James Maddalena

James Maddalena (born 1954) is an American baritone who is chiefly associated with contemporary American opera. He gained international recognition in 1987 when he originated the role of Richard Nixon at the premiere of John Adams's opera Nixon in China at Houston.[1] He has since reprised the role on many occasions, and recorded it for the Nonesuch Records release of the opera in 1987.[2] In addition to Maddelena's role as Nixon, he has originated two other Adams characters: the Captain in The Death of Klinghoffer and Jack Hubbard in Doctor Atomic.[3] He has also performed roles in the premieres of operas by Paul Moravec and Stewart Wallace among other American composers.

In addition to American opera, Maddalena has sung a broad operatic repertoire which ranges from Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, and Verdi to modern composers like Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett. He is also a concert artist whose regular performances include works by Bach, Handel and Schubert as well as those by modern composers.[1]

Early life and career

Maddalena was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1954. He was trained at the New England Conservatory (NEC), and while a student there made his professional singing debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1974.[4] He became a member of Emmanuel Music while an NEC student, with whom he performed all of Bach's cantatas under conductor Craig Smith.[5] In 1976 he co-founded the Liederkreis Ensemble, whose members included a quartet of vocalists with Smith as pianist. The ensemble was dedicated to performing lieder, particularly rarely heard works,[6] and was awarded the Naumburg Award in 1980.[7] He also actively performed with other music ensembles in New England during the 1970s, including singing in the world premiere of Robert Schumann's Requiem with the New Hampshire Sinfonietta (1975)[8] and performances of Harrison Birtwistle's Down by the Greenwood Side with Boston Musica Viva (1978).[9]

Maddalena made his first forray into opera as Mr. Gedge in a student production of Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring at the NEC in March 1975.[10] In the summers of 1975, 1976, and 1977 he performed with the Wolf Trap Opera Company, a prestigious program for young opera singers at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. His professional opera debut was made in February 1977 with the Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) during that company's first season as Allazim in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Zaide.[11] He later returned to the BLO several more times during his career, performing such roles as John Sorel in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul (1981),[12] Albert (1981) in Jules Massenet's Werther,[13] the Music Master in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos (1982),[14] Somarone in Hector Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict (1993),[15] Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte (2004),[16] and Baron Duphol in La traviata (2006).[17] In 1979 he starred in a production of George Frideric Handel's Atalanta at the American Repertory Theater under conductor Herbert von Karajan.[18]

In 1980 Maddalena created the title role in Tony Schemmer's pop opera Phaust at Harvard University's Sanders Theater under the baton of Philip Morehead.[19] That same year he portrayed the role of Death in Gustav Holst's Savitri with Boston Cecilia.[20] He sang as a soloist in several other performances with Boston Cecilia, including in concerts of Handel's Athalia (1982, Abner)[21] and Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor (1983).[22] In 1983 he performed the role of Abramane in the United States premiere of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Zoroastre with Boston Baroque (then known as Banchetto Musicale) at the Sanders Theater under conductor Martin Pearlman.[23] He performed with the ensemble again in December 1984 as a soloist in Handel's Messiah for performances in both Boston and at New York City's Carnegie Hall.[24]

Working with Sellars and Adams

In September 1980 Maddalena portrayed the title role in a controversial production of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire with the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra for the Monadnock Music Festival (MMF). The production used a modernized staging which was conceived by director Peter Sellars, just 23 years old at the time. It was the first professional opera directed by Sellars. While Opera News dubbed the production as "an act of artistic vandalism", The New York Times was more positive in its review, with critic Peter G. Davis hailing the staging as "remarkably stimulating and provocative" and stating that "Maddalena was an appropriately loathsome Don, and he sang the part with a fine, firmly modulated baritone."[25]

