Verdi in the Valley

Maryland Opera brings the magic and grandeur of opera in this magnificent musical performance presented in the beautiful Inscape Theater at Stevenson University. Excerpts from four Verdi operas will be presented fully staged and costumed with chamber orchestra accompaniment and projected English translations to ensure complete enjoyment of these magnificent stories.  

The program features Act I of La Traviata, spotlighting the famous “Libiamo!” and “Sempre libera”; Act III (complete) of Rigoletto including “La donna è mobile” and the well loved quartet; Act IV (complete) of Otello bringing the tragic foreshadowing of the Willow Song (“Salce, salce”); and “Va, Pensiero”, the iconic slaves chorus from Nabucco.

Singing the roles of Gilda and the Duke of Mantua will be Metropolitan Opera Artist Rachele Gilmore and her real-life husband, Dinyar Vania, well-known to Baltimore audiences for his thrilling Cavaradossi several seasons ago. Glamorous Jennifer Forni will portray Violetta and Desdemona, and emerging dramatic tenor superstar Limmie Pulliam will sing the tragic Otello. Kenneth Kellogg, known for his villainous roles and basso profundo low notes, will sing Sparafucile and Montano. Stage and musical direction for all selections is by Maryland Opera Artistic Director James Harp, long known for operatic performances and excellence in the Mid-Atlantic area.

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This exciting opening performance of Maryland Opera is a preamble and introduction to the great plans for this new organization dedicated to opera performance and education in Maryland.