Houston Grand Opera
www.houstongrandopera.org
David Gockley, General Director
Experience the Romance and Drama
of Houston Grand Opera’s New Production of
WAGNER’S
TANNHAUSER
Production by Legendary Film Director Werner Herzog
Tenor Stig Andersen returns to Houston in Title Role
Experience the Romance and Drama of Houston Grand Opera's New Production of Wagner's TANNHAUSER, Production by Legendary Film Director Werner Herzog, Tenor Stig Andersen returns to Houston in the Title Role. TANNHAUSER is presented by The Houston Grand Opera through November 9th, 2001. Photo by G. M. Murillo.
Houston, Tx - Houston Grand Opera mounts Richard Wagner’s operatic masterpiece TANNHAUSER, its first production of
this classic since the inaugural season of the Wortham Theater Center. Opening on Friday, October 26, 2001, this sumptuous
production by famed German film director Werner Herzog (Aguirre, The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo) features the return
of acclaimed Danish tenor Stig Andersen (Tristan and Isolde, 2000).
TANNHAUSER is the tale of a minstrel - knight torn between the love of two women: pure, devout Elisabeth, sung by
Danish soprano Tina Kiberg, and the pagan goddess Venus, performed by American mezzo - soprano Michelle De Young in
her Houston Grand Opera debut. TANNHAUSER is sung by Danish tenor Stig Andersen, familiar to Houston audiences
from his 2000 American debut in the title role of Tristan and Isolde. The New York Times called Andersen’s performance
“rich and deep” and said it was “punctuated by eruptions of searing anguish (and) unfolded with spontaneity (and)
immediacy.” American baritone Christopher Schaldenbrand (Cold Sassy Tree, 2000) returns as TANNHAUSER’s friend
and fellow minstrel Wolfram von Eschenbach; Danish bass Stephen Milling (HGO debut) sings Elisabeth’s uncle and reigning
nobleman Landgraf Hermann, and American tenor Patrick Marques (HGO debut) sings minstrel Walther von der
Vogelweide.
Collaborating with Mr. Herzog are Enrico de Feo (Assistant to the Director), Production Coordinator Lucki Stipetic, Set
Designer Maurizio Balo, Costume Designer Franz Blumauer, and Lighting Designer Paul Pyant. The Houston Symphony will
perform its final scheduled production with Houston Grand Opera, led by American conductor John Fiore in his HGO debut.
Chorusmaster Richard Bado prepares the HGO Chorus.
TANNHAUSER opens on Friday October 26, 2001 at 7pm. Further performances are on October 28m, 31, November 3,
6, and 9, at 7pm and 1:30pm. Note early curtain time.
Experience the Romance and Drama of Houston Grand Opera's New Production of Wagner's TANNHAUSER, Production by Legendary Film Director Werner Herzog, Tenor Stig Andersen returns to Houston in the Title Role. TANNHAUSER is presented by The Houston Grand Opera through November 9th, 2001. Photo by G. M. Murillo.
ABOUT THE OPERA:
Based on two combined medieval legends, TANNHAUSER tells of a man who cannot choose between the pleasures of
passion and the faithfulness of pure love. At the royal music tournament bestowing Elisabeth’s hand as the prize, he bursts into
erotic song lauding the carnal pleasures of Venus. His chaste love Elisabeth is appalled, the town condemns him as an immoral
heathen, and the knights prepare to execute him. Only Elisabeth’s intervention saves him, and he is banished to seek
absolution from the Pope. His pilgrimage ends in vain when the Pope is scandalized and rejects him. TANNHAUSER returns
home, but too late: Elisabeth has sacrificed herself for his redemption. In despair, he falls dead beside his true love on her
funeral bier; angels appear, and we realize that Elisabeth’s sacrifice has won indeed TANNHAUSER’S redemption.
