Cast Announced for Robert Lepage Production of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables at BAM
(© Michael Cooper)
Casting has been announced for the U.S. premiere of director Robert Lepage’s production of Stravinsky’s The Nightingale and Other Short Fables, to be presented at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House, March 1-6.
The Nightingale, is a Russian conte lyrique based on the tale by Hans Christian Andersen, which is transformed by Lepage into a magical chinoiserie centered around a moonlit lake — created by filling the orchestra pit with nearly 12,000 gallons of water. Traditional pan-Asian water puppets, created by Tony and Emmy award-winning designer Michael Curry, float and are manipulated by the same singers whose roles they represent, telling the tale of the ethereal nightingale who persuades Death to spare the Emperor.
The program opens with Stravinsky’s short vocal and instrumental pieces: the jazz-tinged Ragtime, Pribaoutki, Two Poems of Konstantin Balmont, Berceuses du chat, Four Russian Peasant Songs, and Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet. The program continues with the satirical one-act opera-ballet The Fox, brought to life through shadow theater — an expressive and acrobatic art form drawing from Asian and African traditions — and concludes with The Nightingale.
The Nightingale cast includes soprano Laura Albino (The Cook), contralto Meredith Arwady (Death), tenor Lothar Odinius (Fisherman), soprano Olga Peretyatko (Nightingale), bass Robert Pomakov (Chamberlain), and bass Michael Uloth (Bonze). The ensemble also features bass Neil Craighead, mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta, baritone Adrian Kramer, tenor Adam Luther, and soprano Simone Osborne. The cast of The Fox includes baritone Peter Barrett, Adam Luther, and tenor Lothar Odinius.
The creative team will also include Carl Fillion (set), Mara Gottler (costumes), Etienne Boucher (lighting), and Johannes Debus (music director).
The production is from Canadian Opera Company, co-produced with Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Opéra national de Lyon, and Netherlands Opera in collaboration with Ex Machina.
For tickets and more information, click here.
