Operatic Passions

Opera’s most beloved moments take center stage as Verdi’s soaring choruses, Puccini’s unforgettable arias, and Strauss’s effervescent sparkle bring the drama and emotion of the operatic stage to life. Passion, heartbreak, laughter, and triumph unfold through the extraordinary power of the human voice in an evening rich with melody and theatrical flair. James Lowe, conductor Madison Leonard, soprano Alex Richardson, tenor Spokane Symphony Chorale Dr. Meg Stohlmann, chorale director Richard Wagner Three Excerpts from Act III of Die Meistersinger Giuseppe Verdi “Coro di zingari” (Anvil Chorus) from Il trovatore Charles Gounod “Ah! Je veux vivre” from Roméo et Juliette Giacomo Puccini “Che gelida manina” from La bohème Giuseppe Verdi “Va, pensiero” from Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi “É strano!… Ah, fors’è lui… Sempre libera” from La Traviata Richard Wagner “Siegfried’s Rhine Journey” from Götterdämmerung Giuseppe Verdi “Caro nome” from Rigoletto Giacomo Puccini “E lucevan le stelle” from Tosca Giacomo Puccini “The Humming Chorus” from Madama Butterfly Johann Strauss II Overture to Die Fledermaus Giacomo Puccini “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi Giacomo Puccini Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut Giacomo Puccini “Nessun dorma” from Turandot SATURDAY DOORS 6PM | PRECONCERT TALK 6:30PM | SHOW 7:30PM SUNDAY DOORS 1:30PM | PRECONCERT TALK 2PM | SHOW 3PM SATURDAY TICKETS SUNDAY TICKETS BUY MASTERWORKS SUBSCRIPTION Free K-12 Tickets Bring the whole family! This show has free tickets available for all students K-12 through the Spokane Symphony FASTix program. Get your tickets by calling The Fox box office at 509-624-1200. Program Notes Program details to come. Please check back. Madison Leonard, Soprano Praised for her “silvery, ethereal-sounding Sophie” by Opera magazine and “lovely vocal delicacy” in The Telegraph, Madison Leonard makes her role debut as Violetta in La traviata in a return to Garsington Opera in the 2025-26 season. She also makes her Metropolitan Opera debut as Frasquita in Carmen and joins the company for its production of Don Giovanni as well as sings Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Future engagements include a return to Dallas Opera for another role debut. Last season, she eturned to Dallas Opera as Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice and Garsington Opera as Adina in L’elisir d’amore. She sang her first performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Colburn Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale and joined the Utah Symphony for a concert of Mozart arias at the Deer Valley Music Festival She maintains a close relationship with Garsington Opera, at which she has previously sung Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Giulietta di Kelbar in Un giorno di regno. She has joined Seattle Opera for Gilda in Rigoletto and Chrisann Brennan in The evolution of Steve Jobs as well as Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Frasquita in Carmen. She has sung Gilda in Rigoletto with Dallas Opera and Austin Opera—her performance at the latter was named one of the Top Ten Joys in Dance and Classical Music by the Austin Chronicle. She has sung further performances of Chrisann Brennan in Bates’ The evolution of Steve Jobs with Austin Opera and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Leïla in Les pêcheurs des perles with Austin Opera; Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Central City Opera; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Marie in La fille du régiment and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Utah Opera; Musetta in La bohème with Atlanta Opera; Despina in Così fan tutte with Palm Beach Opera, and further performances of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera San Antonio. She also joined the Sacramento Philharmonic for excerpts of Lucia di Lammermoor. With Wolf Trap Opera, she debuted Ilia in Idomeneo and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette following previous performances as Madeline in Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher and the Daughter in Glass’ The Juniper Tree. She is a former Cafritz Young Artist of Washington National Opera, at which she sang Morgana in Alcina, the High Priestess in Aida, the Rose in Portman’s The Little Prince, and Little Zegner Sister in Mazzoli’s Proving Up. Other recent highlights for the soprano include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Inland Northwest Opera, Adele in Die Fledermaus with Opera Idaho, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Amarillo Opera. On the concert stage, she has twice joined the National Symphony Orchestra: her debut with Gianandrea Noseda conducting Stravinsky’s Pulcinella as part of the SHIFT Festival followed by an immediate return soloist in Vaughan William’s Symphony No. 3 (A Pastoral Symphony) under the baton of Sir Mark Elder. She is a frequent guest of the Florida Orchestra and has joined institution for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Fauré’s Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, further performances of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, and a concert of opera favorites. She sang her first performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Fauré’s Requiem with the Apollo Orchestra in Washington, D.C., joined the New York Festival of Song for a program of music from the British Isles at Caramoor and Merkin Hall in New York City, and offered a solo recital at Washington Adventist University. Ms. Leonard is a 2018 winner of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, at which she sang arias from Rigoletto and Hänsel und Gretel with Bertrand de Billy conducting. She is a previous first place winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition. Additionally, she received the Women’s Voice Fellowship from the Luminarts Cultural Foundation and scholarships from the Lynn Harvey Foundation and the Musicians Club of Women. The soprano earned her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and her Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine University. She is a former participant of the Merola Opera Program in association with San Francisco Opera at which she sang Monica in Menotti’s The Medium and a former young artist of Des