#46 - JRL 2009-184 - JRL Home


Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009
From: Helene Tartakowski <rucharso@yahoo.com>
Subject: Russian Chamber Art Society (RCAS) - Concert 15 October 2009

The Mexican Cultural Institute and the Russian Chamber Art Society present

Songs of Passion and Love

-- Thursday, 15 October at 7 p.m. --

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- The Mexican Cultural Institute and the Russian Chamber Art Society (RCAS) will present a musical evening of art songs written by Russian composers inspired by Spanish themes and motifs at 7:00 PM on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at the Mexican Cultural Institute (MCI). Illustrating the deep passion, nostalgia, and lyricism common to both cultures, the program of arias and duets, to be sung in Russian and Spanish with translations provided, will include works by Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Balakirev, Shostakovich, Rubinstein, Glier and Minkov.

The concert will feature:

· Olga Makarina ­ soprano
· Jesus Suaste ­ baritone
· Yelena Kurdina ­ piano

Tickets

General admission tickets at $40 each must be purchased in advance of the October 15 concert. They are available online at www.thercas.com. No tickets will be sold at the door. All ticket sales are final. Ticket payments and tax-deductible contributions may be made by check payable to RCAS.

Mail to RCAS, P.O. Box 1772, Annandale, VA 22003-0665.

About the Artists

Born in Archangel, Russia, soprano Olga Makarina is a graduate of the Mannes School of Music, also holds a Masters degree in piano and voice from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She appeared for the first time in New York as Lucia in Verdi’s Lucia di Lammermoor at New York City Opera and later sang the roles of Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Konstanze in Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio and Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman. In 1997, she made her debut at the Marinsky Theatre in St Petersburg as Lyudmila in Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila. In the 2001-2002 season, she made her debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges

During recent seasons at the Met, she has sung the roles of Gilda, Violetta, Eudoxie, Elvira, Rossignol and Lucia. Ms. Makarina has won a number of prestigious prizes and awards including the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, the Musicians Emergency Fund and the Liederkranz Competition.

She has also performed in concerts and solo recitals with leading orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.

One of the most celebrated Mexican singers, baritone Jesús Suaste studied at the National School of Music of the University of Mexico. After winning a prestigious Mozart Prize at the Alfredo Kraus Competition in Spain, he continued his studies at the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel. Mr. Suaste has amassed an enormous repertoire of over 80 roles. He has performed most baritone roles in the standard opera repertory including La Boheme, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Lucia Di Lammermoor, Madame Butterfly, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte and L'Elisir d'Amore.

He has also championed Mexican premieres of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, Franz Schubert's Stabat Mater and Arnold Schoenberg's Gurrelieder. He has premiered several Mexican operas, among them the role of Rappaccini in Daniel Catan's La Hija de Rappaccini, a part written specifically for him. His many recordings include rare works by Latin American composers.

Pianist Yelena Karina is among the most sought after collaborators in the opera world today as a pianist, coach, accompanist and assistant conductor. A specialist in Russian and Slavic repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera for over a decade, she has been Placido Domingo’s private coach for the role of Hermann in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades.

She coached Renee Fleming for Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and for her recording of Night Songs, and has been a vocal coach to innumerable world famous singers to include June Anderson, Maria Ewing, Mirella Freni, Anna Netrebko, Samuel Ramey, James Morris, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and Dmitry Hvorostovsky.

She has also been an assistant to world-class conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, James Conlon, Valery Gergiev, Semyon Bychkov, and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Presenters

The Russian Chamber Art Society is dedicated to fostering appreciation for the vivid Russian classical vocal repertoire by presenting outstanding performers to the Washington area audiences.

RCAS was founded in 2006 by the distinguished pianist Vera Danchenko-Stern, a graduate of Moscow’s prestigious Gnessim Institute of Music, who has served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory since 1990. She also serves as the Russian diction coach for the Washington National Opera. Ms. Danchenko-Stern is in the centennial edition of the “Who’s Who of American Women”.

The Mexican Cultural Institute, located at 2829 16th Street, NW, Washington DC, occupies the grand mansion built for the MacVeagh family in 1910 and bought in 1921 by the government of Mexico to house its Embassy in Washington.

Besides promoting the rich traditions of Mexico’s cultural past and present, the Mexican Cultural Institute has become an important meeting place for the intellectual and artistic life in Washington by offering a spectrum of cultural and artistic activities, encompassing literature, music, and visual and performing arts, aiming at strengthening cultural ties and understanding between countries.


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