"Franz Schreker is perhaps the most striking example of a highly recognized Austrian composer whose music disappeared after it was banned in 1933," says conductor James Conlon. "He was so prominent that some viewed him as the successor to both Wagner and Strauss. The Stigmatized (Die Gezeichneten) was given nearly two dozen productions in the years immediately following its premiere, an extraordinary indication of success by any measure." LA Opera presented the first staged production in the American hemisphere of any of Schreker’s operas in 2010.
The Stigmatized (1918) is the best-known work by Franz Schreker, one of the most important and successful opera composers of the early 20th century who fell into obscurity after the rise of the Nazi regime. A rapturously evocative late-Romantic tragedy, it's an unlikely love triangle that plays out on a paradise pleasure island amidst a group of decadent nobles who are marked by lust and depravity.
A 1995 Berlin Symphony Orchestra recording of the opera was part of Decca’s celebrated "Entartete Musik" series and a spectacular 2005 Salzburg Festival production was filmed and released on DVD.
LA Opera’s production of The Stigmatized features a large cast headed by American tenor Robert Brubaker as Alviano (a role he performed in the Salzburg production), German soprano Anja Kampe as Carlotta, and German baritone Martin Gantner as Count Tamare. American baritone James Johnson is Duke Adorno with German bass baritone Wolfgang Schöne reprising his Salzburg role as Lodovico Nardi for his LA Opera debut. Saturday, July 27, 1 to 5:15 pm.
Read an article about the opera.
http://youtu.be/0_FBmQMJPWg
Cast:
Carlotta Nardi: Anja Kampe
Alviano Salvago: Robert Brubaker
Count Tamare: Martin Gantner
Duke Adorno: James Johnson
Lodovico Nardi: Wolfgang Schone
Conductor: James Conlon