Jerusalem Opera Festival 2011

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Masada, Dead Sea & Jerusalem Opera Festival 1-11 June 2011

Daniel Oren conducts Aida at Masada, Israeli premiere of Verdi's Jerusalem in the city, Arena di Verona Orchestra and opera concerts in Jerusalem beautiful churches!

Following the spectacular success of the first Masada Opera Festival  during 2011in which over 41,000 opera lovers from Israel and around the world came to the dead sea, lowest place on earth to enjoy the Israeli Opera’s presentation of Verdi's Nabucco. The festival has been expanded for 2011 to include concerts in Jerusalem as well (1-11 June 2011).

Internationally renowned Israeli opera conductor Daniel Oren will return to the majestic landscape of the Judean desert at the Dead Sea, to lead a new production of Verdi's Aida (a co production with the Orange Festival in France) that features internationally acclaimed opera singers including Micaela Carosi, Marco Berti, Ildiko Komlosi, Paata Burchuladze and others.

The Masada, Dead Sea and Jerusalem Opera Festival will also feature concerts by the orchestra of the Arena di Verona, concerts in Jerusalem churches, and the Israeli premiere of Verdi's Jerusalem, performed at the open air Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem, overlooking the majestic walls of the old city of Jerusalem.

Verdi’s Aida, the improbable love story of the enslaved Ethiopian princes Aida and the Egyptian army officer Radames, will be performed on 4,5 and 9 June in a giant amphitheater specially-erected on the desert floor, with the majestic mountain-top fortress of Masada as the backdrop to the stage. The new 3½ hour production, conducted by internationally renowned Israeli maestro Daniel Oren, will feature 120 choristers, 40 dancers and 70 extras of the Israeli Opera, in addition to the Israeli Opera's orchestra - the Israel Symphony Orchestra, Rishon LeZion.

The first-rate list of performers includes Micaela Carosi, Kirstin Lewis and Dimitra Theodossiou (Aida), Marco Berti (Radames), Ildiko Komlosi and Marianne Cornetti (Amneris), Ambrogio Maestri and Alberto Gazale (Amonasro) and  Paata Burchuladze as Ramfis.

In addition to the five performances of Verdi's Aida in Masada, opera-lovers at the lowest point on earth will also be able to enjoy Verdi's Requiem, performed by the orchestra of the Arena di Verona, under the baton of Giuliano Carella, together with the Israeli Opera Chorus  (3 June).

JERUSALEM

Jerusalem is also included in this year’s festival, with the first ever concert performance in Israel of Verdi's rarely performed opera Jerusalem, in the magnificent setting of Sultan's Pool, under the Old City walls. David Stern, the music director of the Israeli Opera, will lead the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, IBA, the Israeli Opera Chorus and international soloists including Carlo Colombara, Scott Piper and Roberto Serville in this performance.

 

Schedule of performances :

The Art of the Concerto: Concerti by Handel, Bach, Vivaldi and CorelliThe Israel Camerata Jerusalem - Avner Biron, conductor
Muki Zohar, oboe
Location: St. Andrew's Church
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 11:00, 13:00
The St. Andrew's Scottish church

Misa Criolla and other Latin American Liturgical Works
Yotam Cohen, tenor
The kibbutz Artzi Choir
South American Ensemble
Yuval Ben Ozer, conductor
Location:The Lutheran (Redeemer) Church
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 13:00, 16:00
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

Photo: Ron Peled

Hear My Prayer: Choral works by Raminsh, Poulsen, Carter, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Busto
The Ankor Choir (Dafna Ben Yohanan, conductor)
Location: Augusta Victoria Chruch, Mt. Of Olives
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 11:00, 13:00
Augusta Victoria on Mount of Olives

Photo: Ron Peled

Ave Maria - Choral Works for Girls Choir
The Young Bat Kol Choir - Anat Morag, conductor
David Feldman, Countertenor
Location: Dormition Abbey
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 13:00, 16:00
The Dormition Monastery on Mt. Zion

Photo: Ron Peled

Opera Sancta: Sacred songs by 19th century Italian opera composers (Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini)
Mima Millo, soprano
Alaa Vasilevitsky, soprano
Yifat Weisskopf, mezzo soprano
Julia Rovinsky, harp
Location: Tower of David Museum
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 13:00, 16:00
The Tower of David

Photo: Ron Peled

Meeting Cleopatra - Arias by Handel, Mattheson and Hasse
Hila Baggio, soprano
Shira Raz, mezzo soprano
Baroque Trio directed by Eithan Schmeisser
Location: The Austrian Hospice - The Chapel
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 13:00 16:00
The Austrian Hospice compound on the Via Dolorosa

Photo: Ron Peled

English Baroque - works by Dowland, Purcell and Handel
Yael Levita, soprano
Na'ama Goldman, mezzo soprano
Baroque ensemble directed by Eithan Schmeisser
Location: The Austrian Hospice - Auditorium
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 11:30, 14:00

From Monteverdi to Bach
The New Israeli Vocal Ensemble
Location: The Sisters of Zion Church, Ein Kerem
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 13:00, 16:00
The monastery of Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Sion

Bach Barndenburg Concerti - No. 3, 4, 5, 6
The Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra
David Shemer, conductor
Location: Vincent de Paul Church
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: 10:00, 11:30
St. Vincent De Paul Monastery In Jerusalem

Photo: Ron Peled

Mahler - Das Lied von Der Erde (chamber version)
Gil Shohat, conductor
Ayala Zimbler, mezzo soprano
Gabriel Sadeh, tenor
Location: Henry Crown Symphony Hall
Date: June 3rd, 2011
Hours: One performance only at 13:30

For more information, the full festival schedule, and to order tickets, visit the opera  festival's official website

In addition, there will be a gala opera evening (Verdi, Puccini and Rossini arias and duets) with the soloists and orchestra of the Arena di Verona, Italy's leading summer opera festival as they make their debut concerts in Israel  (2 June) and at Masada (Verdi’s Requiem on 3 June. Both concerts will be conducted by Italian conductor Giuliano Carella with soprano Svetla Vasileva, mezzo soprano Mariana Pentchava, tenor Stefano Secco and bass Louis-Ottavio Faria. 

Tourists in Jerusalem will also be able to enjoy a very special musical Friday on June 3, when 10 different concerts will take place in ten different churches in the old and new city in Jerusalem. Programs will include choral, vocal and chamber music works performed throughout the day by Israeli musicians.

Tickets for the performances in Masada and Jerusalem, reserved for tourists holding foreign passports, can be purchased only as a package which includes hotel accommodation and transfers. These special packages may be ordered directly through the website  or via travel agents.

Masada, with the excavated remains of a fortress built by King Herod, is situated atop an isolated rock cliff at the western end of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. On the east the rock falls in a sheer drop of about 450 meters to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth and one of Israel’s most popular tourist sites, is one of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature online competition (voting at votedeadsea.com)