The 1980 production of Don Giovanni marked the beginning of a long and fruitful artistic partnership between Sellars and Maddalena which continues to this day.[4] In 1981 he sang the role of Idreno in the United States premiere of Joseph Haydn's Armida at the MMF in which Sellars staged the opera during the Vietnam War.[26] Other roles Maddalena performed in Sellars productions included Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (1984, Castle Hill Festival[27] and 1986, Pepsico Summerfare[28]), Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro (1984, MMF[29] and 1988, Pepsico Summerfare[30]), and Achilla in Handel's Giulio Cesare (1987).[31]

In 1987 Maddalena entered the annals of opera history when he created the role of President Richard Nixon at the premiere of John Adams's opera Nixon in China at the Houston Grand Opera. Directed and initially conceived by Sellars, the opera was belittled by many critics at its premiere. However, the opera's enduring popularity has since changed critical evaluation of the work, and it is now considered a classic.[32] Maddalena, who physically resembles Nixon, has become closely associated with the part he created in the premiere. Soon after the Houston premiere, he performed the role at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, De Nederlandse Opera and the Washington National Opera.[33] He has subsequently performed the role at the Edinburgh International Festival (1988),[34] the Los Angeles Opera (1990),[35] the Maison de la Culture di Bobigny, Paris (1991),[36] the Frankfurt Opera (1992), the Adelaide Festival (1992), the English National Opera (2000 and 2006),[37] and the Greek National Opera (2007) among others.[38] He sang Nixon for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2011,[39] and most recently performed the role with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in March 2012.[40]

Maddalena teamed up with Sellars again for performances in two more world premieres of operas by composer John Adams: creating the parts of the Captain in The Death of Klinghoffer (1991, La Monnaie)[41] and Jack Hubbard in Doctor Atomic (2005, San Francisco Opera).[42] He subsequently recorded the role of the Captain and sang that role in productions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Opéra National de Lyon, the San Francisco Opera, and at the Vienna Festival.

Other work

Maddalena has created roles in several other world premieres, including Hobson in David Carlson's The Midnight Angel (1993, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis), a variety of roles in Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk (1995, Houston Grand Opera), Art Kamen in Wallace's The Bonesetter's Daughter (2008, San Francisco Opera), the title role in Kirke Mechem’s John Brown (2008, Lyric Opera of Kansas City), Howard Joyce in Paul Moravec's The Letter (2009, Santa Fe Opera), and Clotaldo in Lewis Spratlan’s Life is a Dream (2010, Santa Fe Opera). In 2001 he performed the role of Gideon March in Mark Adamo's Little Women in Houston, a performance which was broadcast live on PBS's Great Performances. In October 2010 he sang the role of Simon Powers in the premiere of Tod Machover's science fiction opera Death and the Powers at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.[43]

In 1995 Maddalena sang in the premiere of Elliot Goldenthal's Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio and also recorded that work with cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

