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Giuseppe Verdi's great historical opera "Don Carlo", jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Opera Hong Kong, will have its Hong Kong stage premiere in September, Opera Hong Kong is bringing "Don Carlo" to be staged by producer Warren Mok and director Henry Akina. Hirofumi Yoshida will conduct the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in the performance.
The co-production of Hawaii Opera Theatre, Vancouver Opera and Opera Hong Kong, features a renowned international and local cast including tenors Warren Mok and Keith Ikaia-Purdy as Don Carlo; sopranos Li Xiuying and Annalisa Raspagliosi as Elisabeth of Valois; basses Gong Dongjian and Alfredo Zanazzo as Philip II; baritones Liao Changyong and Giorgio Caoduro as Rodrigo; mezzo-sopranos Yang Guang and Milijana Nikolic as Princess Eboli, and basses Liu Yue and Victor von Halem as the Grand Inquisitor.
The Hong Kong Premiere is an opera in four acts and performed in Achille de Lauzieres and Angelo Zanardini's translation in Italian. Verdi's "Don Carlo" was first staged in Paris in its original five-act French version in 1867. Adapted from the drama by the German playwright titan Schiller and set in the 16th century, the story is a tragedy of the young prince Don Carlo and his lover the French princess, who became his father's bride. It deals with intrigues of love and jealousy, politics and revolution, ghosts and murder, friendship and betrayal, at the court of King Philip II of Spain. Verdi wrote "Don Carlo" when he was at the height of his powers, and it has come to assume a place as one of his best-loved works, bringing to audiences some of his greatest music.
Opera Hong Kong is the only opera company in Hong Kong. Under the artistic direction of Warren Mok, it has presented numerous productions in Hong Kong including "Love for Hong Kong for Opera", "Samson et Dalila", "La Traviata", "Turandot", "Carmen", "Le Nozze di Figaro", "Romeo et Juliette", "Aida" and "Werther".
"Don Carlo" will be staged at 7.30pm on September 3-7 (Wednesday to Sunday) at the Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets priced at $900, $680, $450, $300 and $150 will be available at all URBTIX outlets from July 3 (Thursday) onwards. Half-price concessions will be granted to senior citizens aged 60 or over, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. (Limited tickets for students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients are available on a first-come, first-served basis.) For group booking discount, please refer to programme leaflet for details.
For programme enquiries, call 2268 7321 or 2234 0303 (Opera Hong Kong); for ticketing enquiries and reservations call 2734 9009. Internet bookings are available at www.urbtix.hk. For credit card telephone bookings, call 2111 5999. Visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp or www.operahongkong.org for more information on the programme.
Ends/Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:22
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