The Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by the incomparable Zubin Mehta, performs Verdi’s Requiem in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the composer’s death in December. Concerts take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Thursday, December 20, Friday, December 21, and Saturday, December 22 at 8 p.m. Giuseppe Verdi’s colossal and dramatic Requiem features soloists Fiorenza Cedolins, Dolora Zajick, Stuart Neill and Carlo Colombara joining the Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The concerts also feature Upbeat Live, a pre-concert discussion in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s Grand Hall one hour before each performance.
Tickets ($12-$78) are available at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office, all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons-May, Tower Records, Ritmo Latino, Tu Música, and selected Wherehouse locations), and by credit card phone order at 213/365-3500. Tickets are also available on-line at laphil.com. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount; call 323/850-2050. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available 2 hours prior to the performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts. For further information, please call 323/850-2000.
Verdi composed the Requiem in honor of the Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni, a man whom he respected deeply, and the work had its premiere in 1874, the year Verdi, a national hero himself, was elected to the Italian Senate. With its white-hot moments (such as the thunderous Dies Irae) alternating with some of the most serene of Verdi’s music, it stands alongside the composer’s later operas as a masterpiece.
ZUBIN MEHTA currently holds the music directorships of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. His long association with the Israel Philharmonic began in 1969, and in 1981 he was given a lifetime appointment with that orchestra. Mehta served as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1962-1978, during which time he amassed a large discography, took the Philharmonic on tours throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, and developed a strong connection to the Southern California community. In 1978, he became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, a post he held for 13 years, longer than any director in that orchestra’s history. Mehta’s distinguished career includes guest conducting appearances at the world’s major opera houses and concert halls. In addition, he has won renown as an international activist, utilizing musical performance as a forum to promote peace and harmony worldwide.
Soprano FIORENZA CEDOLINS studied with Maestro Roberto Benaglio. She made her debut in 1989 at the Teatro Petruzzelli as Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, then she sang Madama Butterfly in Tunisia, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and Leonora in Il Trovatore in Prague. In 1996 she was one of the winners of the Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition, and had the opportunity to sing Tosca with the Opera Company of Philadelphia next to the great tenor. Recent roles included Norma in Catania, Adriana Lecouvreur in Naples, Manon Lescaut in Genoa, and Aida in Naples and Verona. She has recorded Norma and Cilea’s Gloria, an opera that she also sang at the Festival of San Gimignano.
Mezzo soprano DOLORA ZAJICK is a true dramatic Verdi mezzo. She has sung the three big Verdi roles, Azucena, Amneris and Eboli (in Trovatore, Aida and Don Carlo respectively) all over the world with many companies including the Metropolitan, Chicago’s Lyric, the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Berlin Staatsoper, Naples, Florence, Barcelona, Rome, Bilbao, Madrid, and at the Orange Festival, Rome’s Caracalla Festival, and Verona’s Arena. Future roles include Donizetti’s La Favorita, and Dalila in Saint-Saens’ Samson et Dalila. Among her recordings are Aida, Trovatore and Don Carlo, all three with Levine and the Met Opera (for Sony), La Forza del Destino and the Verdi Requiem, both with Muti (for EMI), Alexander Nevsky with Rostropovich and Herodiade with Gergiev both also for Sony. On television she has been seen in Aida and Trovatore both from the Met, and on more than one occasion in Verdi’s Requiem.
American tenor STUART NEILL’s engagements bring him to the finest opera houses and concert halls for performances with leading conductors and orchestras. He has sung with the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Rodolfo in La Bohème; Dallas Opera in Faust, the Metropolitan Opera as Edgardo in Central Park performances of Lucia di Lammermoor; Palm Beach Opera as Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon; Atlanta Symphony in the title role of La Damnation de Faust; and Dresden's Staatskapelle in Berlioz' Te deum.
Neill debuted at Teatro alla Scala as Edgardo in Lucia; with L’Opera de Paris/Bastille as the Italian Tenor in Rosenkavalier; and with Covent Garden as Riccardo in Verdi's Oberto. He rnade his New York recital debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in January 1996. The Verdi Requiem has been the vehicle for rnany debuts, including with the New York Philharmonic in performances led by Sir Colin Davis and the RAI under Carlo Maria Giulini. Neill can be heard on several recordings, including Bellini's II pirata for Berlin Classics, Verdi's Oberto for Philips Classics and Stravinsky’s Persephone with the San Francisco Symphony under Tilson Thomas for RCA Red Seal.
Italian bass CARLO COLOMBARA studied voice in Bologna and began his operatic career in 1987. He has established an international career performing in major concert and opera houses throughout the world including Teatro alla Scala, the Wiener Staatsoper, The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, The Bolshoi Theater, The Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Covent Garden, Royal Festival Hall (London), Teatro Comunale (Florence), la Fenice (Venice) Teatro di San Carlo (Naples), The Concertgebouw, the Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich), Edinburg Festival, Arena (Verona), and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He has sung most of the important Verdi Repertiore, including Zaccaria, Fiesco, Fillipo II, Attila, Silva and Procida. He has also sung Mefistofele in Faust, Tiresia in Oedipus Rex and Basilio in The Barber of Seville. Recent engagements include the Verdi Requiem at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Attila, Faust and Jérusalem in Genoa, Macbeth and Simon Boccanegra in Munich and Ernani in Madrid. His discography includes Turandot and Lucia di Lammermoor (with Zubin Mehta) and the Verdi Requiem.
EDITORS - PLEASE NOTE:
Thursday, December 20, 8 PM
Friday, December 21, 8 PM
Saturday, December 22, 8 PM
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Los Angeles Philharmonic
ZUBIN MEHTA, conductor
FIORENZA CEDOLINS, soprano
DOLORA ZAJICK, mezzo-soprano
STUART NEILL, tenor
CARLO COLOMBARA, bass
LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE
VERDI: Requiem
Upbeat Live, a free pre-concert discussion, takes place one hour prior to performances.
Single tickets ($12-$78) are available at the Philharmonic’s Music Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons-May, Tower Records, Ritmo Latino, Tu Música, and selected Wherehouse locations), and by credit card phone order at 213/365-3500. Tickets are also available on-line at www.laphil.com. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available 2 hours prior to the performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts. For further information, please call 323/850-2000.
Elizabeth Hinckley, (323) 850-2047; Rachelle Roe, (323) 850-2032