OperaDelaware returns to the stage in May with its performance of Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chenier.
The opera is a gripping and passionate story about love and resistance, set against the tumultuous backdrop of the French Revolution. Tenor Dane Suarez performs the role of Andrea Chenier, a real-life poet who was executed during the revolution.
“He is very outspoken, and his words get him in a lot of trouble,” Suarez says. “He falls in love with a noblewoman, Maddalena di Coigny, and the story kind of follows the ups and downs of their life, leading them all the way to the guillotine.”
Joining Suarez on stage is soprano Toni Marie Palmertree, who will sing the role of Maddalena. Palmertree recently made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. She says it was a lifelong dream come true for her.
“I can't tell you how long I've practiced this moment at home, in my room, or in front of my mirror, or in the shower singing and pretending that the walls were the Met,” she says. “I cannot tell you how many times I've done that. And so it really, truly didn't feel real for about two weeks. And then after I heard some recordings of it happening, then it was like, ‘OK, I did that. That actually happened.’”
For Suarez, singing the role of Andrea Chenier is also a career milestone. The role is considered one of the most difficult for operatic tenors, in part because of the sheer amount of singing required.
“The stamina that it takes to get through this role is something that I've worked for quite some time throughout my career,” he says. “And this truly is the Mount Everest for me at this point.”
This production also marks a milestone for OperaDelaware itself. The company is playing host to this year’s OPERA America conference, meaning that Suarez, Palmertree, and their colleagues will be performing in front of singers, conductors, directors, and other opera professionals from around the country, including some of America’s biggest and most prestigious opera companies.
Palmertree is excited to showcase OperaDelaware in the national spotlight.
“I think of this in a sense as a triumph for us, for OperaDelaware, for Wilmington, because it can only go one way in my mind, and that's that everyone's going to come and experience something extraordinary,” she says.
Suarez says it is also a chance to reawaken interest in Giordano’s opera.
“It used to be in the canon,” he explains. “It was produced all the time and was the vehicle for great tenors and sopranos and great tenor and soprano duos and kind of fell away because it's such an expensive opera to produce, and so the opportunity that we have to present this with such a huge platform is really, really exciting.”
OperaDelaware presents performances of Andrea Chenier on May 10, 13, and 15. The company will also host Towson University professor Dr. Aaron Ziegel for two virtual lectures on the opera.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
