Program Notes }
Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at the Royal Opera
House; Count Almaviva at the Metropolitan Opera; and Idreno (Semiramide) at
the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and in his
debut at Royal Danish Opera. During his
long association with English National
Opera, he appeared as Tamino, Tom
Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress), Edgardo
(in David Alden’s acclaimed production of
Lucia di Lammermoor) and, most recently,
Hoffmann, in Richard Jones’ new production of The Tales of Hoffmann.
In concert, Banks has performed
Berlioz’ Grand Messe des Morts under Sir
Colin Davis and the London Symphony
Orchestra, and Britten’s War Requiem at
the Teatro alla Scala under Xian Zhang
and with the Orchestre Philharmonique
de Strasbourg under Jan Latham-Koenig.
Kr isti n H o eb er man n
Barry Banks is making his BSO Debut.
Michael Sumuel
Bass-baritone Michael
Sumuel opened his
2013–2014 season
with a return to
Houston Grand Opera in a production
of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus singing the
role of Frank, alongside Susan Graham.
This season also marks his debut with the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under
the baton of Edward Polochick and at
Central City Opera singing the title role
in Le Nozze di Figaro. After a successful performance with the Dayton Opera
in the 2012–2013 season, Sumuel will
return to perform as a featured soloist in
an “Around the World” New Year’s Eve
concert with the Dayton Philharmonic.
He will also be performing selected pieces
with Mercury Baroque Houston in a
project called “Napoleon and the Battle
of Nations.”
As a Houston Grand Opera Studio Artist, Sumuel appeared as Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the Motorcycle
Cop in Dead Man Walking, Antonio
in Le Nozze di Figaro, and a Lackey in
Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. He
also sang Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore,
Noble in Lohengrin, Sciarrone in Tosca
and Narumoff in Tchaikovsky’s Pique
Dame. Other operatic roles include Leporello in Don Giovanni and the title role
in Gianni Schicchi. Concert appearances
include performances with the Sarasota
Artist Series and Mercury Baroque as
soloist in Handel’s Messiah.
Sumuel’s competition accolades include the 2009 Fielder Grant for Career
Advancement and winner of the 2009
Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition.
At Wolf Trap Opera, Sumuel performed
the roles of Selim in Rossini’s Il turco in
Italia, Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Lelio in Wolf-Ferrari’s Le
donne curiose and has also been seen in
recital with pianist Steven Blier.
McDaniel College, St. Louis Church,
The Holocaust Museum in Washington,
D.C., The Visionary Arts Museum, St.
George’s Church in Bethesda, Catholic
Charities and the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra.
The Concert Artists of Baltimore
Singers last appeared with the BSO in
November 2012, performing Honegger's
Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher under the baton of
Marin Alsop and December 2012, performing Messiah, with Edward Polochick
conducting from the harpsichord.
Michael Sumuel is making his
BSO Debut.
Concert Artists of Baltimore
Founded by Edward Polochick and now
in its 27th season, the Concert Artists
of Baltimore (CAB) consists of a professional chamber orchestra and professional chamber chorus. The full ensembles
are featured in the Maestro series, with
performances at the Gordon Center For
Performing Arts in Owings Mills and St.
Pius X Church on York Road.
CAB also offers a chamber music
series, Music at the Mansion, with
performances at The Engineers Club,
Garrett-Jacobs Mansion at Mt.Vernon
Place in Baltimore. This series showcases
smaller forces, and often features unique
repertoire.
CAB is frequently hired for performances throughout the region by other
organizations, including the Lyric Opera
Baltimore, Moscow Ballet, The Cathedral
of Mary Our Queen, Temple Oheb Shalom, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions,
Concert Artists
of Baltimore
Handel
About the concert:
Messiah
George Frideric Handel
Born in Halle, Saxony (now Germany), Feb 23,
1685; died in London, April 4, 1759
Handel’s great oratorio Messiah has
become such a beloved musical icon in
the more than 270 years since its birth
in 1741 that it is not at all surprising that
many myths and legends have grown
up around it. We have been told that
Handel himself compiled its mostly
Biblical text or, alternatively, that it was
sent to him by a stranger; that its success
transformed him overnight from a bankrupt operatic has-been to England’s most
revered composer; that at its London
premiere the king himself rose during
the “Hallelujah Chorus” to express his
approbation. But Messiah’s real story is
much more complicated, though no less
fascinating.
In the early 1740s, Handel was indeed
in considerable professional and financial
November– December 2013 |
O v ertur e
33