“I have no idea what I’m doing, but incompetence has never stopped me from enthusiastically throwing myself into things.”
Woody Allen

 

“Gianni Schicchi may be considered the masterpiece of Puccini’s mature years. After a life spent composing melodramas, and when the only challenge left to him was to write a grand comedy, it is no accident that Puccini sought inspiration in the giants of the nineteenth century: Schicchi was for Puccini what Falstaff was for Verdi. The result is a perfect marriage of libretto, music, and theater, swathed in a virtuoso orchestral fabric.”
James Conlon

Woody Allen is a writer, director, actor, playwright, and musician. Allen has written and directed 40 feature films in fewer than 45 years, among them Bananas, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Husbands and Wives, Bullets Over Broadway, Everyone Says I Love You, Sweet and Lowdown, Match Point, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. He is the author of many plays and collections of short stories.

James Conlon, oneof today’s pre-eminent conductors, has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire, and developed enduring relationships with many of the world´s most prestigious symphony orchestras and opera houses. Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974, Mr. Conlon has appeared as guest conductor with virtually every major North American and European orchestra and has been a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for over thirty years. Mr. Conlon is Music Director of Los Angeles Opera, Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and celebrates his 30th season as Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival in 2009. Mr. Conlon served as Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera (1995-2004); General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989-2002); and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983-1991).
During the 2008-09 season at LA Opera, James Conlon conducts his first Ring cycle in the U.S., beginning this season with the first two installments of the cycle; Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. He also continues his “Recovered Voices” series, a multi-year project during which he brings the music of composers suppressed by the Nazi regime to the LA Opera stage, with the company premiere of Walter Braunfels’ The Birds (Die Vögel). He conducted Puccini’s Trittico directed by Woody Allen and William Friedkin; Robert Wilson’s production of Madama Butterfly; and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
Mr. Conlon also continues his two-year residency at The Juilliard School, during which he works with the school’s young artists in a cross-genre educational project consisting of performances, symposia, master classes, and coaching. He will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival where he is Music Director, and he will guest conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic in the U.S., and in Europe the NDR Sinfonieorchester in Hamburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and National Philharmonic of Russia in Moscow.
In an effort to raise public consciousness to the significance of works of composers whose lives and compositions were suppressed by the Nazi regime, Mr. Conlon has devoted himself to extensive programming of this music in North America and Europe. At both the Ravinia Festival and L.A. Opera he continues to program works of these composers, including Alexander von Zemlinsky, Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Kurt Weill, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Karl-Amadeus Hartmann, Erwin Schulhoff, and Ernest Krenek. His residency at Juilliard also focuses in part on the study and performance of these works.
James Conlon has recorded extensively for EMI, SONY Classical, ERATO, CAPRICCIO, and TELARC, for which he has received numerous citations. He has been featured on DVDs for DECCA, and has appeared in several television series on PBS. In 2009 Mr. Conlon won two Grammy Awards; Best Classical Recording and Best Opera Album, for conducting LA Opera’s production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, released on DVD on the EuroArts label.
Mr. Conlon’s recent awards include the Medal of the American Liszt Society for his distinctive performances of the composer’s works, Italy’s Premio Galileo 2000 Award for his significant contribution to music, art and peace in Florence, and the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for his efforts in championing the works of composers silenced by the Third Reich. He is one of five first recipients of the Opera News Award given in recognition for distinguished achievement in opera, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree by The Juilliard School. He received the Zemlinsky Prize for his efforts in bringing the composer’s music to international attention. He was named an Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 1996, and in 2004 was promoted to Commander. In 2002, James Conlon received France’s highest distinction from the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac-the Légion d’Honneur.

Sir Thomas Allen is an established star of the great opera houses of the world.  He has been particularly acclaimed for his Billy Budd, Pelléas, Eugene Onegin, Ulisse and Beckmesser, as well as the great Mozart roles of Count Almaviva, Don Alfonso, Papageno, Guglielmo and, of course, Don Giovanni.  His recent engagements have included the title role in Gianni Schicchi at the Los Angeles opera; the title role in Sweeney Todd; Music  Master (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Father (Hänsel und Gretel) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Don Alfonso, Ulisse and Don Giovanni at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Eisenstein at the Glyndebourne Festival; Don Alfonso at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and at the Salzburg Easter and Summer Festivals; Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen) at the San Francisco Opera and Beckmesser (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Don Alfonso and Music  Master (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. 
His forthcoming engagements include the title role in Gianni Schicchi at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Don Alfonso for Dallas Opera and at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich; Beckmesser for Cincinnati Opera and a return to the Metropolitan Opera, New York as Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier).
Equally renowned on the concert platform, he appears in recital in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, in Australia and America, and has appeared with the world´s great orchestras and conductors.  The greatest part of his repertoire has been extensively recorded with such distinguished names as Solti, Levine, Marriner, Haitink, Rattle, Sawallisch and Muti.

