Roberto Devereux

Jan. 30, Feb. 2, 4, 6, 7, 2010

Never betray a woman, especially your Queen.

This Bel Canto masterpiece centers around the tragic love affair between Queen Elizabeth and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. Though jealous of Devereux's love for another woman, Elizabeth is prepared to forgive his treachery if he returns to her. But Devereux's resistance leads to his demise. Minnesota favorite Brenda Harris (Maria Padilla) stars as Elizabeth, alongside baritone Lester Lynch (Il trovatore), in the first installment of The Minnesota Opera's Tudor Trilogy.

Dates + Performances

Pre-Show Activities

Join us for Opera Insights, a free prologue one hour prior to each opera performance. These entertaining and informative half-hour sessions, hosted by Artistic Director Dale Johnson or other artistic staffers in Ordway Center's mezzanine lobby. They give an overview of the characters and music, provide historical and cultural context for the opera and highlight certain aspects to watch for during the show.

The Creative Team

The Cast

The Setting

Brad Benoit (Lord Cecil)

Tenor Brad Benoit joined the Minnesota Opera's Resident Artist Program last fall, after attending the prestigious Santa Fe O pera Apprentice Artist Program, where he covered the role of the Novice in Billy Budd. Other training programs to his credit include those at the Chicago Opera Theater and the Staunton Music Festival. Mr. Benoit is a graduate of Chicago College of the Performing Arts and has sung several roles there: Cecco in Il mondo della luna, the Lyric Tenor in Postcard from Morocco, the Prologue in The Turn of the Screw and La Théièry in L'enfant et les sortilèges. He has also performed the roles of Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Opera in the Ozarks and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and Hadji in Lakmé at his undergraduate alma mater, Loyala University. This past summer he performed in The Tender Land with Sugar Creek Symphony & Song.

On the concert platform, Mr. Benoit has been a guest soloist in Bach's Magnificat for Music by the Lake, Bach's Cantata No. 140 for the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra and the Midsummer Night Benefit for the Young Musicians for Young Humanitarians in Calistoga, California. For The Minnesota Opera last season, Brad sang Ruiz in Il trovatore, Arlecchino and Lampwick in The Adventures of Pinocchio and Count Almaviva in the alternate cast of The Barber of Seville. For his second season in Minnesota, Brad will appear as Gabriele in Casanova's Homecoming, Lord Cecil in Roberto Devereux, Parpingol in La bohème and the Third Jew in Salome.

Francesco Maria Colombo (conductor)

In the 2009–2010 season Francesco Maria Colombo continues his cycle of 20 concerts with the Orchestra Verdi dedicated to the 20th century, inaugurating the second series. This is an unprecedented initiative in Italy, because each concert includes a historico-aesthetic introduction, the analysis of excerpts with live examples from the orchestra, plus the complete performance. The 20 concerts are telecast by Sky TV on its Classica channel. The most recent concert took place on November 22, 2009, and was dedicated to Arnold Schoenberg's Verklaerte Nacht. Again with the Orchestra Verdi, Colombo recorded a compact disc of music by Victor De Sabata, published by Universal last spring. As soon as it came out, the CD won the Italian music critics' award announced by the magazine The Classic Voice for the "best 2009 debut" section. Among his latest successes may be mentioned the debut at the Tenerife Opera Festival (Spain) with a double production: Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Poulenc's La voix humaine (November 2009), the opening of the celebrations for the Haydn bicentenary as conductor of the Orchestra Haydn di Trento e Bolzano and of the Prague Philharmonic Chorus, with a performance of the Trauer-Symphonie and of the Harmonie Messe, and his recent return on the rostrum of the Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, with an all-French repertoire (Pelléas et Mélisande by Fauré and the complete version of L'Arlesiènne by Bizet).

Francesco Maria Colombo completed his orchestral conducting studies with Mario Gusella and Donato Renzetti, attending masterclasses held by Franco Ferrara and Carlo Maria Giulini. He made his debut in concert with Renata Scotto, both as pianist and conductor. In 2001 Gian Carlo Menotti invited him to conduct the Spoleto Festival concert in the square, telecast live by the Rai, and in 2002 asked him back to make his first appearance there as an opera conductor, with The Telephoneand The Medium, directed by the composer himself.

