Fort Worth Opera Director Angela Turner looks forward to celebrating 80 years of Fort Worth Opera success this year.
Source:Opera fans should mark their calendars for Friday, October 10. A very special 80th anniversary season opener is planned for the Fort Worth Opera. Tenor Jonathan Tetelman will take the stage at the intimate Van Cliburn Concert Hall on the TCU campus for a rare U.S. recital along with pianist Michael Recchiuti. The one-night-only performance by the international star will be immediately followed by the Opera’s annual Dinner with the Stars.
Jonathan Tetelman is a rare talent and a bona fide superstar in the opera world. “The Chilean-born, New Jersey-bred and New York-trained tenor now calls Germany his home base and only rarely finds himself back in the U.S.,” the Fort Worth Opera says.
Tetelman will follow up his Fort Worth performance with appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. So, if you are an opera lover, this is a rare opportunity to be serenaded by one of the best.
“In America, it’s hard to put together a cross-country touring schedule as we don’t have that grassroots popularity, where every city and town has an opera house,” Tetelman explained. “But Fort Worth stands apart there. It’s not the biggest city in Texas, but it’s home to the state’s oldest opera company. There’s a real sophistication here — and I’m thrilled we could put this event together with Fort Worth Opera.”
The recital format is built for intimacy.
“This is a new frontier for me — just piano and voice,” he said. “It strips away everything ‘big’ about opera, and leaves poetry, communicated through music with people who really feel it, right there in the room with you.”
The rare concert will begin with a Tosti set, followed by Neapolitan songs, Spanish favorites, and some Puccini.
“That close-up focus also shaped his choice of partner at the piano,” according to the Opera. “Tetelman appears with celebrated conductor-pianist Michael Recchiuti, a longtime friend and mentor whose collaboration credits range from Renée Fleming to Vanessa Williams.”
Fort Worth visionaries and opera lovers planted the original Opera company in the state of Texas 80 years ago. It was founded in 1946 by three remarkable women — Eloise MacDonald Snyder, Betty Berry Spain, and Jeanne Axtell Walker. Celebrating its 80th year is a testament to tenacity, as well as Fort Worth’s love affair with the arts.
After the recital, supporters will enjoy the separately ticketed Dinner with the Stars.
The drama will continue at the dinner with performances by tenor Clifton Forbis and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche. “They will be joined by the company’s newly announced Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artists. Director Emeritus Joe Illick emcees the evening, which features highlights from operas the company has presented across the past eight decades.”
The FWO hosted the biennial McCammon Voice Competition last spring as well.
Of the Fort Worth Opera’s coup in presenting Jonathan Tetelman to its hometown, General & Artistic Director Angela Turner Wilson said, “In recital, he brings that same power and warmth, but with a rare connection to the room. People are going to be talking about this event for a long time — but there are only 700 seats in the theater. This is your chance to be one of the few who can say, ‘I was there.’”
