Our 2007-2008 Season

 

This season, Antony Walker’s sixth as Artistic Director of Washington Concert Opera, marks the return of two sensational young singers, Lawrence Brownlee and Sarah Coburn, whose extraordinary performances in WCO’s Tancredi will long be remembered,  and the WCO debuts of the extraordinary coloratura mezzo Vivica Genaux and the sparkling soprano Anna Christy in operas by Bellini and Rossini, respectively.

 

I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini was performed Sunday, September 23, 2007, and acclaimed by audience and critics alike.  See About Us for excerpts from the reviews.

 

Bianca e Falliero by Gioachino Rossini - Sunday, April 13, 2008, at 6 p.m.

Although this opera was not heard for 167 years until resurrected at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Italy, in 1986, Rossini had filled it with the rhythmic propulsion and florid coloratura singing that marked all of his operas.  Making role debuts will be Vivica Genaux in the trouser role of Falliero, Anna Christy as Bianca, Daniel Mobbs as Capellio, Falliero's rival for Bianca's hand, and Charles Workman as Contareno, Bianca's father.  Despite the political and financial considerations of love and marriage in the 19^th century, an unusual plot twist leads to a happy resolution for the lovers.  And Rossini doesn’t disappoint, giving Vivica Genaux opportunities to show her brilliant coloratura facility and presenting a virtuoso tour-de-force for the leads.