TANNHAUSER is considered one of Wagner’s most audience - friendly operas and represents, at its heart, the eternal
human struggle between virtue and vice.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
STIG ANDERSEN
STIG ANDERSEN (TANNHAUSER) is one of today’s most celebrated heroic tenors. He is a member of the Royal
Opera House of Copenhagen and has sung the roles of TANNHAUSER in Copenhagen and Munich; Lohengrin in
Copenhagen, Zurich, and Berlin; Peter Grimes in Copenhagen; Siegmund in Die Walkure in Chicago, Turin, and Berlin; the
title role of Siegfried in New York, London, and Amsterdam; Siegfried in Gotterdammerung in New York and London;
Parsifal in Cologne, Zurich, and Berlin; and Fidelio in Zurich, Munich, and at the Bregenz festival. Locally, Mr. Andersen was
most recently heard in Houston Grand Opera’s 2000 Tristan and Isolde, which he has also performed in Copenhagen, Berlin,
and Mannheim. He has recorded Schmid’s “Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln” and sung it in Munich, Zurich, Vienna and London.
Mr. Andersen has been featured in several television broadcasts of mostly Danish operas and has worked with such
conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christoph Eschenbach, Zubin Mehta, and Esa - Pekka Salonen, Sir
Georg Solti, and James Levine.
Danish soprano Tina Kiberg (Elisabeth) is a member of the Royal Opera House of Copenhagen, where her husband Stig
Andersen (above) is also a resident artist. She has performed Elisabeth in TANNHAUSER at the Bayreuth Festival and
Sieglinde in Die Walkure at Bayreuth, Tokyo, Geneva, Turin and Chicago. She routinely sings the Marschallin in Der
Rosenkavalier, the title role of Arabella, and Chrysothemis in Elektra, and regularly appears in Geneva, Berlin, and Dresden.
She has sungs Pamina in Die Zauberflote at The Metropolitan Opera and in Berlin. She sings at the Vienna State Opera and
Paris Opera, in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Munich, Brussels, and Seville. Among her recordings are Saul and David by
C. Nielsen conducted by Neemi Jarvi, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis conducted by Dorati and by Barenboim, as well as
Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. Ms. Kiberg was last heard in Houston in HGO’s 1992
Lohengrin.
American mezzo - soprano Michelle De Young (Venus) graduated from The Metropolitan Opera’s Young Artists program
and has since appeared with Glimmerglass Opera in the title role of a new production of Britten’s Rape of Lucretia directed
by Christopher Alden. At the Lyric Opera of Chicago, she sang Brangane in the revival of Francesca Zambello’s production
of Tristan und Isolde with Ben Heppner and Jane Eaglen in the title roles. She has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra,
Houston Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. DeYoung’s growing
discography includes Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah” with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin, Les
Troyens with the London Symphony Orchestra, Das Klagende Lied with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson
Thomas, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Cincinnati Symphony and Jesus Lopez Cobos.
Recently, American baritone Christopher Schaldenbrand (Wolfram von Eschenbach) made his Paris Opera debut as Dr.
Falke in Die Fledermaus and sang Albert in Werther in Detroit opposite Andrea Bocelli and Denyce Graves. He has sung
over 150 performances at The Metropolitan Opera as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte, Shaunard in La Boheme, Albert in
Werther, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. He has also sung with Stuttgart Opera, Seattle Opera, New York City Opera,
and Glimmerglass Opera, among others. He has appeared in recital at the Covent Garden Festival in London and has
performed Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and with the Orchestra of St.
Luke’s at Carnegie Hall. Houston audiences first heard Mr. Schaldenbrand create the role of Clayton McAllister in the world
premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree (2000).
Bass Stephen Milling (Landgraf Hermann), born in Copenhagen, became a member of the Royal Opera House of
Copenhagen in 1994, where his roles have included King Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Daland in Die Fliegende Hollander,
and Philip in Don Carlo. His debut at La Scala, as Don Fernando in Fideliio conducted by Riccardo Muti, brought immediate
re - engagement at the theater. He made his North American operatic debut as Fasolt in Das Rheingold and Hunding in Die
Walkure in the Ring cycle for Seattle Opera, directed by Stephen Wadsworth in 2001. Last Season, he appeared in both
Florence and Berlin as Sarastro in Die Zauberflote and made his U. K. debut as part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s
Berlioz festival, singing Narbal in Les Troyens under Sir Colin Davis. Mr Milling is making his Houston Grand Opera debut.
