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Opera Aria Gala
On Tuesday 8th March, the enchanting Australian soprano Danielle de Niese shall be descending on the Dubai Opera for an evening of operatic excellence. For the first part of the concert, the soprano will be presenting a series of seminal arias from some of the most beloved composers in the opera canon, including the spellbinding ‘Parto parto ma tu ben mio’ from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito; George Frideric Handel’s emotive ‘Lascia ch'io pianga’ from his 1705 opera Almira; Mozart’s enchanting ‘Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata’ from Don Giovanni – which, though hard to believe, was not initially meant to be part of the opera but was composed and included by Mozart on the specific request of the famed soprano Caterina Cavallieri, who wanted a reason to show off the unique qualities of her voice – and ‘Una Voce Poco Fa’ from Gioachino Rossini's beloved l barbiere di Siviglia, in which the young Rosina expresses her love for Lindoro in a masterful example of bel canto. These pieces will be interlaced with a number of orchestral works, including the ‘Overture’ from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, famously composed by the brilliant composer at the last minute on the eve of the opera’s premiere, and the ‘Overture’ from Rossini’s L'italiana in Algeri, which will be interpreted by Dmitry Yablonsky and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (JSO), who shall be accompanying de Niese over the course of the whole concert.
For the second half of the evening, meanwhile, de Niese will start off proceedings with ‘Air des bijoux’ from Charles Gounod 's Faust, before the JSO presents Pietro Mascagni’s lively and foreboding ‘Intermezzo’ from his Cavalleria Rusticana. Georges Bizet's ‘Habanera’ then follows suit, taken from his widely popular 1875 opera comique Carmen, with the aria, which definitively announces the entrance of the title character, marking the perfect vehicle for de Niese’s powerful voice. The orchestra shall then take centre stage once more, treating the audience to a performance of the ‘Overture’ from Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco, before the soprano closes off the evening with two consecutive arias, the first being ‘Summertime’ from George Gershwin’s modern opera Porgy and Bess, which has transcended opera to become a staple in the jazz tradition with thousands of different recordings being produced over the years, and the evocative ‘Song to the Moon’ from Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, which sees the title character, a fairy in the throes of a forbidden passion with a mortal, beg the moon to tell the prince of her love.
Programme:
W. Mozart
Parto, Parto
from Clemenza Di Tito
Gf. Handel
Lascia Ch’io Pianga
W. Mozart
Overture from Don Giovanni
Mi Tradi Quel Alma Ingrata
From Don Giovanni
G. Rossini
Overture
from The Italian in Algiers
Una Voce Poco Fa
From Barbiere Di Siviglia
C. Gounod
Air De Bijou from Faust
P. Mascagni
Intermezzo
from Cavalleria Rusticana
G. Bizet
Habanera
from Carmen
G. Verdi
Overture
from Nabucco
G. Gershwin
Summertime
from Porgy And Bess
A. Dvorak
Song To The Moon
from Rusalka
Encore:
G. Puccini
O Mio Babbino Caro
Dmitry Yablonsky
Grammy nominated conductor, cellist and conductor Dmitry Yablonksy was born in Moscow into a musical family. He began playing the cello when he was 5 years old and was accepted to the Central Music School for gifted children. At the age of 9 he gave his orchestral debut playing Haydn’s cello concerto. Since then, his career had taken him to the most important stages in the world, such as the Carnegie Hall, La Scala, Moscow Great Hall, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall, Taiwan National Hall, Theatre Champs Elysees,, Tokyo Opera City Hall among others. He has collaborated with many world renown artists as Monserrat Caballe, Roberto Alagna, Olga Borodina and many more.
Dmitry started to conduct at age 26 and has conducted more then 50 orchestras all over the world including The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he made 4 cd’s. Dmitry Yablonsky has studied cello with Isaak Buravsky, Lorne Monroe, David Soyer, Aldo Parisot and Zara Nelsova. He also took master classes with Mstislav Rostropovich, Janos Starker, Andre Navarra, Maurice Gendron, Misha Schneider among others. His conducting teachers have been Otto Werner Muller, Yuri Simonov and Gennady Rozhdestvensky. He has participated in many festivals all over the world including Marlboro Festival. He has recorded more then 90 CD’s as cellist and conductor to great critical acclaim.
He is an Artistic Director of Gabala Music Festival, Puigcerda Music Festival and Wandering Music Stars Festival.
Dmitry Yablonsky is Music Director of Kiev Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra.
Since fall 2016, he is teaching cello and chamber music at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University and has been recently named Head of International Relations of the same University. Dmitry plays two cellos: a Joseph Filius Andrea Guarneri and a Matteo Goffriller.
Danielle de Niese
Soprano
Danielle de Niese has been hailed as “opera’s coolest soprano” by New York Times Magazine and “not just a superb performer, but a phenomenal one” by Opera News. A multi-faceted artist, de Niese has gained wide recognition for her superb stagecraft, assured singing and her ability to communicate on every level. She regularly appears on the world’s most prestigious opera and concert stages and is a prolific recording artist, TV personality and philanthropist.
In the 2019/20 season de Niese makes a highly anticipated debut at Teatro alla Scala as Cleopatra in Robert Carsen’s new production of Giulio Cesare, one of her signature roles. She also returns home to Los Angeles, where she made her operatic debut at the age of 15 to sing the title role in the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s highly anticipated new opera Eurydice as well as making a hugely exciting role debut as Blanche in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Dialogues des Carmélites at Glyndebourne.
