, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, and created the role of Elvire in the world premiere of Eric Perre’s m’as tu vu? at the Theatre Traversiere in Paris. She recently performed Alexander Nevski with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic under the direction of Randall Fleisher. Maria made her debut in South America in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the role of the Countess de Boissy in Lo Schiavo by Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes. She sang La Cantate pour la Paix by Bernard Lallement under the composer himself for UNESCO Paris. Maria Todaro is a co-founder of The Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice.
Sinfonia New York
Sinfonia New York was founded in 2007 by Christine Gummere and Gene Murrow. The orchestra has a two-fold mission: to create work for seasoned musicians as well as young players just starting their careers, providing them with an environment that encourages their best playing; and to perform music by famous and lesser-known baroque and classical composers in period style. Under the leadership of John Scott, the orchestra has received critical acclaim for the high quality of its playing. As the Sinfonia Players the group has excelled in presenting chamber concerts featuring music from Monteverdi to Mendelssohn.
Casa
Italiana Zerilli-Marimò is located at 24 West 12th Street between 5th
and 6th avenues. It is accessible by taking the 1/2/3 trains to 14th
Street; the L train to 6th avenue and 14th Street; or the
N/Q/R/4/5/6 trains to Union Square/14th Street.
Symphony Space is located on Broadway at 95th Street. It is accessible by the 1/2/3 trains to 96th Street.
Symphony Space is located on Broadway at 95th Street. It is accessible by the 1/2/3 trains to 96th Street.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This program is also made possible in part with public funds from the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Additional funding has been provided by the Venable Foundation and Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance; the NoMAA Creative Grant Program was made possible by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation.