American tenor Patrick Marques (Walther von der Vogelweide) made his professional debut with Santa Fe Opera as the
High Priest in Idomeneo in 1999. He also appeared in Michigan Opera Theater’s production of Werther with Andrea Bocelli
and Denyce Graves and later returned for their productions of Der Rosenkavalier and Falstaff. Mr. Marques received his
training at The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia where he performed the title role in Albert Herring and the Male
Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia. Upcoming engagements include his debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in The
Abduction from the Seraglio and an appearance with the Santa Fe Symphony to sing the tenor part in Carmina Burana. This is
his debut with Houston Grand Opera.
Making his Houston Grand Opera debut is American conductor John Fiore, who has been the Chief conductor of the
Deutsche Opera - am - Rhein for three seasons and, in the summer of 2000, also became the General Music Director of the
Dusseldorf Symphony. Maestro Fiore will conduct seven productions this year for the Deutsche Oper - am - Rhein and will
lead the Dusseldorf Symphony in a two - week tour of China spanning seven cities. In the summer of 1996, stepping in for
Robert Shaw, he debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducting the Verdi Requiem. Maestro Fiore has guest -
conducted at The Metropolitan Opera for nearly a decade and most recently appeared to conduct Dvorak’s Rusalka and
Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. He is especially well known for leading twentieth - century works and appears often at Italy’s
leading houses.
WERNER HERZOG
Werner Herzog (Director), author and pre - eminent director of film and opera, is making his Houston Grand Opera debut.
He is world - renowned for such films as 1972’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God, 1978’s Nosferatu and 1982’s Fitzcarraldo. He
brings the same psychological exploration pervading his films to his opera productions, including Wagner’s Bayreuth, Rossini’s
La Donna del Lago at La Scala, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman at Opera Bastille, and most recently Fidelio at La Scala. Mr.
Herzog’s works are impacted by his unique media perspective, having grown up without television or film in a remote
mountain village in Bavaria. Later, his directing career was shaped by his years producing short films and studying at
Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He has written, produced and directed more than 40 films, published more than a dozen
books and directed as many operas.
Enrico de Feo (Assistant to the Director) has been on Werner Herzog’s team since 1997, helping to direct Herzog’s
productions of Tannhauser in Naples, Liege, Madrid, Baltimore, and Rio De Janiero; Die Zauberflote in Catania and
Baltimore, and Fidelio in Milan. He is also the stage director at the Vienna State Opera, where he directs the Italian repertoire
of the 19th century. He established his own theater company, dedicated especially to contemporary works. His recent
projects include Cosi fan tutte, Peter and the Wolf, and Lucia di Lammermoor.
Lucki Stipetic has produced over a dozen of Werner Herzog’s films since 1972, including Aguirre, the Wrath of God and
Fitzcarraldo. He has been Artistic Organizer or Associate Director on a number of Herzog’s opera productions, including the
1987 Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival and its remountings, The Flying Dutchman in Munich and at Opera Bastille, Die
Zauberflote at Catania, and this production of Tannhauser at Seville and its remountings in Naples and Houston. He is CEO of
Werner Herzog Film Productions.
Since 1971, set designer Maurizio Balo has created over 100 costume and set designs for both theater and opera. His first set
design for opera was The Damnation of Faust in Bologna in 1982. Since then, he has designed for all the major houses in the
world, including Milan, Venice, Naples, Florence, Paris, Verona, and Zurich. He designed The Metropolitan Opera’s La
Cenerentola in 1997 and collaborated with Werner Herzog on Tannhauser in Seville and Naples and Tristan und Isolde in
Genoa.
