FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, January 3, 2020
Contact: Suzanne Calvin 214.443.1014
suzanne.calvin@dallasopera.org
The Dallas Opera is Proud to Present
Soprano Angel Blue
The 2020 Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus
Art Song Recitalist
Accompanied by Pianist James Baillieu
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One Performance Only:
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.
Moody Performance Hall
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Dallas, TX
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Art Songs by Rachmaninoff, Mozart,
Richard Strauss, Jake Heggie and Ruperto Chapí
DALLAS, JANUARY 3, 2020 – The Dallas Opera is thrilled to present the internationally-acclaimed American soprano Angel Blue, accompanied by renowned South African pianist James Baillieu, in this season’s Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital on January 26, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. in Moody Performance Hall at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas, Texas.
The dazzling Ms. Blue, who triumphed in her season-opening star turn at New York’s Metropolitan Opera this fall, will perform a recital program consisting of songs, arias and romanzas by Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Jake Heggie, Ruperto Chapí, and Richard Strauss—as well a favorite spiritual or two.
This one-time-only performance is generously underwritten by the Titus Family to honor and support their parents’ love of art songs through live, public performances featuring many of the finest interpreters on stage today.
“We are proud to present these remarkable artists in such an intimate setting,” explains Ian Derrer, The Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO of The Dallas Opera, “enabling music lovers to experience their artistry on such an engaging level. Angel’s warmth and excitement—as well as her flair with crossover repertoire—will surely capture the heart of the Dallas community.”
The opera world is buzzing about Angel Blue’s critically-acclaimed portrayal in the title role of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, the only opera to have its schedule extended during its Metropolitan Opera run, in modern times. The New York Times wrote: “as Bess, the sumptuously voiced soprano Angel Blue is radiant, capturing both the pride and fragility of the character.”
Ms. Blue’s performance, opposite Eric Owens as Porgy, will be experienced, worldwide, on February 1, 2020, as part of the award-winning “Live in HD” series from the Met. Additional mainstage performances of this new production have been added on February 4, 12 and 15, 2020.
Press for Angel Blue
- “…a superb singer…flawless. Her upper vocal work had a particularly glitzy shine and there was a freshness to her singing which lasted through the whole evening.” – Opera Brittania
- “…with a gorgeous face and a luminous smile, she offers a voice of pure cream, shimmering and rich throughout her range and sheerly voluptuous from pianissimo to fortissimo.” – The Observer (New York City)
- “The beauty queen with the voice of an angel.” – The Mail (U.K.)
- “one of the outstanding voices of her generation” – The Financial Times
Tickets for the Sunday afternoon Titus Art Song Recital on January 26, 2020 are $15 to $25 and can be purchased online at dallasopera.org, or, by calling the friendly professionals in The Dallas Opera Ticket Office at 214.443.1000.
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Ms. Blue made an acclaimed role debut as Floria Tosca at the Aix-en-Provence Festival last July. Earlier last season, Ms. Blue made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Violetta Valery in La traviata, after which she returned to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in the same role. She has also been praised for performances at the Vienna State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Theater an der Wien, Oper Frankfurt, and San Diego Opera, to name a few. Engagements for the 2019-2020 Season include her appearance in last summer’s Ravinia Festival, her November debut at the Hamburg State Opera as Mimi, and a return to the Seattle Opera this spring in the same role.
Ms. Blue appears twice this season with the Philadelphia Orchestra: in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and in concert performances of Porgy and Bess under the baton of Marin Alsop. Next March, she will appear in concert opposite Thomas Hampson at the Royal Opera House, Muscat; as well as in recital with James Baillieu in Lebanon’s Al Bustan Festival in Beirut.
Important orchestral engagements have included Porgy and Bess at the Berlin Philharmonic with Sir Simon Rattle, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Munich Philharmonic under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and Verdi’s Requiem in Sydney, Australia with Oleg Caetani. She has also sung Strauss’s Vier Letzte Lieder (“Four Last Songs”) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Cincinnati Symphony under Music Director Louis Langree.
