Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Measha Brueggergosman, African Canadian Soprano, Makes Her Mozart Opera Debut


[Soprano Measha Brueggergosman as Elettra in Idomeneo. Photo: Bruce Zinger.]

Toronto, ON – Acclaimed African Canadian soprano
Measha Brueggergosman will sing the role of Elettra in Opera Atelier's spring production of Mozart’s Idomeneo. This marks Ms. Brueggergosman’s first performance in a Mozart opera and her debut with Canada’s premier baroque theatre company. Idomeneo runs for six performances April 26, 27, 29, May 1, 2 and 3, 2008 at Toronto’s historic Elgin Theatre (189 Yonge Street).

African Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman has received critical acclaim as much for her innate musicianship and voluptuous voice as for her dynamic and vibrant stage presence. She has performed with many of today’s finest international orchestras and most esteemed conductors. Her operatic credits include Madame Lidoine in Poulenc’s The Dialogues of the Carmelites (Vancouver Opera), Juno in Aeneas in Karthago (Staatsoper Stuttgart) by Joseph Martin Kraus, Liù in Puccini’s Turandot and Sister Rose in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (Cincinnati Opera). An exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon, Ms. Brueggergosman’s first recording with the label, Surprise, was released throughout North America in autumn 2007.

First performed in 1781, Idomeneo is an opera seria characterized by the heroic emotion and drama ever present in the music and text. The opera tells the story of Idomeneo, the king of Crete, who returns victorious from war with Troy and encounters a storm that threatens his fleet. In return for safe passage, he vows to Neptune, the god of the sea, to sacrifice the first person he sees upon reaching safety ashore. This turns out to be his son, Idamante. As the King tries to escape from his debt, conflicts arise among the other characters.







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