Stars and Bios

Conductor and Stage Director

Full Cast

Synopsis

	Samuel Ramey, Baron Scarpia, Basso Samuel Ramey is a stars at the foremost opera companies in the world – New York’s Metropolitan Opera; Milan’s La Scala; London’s Covent Garden; San Francisco Opera; Lyric Opera of Chicago; Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires; Houston Grand Opera; the companies of Paris, Washington, Los Angeles, Vienna, Hamburg, Florence, Geneva, Zurich and the Salzburg Festival. Mr. Ramey’s early history gave no indication that a career of such dimensions was to come. He was born in Colby, Kansas, in the down-to-earth heartland of America. He entered the School of Music at Wichita State University where he studied with baritone Arthur Newman. In the spring of 1973, he made a successful debut with the New York City Opera as Zuniga in Carmen. From that moment on, his career climbed steadily to international stardom and a repertoire of more than 75 roles. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Handel’s Rinaldo in 1984.  Mr. Ramey is a much honored and decorated artist. One of his most recent honors has been the designation by the French Government of “Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters.” “Samuel Ramey is a national treasure” wrote the Los Angeles Times. This is just one of the high accolades that Mr. Ramey has received throughout his prestigious 30 year career.  Highlights of Mr. Ramey’s 2006-2007 season include his tour-de-force double bill of Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at Washington National Opera; Don Basilio in Barbiere di Siviglia and the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo at Metropolitan Opera; Mephistopheles in Faust at the Houston Grand Opera; Zaccharia in Nabucco at Rome’s Caracalla Festival; and the title-role of Boris Godunov in Madrid.
	Annalisa Raspagliosi, Floria Tosca.  Italian soprano, Annalisa Raspagliosi, sky-rocketed to fame since her successful operatic debut in 1998 as Violetta in La Traviata in Rome, Italy.  Since then, she debuted with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the title role Luisa Miller and the Frankfurt Opera as Nedda in Pagliacci. In 2000 she partnered with tenor Luciano Pavarotti in numerous concerts in the United States, Europe, and Mexico, including at the inaugural performance of the Wichita Grand Opera in April 2002. During the 2002-2003 season, she starred as Violetta at the Teatro Regio in Parma under conductor Carlo Rizzi and at Madrid’s Teatro Real under conductor Jesus Lopez-Cobos and director Pier Luigi Pizzi. Highlights of her 2003-2004 season include Violetta in La Traviata at the Bolshoi in Moscow in the Franco Zeffirelli production.  In 2003 she returned to Wichita to perform her first Violetta in the United States with Wichita Grand Opera.  She made her Los Angeles Opera debut as Nedda in Pagliacci in 2005, as well as opened the 2006 season as Elizabeth in Don Carlos. In 2006 she performed the title role in Tosca at Teatro Lirico in Cagliari and Leonora in Il Trovatore at Teatro Regio in Parma.  She appears on several recordings for the Dynamic label, including Simon Boccanegra (1857 version), Robert le Diable and Les Huguenots, all recorded live at Festival della Valle d’Itria di Martina Franca under the musical direction of Renato Palumbo. She studied with the famous Bulgarian soprano Raina Kabaivanska and in 1998 won the “Cascina Lirica” and “Città di Roma” international vocal competitions.
	MARTIN ILIEV, Cavarodossi. Martin iliev began his career as a baritone in 1993 and immediately was engaged in major baritone roles in Verdi’s, Puccini’s and Mozart’s repertoire. He is a regular guest artist at the National Opera Theater in Bucharest, all major Opera houses in Bulgaria, and has been a guest artist in England, Germany, Italy, USA, Spain and Holland. In 2004, he made a transition to tenor repertoire, and his repertoire includes, Calaf, Radames and Cavaradossi.