Richard Tucker Opera Gala airs “Live From Lincoln Center” Dec 13
Many of today’s biggest names in opera – such as baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Gerald Finley; mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina; tenors Stephen Costello, Marcello Giordani, and Giuseppe Filianoti; bass Ildar Abdrazakov; and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott – will light up TV screens across the country on Thursday, December 13 at 8 pm (check local listings) for the national broadcast of the Richard Tucker Opera Gala on PBS’s Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center. Twelve top singers join Maestro Patrick Summers, members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Choral Society, and the 2012 Richard Tucker Award-winner, soprano Ailyn Pérez (the first Latina singer to be so honored) for a concert of favorite arias and ensembles by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, Mascagni, Handel, Wagner, and more. Live from Lincoln Center: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala will be hosted by five-time Tony Award-winning singer and actress Audra McDonald, and will also present a feature on Pérez as well as exclusive backstage interviews with the artists. For a sneak peek, watch the PBS promo for the broadcast here, or take a look backstage in a rapid fire interview with the singers on the program.
In its review of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s 2012 gala, which took place on November 11 at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, the New York Times praised Pérez:
“This year’s winner of the Rickard Tucker Award is Ailyn Pérez, a fast-rising lyric soprano who was featured in three performances. Though Ms. Pérez has not yet appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, she has been thriving in major houses in Vienna, London, Berlin, Milan, and at the Salzburg Festival. … Ms. Pérez brought a gleaming voice and agile coloratura technique to Manon’s brilliant arioso and coyly seductive gavotte (‘Obéissons quand leur voix appelle’). Her voice has a distinctive timbre, with plaintive richness blended into its youthful bloom … Ms. Pérez, a beautiful woman who commands the stage, has the makings of a major soprano.”
The complete list of singers appearing on the gala program includes Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov, who sings the title roles in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni this season at the Metropolitan Opera; mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, a 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant recipient; Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina, who plays Amneris in the Met’s revival of Aida; tenor Stephen Costello, the 2009 Richard Tucker Award-winner and husband of Pérez; Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, in her American debut; Canadian baritone Gerald Finley, who recently sang Count Almaviva opposite Abdrazakov’s Figaro; Italian tenor Marcello Giordani, who portrayed Calàf in the Met’s Turandot this season; Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who stars in the Met’s new production of Un ballo in maschera and later in its revival of Don Carlo; baritone Quinn Kelsey, a 2006 Richard Tucker Career Grant recipient and 2004 Sara Tucker Study Grant winner; Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, who made her Met debut in title role opposite Borodina in Aida; and Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott, who at the Met this season sings Leporello to Abdrazakov’s Don Giovanni and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore opposite his real-life partner, Anna Netrebko.
Founded in 1975, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great Brooklyn-born tenor by nurturing the careers of talented American opera singers and bringing opera into the community. Through awards, grants for study, performance opportunities and other activities, the Foundation provides professional development for singers at each stage of their careers. The Foundation also offers free performances in the New York Metropolitan area and supports music education enrichment programs. The Foundation’s most substantial prize is the annual Richard Tucker Award: $30,000 given to an artist judged to be on the threshold of a major international career. Previous award winners include Renée Fleming, David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Deborah Voigt, Lawrence Brownlee, and Angela Meade.
Live From Lincoln Center is in its 37th broadcast season. The series has received 13 Emmy Awards to date, and has made the world’s greatest artists on Lincoln Center’s renowned stages accessible to home viewers in virtually every corner of the United States. This episode will be directed by Alan Skog and produced by Andrew C Wilk; Lincoln Center’s Chief Media and Digital Officer, Elizabeth W. Scott, is executive in charge of the series’ production. More information about Live From Lincoln Center can be found here.
Live From Lincoln Center presents:
THE RICHARD TUCKER OPERA GALA
December 13 at 8:00 pm (Check local listings)
2012 Richard Tucker Award winner: Ailyn Pérez, soprano
Winners of Richard Tucker Music Foundation grants and special guests:
Ildar Abdrazakov, bass
Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano
Olga Borodina, mezzo-soprano
Stephen Costello, tenor
Tara Erraught, mezzo-soprano
Giuseppe Filianoti, tenor
Gerald Finley, baritone
Marcello Giordani, tenor
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Quinn Kelsey, baritone
Liudmyla Monastyrska, soprano
Erwin Schrott, bass-baritone
Patrick Summers, conductor
Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
New York Choral Society