Roberto Alagna photo credit: EMI Classics
Very welcome news for opera fans: after suddenly going on hiatus in January 2009 due to troubled finances, the greatly beloved Opera Orchestra of New York (OONY) announced that its signature programming of rarely heard repertoire would be returning in the 2010-11 season with two concert productions, one at Carnegie Hall and the other at Avery Fisher Hall.
The company was founded in 1967 by Eve Queler, who becomes conductor laureate in 2011. Her successor as music director, Alberto Veronesi, makes his debut with the group on October 25, 2010, with a double bill of Massenet's La Navarraise and Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. Famed tenor Roberto Alagna plays Araquil in the Massenet and Turridu in the Mascagni; star mezzo Elina Garanca plays Anita in La Navarraise, and acclaimed soprano Maria Guleghina appears as Santuzza in Cavalleria.
On March 2, 2011, the company presents Meyerbeer's L'Africaine at Lincoln Center, with acclaimed tenor Marcello Giordani and Italian soprano Chiara Taigi making her American debut.
OONY is also well-known for nurturing young talents; since 1978, singers who have worked with the organization include Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Jose Carreras, Barbara Hendricks, Jane Eaglen, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Dwayne Croft, Aprile Millo, Vivica Genaux, Olga Borodina, Stephanie Blythe, and Dolora Zajick. Continuing that tradition, OONY will present the New York recital debut of soprano Meagan Miller at Merkin Concert Hall on February 9, 2011.
The company's board reports that OONY is now free of debts and is currently raising the $1.25-1.5 million needed for the coming season.
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by Anastasia Tsioulcas
