Carmen
This four-act opera tells a passionate one-sided love story
Details
Performance Language
Sung in French with English supertitles
Opera Naples presents Georges Bizet’s Carmen, one of the world’s most beloved operas. Set in Spain’s exotic countryside, Bizet’s masterpiece burns with passion in the epic love story of the gypsy girl Carmen, a love-struck soldier and a handsome bull fighter. Hear the iconic Toreador Song, Habanera and Seguidilla.
Maestro Ramón Tebar conducts the Naples Festival Orchestra with the Opera Naples chorus and a cast of international artists in a fully-staged production.
Event Dates
MARCH 28, 2023 | 7 PM
MARCH 30, 2023 | 7 PM
Venue
Maya Lahyani
Carmen
Hailed as “a voice to die for combined with acting ability, beauty, and stage presence,” Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani is quickly becoming one of today’s most sought-after international singers. In the 2022/23 season, Ms. Lahyani will perform the title role in Carmen at Opera Naples and Portland Opera and OnSite Opera as well as Handel’s Messiah with Xian Zhang. Last season, she performed Dorothée in Laurent Pelly’s production of Cinderella at the Metropolitan Opera, and Carmen at both Arizona Opera and Minnesota Opera in a production by Denyce Graves.
Ms. Lahyani has sung over 90 performances at The Metropolitan Opera, making her debut during the 2013-2014 season in Anthony Minghella’s production of Madam Butterfly as the first Israeli born to ever sing on their stage. Her concert work portfolio includes performances as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Nicola Luisotti, the alto soloist in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream with conductor Kurt Masur and the San Francisco Symphony. Lahyani also appeared in concert of Verdi's Rigoletto with The Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. Ms. Lahyani was a 2010 grand finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a 2008 finalist in the Joy in Singing Competition. She has been awarded scholarships by the San Francisco Foundation, the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Ronen Foundation, and the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute. She received her Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Music from the Mannes School of Music in New York. She is married to tenor Viktor Antipenko.
Matthew White
Don José
American tenor Matthew White, whom the New York Classical Review said had a “distinctive tenor with a dark and powerful lyric sound” is, in the 2022-2023 season performing Alfredo in La traviata with Houston Grand Opera, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opéra de Montréal, Duca in Rigoletto with Utah Opera, and for his much anticipated European debut, Don José in Carmen with Oper im Steinbruch in Austria. On the concert stage, he will sing the Shepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Houston Symphony, and Handel’s Messiah with Nashville Symphony and the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.
A graduate of Philadelphia’s prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts, Mr. White performed Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, the title role in Massenet’s Werther, Roberto in Puccini’s Le Villi, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Avito in Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re, and Faust in Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Helene. He made his debut with Opera Maine as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, and has appeared with Palm Beach Opera and Vero Beach Opera. Concert credits include performances with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Ocean City Pops, and the Longfellow Chorus Festival. A trained violinist, Mr. White is also an avid surfer and runs his own surfboard business, which currently has clients around the world.
Jeanette Vecchione-Donatti
Micaëla
Internationally acclaimed soprano Jeanette Vecchione-Donatti is a thrill to audiences both in the opera houses and on concert stages. In repertoire that spans from Handel to Bernstein, she has graced the stages of the Vienna State Opera, Theatres des Champs Elysées, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Teatro Massimo di Catania among several others throughout the world in leading roles from the title role of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor to most notably, the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Ms. Vecchione-Donatti has appeared as a soloist in concert including prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Philarmoniker Hamburg, NDR Radiophilarmonie and throughout the United States, Europe, South America, Israel and Japan.
Ms. Donatti had the privilege of studying with notable superstars such as Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanewa, Renata Scottish and Natalie Dessay and received a full scholarship to attend The Juilliard School where she graduated with both a Bachelors and Masters in Music. Ms. Vecchione-Donatti, her husband Breno Donatti, owner of Winfield Street Coffee and their two children are now proud residents of Naples.
Ethan Vincent
Escamillo
During the 2022-23 season, American baritone Ethan Vincent sings Orff's Carmina Burana for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra's opening night gala concert led by Rossen Milanov and with Opera Philadelphia paired with Margaret Bonds' Credo conducted by Lina Gonzalez-Granados; joins the San Francisco Opera to cover the role of Germont in La Traviata conducted by Eun Sun Kim; makes his Boston Youth Symphony debut singing Méphistophélès in Berlioz's La damnation de Faust led by music director Federico Cortese; returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of John Adams to cover the roles of Ned Peters and Clarence in performances and a recording of the composer's Girls of the Golden West; as well as taking part in two productions of La bohème singing Marcello with Sacramento Symphony & Opera and Schaunard with Berkshire Opera Festival.
Mr. Vincent has recently appeared with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Philadelphia Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Milwaukee Symphony, San Diego Opera, and Cincinnati Opera, with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Jordan de Souza, Roberto Kalb, Leon Botstein, Mark Gibson, and Ken-David Masur. He can be seen in the featured role of César in the acclaimed film Bel Canto alongside Academy Award-winner Julianne Moore. Mr. Vincent hails from Kansas City, Missouri. He holds both a B.A. and M.A. in Voice Performance from Northwestern University.
Malena Dayen
Stage Director
Malena Dayen is an Argentinian opera singer and director and 22/23 Princeton Hodder fellow. Malena won the 1st Prize in Catapult Opera’s competition for innovation in opera for her video of Wallen’s The Silent Twins and directed Teatro Grattacielo’s Fedora and Mefistofele video productions, that were selected to the international festivals of Munich, London and Bali. She directed El Amor Brujo and L’Amico Fritz at LaMama in 202.
Malena co-created The Presence of Odradek, a new opera performed live online in May 2020. As creative director of Bare Opera she directed Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires, Don Giovanni, Heroes of New York and The Late Walk that was inducted into The Library of Congress’ Performing Arts COVID-19 Response Collection.
Malena recently directed and performed in Firesongs, a new piece by Thomas Cabaniss that premiered at Chelsea Factory in collaboration with National Sawdust in New York City.