The statuesque and approachable Ms. Blue is a former model and beauty queen (Miss Hollywood 2005 and 1st runner up for Miss California 2006). Growing up, she played guitar, piano and alto sax in her family’s church ensemble. Angel Blue’s father was a classically-trained gospel singer and opera buff who personally guided her musical education.
She was a 2009 finalist in Operalia and a winner of other major music awards early in her professional opera career.
Alongside her musical activities, Angel Blue is dedicated to the support of inner city youth. She is the founder of the non-profit organization Sylvia’s Kids Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to helping America’s teenagers continue their studies in either a trade school, community college, or four-year university once they have completed high school. The SKF scholarship award is given every year in the month of May. To learn more about Sylvia’s Kids Foundation visit www.sylviaskids.org.
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The “prodigiously gifted pianist” James Baillieu, described by Classical Source as “the leader of the new generation of accompanists,” is a prize winner of the Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Das Lied International Song Competition, and the Kathleen Ferrier and Richard Tauber Competitions.
Mr. Baillieu has presented his own series at the Wigmore Hall with Adam Walker, Jonathan McGovern, Ailish Tynan, Tara Erraught, Henk Neven, Iestyn Davies, Allan Clayton and Mark Padmore, among others. This series was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber Music and Song Award for an outstanding contribution to the performance of chamber music and song in the UK during 2016. Recent collaborations include appearances with Benjamin Appl, Kathryn Rudge, Jamie Barton, Markus Werbe, and Lise Davidsen.
James enjoys working with young musicians and is a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, a coach for the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, a course leader for the Samling Foundation, and is head of the Song Programme at the Atelier Lyrique of the Verbier Festival Academy. He is also International Tutor in Piano Accompaniment at the Royal Northern College of Music.
It’s small wonder that The Daily Telegraph (UK) proclaimed Baillieu a musician “in a class of his own.”
Past Titus Recital artists have included Nadine Sierra, Ian Bostridge, Simon O’Neill, Frederica Von Stade & Jake Heggie, Michael Fabiano, and Matthew Polenzani, accompanied by a host of phenomenal classical musicians: Julius Drake, Wenwen Du, Bryan Wagorn and Terence Dennis.
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ABOUT THE DALLAS OPERA:
One of the leading opera companies in the country, The Dallas Opera has an extraordinary legacy of world-class productions and thrilling premieres featuring the greatest operatic artists of our time. Inaugurated in 1957 with a concert featuring the incomparable Maria Callas, TDO is known for the notable U.S. debuts of a host of legendary artists including Plácido Domingo, Dame Joan Sutherland, Jon Vickers, Franco Zeffirelli, and Sir David McVicar. The company has long been an industry leader and innovator through groundbreaking initiatives like the Hart Institute for Women Conductors, free public simulcasts, acclaimed art song recitals, the national vocal competition, special concerts, and outstanding family and award-winning education programs. TDO’s home is the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, a jewel in the Dallas Arts District. As one of the largest performing arts employers in North Texas, TDO is proudly committed to diversity, onstage and off, and is a major contributor to the economic vitality and international cultural reputation of this region.
2019-2020 SEASON SPONSOR
The Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family
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EVENTS, GUESTS, ARTISTS and PROGRAMMING ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
The Dallas Opera is supported, in part, by funds from: Elsa von Seggern Foundation;
Texas Instruments; the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture;
The Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
American Airlines is the official airline of The Dallas Opera.
Lexus is the official vehicle of The Dallas Opera.
Advertising support from The Dallas Morning News.
NorthPark Center, the official shopping center of The Dallas Opera.
All performances in The Dallas Opera’s 63rd International Season will take place in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, unless otherwise indicated. Evening performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees begin at 2:00 p.m. unless otherwise stated. English translations will be projected above the stage at every performance and assistance is available for the hearing impaired.
The Joy and Ronald Mankoff Pre-Opera Talk will begin one hour prior to curtain at most performances. Full and Flex subscriptions are designed to meet the needs of every budget. Prices range from just $57 (for three performances of your choice) to a top orchestra floor price of $777 for all five mainstage productions. Single tickets are priced from $19 to $289 (a few box seats may be higher). For additional information or to make your purchase, call 214.443.1000 or visit dallasopera.org.
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