Santo Loquasto, designer for theatre, film, dance and opera has won 3 Tony Awards and has been nominated 14 times.  He has collaborated with Woody Allen on 24 films, including costume design for Zelig, and production design for Radio Days and Bullets Over Broadway for which he received Academy Award nominations.  Recent stage designs are Inherit the Wind, 110 in the Shade, Uncle Vanya, A Man For All Seasons, and Waiting for Godot.  For the Metropolitan Opera House, his designs include A View from the Bridge, and Salome.  He received the Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration in 2002, was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2004, received the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2006 and the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2007.
Stephen Costello
Manca bio in inglese

Laura Tatulescu was born in the US, and began her musical career as a violinist. She entered the Masters programme in Music at the National Music University in Bucharest, Romania, where she won her degree in Opera in 2005. Since 1999, she has appeared in numerous recitals, concerts and opera throughout Europe.
Miss Tatulescu made her professional opera debut in 2004 as Marguerite, Faust, at the Romanian National Opera, and soon after was engaged as a soloist at Vienna State Opera in the roles of Gianetta, L’Elisir d’Amore, Tebaldo, Don Carlo, Barbarina, Le Nozze di Figaro, Bastienne, Basien and Bastienne, Papagena, Die Zauberflöte; in 2005, she won Vienna’s Uli Märkle Prize for most promising talent. Just two years later, she debuted in the role of Susanna, Le Nozze di Figaro, under the baton of Philippe Jordan, and in the upcoming seasons at the Wiener Staatsoper adds the roles of Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Despina, Cosi fan tutte (with Riccardo Muti), Adina, L’Elisir d’Amore, and Nanetta, Falstaff.

On the concert stage, Miss Tatulescu sings standard works such as those of Bach and Mozart, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as those more diverse, like Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Faure’s Requiem, and the Gloria of both Poulenc and Vivaldi. She has a broad complement of lieder. Conductors of note with whom she has worked include Riccardo Muti, Marco Armiliato, Phillipe Jordan, Adam Fischer, Danielle Gatti, Sebastian Weigle, Andris Nelsons and Peter Schneider.
Recent engagements include Cosi fan tutte at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with Vienna State Opera, opera gala concerts with the Wiener Philharmoniker in Japan (Tokyo and Nagoya); the role of Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi, for the 2008 Los Angeles Opera season opening in a new production directed by Woody Allen and conducted by James Conlon, and a tour of Japan with Vienna State Opera’s production of Cosi fan tutte, conducted by Riccardo Muti, in which she will revive the role of Despina.
In Season 2009/10, she will join the ensemble in Munich and will make her Bavarian State Opera debut in the role of Susanna. Other roles in Laura Tatulescu’s operatic repertoire include Zerlina, Don Giovanni, Ilia, Idomeneo, Musetta, La Boheme, and Sophie, Werther.