Since then, Francesco Maria Colombo has conducted more than 40 orchestras in Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Argentina. As an opera conductor, he has established regular relationships with, amongst others, the Minnesota Opera for a cycle dedicated to Bel canto (Donizetti's Maria Padilla, Mercadante's Orazi e Curiazi, and in the 2009-10 season he will be back for Donizetti's Roberto Devereux), and the Opera Company of North Carolina for a cycle of operas by Puccini (Tosca, La Bohème, Italian Gala). His most recent opera engagement in Italy is for the production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale in the theatres of the Lombard circuit (As.Li.Co), for which he had in the past conducted Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Verdi's Il Trovatore.

He is particularly active in the symphonic repertoire, having conducted among others numerous symphonic works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Me ndelssohn, Schumann, Dvořák, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Bartok, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Barber, Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Copland, Nielsen, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Respighi, Berio, Maderna and Messiaen. He has concentrated significantly on the French repertoire, having on innumerable occasions performed the masterpieces of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Saint-Saens, Satie, Poulenc, Milhaud and Hahn.

Since 2002 he has worked regularly with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, which he has conducted in all seasons, in its symphonic and in its opera repertoire, as well as in its summer cycles dedicated to the Musical, and in a Christmas concert in Milan Cathedral.

Brenda Harris (Elisabetta) 

Ms. Harris has appeared in leading roles with opera companies and orchestras throughout the world. In North America, she has been heard at the Metropolitan Opera (Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito), The Washington Opera (title role in Agrippina and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), Washington Concert Opera (title role in Roberto Devereux), Minnesota Opera (title roles in Norma, Armida and Semiramide, and Vitellia, Violetta in La traviata, Camilla in Mercadante's Orazi e Curiazi), New York City Opera (title role in Handel's Agrippina, Donna Anna), Austin Lyric Opera (Chrysothemis in Elektra and Katarina in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Atlanta Opera (Desdemona in Otello, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro), Michigan Opera Theatre (Norma and the Countess), Arizona Opera (Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth), Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Countess) and Utah Opera (title role in Ariadne auf Naxos).

In Canada, she has sung leading roles with the Canadian Opera Company, Montreal Opera, Edmonton Opera, Opera de Québec, and Vancouver Opera.

In Europe, Ms. Harris has appeared in Spoleto, Italy as Eva in Die Meistersinger, with Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg as Vitellia and the title role in Barber's Vanessa, and most recently again as Vanessa with Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

In 2006, Ms. Harris debuted the Strauss Four Last Songs with the New Haven Symphony as well as Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony under Maestro Keith Lockhart and the Utah Symphony.

In 2007, she returned to the role of Lady Macbeth (Verdi) with Edmonton Opera as well as the role of Tosca with the Cleveland Opera, and rejoined Chicago's Music of the Baroque with Jane Glover conducting. She also returned to Austin Lyric Opera for the season opening gala.

The 2008–2009 season emphasized operas of the 20th century. Three were by Benjamin Britten: Albert Herring (Lady Billows) and The Turn of the Screw (Governess) with Portland Opera, and Mrs. Julian in Owen Wingrave with Chicago Opera Theater, and the role of Anna Maurrant in Kurt Weill's Street Scene with Chautauqua Opera. She also added the role of Agathe in Weber's Der Freischutz at Des Moines Metro Opera.    

In concert, she performed Beethoven's Ah, Perfido with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra and as soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the North Carolina Master Chorale. She has also performed as soloist with the St. Louis Symphony, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, Honolulu Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic and Boston Baroque as well as numerous Carnegie Hall performances with the Oratorio Society of New York

Ms. Harris has recorded leading roles for Newport Classic, including Scarlatti's Ishmael, Haydn's La Cantarina and The Creation, and on Vox with Handel's Tolomeo. Just released (spring 2009) is Daron Hagen's Shining Brow on Naxos.

The soprano returns to both Opera Lyra (Ottawa Canada) and Des Moines Metro Opera for Lady Macbeth and Kansas City Lyric Opera as Donna Anna.