Costume designer Franz Blumauer works on cinema, theater, and opera productions. He designed the costumes for Werner
Herzog’s 1982 film Fitzcarraldo and for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Teatro Joao Caetano in Rio De
Janiero. He also designed for Herzog’s productions of The Flying Dutchman, die Zauberflote, and La Donna del Lago. He
recently worked at the Arena di Verona on Bellini’s Norma.
Lighting Designer Paul Pyant’s award - winning design credits encompass opera, theater and ballet. For Houston Grand
Opera he designed lighting for the world premiere of Sir Michael Tippett’s New Year (1990), Tosca (1996), the world
premiere of Daniel Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas (1996), Julie Taymor’s production of The Flying Dutchman (1998),
The Elixir of Love (2000), Don Carlo (2001), and the remounting of Florencia en el Amazonas (2001). Recent operatic
credits include productions for The Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Vienna State Opera, La Scala, English National
Opera and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. His theater awards include a Tony nomination for Best Lighting for Arcadia and a
Critics Circle Award nomination for Carousel.
As Houston Grand Opera’s Head of Music Staff and Chorus Master, Richard Bado has prepared choruses for over 95
productions. He made his professional conducting debut in 1989, leading HGO’s acclaimed production of Show Boat at the
newly restored Cairo Opera House and has conducted for several HGO mainstage productions including Cosi fan tutte, The
Tales of Hoffman, The Magic Flute, and Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. He has conducted at La Scala, the Paris Opera, the New
York City Opera, the Edinburgh Festival, and in Tokyo. An accomplished pianist, he has appeared in recital with Renee
Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Ramon Vargas, and Marcello Giordani. Mr. Bado also serves as music director for the Houston
Grand Opera Studio.
All performances for TANNHAUSER are held in the Wortham Center’s Brown Theater, Texas at Smith.
TANNHAUSER is sung in German 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 a 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 Houston Grand Opera 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 TANNHAUSER, priced from $18 to $225, are now on sale. Tickets are available by telephone
at 713-227-ARTS, out of town at 1-800-828-ARTS, on the website at www.houstongrandopera.org, or in person at
The Wortham Ticket Center located in the lobby of the Wortham Theater Center. Ticket prices include all city
surcharges.
Student and senior citizen rush tickets are $10 and $25 (depending on seat location, one ticket per ID) and go on
sale at 9:00am the day of performance or at 12 noon for Sunday performances, subject to availability. Tickets are
sold until curtain but must be purchased in person. 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.
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Experience the Romance and Drama of Houston Grand Opera's New Production of Wagner's TANNHAUSER, Production by Legendary Film Director Werner Herzog, Tenor Stig Andersen returns to Houston in the Title Role. TANNHAUSER is presented by The Houston Grand Opera through November 9th, 2001. Photo by G. M. Murillo.
PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
All performances of Houston Grand Opera’s production of Wagner’s TANNHAUSER are held in the Wortham
Center’s Brown Theater, Texas at Smith, Houston, TX.
Sung in German with English surtitles.
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PERFORMANCE DATES
Friday.................October 26, 2001............7pm
Sunday................October 28, 2001............1:30pm
Wednesday.........October 31, 2001.............7pm
Saturday.............November 3, 2001............7pm
Tuesday..............November 6, 2001............7pm
Friday.................November 9, 2001............7pm
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TICKET INFORMATION
- Single tickets for TANNHAUSER priced from $18 to $225 (inclusive of all city surcharges) are now on sale.
- Singlet 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 at www.houstongrandopera.org.
- Call 713-546-0200 during regular business hours for general information.
- Student and senior citizen rush tickets are $10 and $25 (depending on seat location - one ticket per ID) and go on sale at
9am the day of performance or at 12 noon for Sunday performances, subject to availability, please call 713-277-ARTS or
1-800-828-ARTS the day of the performance. For weekend performances, call the Friday before the performance to check
availability.
- Disabled access: 713-546-0246 or 1-800-346-4462; TDD: 713-546-0246 or 1-800-346-4462; Descriptive Services
713-546-0230.