CincinnatiArts.com

from the press release...

Tickets for the 2007 May Festival will go for sale at 10 AM this Tuesday, April 17, at the Music Hall Box Office, via telephone by calling (513) 381-3300, or by visiting www.mayfestival.com. Subscriptions are available now. May Festival performances are 8 PM on May 18, 19, 25, & 26 at historic Music Hall in downtown Cincinnati, and 7 PM on May 20 at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington (limited seating). Ticket prices range from $15.50 to $84.00 for Music Hall performances, and tickets for the Cathedral Concert are $27.

Programs for the 2007 Festival include a full-length concert presentation of Verdi's Il Trovatore with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Leonora on May 19, and a unique multimedia presentation of Hector Berlioz' L'enfance du Christ on May 25. Other highlights of this year's May Festival include choral works of Haydn, Bach, Gluck and Rossini, and performances by some of today's established and rising stars in opera such as Michelle DeYoung, Rodrick Dixon, Ellie Dehn, Morris Robinson, Franco Farina, Brian Mulligan and David Pittsinger, among others.

Following the popular inclusion of supertitles at the 2006 May Festival concert presentation of The Abduction from the Seraglio, organizers have added supertitles for each of the four Music Hall performances for the 2007 season (May 18, 19, 25, 26). Displaying the translated text on screens will further enhance the Festival experience, enabling concertgoers to more easily follow the stories and better understand the music's emotional basis.

The Cincinnati May Festival, founded in 1873 and led by Music Director James Conlon since 1979, will comprise four different concerts spanning two consecutive weekends in Cincinnati's historic Music Hall, with an additional Sunday evening concert program at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky, on May 20. The 2007 season is presented by The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. / U.S. Bank Foundation and sponsored by Duke Energy.

The 2007 Cincinnati May Festival opens Friday, May 18 with a performance of Franz Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Seasons at Music Hall. Premiered in spring of 1801, this choral drama is Haydn's final major work, and a testament to humankind's intricate relationship with nature. James Conlon conducts the May Festival Chorus, soprano Ellie Dehn, making her May Festival debut, tenor John Aler, baritone Brian Mulligan, also making his May Festival debut, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. This concert is sponsored by National City.

On Saturday, May 19 at Music Hall the May Festival will present a complete concert version of Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore (The Troubador). A nation is torn apart when two mortal enemies, driven by their desire for the same beautiful woman, Leonora, engage in betrayal and murder, all the while unaware of the extraordinary secret that binds them. Renowned soprano Sondra Radvanovsky will sing the role of Leonora in her May Festival debut. Hailed as one the great Verdi singers of the new generation, Ms. Radvanovsky has given acclaimed performances in major opera houses around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vienna Staatsoper and Deutsche Oper Berlin. The performance will be led by James Conlon, who built a reputation as an acclaimed opera conductor through his nine year post as Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera, and through regular appearances at the world's great opera houses. The performance also marks the May Festival debut of tenor Franco Farina, singing the role of Manrico.
Additional cast members include Donnie Ray Albert (Count Di Luna), Marianne Cornette (Azucena), Morris Robinson (Ferrando), Michèle Losier (Ines), and Anthony Zoeller (Ruiz), all joined by the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. This concert is sponsored by Harry and Linda Fath.

On Sunday, May 20, Director of Choruses Robert Porco leads the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Bach's Cantata No. 182, Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, as well as Bach's Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, a gorgeous setting of Psalm 117. These works will be performed at the beautiful Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky - the type of venue for which they were originally intended. Soloists are mezzo-soprano Michèle Losier, tenor John Aler and making his May Festival debut, bass-baritone David Pittsinger. The May Festival Youth Chorus, under the direction of James Bagwell, opens this special concert with three transcendent works: Ecce quomodo moritur justus by Jacob Handl; Cantate Domino by Hans Leo Hassler; Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen by Heinrich Isaac.
This concert is sponsored by the Scripps Howard Foundation.

Friday, May 25, James Conlon leads a special multimedia performance of Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ at Music Hall. The work, which tells the story of the birth of Christ and which Berlioz described as a trilogie sacrée, will be accompanied by a visual presentation assembled by curators at the Cincinnati Art Museum displaying various artists' depictions of the nativity story projected onto a screen. James Conlon leads the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, with mezzo-soprano Michèle Losier, tenor John Aler, baritone William McGraw and bass-baritone David Pittsinger. This concert is sponsored by Len and Sherie Marek.