Jessica Jahn (costume designer)

Jessica Jahn graduated from Rutgers University with degrees in Dance and Psychology. Recent projects include La Cenerentola with Glimmerglass Opera; Bernstein's Mass with Baltimore Symphony; La bohème at Wolftrap Opera Company; Love, Loss and What I Wore; Die Mommie Die! (Lucille Lortel Award for Costume Design) in New York City; In the Red and Brown Water at the Alliance Theatre; The Mystery of Irma Vep at Studio Arena; and Esoterica at the Daryl Roth Theatre (NY). Upcoming projects include Maria Stuarda and Anna Bolena with Minnesota Opera and Life is a Dream at Santa Fe Opera. Jessica lives in Brooklyn with her cat Emma. 

Jonathan Kimple (Sir Gualtiero Raleigh)

Bass-baritone Jonathan Kimple recently completed Portland Opera's Studio Artist Program, where he sang the roles of Giove in Cavalli's La Calisto, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto and the Marchese d'Obigny in La traviata while covering the role of Don Pizarro in Fidelio. As a Santa Fe Apprentice Artist, Mr. Kimple covered the roles of Farasmane in Handel's Radamisto, the title role in Le nozze di Figaro and Alcindoro/Benoit in La bohème. For Sarasota Opera he has sung Count Ceprano in Rigoletto and covered Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. Other credits include the Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance for Virginia Opera, Colline (cover) in La bohème for Dicapo Opera and the Grand Prêtre in Antonio Sacchini's Oedipe à Colone for Opera Lafayette.

Originally from central Iowa, Mr. Kimple obtained his bachelor of music degree from the University of Maryland and his master of music degree from Manhattan School of Music, where he performed the roles of William Emmons in The Village Singer and Simone in Gianni Schicchi. He has also attended the Music Academy of the West, covering Don Profondo for its production of Il viaggio a Reims. As a Minnesota Opera Resident Artist, Mr. Kimple will sing Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers, the Second Inquisitor and Tartaglia in Casanova's Homecoming, Gualtiero Raleigh in Roberto Devereux, Colline in La bohème and the Second Soldier in Salome.

Tamara Klivadenko (Sara)

Tamara Klivadenko studied first piano and accordion in her native city Togliatti, before graduating from the vocal department of The Astrakhan State Conservatoire (professor Elena Mikhailova, vocal teacher).

Ms. Klivadenko started her professional career with Astrakhan State Music Theatre, where she has been engaged for three seasons, and joined Novaya Opera in Moscow.

She has performed roles such as Olga in Eugene Onegin, Paulina in The Queen of Spades, Marina Mnishek in Boris Godunov, Lubasha in The Tsar's Bride, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Fenena in Nabucco, Flora in La traviata and mezzo-soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem.

At present Ms. Klivadenko is a permanent resident soloist at Oper Bremen, Germany. She has sung Amneris in Aida, Fe­nena in Nabucco, Adalgisa in Norma, Hansel in Hänsel und Gretel and title role in La Cenerentola.

Upcoming engagements include the title role in Carmen (Bremen), Sara in Roberto Devereux (Minnesota Opera) and Adalgisa in Norma (Bremen), among others.

Tamara Klivadenko won various prizes at international opera competitions such as XX International M. Glinka Vocalists Competition (second prize, 2003), XXIV International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Com­petition (finalist, 2005) and Competizione dell'Opera 2006 in Dresden (finalist, 2006).

Lester Lynch (Duke of Nottingham)

Lester Lynch is recognized as one of today's most promising Verdi baritones. Hailed by The New York Times as "magnificently forceful" for his Carnegie Hall performance at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Gala, Lynch has been praised for his performances at major opera companies throughout the world.

A native of Ohio, Mr. Lynch studied at the Juilliard Opera School before making his debut as Marcello in La bohème with New York City Opera. Other important debuts followed, including Germont in La traviata with Houston Grand Opera, Count di Luna in Il trovatore with Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Seattle Opera and Flint in Billy Budd with Canadian Opera Company. The baritone has enjoyed a long association with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis where he has received critical acclaim for his performances of Calchas in Le belle hélène, Marcello in La bohème and The Bartender in Conrad Susa's Black River.

Recently, Lester was heard as Paolo in The Santa Fe Opera's new production of Simon Boccanegra, where the New Mexican said he sang "with imposing force," and that when he was on stage, "the air snapped." Mr. Lynch has also recently joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alfio/Tonio in Cavelleria rusticana and I pagliacci as well as a return to the company for the High Priest in Samson et Dalila. Mr. Lynch made an important debut in the title role of Rigoletto with Dayton Opera, where he was noted for his "powerful and intensely moving" performance of the tragic jester.

