HOUSTON GRAND OPERA
510 Preston Street Houston, Texas 77002 - 1594
Tel. 713-546-0200
Fax 713-228-4355
David Gockley, General Director
BIZET’S Seductive Gypsy Returns
in Houston Grand Opera’s Season - Opening Production of
C A R M E N
International Cast to Feature Beatrice Uria - Monzon, Luis Lima, Mark S. Doss and Adina Nitescu
George Bizet's CARMEN Presented by The Houston Grand Opera from October 20 through November 11, 2000 at The Wortham Center.
HOUSTON, TX - Bizet’s ever popular CARMEN returns to open Houston Grand Opera’s 2000 - 2001 season in a vibrant
new production evoking the sensual exoticism of 19th century Spain. One of the most highly regarded interpreters of the
French repertory, conductor Alain Lombard, leads an international cast of today’s finest vocalists.
French mezzo-soprano Beatrice Uria - Monzon makes her HGO debut in the title role, presenting her widely acclaimed
portrayal of the uncontrollable gypsy. Argentinean tenor Luis Lima returns to the stage of HGO as Don Jose, a role which he
has sung at the world’s leading opera houses including the Vienna Staatsoper, Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera.
American bass - baritone Mark S. Doss plays the bullfighter Escamillo, Romanian soprano Adina Nitescu makes her HGO
debut as Micaela and Hungarian bass Jozsef Gregor is Zuniga. The Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Houston Grand
Opera Chorus, prepared by Chorus Master Richard Bado, join this outstanding cast. Stage director Ron Daniels and
designers Riccardo Hernandez (sets), Constance Hoffman (costumes) and James Ingalls (lighting) create a vision of Seville
saturated with color and warmth.
CARMEN opened Friday, October 20 at 7pm. Further performances are on October 22m, 25, 28m (alternate cast), 28, 31
and November 2 (alternate cast), 3, 5m, 8 (alternate cast) and 11 (alternate cast) at 7:30pm and 2pm.
On four of the performance dates noted above, American mezzo-soprano Stephanie Novacek, a former member of HGO
studio, leads an alternate cast of past and present Studio artists, including tenor Raymond Very, baritone Chen-Ye Yuan,
soprano Jessica Jones and bass Oren Gradus. Leticia Austria conducts the alternate cast performances.
About the opera:
CARMEN tells of the ill-fated relationship between a beautiful, free-spirited gypsy and the soldier who stops at nothing to
possess her. Don Jose’s infatuation for Carmen leads him to reject the maiden Micaela, whom his mother wants him to marry,
and to desert his military post and join CARMEN and a band of gypsy smugglers. When CARMEN’s affections begin to
gravitate toward the glamorous bullfighter Escamillo, Don Jose’s increasing jealousy leads to a violent and tragic conclusion.
Possessing tunefully exotic music recognizable by even first-time opera attendees - “The Habanera,” “The Seguidilla,” “The
Toreador Song,” etc. - and one of the most riveting, psychologically complex heroines in all of opera, CARMEN remains the
quintessential French music drama.
Costume Design by Constance Hoffman for George Bizet's CARMEN.
About the artists:
BEATRICE URIA-MONZON (CARMEN) makes her HGO debut in the role that has become her calling-card throughout
the world. The French mezzo-soprano sang her first performance of Carmen at the Opera Bastille in Paris and has since
brought her vivid interpretation to the Vienna Staatsoper, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Verona Arena, the
Metropolitan Opera and opera houses in Turin, Toulouse, Orange, Hamburg, Seville and Zurich. She has recorded
CARMEN for Auvidis with Maestro Alain Lombard conducting and has also made recordings of Franck’s La Resurrection
on EMI and Prokofiev’s L’Amour de Trois Oranges on Virgin Records. Ms. Uria-Monzon’s other roles include Marie of the
Incarnation in Le Dialogue des Carmelites (Toulouse), Beatrice in Beatrice et Benedict (Toulouse), Charlotte in Werther
(Paris Opera Comique, Lille, Toulouse, Geneva), Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust (Bregenz, Cologne, Leipzig, Orange,
Paris’ Opera Bastille), Leonora in La Favorita (Liege, Bordeaux), Dalila in Samson et Dalila (Zurich) and Eboli in Don Carlo
(Liege). She returns to HGO as Eboli in April 2001.
Since making his debut at age 24 at the Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon, Argentinean tenor Luis Lima (Don Jose) has become
one of the opera world’s most sought - after artists, appearing at Milan’s La Scala, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera,
the Vienna Staatsoper, and the opera houses of Munich, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Tokyo, and many others. Mr.
