Opera Roanoke opened the 2011-12 season with a fully staged production of Giuseppe Verdi’s much beloved opera “Il Trovatore” to a sold out house on October 14th and 16th at Shaftman Performance Hall-Jefferson Center.
An outstanding cast of Verdi singers joined the ever popular Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Roanoke Chorus and Young Apprentice Artists, for one of opera’s greatest romantic hits. An outstanding job of conducting the entire production was done by Scott Williamson, General and Artistic Director of Opera Roanoke. Williamson is also a tenor who performs with Opera Roanoke.
Full of stirring choruses, breath-taking arias and fiery ensembles, Il Trovatore is one of the most thrilling shows on the operatic stage.
The main cast consisted of Hope Briggs as Leonora, Jennifer Roderer as Azucena, Scott Piper as Manrico, Gary Simpson as Conte di Luna, and Keith Reed as Ferrando.
The next fully staged production of Opera Roanoke will be “Carmen” by Georges Bizet on April 27th and 29th, 2012 at the Jefferson Center.
