San Diego Opera to Present 20th-Century Works, Salute to Mozart in 1990-91 Season

A pair of 20th-Century operas by Carlisle Floyd and Benjamin Britten, as well as a season-opening salute to the Mozart bicentennial, will mark San Diego Opera’s 1990-91 five-opera season at Civic Theatre. General director Ian Campbell announced the programming Thursday morning, when he also outlined the 1991-92 season, which will continue his three-year Mozart cycle with “Le Nozze di Figaro.”

Campbell will open the upcoming season Jan. 19 with Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte,” a production that will feature American soprano Carol Vaness as Fiordiligi and Swedish baritone Hakan Hagegard as Gugliemo. Vaness and Hagegard are among the modest circle of internationally recognized singers in a schedule that favors younger singers still making their mark. John Copley, who directed “Le Nozze di Figaro” here in 1986, will return to direct “Cosi Fan Tutte,” with Thomas Schuback conducting.

Floyd, who wrote “The Passion of Jonathan Wade” in 1962 on a commission for the New York City Opera, will direct the premiere of his newly revised version of the opera next April 13-21. According to the composer-librettist, 70% of the music is either new or revised, and almost half of the libretto is new. The all-American cast for Floyd’s post-Civil War music drama will include baritone Erich Parce in the title role, soprano Sheryl Woods, mezzo-soprano Debria Brown and tenor John Duykers, who recently appeared locally in Paul Dresher’s opera “Power Failure.” Kenneth Montgomery will make his local debut conducting the Floyd opera.

“Albert Herring,” Benjamin Britten’s early comic opera, will be produced for the first time by the local company Feb. 9-17, directed by Colin Graham, artistic director of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Tenor Barton Green will sing the title role, assisted by soprano Christine Brewer and mezzo-soprano Patricia Kern. British conductor Steuart Bedford will make his local debut.

Johann Strauss’ popular operetta “Die Fledermaus” will be sung in an English-language production March 2-10. Soprano Cheryl Parrish returns for her third consecutive season as Adele, while soprano Karen Huffstodt and tenor Ron Stevens make their local debuts as Rosalinde and Eisenstein, respectively. San Diego Opera’s associate conductor Karen Keltner will conduct “Die Fledermaus,” and Wolfgang Weber of the Vienna State Opera will direct. Keltner and Weber are collaborating on the company’s current production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote.”

Verdi’s “La Traviata,” with soprano Diana Soviero in the title role, will close the season next May 4-12. Mexican tenor Fernando de la Mora will sing Alfredo, and baritone Richard Stilwell will make his debut as Georgio Germont. Edoardo Muller, familiar to the local opera orchestra podium, will conduct, and Montreal Opera’s Bernard Uzan will direct the production, which will be sung in Italian with Opera Text projections.

Before the operas commence in 1991, the company will present a pair of recitals this fall at Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla. German tenor Hans Peter Blochwitz will perform Oct. 21, and Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, winner of the 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, will make his West Coast debut in an all-Russian program Nov. 3.

As previously announced, San Diego Opera’s 1991-92 season will begin with a new production of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier,” with Ashley Putnam, Susanne Mentzer, Barbara Kilduff, Artur Korn and Jonathan Welch. “Le Nozze di Figaro” follows with Cheryl Parrish, Rita Cullis, John Pringle, David Malis and Francois Loup. Continuing the Britten cycle started the previous season, “The Rape of Lucretia” will present Robert Tear, Melanie Sonnenberg, Louis Otey and Richard Zeller.