References

1. "James Maddalena (Baritone)". Bach Cantatas. April 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
2. "Adams, J: Nixon in China". Presto Classical. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
3. "The cast and creative team". The Metropolitan Opera Playbill (Nixon in China version): 35–41. February 9, 2011.
4. Richard Wigmore (2008). Laura Williams Macy (ed.). "James Maddalena". The Grove Book of Opera Singers. New York City: Oxford University Press: 296.
5. David M. Cummings (2000). International Who's Who In Music and Musicians' Directory: (in the classical and light classical fields). Psychology Press. p. 405.
6. Richard Buell (March 19, 1977). "Rare Masterpieces Get An Airing". The Boston Globe.
7. "2 Chamber Groups Win '80 Naumburg Awards". The New York Times. April 9, 1980.
8. "N.H. Sinfonietta Presents World Premiere Nov. 14". The Telegraph. November 8, 1975.
9. "'World of Opera' features triple bill". St. Petersburg Times. September 23, 1978.
10. Michael Steinberg (March 19, 1975). "Conservatory Opera Theater scores with 'Albert Herring'". The Boston Globe.
11. Richard Buell (February 22, 1977). "Arts & Films: Mozart works well enough". The Boston Globe.
12. Richard Dyer (May 9, 1981). "Review/Music: Some Good Singing of Menotti Music". The Boston Globe. Missing or empty |url= (help)
13. Richard Dyer (October 23, 1981). "Review/Opera: Fortunato Steals Werther". The Boston Globe.
14. Richard Dyer (November 15, 1982). "Review/Opera: Boston Lyric's 'Ariadne' Misses The Point". The Boston Globe.
15. Alex Ross (January 15, 1993). "Review/Music; More 'Ado' For Opera By Berlioz". The New York Times.
16. "Boston Lyric's 'Cosi' full of brio, beauty". The Boston Globe. April 30, 2004. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
17. Keith Powers. "OPERA REVIEW; Boston Lyric's `La Traviata' meets with a dazzling end". Boston Herald.
18. Richard Dyer (February 27, 1979). "REVIEW/OPERA: A glorious 'Atalanta'". The Boston Globe.
19. Richard Dyer (April 7, 1980). "Review / Music: 'Phaust' Premiered - Color It Phlawed". The Boston Globe.
20. Richard Dyer (November 24, 1980). "REVIEW/MUSIC: Holst Fares Well At St. Cecilia Society". The Boston Globe.
21. Richard Dyer (March 23, 1982). "REVIEW MUSIC: Cecilia's 'Athalia' A Great Occasion". The Boston Globe.
22. Richard Dyer (December 19, 1983). "REVIEW/MUSIC: Cecilia Impressive in Bach Mass In B.". The Boston Globe.
23. John Rockwell (May 22, 1983). "Opera: 'Zoroastre,' By Boston Group". The New York Times.
24. Will Crutchfield (December 16, 1984). "Music:Boston Group Offers No Frills 'Messiah'". The New York Times.
25. Peter G. Davis (September 23, 1980). "Opera: 'Don Giovanni,' New Hampshire-Style" (PDF). The New York Times.
26. Peter G. Davis (September 6, 1981). "Opera: Haydn Moved To Vietnam". The New York Times.
27. Donal Henahan (August 3, 1984). "Opera: Peter Sellars Directs 'Cosi' In Ipswich". The New York Times.
28. John Rockwell (July 18, 1986). "Opera:Mozart's 'Cosi Fan Tutte'". The New York Times.
29. Margo Miller (January 29, 1984). "Marquee; Soprano Beardslee Featured In Figaro'". The Boston Globe.
30. John Rockwell (July 15, 1988). "Review/Opera; A Sellarized 'Figaro' In First Performance". The New York Times.
31. Richard Dyer (February 15, 1987). "Opera Company's 'Cesare' A Local Triumph". The Boston Globe.
32. Swed, Mark (February 13, 2011). "Opera review: 'Nixon in China' at the Metropolitan Opera". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
33. Holden, Stephen (July 28, 1987). "International network nourishes avante-garde". The New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
34. "Edinburgh International Festival". The Scotsman. March 27, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
35. Henken, John (September 2, 1990). "Rethinking Nixon in China". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2011. (fee for article)
36. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Nixon in China". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
37. Jeal, Erica (June 19, 2006). "Nixon in China". The Guardian. London. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
38. Bettina Mara (20 May 2007). "Seen and Heard International Opera Review: John Adams, Nixon in China". The Opera Critic.
39. Tommasini, Anthony (February 3, 2011). "President and Opera, on Unexpected Stages". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
40. Trussell, Robert (March 2, 2012). "Lyric Opera brings 'Nixon in China' to KC". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
41. Michael Steinberg. "The Death of Klinghoffer", The John Adams Reader, pg 127
42. Tim Page (October 3, 2005). "'Doctor Atomic': Unleashing Powerful Forces". The Washington Post.
43. Eichler, Jeremy (21 March 2011). "Second Life: 'Death and the Powers' from ART". The Boston Globe.

Sources

• Thomas Robert May, ed. (2006). The John Adams Reader: Essential Writings on an American Composer. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press.