Moines Metro Opera. Alex Richardson, Tenor American tenor Alex Richardson’s stage presence has been described as “powerful, sympathetic, and fully-fleshed,” his voice “capable of both ringing top notes and sweet, floated tones” (Opera News). Mr. Richardson returns to the Metropolitan Opera in the 2022-2023 season to cover the roles of Leonard in The Hours, and Desiré in Fedora. He will be a featured soloist in Toledo Opera’s Celebrazione del Coro, and will also be heard in recital in Fort Myers, FL. The 2021-2022 season had Richardson covering the role of Laertes in Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera, and he was the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony. He also performed as the Fool in Wozzeck in concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at both Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall. In the 2020-2021 season, Richardson was to have performed the roles of the Shepherd in Tristan und Isolde with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, both at Boston Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall; Don José in Carmen with Pittsburgh Opera; and covered the roles of Boris in Káťa Kabanová and Alwa in Lulu at the Metropolitan Opera, all of which were canceled due to COVID-19. Richardson has recently been seen in the roles of Mario in Daniel Catán’s Il Postino and Cavaradossi in Tosca at Opera Southwest, Don José in Carmen with the Fort Wayne Symphony, and Alfredo in La Traviata at the Northern Lights Music Festival. He performed as tenor soloist in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Orlando Philharmonic and in the world premiere of Patrick Zimmerli’s Instrument of Destiny at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. A frequent performer with the Metropolitan Opera, Richardson has sung the roles of the Shepherd in Tristan und Isolde under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, the 4th Jew in Salome, and has covered the roles of Laertes in Brett Dean’s Hamlet, Loge in Das Rheingold, the First Knight in Parsifal, Lucas in The Exterminating Angel, and Alwa in Lulu. Richardson has performed the title roles in Werther (Boston Lyric Opera), Peter Grimes (Princeton Festival), and Franco Faccio’s Amleto (world premiere at Opera Southwest), along with the roles of 2nd Jew in Salome (Boston Symphony and Opera San Antonio), soloist in Szymanowski’s King Roger (Boston Symphony Orchestra), the Steuermann in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer (Princeton Festival), Molqi in The Death of Klinghoffer (Long Beach Opera), Romeo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (St. Petersburg Opera), Rodolfo in La Bohème (Opera Western Reserve), Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (Fort Worth Symphony and Orlando Symphony), Fenton in Falstaff and Will Tweedy in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree (Amarillo Opera), Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Camille in The Merry Widow (Opera Southwest). As a young artist with The Santa Fe Opera, he debuted the role of the Soldier Ruiz Alonzo in Osvaldo Golijov’s opera Ainadamar, directed by Peter Sellars. He subsequently performed the role of the Bullfighter in Ainadamar, in his debuts with the Atlanta Symphony, the Ojai and Ravinia Festivals, and the Chicago Symphony. An established figure on the concert stage, Richardson has performed as tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and the St. John Passion (Evangelist), Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Puccini’s Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Hymn of Praise. He has appeared in Boston Symphony Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Koussevitsky Music Shed at Tanglewood, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Also an avid recitalist, Richardson was a roster member of the Marilyn Horne Foundation. Richardson has participated in young artist programs at Central City Opera, Sarasota Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera. He spent two seasons as a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where he performed the role of Fatty the Bookkeeper in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City at Mahagonny, Vogelgesang in Act III of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and the solos in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Maestro Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. He has since been a featured soloist on numerous occasions at Tanglewood – including in the 75th Anniversary Gala Concert, televised on PBS’s Great Performances. Originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico, Richardson holds degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Manhattan School of Music. Richardson has been honored by several competitions including the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, the Laureen Butler Competition of El Paso Opera (first place), and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (two-time regional prize winner). Lowedown Thursday April 22 at noon, Music Director James Lowe gives you the “LoweDown” on the music. It’s a free, fascinating, and lighthearted talk about the music, including historical context and meaning, juicy gossip about the composers’ lives, music clips, visuals, and our conductor’s quick wit! ◆ NOON TO 1:00 PM Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture’s Eric A. Johnston Auditorium, 2316 W. First Avenue, Spokane SPR Classical Concert of the Week Whether you couldn’t attend a Masterworks concert or loved what you heard and want to listen again, Spokane Symphony Masterworks concerts are featured on SPR Classical’s “Concert of the Week,” the Saturday after each performance on KSFC 91.9 FM at 12pm on spokanepublicradio.org. The Masterworks 26-27 Season is Sponsored by Ticket Information: Phone: 509-624-1200 Box Office: The Fox Theater, 1001 West Sprague Avenue SATURDAY TICKETS SUNDAY TICKETS BUY MASTERWORKS SUBSCRIPTION Bag Policy All bags (with the exception of clutches 6 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches) are subject to visual inspection by venue security. Large bags are not allowed in The Fox, and must be checked in our Coat Check (located in the North Gallery) for the duration of the event. Programs are subject to change Cancellation Policy All sales are final and nonrefundable.