Lise Lindstrom to Sing Senta in Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer Replacing Petra Maria Schnitzer

courtesy of the San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera today announced a casting change in the Company’s upcoming production of Richard Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman). American soprano Lise Lindstrom will make her San Francisco Opera Debut as Senta in the Company’s upcoming production, opening October 22 for seven performances, replacing Petra Maria Schnitzer, who has withdrawn from the production for health reasons. A case of bronchitis and swollen vocal cords has prevented Ms. Schnitzer from rehearsing for what would have been a debut in the role.
American soprano Lise Lindstrom makes her San Francisco Opera debut as Senta, a role she has performed with New Orleans Opera, Utah Opera, and Polish National Opera. She has been widely praised for her performances in the title role of Turandot at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, where she just opened their new season in September; Milan’s La Scala; the Metropolitan Opera; the Arena di Verona; les Chorégies d’Orange; Deutsche Oper Berlin; and in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Miami, and Dallas. The Bay Area native’s career highlights include the title role of Salome at the Vienna State Opera, Turin’s Teatro Regio, and San Diego Opera; Brünnhilde (Die Walküre) at Palermo’s Teatro Massimo; the title role of Tosca with Glimmerglass Opera; Elisabeth and Venus (Tannhäuser) with Greek National Opera; Magda (The Consul) with Arizona Opera; Ricke (Franchetti’s Germania) with Deutsche Oper Berlin; and the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos with Des Moines Metro Opera. On the concert stage, Lindstrom has been a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony and at New York’s Bard College and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Future seasons include leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Montreal Opera, San Diego Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and Hamburg State Opera. Lindstrom holds degrees from San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Der Fliegende Holländer, Wagner’s mythic tale of a condemned ship captain and the woman who will do anything to redeem him, stars bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, who thrilled San Francisco audiences as a powerful Jokanaan in 2009’s Salome. Completing the cast are English tenor Ian Storey (Siegfried in 2011’s Götterdämmerung) as Erik and Icelandic bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as Daland. San Francisco Opera Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers conducts and Petrika Ionesco (who directed and designed 2010’s Cyrano de Bergerac) directs a new production he also designed, with costumes by Lili Kendaka. This inventive co-production with Belgium’s Opéra Royal de Wallonie has been extensively enhanced since its 2011 premiere in Liège to further develop the vision of the director and has been expanded to make use of the space available on the War Memorial Opera House stage. S. Katy Tucker, who previously designed projections for San Francisco Opera’s 2011 Ring cycle and world premiere of Heart of a Soldier, has created new projections utilizing our recently acquired state-of-the-art projection equipment. Der Fliegende Holländer is presented as part of the Company’s celebration of Richard Wagner’s bicentennial birthday celebration.
San Francisco Opera Guild will present an Insight Panel Discussion featuring members of the cast and production team from Der Fliegende Holländer. The discussion will take place on Monday, October 21 at 6 p.m. in the Concert Hall at San Francisco Conservatory (50 Oak Street). Insight panels are free for Opera members and $5 for the general public; tickets can be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to the discussion.
Single tickets for San Francisco Opera’s 2013–14 Season are priced from $23 to $385.  Tickets may be purchased at sfopera.com or through the San Francisco Opera Box Office [301 Van Ness Avenue (at Grove Street), or by phone at (415) 864-3330]. Standing Room tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on the day of each performance; tickets are $10 each, cash only.