In the previous season she returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago, to sing Musetta La bohème in Richard Jones’ acclaimed production, a role for which she garnered huge acclaim at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She also starred as Norina in Laurent Pelly’s production of Don Pasquale at La Monnaie and made her role debut as Cendrillon at Glyndebourne in a new production by Fiona Shaw. De Niese also made a hugely successful west end debut in as Aldonza and Dulcinea Man of La Mancha alongside Kelsey Grammer at the London Coliseum. On the recital platform she appeared at the Cheltenham Festival in their 75th anniversary season.
Recent highlights include a sensational debut as Hanna Glawari with Opera Australia in a new production of Merry Widow, first presented in Melbourne and reopening in Sydney with a gala performance on New Year’s Eve; a return to Royal Opera House where she sang her first Musetta to huge public and critical acclaim; Norina Don Pasquale at Wiener Staatsoper; the hugely successful Wonderful Town with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, which was subsequently released on CD and for which she was nominated for the Opus Klassik Female Artist of the Year. Other concert appearances include successful solo tours in the Middle East and in Asia; an opera gala with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra; headlining the BBC Biggest Weekend at Scone Palace in Perth; and a chamber music evening curated by De Niese, part of the reopening of the Queen Elisabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre where together with her guests Menahem Pressler, Sir James Galway, Mark Simpson
and the Navarra String Quartet she performed music by Roussel, Schubert and Chausson.
Further successes include a double header for the BBC Proms, singing at the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall opposite Jonas Kaufmann, broadcast worldwide, and at Proms in the Park in Hyde Park as well as appearances at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago and gala concerts with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and in St Petersburg at ‘Classics at the Palace Square’. Audiences in the UK have heard her in recital with Julius Drake at the Barbican, the Snape Proms and at the Birmingham Conservatoire as part of the Celebrity Recital Series. Her operatic engagements included the world premiere of Jimmy López’s Bel Canto at Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, her role debut as Donna Elvira Don Giovanni with Semperoper Dresden, Norina Don Pasquale in her company debut with Wiener Staatsoper, Adina L’elisir d'amore at the Opera national du Rhin, Rodelinda and Poppea Agrippina at Theater an der Wien and the new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia as Rosina at the Glyndebourne Festival and BBC Proms. Further operatic appearances include Concepción L’heure espagnole and L’Enfant L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Norina Don Pasquale, Adina L’Elisir d’amore at Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Ariel The Enchanted Island, and Despina Così fan tutte , all at the Metropolitan Opera New York; the title role L'incoronazione di Poppea at Teatro Real Madrid; Partenope and Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro at San Francisco Opera; the title role of Semele at Theâtre des Champs-Elysees; the title role of La Calisto at Bayerische Staatsoper; and Poppea Agrippina at Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona.
Born in Australia to parents of Sri Lankan and Dutch heritage, de Niese, became at the age of eighteen, the youngest ever singer to enter the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. One year later she made her Metropolitan Opera debut under James Levine, as Barbarina in Jonathan Miller’s acclaimed new production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. On the strength of her performance, de Niese went on to make major debuts at the Opéra National de Paris, Saito Kinen Festival and Netherlands Opera. In 2005 de Niese made her Glyndebourne Festival debut as Cleopatra in Sir David McVicar’s production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare and was catapulted to international fame. She has since reprised the role in the 2009 Glyndebourne revival, and in 2013 at the Metropolitan Opera, always to critical praise.
A prolific recording artist, her debut recording for Decca, Handel Arias, was awarded the prestigious Orphée d'Or from and the much-coveted ECHO Klassik award, as well as earning her a Classical Brit Award nomination for Female Artist of the Year. The Mozart Album, Diva, and Beauty of the Baroque followed.
A TV and media personality, De Niese won her first Emmy at the age of 16, when hosting a weekly arts showcase for teenagers at a Los Angeles local television. Her many TV appearances received widespread attention whilst her BBC documentaries such as Diva Diaries, The Birth of an Opera and the most recent and highly praised Unsung Heroines attest her extraordinary passion for the artform she represents and tireless commitment to bringing new audiences to it.
Offstage, de Niese is an advocate for children’s rights and a passionate philanthropist and has been named by Marie Claire magazine on its influential list of “Women on Top”. She is an Ambassador for HRH The Prince of Wales’ Foundation for Children and the Arts, a patron of Future Talent, which assists young musicians and singers with financial support and guidance and is an Artist Member of the Mannes Board of Governors. For the past year, de Niese has also been serving as an official Ambassador Voice for the International Rescue Committee.
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, IBA was established in 1936 as a small studio ensemble, which grew into the Palestine Broadcasting Service Orchestra. With the foundation of the State of Israel the orchestra became the national radio orchestra, known as the Kol Israel Orchestra. In the 1970s, the orchestra was expanded and became the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Broadcasting Authority. The orchestra was the first to perform in Israel the works of Sofia Gubaidolina, Henri Dutilleux, Alfred Schnittke and others. Through the years some of the greatest musicians have performed with the orchestra, among them Arthur Rubinstein, Igor Markevitch, Otto Klemperer, Henryk Szeryng, Isaac Stern, Radu Lupu and Yefim Bronfman. One of the most notable premières performed by the orchestra was The Seven Gates of Jerusalem by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, conducted by Lorin Maazel, which was composed for the finale of the Jerusalem 3000 celebrations. This was a joint venture with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. The orchestra often tours in Europe and the United States, and has played in some of the most prestigious venues.
Recently JSO had successful tours to USA, where concerts took place from Florida to Massachusetts and for the first time a tour in Japan, both tours with Dmitry Yablonsky as conductor and soloist.
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