SAN FRANCISCO (November 4, 2011)—San Francisco Opera presents encore performances of Giacomo Puccini’sTurandot on November 18, 22 and 25 at the War Memorial Opera House. The lavish production, featuring David Hockney’s dazzling sets and Ian Falconer’s fanciful costumes returns with a new cast including, Susan Foster as Turandot and Walter Fraccaro as Calaf. San Francisco Opera Resident Conductor Giuseppe Finzi leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
The cast features American soprano Susan Foster in the title role opposite Italian tenor Walter Fraccaro, who returns to the Company as Calaf. Adler Fellow Leah Crocetto reprises the role of Liù. Susan Foster, whose “acting is as impressive as her powerful, well-controlled, emotionally compelling voice” (Washington Post), makes her first San Francisco Opera appearance as the Chinese princess. The American soprano has previously appeared as Turandot with the Greek National Opera and at the Savonlinna Festival. Recent career highlights include Isolde in Tristan und Isolde and Helmwige in Die Walküre at Los Angeles Opera as well as and covering Brünnhilde for that company’s recent Ring cycle. Foster also covered Brünnhilde for San Francisco Opera’s Ring cycle in 2011. She has also appeared in Verdi’s Requiem and as Sieglinde in a concert version of Die Walküre in Baden Baden.
Italian tenor Walter Fraccaro returns to San Francisco Opera as Calaf, the prince who bravely risks his life in order to win Turandot’s love. Fraccaro made his San Francisco Opera debut in 1997 as Radames in Aida and returned as Don José in Carmen in 1998 and Cavaradossi in Tosca in 2002. His recent engagements include Cavaradossi at Torre del Lago Festival and in Zurich, Radames at Milan’s La Scala and Berlin’s Linden Opera, and the title role ofOtello in Trieste, Italy. Other career highlights include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera, Radames in Berlin and Luxor and Cavaradossi at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
A winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Leah Crocetto reprises her September role as the slave girl Liù. The third-year Adler Fellow has previously appeared with San Francisco Opera in Suor Angelica,Aida and Cyrano de Bergerac. Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic; Anna in Maometto II with the Santa Fe Opera and the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia with Houston Grand Opera.Earlier this year, Crocetto made her role debut as Leonora in Il Trovatore with the Bordeaux National Opera and represented the United States in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
San Francisco Opera Resident Conductor Giuseppe Finzi conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in this production. Finzi made his Company debut in 2008 conducting The Elixir of Love for Families, and returned to lead performances of La Bohème, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Faust, La Fanciulla del West, and Aida as well as the Company's performances at the 2009 and 2011 Stern Grove Festivals. He made his conducting debut in 2003 with Tosca at the Teatro Rendano in Cosenza and returned in 2004 for La Traviata. He has since led productions ofL’Elisir d’Amore and Madama Butterfly in Catanzaro, Rigoletto and La Traviata in Tirana, L’Elisir d’Amore in Foggia, and Carmen in Calabria and Fidenza. Other career highlights include Così fan tutte in Brindisi, Milan’s Piccolo Teatro, and at Tokyo’s Kunitachi University. Maestro Finzi returns to San Francisco Opera this season to conduct performances of Carmen and Carmen for Families.
Puccini’s final opera, Turandot features some of the composer’s most glorious music, including the stirring anthem “Nessun dorma.” This colorful production, San Francisco Opera’s much-beloved co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago, brings to life the passionate tale of a princess whose cruelty masks her fear of love. Directed by Garnett Bruce, the production features designed sets by renowned artist David Hockney, who has also created stage designs for the Glyndebourne Festival, La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, and costumes by Ian Falconer.
Sung in Italian with English supertitles, the three performances of Turandot are scheduled for November 18 (8 p.m.), November 22 (8 p.m.) and November 25 (8 p.m.).
New Cast Features Susan Foster and Walter Fraccaro
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