The 2007 Cincinnati May Festival will close on Saturday, May 26 with a concert featuring several of today's brightest stars of the opera world in Gluck's Orpheus & Eurydice (Acts 2 & 3) and Rossini's Stabat Mater.

During the first half of the concert, Orpheus arrives in the underworld to save his beloved Eurydice from death, armed only with the gift of song. This legendary love story has inspired artists since ancient times, and Christoph Willibald Gluck's operatic setting has been an audience favorite for centuries. Selections from Orpheus and Eurydice were notably featured during the inaugural May Festival in 1873. Celebrated mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung (pictured), making her May Festival debut, performs the role of Orpheus, and Eurydice will be played by soprano Ellie Dehn. The role of Amor will be sung by mezzo-soprano Michèle Losier.
Maestro James Conlon conducts members of the May Festival Chorus, the May Festival Youth Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

During the second half of the concert, Rossini's Stabat Mater will feature soloists Sondra Radvanovsky, Michelle DeYoung, tenor Rodrick Dixon (pictured left), and bass Morris Robinson (pictured right), as James Conlon conducts the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In this uncharacteristically operatic setting of the Stabat Mater, Rossini colors the well-known text with moving choruses and arias, striking an emotional chord that has resonated with audiences since the work's triumphant 1842 premiere. The finale concert is sponsored by The Macy's Fund of the Federated Foundation.

Pre-concert Recitals
A very special feature of the May Festival is the opportunity to hear many of the world's outstanding singers performing gems of the vocal literature in pre-concert recitals before each of the four Music Hall concerts, which this year fall on May 18, 19, 25 and 26.

Acclaimed pianist Michael Chertock will accompany four of this year's guest soloists in recital performances held on the stage at 7 PM prior to each of the Music Hall concerts. These pre-concert recitals are free to ticket holders for the evening's performance. The pre-concert recitalists for 2007 are:

May 18 Pre-concert Recital - William McGraw is a celebrated baritone who has given lauded performances both nationally and internationally, and also a sought-after professor of vocal studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Mr. McGraw will also be perform the roles of Joseph and Polydorus in the May 25 concert presentation of Berlioz' L'enfance du Christ at this year's Festival.

May 19 Pre-concert Recital - Making his May Festival debut, baritone Brian Mulligan has been praised by Opera News for his "velvety, evenly and effortlessly produced baritone and nuance-rich phrasing" and by Opera Now for his "commanding presence [and] booming sound." In 2006, Mr. Mulligan won the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Vocal Competition, only the third American in the competition’s history to win this coveted prize. He will also be the baritone soloist for the concert presentation of Haydn's The Seasons on May 18 at this year's Festival.

May 25 Pre-concert Recital - With numerous concert and television appearances under his belt, Rodrick Dixon has established himself as one of America’s favorite tenors. Noted for his remarkable versatility, Mr. Dixon has received praise for both his work as a soloist, and as part of the famed Cook, Dixon & Young trio.
According to The Chicago Tribune, his voice "has a quality like polished steel under tension -flexible and ringingly resonant." He will also be the tenor soloist in the May Festival concert presentation of Rossini's Stabat Mater on May 26.

May 26 Pre-concert Recital - Grammy-winner John Aler is a world-renowned American singer who is regarded as one of the most acclaimed and experienced lyric tenors on the international stage. A perennial audience favorite, Mr. Aler has appeared at the May Festival 20 times (more than any other soloist in the Festival’s 134-year history), dating back to his 1979 debut. The 2007 Festival marks his 21st. Mr.
Aler will also be the tenor soloist in the May Festival concert presentation of Haydn's The Seasons on May 18, Bach's Cantata No. 182 a the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption on May 20, and will also sing the roles of the narrator and centurion in Berlioz' L'enfance du Christ on May 25.

Established in 1873, the May Festival is directly responsible for the development of Cincinnati's modern musical life. Music Hall, the city's primary concert venue, was built specifically to house the Festival's performances. The prestigious roster of Festival Music Directors has included, among others, Theodore Thomas, Max Rudolf and James Levine.