Lima made his HGO debut in 1979 as Alfredo Germont in La Traviata and returned in the 1981 La Boheme as Rodolfo,
opposite Mirella Freni’s Mimi. Appearances in the last three seasons have included Tosca (Teatro Colon), La Boheme
(Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco, Teatro Colon), Carmen (Metropolitan Opera, Vienna, Nice, Sao Paulo, Tokyo),
Fedora (Vienna), Stiffelio (Vienna), The Tales of Hoffman (Vienna), Madame Butterfly (San Francisco), Luis Miller (Zurich),
and Don Carlo (Metropolitan Opera). Mr. Lima’s recordings include Cosi fan tutte, Carmen, Don Carlo, Le Roi de Lahore
and Gemma di Vergy. He sings Don Jose in a video recording of Carmen on the Kultur label opposite Maria Ewing.
Costume Design by Constance Hoffman for ESCAMILLO.
Bass-baritone Mark S. Doss (Escamillo) has established himself as one of the world’s most diversified artists int he areas of
opera and concert repertoire. Last season, he appeared as Amonasro in four of HGO’s performances of Aida and sang
Escamillo for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s performances of Carmen. Recent engagements include Verdi’s Attila with
Washington Concert Opera, Cinque in the world premiere of Amistad at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ferrando in New Orleans
Opera’s Il Trovatore, Amonasro in Minnesota Opera’s Aida, Scarpia in Cleveland Opera’s Tosca, Friar Laurence in San
Diego Opera’s Romeo et Juliette, and a Gershwin concert in Istanbul, Turkey. Mr. Doss is a 1993 Grammy Award Winner
for his participation in the recording of Handel’s Semele conducted by John Nelson. He will appear with HGO again later this
season as Riolobo in Daniel Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas.
Adina Nitescu (Micaela) makes her HGO debut as Micaela, a role which she added to her repertory with great success in
Amsterdam in 1999 under the baton of Edo de Waart. The Romanian soprano has appeared in a Marzelline in Fidelio at the
Bregenz Festival, as Marguerite in Faust at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and at Milan’s La Scala in Armide conducted by
Riccardo Muti. In 1997, she sang her first Manon Lescaut at the Glyndebourne Festival and was immediately invited to sing
the revival in 1999. Last season, Ms. Nitescu was heard as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at La Scala and the Opera Bastille
and repeated her triumph at Manon Lescaut in Genoa. Future plans include her first Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nurmberg in
Santiago, Chile and her first Rosalinde in Die Fiedermaus at Opera Bastille.
In the past several seasons the renowned Hungarian bass Jozsef Gregor (Zuniga) made his Metropolitan Opera debut as
Doctor Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, which was followed by performances of the Old Priest in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
and Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’amore. A Lizst Prize winner, he was awarded the title “Eminent Artist of the Hungarian People’s
Republic” in 1983. In his vast repertoire are most of the great Italian bass roles (Fiesco, Attila, Philip, Henry VIII), some of
the finest Mozart parts (Osmin, Leporello, Don Alfonso, Sarastro) and many buffo characters (Don Pasquale, Dulcamara,
Basilio, Varlaam). Rave reviews greeted Mr. Gregor’s American debut with Houston Grand Opera as Varlaam in the 1986 -
1987 season production of Boris Godunov. A prolific recording artist, he has contributed to more than 30 Hungaroton
recordings. In addition to Zuniga in HGO’s Carmen, Mr. Gregor also appears in Katya Kabanova at HGO and Jenufa in
Geneve during the 2000 - 2001 season.
Houston Grand Opera Studio members, soprano Kerri Marcinko, mezzo - soprano Marie Lenormand, tenor Scott Scully
and baritone Shannon De Vine will sing the supporting roles of Frasquita, Mercedes, Remendado, and Morales / Dancaire for
all performances. Peter Webster will portray the innkeeper Lillas Pastia.
Costume Design by Constance Hoffman for CARMEN.
The October 28m, November 2, 8 and 11 performances will feature former and current members of Houston Grand Opera
Studio - HGO’s internationally acclaimed young artist training program - in the leading roles. Former Studio mezzo - soprano
Stephanie Novacek returns to HGO to sing Carmen, following last season’s triumph as Jo March in Little Women, which will
be televised later this year on PBS’ “Great Performances.” Tenor Raymond Very, a Studio alum who received rave reviews
this summer as Tom Rakewell in San Francisco’s Opera’s The Rake’s Progress, will portray Don Jose. Current members of
the HGO Studio will round out the principal roles in the alternate cast performances: Chinese baritone Chen - Ye Yuan as
Escamillo, soprano Jessica Jones as Micaela and bass Oren Gradus as Zuniga.
