FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - OCTOBER 9, 2018

 

OPERADELAWARE TO BE FEATURED ON NATIONAL RADIO BROADCAST ON NOV. 17

 

The company’s 2017 performance of SEMIRAMIDE will air as part of WFMT RADIO NETWORK OPERA SERIES

Wilmington, Del. — On Nov. 17, 2018, OperaDelaware’s 2017 Festival performance of Rossini’s Semiramide (recorded live at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington) will air as part of the WFMT (Chicago) Radio Network Opera Series. The nationally broadcast series, which began in May and runs until November, aims to fill the year with great opera content and is designed to complement the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. Local listeners can tune in via WRTI in Philadelphia on Nov. 17. (Check your local listings for air time.)

The broadcast is hosted by William Berger, on-air commentator for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.  

“This kind of national exposure shines a light on the company and the amazing art being produced right here in Wilmington,” said Brendan Cooke, OperaDelaware’s General Director. “We are so proud of this production and are thrilled to share our work with a larger audience.”

OperaDelaware’s production of Semiramide was part of the company’s 2017 Festival at The Grand, a celebration of the 225th anniversary of composer Gioachino Rossini’s birth. The Festival also featured critically-acclaimed performances of La Cenerentola and Petite Messe Solennelle.  

Andrew Moravcsik of Opera Today said of the Semiramide production: “I can think of no place in America I would rather hear this type of opera than Wilmington’s Grand Opera House… This is Rossinian opera as it was meant to be experienced… Contributing decisively to the success of the Delaware Semiramide is also the conducting of the young American Rossini specialist, [OperaDelaware Music Director] Anthony Barrese. He inspires the orchestra, to play with distinctive Rossinian articulation, phrasing, rhythmic pulse and exuberance… OperaDelaware has also assembled a cast of promising young singers, all about a decade into their careers—each enthusiastic, accomplished, and versed in bel canto style.” David Shengold of Opera News also praised, “[Director] Dean Anthony’s handsome, well-staged production still gave a remarkably enjoyable sense of the piece.”

In addition, the WFMT Radio Network Opera Series will broadcast Opera Southwest’s production Guillaume Tell on Nov. 24. Tell features many frequent OperaDelaware performers, including Sharin Apostolou, Matthew Vickers, Sean Anderson, and Justin Hopkins. This performance is also led by OperaDelaware’s Music Director, Anthony Barrese.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WFMT RADIO NETWORK OPERA SERIES, SEE: 
https://radionetwork.wfmt.com/programs/wfmt-radio-network-opera-series/

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Semiramide photo by Joe del Tufo/Moonloop Photography.

OperaDelaware (the nation's 11th oldest professional opera company) celebrates its 74th season in 2018-2019. Our mission is to enrich the lives of people in the Mid-Atlantic region through meaningful arts education and the production of grand opera and intimate opera concerts, featuring established professional and emerging local/regional talent. The 2019 Festival (April 27-May 4) centers around legal themes and will feature Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and a double-bill of Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg and Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury.

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