Mr. Lynch also added other important roles to his growing Verdi repertoire with performances of Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Michigan Opera Theatre and Amonasro in Aida with the Dayton Opera and Connecticut Opera. Other recent performances include appearances with Cincinnati Opera as Marcello in La bohème, Dayton Opera as Tonio in I pagliacci and Count di Luna in Il trovatore, Amonasro in Aida with Dayton Opera, Opera Columbus as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaroand Nat Turner in Vanqui and Shreveport Opera as Escamillo in Carmen. Mr. Lynch's portrayal of Crown in Porgy and Bess with Houston Grand Opera's International Tour brought him to audiences worldwide, including celebrated performances at Teatro alla Scala and L'Opéra National de Paris – Bastille.

An accomplished concert artist, Mr. Lynch has performed a wide variety of repertoire with many important orchestras, including New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Houston Symphony. Mr. Lynch was again as Amonasro in Aida with the Springfield Symphony which was later broadcast on PBS. Also on the concert stage, he performed in Plácido Domingo's Operalia concert in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic with Eugene Kohn conducting. His performances with Chautauqua Symphony of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death were described as "truly splendid," and the Baltimore Sun praised his Elijah as "glorious." Mr. Lynch's numerous concert appearances also include New World Symphony in Copland's Old American Songs, Mendelssohn's Die erste Walpurgis Nacht with Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, Bach Magnificat with Orchestra of St. Lukes at Carnegie Hall, Don Fernando in Fidelio with Cincinnati Symphony, Fauré's Requiem with the Duluth-Superior Orchestra, Carmina burana with Fox Valley Symphony and the New York Oratorio Society again at Carnegie Hall, Elijah with the Flagstaff Symphony, Tucson Symphony in Brahms' Requiem, a premiere with the Columbia Pro Cantare in I Build a House. He recently performed both Crown and Jake in Porgy and Bess under the baton of Bobby McFerrin with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and The Ravinia Festival Orchestra.

Mr. Lynch is a frequent recitalist and has performed throughout the United States under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation. His 2002 Merkin Hall recital included the premiere of Lowell Liebermann's new song cycle, which was commissioned by the Marilyn Horne Foundation for Mr. Lynch. He was heard on New York's classical radio station WQXR and performed a recital with pianist/composer John Musto sponsored by the George London Foundation at New York's Morgan Library.

Mr. Lynch is the recipient of many distinguished awards, such as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the George London Vocal Competition and the Sullivan Awards. His work with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis earned him the prestigious Richard Gaddes Award.

In the 2005–2006 season Mr. Lynch sang Crown in Porgy and Bess with Washington Opera and on a recording with the Nashville Symphony, the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork's Whitman's Journey with the Washington Master Chorale at the Kennedy Center, Carmina burana with the Cincinnati Symphony with Maestro Conlin conducting, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Virginia Symphony, Messiah with the Columbia Pro Cantare, a Gershwin Gala with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Dvorak's Te Deum with the Dayton Symphony. Other recent credits include Tonio in I pagliacci with Pittsburgh Opera and Lake George Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and leading roles with Opera Company of Philadelphia and with Los Angeles Opera. Most recently for the Minnesota Opera, Mr. Lynch performed the role of Count di Luna in its 2008 production of Il trovatore.

Kevin Newbury (stage director)

Rodolfo Nieto (Friend of Nottingham)

Bass-baritone Rodolfo Nieto most recently appeared as Don Alfonso for Cedar Rapids Opera Theater's production of Così fan tutte. Other roles for that company include the Imperial Commissioner in Madame Butterfly and Pooh-Bah in The Mikado. During the 2008 season he was a Central City Opera Young Artist, where he sang the roles of Don Magnifico and Alidoro in Cinderella and Godofredo in La Curandera for its outreach program. In 2007, Mr. Nieto appeared as Gravitas in the world premiere of Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings at Theatre@Boston Court.

Mr. Nieto attended Northwestern University, where he performed as Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte and Simone in Gianni Schicchi. At Luther College, he has sung the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. As a resident artist for the Minnesota Opera this season, Mr. Nieto appears as the Third Inquisitor and Spanish Captain in Casanova's Homecoming, the Friend of Nottingham in Roberto Devereux, Colline in La bohème and the First Guard in Salome.