The eminent French conductor Alain Lombard makes his HGO debut with these performances of Carmen. In 1967, the Miami
Orchestra appointed Maestro Lombard its music director. At the same time, he became a permanent conductor at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York and maintained an active career as guest conductor, appearing at the helm of the great
orchestra: New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, London Symphony,
Berlin Philharmonic and the opera companies of Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and Munich. Since 1999, he has been Chief
Conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Italienne. Previous posts have included Artistic Director of the Orchestra of
Bordeaux (1988 - 1995) and Opera de Bordeaux (1991 - 1995), Music Director of the Paris Opera (1981 - 1983), Music
Director of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra (1972 - 1983) and Artistic Director of Strasbourg’s Opera National du
Rhin (1974 - 1980). Multiple prizes crown Maestro Lombard’s impressive discography.
San Antonio, Texas native Leticia Austria will conduct the alternate cast performances of Carmen. Ms. Austria was appointed
an assistant conductor for HGO and vocal coach for Houston Grand Opera Studio in 1991, after completing two seasons as
Studio artist. Prior to her post in Houston, Ms. Austria served on the music staffs of Austin Lyric Opera, the San Antonio
Festival and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. In addition to conducting a mainstage performance of
The Elizir of Love at HGO last season, she has prepared the HGO Chorus in Dido and Aeneas, Orfeo, the world premiere of
Jackie O and last season’s world premiere of Cold Sassy Tree.
A native of Brazil, award - winning director Ron Daniels has worked extensively in the classical and contemporary theater in
England, the United States and Japan. In 1980 he became an Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in
1991 became Associate Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theatre. His recent work includes productions of the
Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Shakespeare Theatre of Washington D.C.
Making his HGO debut, Mr. Daniels has recently directed the Il Re Pastore at Boston Lyric Opera and Madama Butterfly at
Opera Pacific and the San Francisco Opera.
Cuban scenic designer Riccardo Hernandez is making his HGO debut in this production of Carmen. Broadway productions
which he has designed include Parade (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (including
national tours), and The Tempest (starring Patrick Stewart). For the operatic stage, Mr. Hernandez designed the Lyric Opera
of Chicago’s production of Amistad.
Constance Hoffman’s costume designs have been seen in the nation’s leading opera houses and theaters. She has previously
designed costumes for Houston Grand Opera’s productions of La Traviata (1999) and The Flying Dutchman (1998).
The work of renowned lighting designer James Ingalls was last seen in Houston in the 1987 world premiere production of
Nixon in China - a production that was nationally televised on PBS’ “Great Performances” which won an Emmy Award.
All performances of Carmen are held in the Wortham Center’s Brown Theater, Texas at Smith. CARMEN is sung in French
with English surtitles - English translations projected over the stage.
The Southwestern Bell Pre-Curtain Lecture Series takes place thirty minutes before each performance. Guest speakers
present at twenty minute informal lecture on the sixth floor of the Grand Foyer. These lectures, free and open to all ticket
holders, are intended to enhance the audience’s enjoyment by preparing them for the production they are about to attend.
The Wortham Theater Center features easy wheelchair access to both theaters, with a choice of seating locations and ticket
prices. An infrared listening system, generously underwritten by Pennzoil - Quaker State Company, is available and free of
charge at all performances. Please call HGO Subscriptions at 713-546-0246 or 1-800-346-4462 for details. Descriptive
services for persons with vision loss are available with 48-hour advance reservations. Please call HGO Education and
Outreach at 713-546-0708 for details.
Single tickets for Carmen, priced from $22 to $200, go on sale September 11. Tickets are available by telephone at
713-227-ARTS, out of town at 1-800-828-ARTS, in person at the Wortham Ticket Center located in the lobby of the
Wortham Theater Center, or on the website (after September 25) at www.houstongrandopera.org. Ticket prices include all
city surcharges.
Subscription packages are available by calling 713-546-0246 or on the website at
www.houstongrandopera.org.
Student and Senior Citizen rush tickets are $25 and $10 (depending on seat location - one ticket per ID) and go on sale 90
minutes before curtain time on the day of performance, subject to availability. To check availability, please call
713-227-ARTS or 1-800-828-ARTS the day of the performance. For weekend performances call the Friday before the
performance to check availability.
Call Houston Grand Opera at 713-546-0200, during business hours, for general information.
PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
All performances of Houston Grand Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen are held in the
Wortham Center’s Brown Theater, Texas at Smith, Houston, Texas.
Sung in French with English surtitles.