Steven Condy, baritone, has built his reputation on his portrayals of the great ‘buffo’ roles, is admired not only for his robust and nuanced voice, but also for his natural acting ability. The Washington Times enthused that he has “the comic timing of John Candy and a voice that remains flexible, rich and true through every intricacy,” and Anthony Tomassini of the New York Times offered that he would “vote the prize for the most naturally clear diction of the cast to the hardy baritone Steven Condy.”
Performances for Mr. Condy during the 2008/2009 season include Betto in Gianni Schicchi in a new production with the Los Angeles Opera directed by Woody Allen, Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Austin Lyric Opera, Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème with the Dallas Opera, the title role in Don Pasquale with the Utah Opera, and Dr. Bartolo, one of his signature roles, in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Virginia Opera.  Engagements in upcoming seasons include leading roles with the Houston Grand Opera and Portland Opera among many others.
During the 2007/2008 season, Mr. Condy sang Magnifico in La Cenerentola with the Portland Opera, Utah Opera and Memphis Opera, Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Birmingham, and Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Toledo Opera. Concert performances included Belshazzar´s Feast with the New Mexico Symphony and a holiday program with the Indianapolis Symphony.
In the 2006/2007 season Mr. Condy sang Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with the Chautauqua Opera and with Opera Pacific, a performance which led the Los Angeles Times to proclaim that he “made an entrance to be envied driving a chopped-down ´56 Ford Fairlane, reveled in the vocal and 0064ramatic possibilities of the quack doctor Dulcamara.  His buffo barcarole with Adina, ´Io son ricco, et tu sei bella´ (I´m rich, and you´re beautiful) was just one of his delightful moments. He´s another singer to watch.”  In addition, he sang the title role of Falstaff with the Indianapolis Opera, the Father in L’Enfant prodigue and Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors both with the Naples Opera, and the title role of The Mikado with the Intermountain Opera.  On the concert stage he returned to Carnegie Hall for Handel’s Messiah with the Masterworks Chorus, performed in scenes from Gordon Getty’s Plump Jack with the Albuquerque Symphony, and took part in a Gala performance in Montreal.
In recent seasons Mr. Condy appeared with the Washington National Opera as Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow as part of a program entitled “Trilogy: Domingo and Guests in Three Acts,” and as Dr. Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, a role he also sang with The Berkshire Opera.  For his debut with Opera Pacific he portrayed Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri, and for his debut with Opera Theater of St. Louis he was seen as Monterone in Rigoletto and Sir Robert Cecil in Gloriana.  He appeared in the title roles in Verdi’s Falstaff and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with New Jersey Opera Theater, sang Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with the Arizona Opera, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with the Florentine Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the title role in Gianni Schicchi with both Opera Delaware and the OK Mozart International Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  The baritone marked his 50th career performance in the role of Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Utah Symphony and Opera. 

Other engagements of note have included Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’amore with Arizona Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera and the Pine Mountain Music Festival, Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia with San Francisco Opera, Portland Opera, Madison Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Indianapolis Opera and Opera Memphis, and the title role in Falstaff with Madison Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Kentucky Opera, and as an understudy with the San Francisco Opera.  He has sung the title role in Don Pasquale with Connecticut Grand Opera, Calgary Opera and Edmonton Opera, Sulpice in Le fille du régiment with the San Francisco Opera and Opera Lyra Ottawa, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Arizona Opera and Hawaii Opera Theater.  Other engagements included his performance as Leporello in Don Giovanni with Indianapolis Opera, Scarpia in Tosca with Chautauqua Opera, and Benoit and Alcindoro in La bohème with the Dallas Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
Highlights of concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah and Robert Kapilow’s Elijah’s Angel with the Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and performances in the role of Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro with the Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Tate.  He made his European debut with the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, Spain in Handel’s Messiah and made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Masterworks Chorus.
Steven Condy was the 1992 winner of the Fourth Luciano Pavarotti International Voice competition, and a recipient of a grant from the Sullivan Foundation.  He received a Career Grant in the 1994 Richard Tucker Music Foundation competition, and first prize in the 1994 Pope Foundation competition.  In 1993, he won third prize in the MacAllister Award competition, and was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.  Other honors include a 1991 Robert M. Jacobson Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and third prize in the 1991 Mario Lanza Institute Scholarship competition.
Mr. Condy received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Hartford and attended the Yale University School of Music for voice and opera performance, where he earned his Master of Music degree in 1990.

 

Jill Grove is renowned for her distinctive dramatic mezzo soprano and passionate artistry. American mezzo soprano, she has won critical raves throughout America and Europe for her distinguished portrayals of the heroines of German and Italian opera. She is equally at home with the world´s leading orchestras and in recital. She was named as a winner of the 2003 ARIA award.
Jill Grove is the winner of a 2001 Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant, a 1999 George London Foundation Career Grant, a 1997 Sullivan Foundation Career Grant, and the 1996 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She is also the recipient of a 1996 Richard Tucker Foundation Study Grant and a 1995 Richard F. Gold Career Grant.
Jill Grove was a member of the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera and the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She has also sung with the Opera Theater of St Louis. She attended the Music Academy of the West, the New England Conservatory and Stephen F. Austin State University. She received a Distinguished Alumna Award from the latter university in 2006. She currently resides in San Francisco and studies with Patricia McCaffrey.