Michael Nyby (A page)

Baritone Michael Nyby joins the Minnesota Opera's Resident Artist Program after having spent this past summer as a part of the prestigious Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist program. Previously, he has sung Moralès in Carmen for Vancouver Opera and Figaro in The Barber of Barkerville for Vancouver Opera in Schools. For Burnaby Lyric Opera, Mr. Nyby has sung Haly in The Italian Girl in Algiers and the title roles of Don Giovanni and Il barbiere di Siviglia for the European Music Academy of Teplice.

Mr. Nyby holds a master's degree in opera from the University of British Columbia, where he has sung the roles of Ford in Falstaff, Falke in Die Fledermaus and Cascada in The Merry Widow. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Ithaca College, performing such roles Cascada, David in A Hand of Bridge, the Secret Police Agent in The Consul and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. He also appeared as Pinellino in Gianni Schicchi for the Ithaca Opera Company. For the Minnesota Opera's 2009-2010 season, Mr. Nyby will be appearing as the Montebank in Casanova's Homecoming, the Page in Roberto Devereux, Schaunard in La bohème and the Fifth Jew in Salome.

Neil Patel (set designer)

Bruno Ribeiro (Roberto Devereux)

Bruno Ribeiro was born in Portugal, where he started his studies at the National Music Conservatoire of Lisbon. He then studied with Maestro George Kok in Pretoria and later with Emma Renzi in Johannesburg. There, he sang Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Alfredo in La traviata and Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Bruno made his professional debut in a production of Don Giovanni singing the role of Don Ottavio at the Michigan Opera Theatre. Since then he has performed at several theaters in Italy such as Teatro Regio in Torino, singing in productions of L'amore dei tre re, Il turco in Italia, Don Carlo and Tristan und Isolde.

In 2006, he sang the role of Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the Teatro Rendano di Cosenza, Teatro Cilea di Reggio Calabria and Teatro Comunale di Catanzaro. In 2007, he sang Arlecchino in I pagliacci conducted by Maestro Bruno Bartoletti at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, and was engaged to sing the role of Ismaele in Nabucco for the St. Margarethen Opera Festival.

Bruno Ribeiro has also enjoyed a busy concert activity, with performances of Coronation Mass/Mozart in Bari, Stabat mater/Rossini in Rome, Vespri Sicilianii/Mozart in Reggio Calabria, as well as recital appearances.

In the past few months, Bruno Ribeiro has taken part in several concerts in the United Kingdom and Italy and at Teatro São Carlos in Lisboa. He also sang the role of Narraboth in Strauss' Salome at the Teatro Regio di Torino, his first Don Alvaro in La forza del destino at the Belcanto Opera in England and Almaviva at Firenze Festival Opera.

Other recent engagements include Il corsaro at the Verdi Festival of Parma in Busseto, a concert in Parma and Lucrezia Borgia at Staatsoper München, Don Carlos at Belcanto Opera in England and Nabucco at the Mai Festspiele in Wiesbaden.

In 2009–2010, Mr. Ribiero will be singing I masnadieri and Nabucco in Parma/Busseto at the Verdi Festival, Roberto Devereux at Minnesota Opera and I Capuleti ed i Montecchi in Dublin. In 2011, he will sing his first Des Grieux (Massenet's Manon) in St Gallen.

D. M. Wood (lighting designer)

Credits include co-design of How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Broadway, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles), Die Zauberflöte (Houston Grand Opera), La traviata (Opera Colorado), The Sound of a Voice and Hotel of Dreams (Long Beach Opera), Die Zauberflöte (Opera Colorado), Il viaggio a Reims  (New York City Opera), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lyric Opera of Kansas City), Tosca (Canadian Opera Company), La Cleopatra and Oedipus Rex (Opernhaus - Graz, Austria), Tristan und Isolde  (Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland), Les Misérables (New Production: Tour of Denmark) and the transfer designs of Simon Boccanegra and L'incoronazione di Poppea  (New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv).

Ms. Wood has also designed for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Primary Stages NYC, Baltimore CenterStage, The Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company, NYSF/The Public Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company and the American Repertory Theatre.

Recent projects include the co-design of Annie Get Your Gun (The Young Vic, London), La Cenerentola (Glimmerglass Opera) and Romance (American Repertory Theatre).