conductor
David Stern and Opera Fuoco have recorded Giovanni Simone Mayr’s L’amor conjugale in April 2021. This is the first recording of the full critical version of Mayr’s one act opera. The CD will be available on November 19th 2021 and the release concert is on December 12th 2021 at Levallois, near Paris.
David Stern will participate as a panelist in the round table discussion “The life of the artist” at the Opera Europa’s Autumn conference in Bergamo, Italy. He will present his views on his experience as a conductor, artistic director of Opera Fuoco, one of Europe’s most recognized young artist programs, and as a mentor for young singers.
Find out more:
https://opera-europa.org/event/conference-elixir-life
Cosi fan Tutte is the most psychologically enigmatic opera of the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy. The interweaving relationships of the 6 characters has been subject to many interpretations, precisely because the story is remarkably contemporary. It is also a work consisting of many brilliantly composed musical ensembles. We chose Cosi, therefore, to inaugurate the arrival of the 5th generation of the Opera Fuoco Young Artist Program – a story of love and betrayal in which a playful wager turns into an intensely emotional quandary. It is a piece that musically unites the singers while the story divides the characters.
Mariame Clément joined us for a workshop in preparation for our summer performances at the Grange aux Pianos Festival.
Date: 26th November 2021
Time: 20:30
Location: Centre Culturel Jean Vilar - Marly-le-Roi
More info
2021/2022
Soloists of the Opera Fuoco Young Artist Program
Actors – François Macherey, Fabrice Cals
Piano – Karolos Zouganelis
Musical direction – David Stern
Stage direction – Catherine Vrignaud-Cohen
Date: 2nd December 2021
Time: 19:00
Location: Örebrö Concert Hall
Canteloube Chants d’Auvergne
Mahler Symphony n°4 in G major
Soprano – Julie Goussot
Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Date: 12th December 2021
Time: 17:00
Location: Salle Ravel de Levallois
Giovanni Simone Mayr
L’amor conjugale – concert version
Zeliska (Malvino) – Chantal Santon Jeffery Amorveno – Léo Vermot-DesrochesArdelao – Guy ElliottPeters – Olivier Gourdy Floreska – Natalie Pérez Moroski – Halidou Nombre
Musical direction – David Stern Opera Fuoco Orchestra
David Stern's musical leadership is spread across three continents. Whether conducting a major symphony orchestra, baroque opera, teaching vocal master classes or defending cultural activities, Stern keeps his musicians, students and audiences riveted by sharing his strong musical convictions, his flexibility of approach and his belief that music is relevant and indeed essential in today's world. He is the founder and director of the Paris-based opera studio and period-instrument ensemble Opera Fuoco, as well as artistic adviser and chief conductor of the Shanghai Baroque Festival and chief conductor of the Palm Beach Opera in Florida.
“The ensemble Ataïr always played with energy and theatrical spirit thanks to the precise and inspiring conducting of David Stern who, at every moment, indicated the perfect tempi.”
Thierry Guyenne, Opéra Magazine , October 2021
« On April 24, at the Massy Opera house, David Stern leaves nothing to chance – he will not stop until he gets what he wants, but does so without stress and without disturbing the good mood. He is indeed passionate about this score and about his extremely capable troupe made up of with remarkable soloists…. Mayr was regrettably eclipsed by Donizetti, and Rossini owes him much, but he had an exceptional talent for unique orchestration. One hears both Mozart in the vocal ensembles and a Beethovinian vigor in the dramatic gesture. Chantal Santon Jeffrey interprets Zeliska with perfect ease and intensity in her vocal passage-work. She seems completely at home in the pre-romantic period. The young Columbian tenor Andres Agudelo should be talked about as should the two remarkable bass-baritones: Adrien Fournaison, equally impressive in height as by the nobility of his voice, and Olivier Gourdy by his brighter timbre. The recording session which ended with the overture, both fun and full of surprises. »
Jacques Bonnaure, Opera Magazine N°173, June 2021
“Ozzy Osbourne stood in the place where I’m conducting,” David Stern, the opera’s chief conductor who will lead both “La Boheme” and “The Magic Flute,” told AFP with a laugh.
Despite its size the space “actually is very friendly,” the Paris-based conductor said, and the star voices large enough to fill the venue whose three-production run — with two performances of each show — will also include “Pagliacci.” (…)
The festival is crafted to fit pandemic times, but Stern said there are lessons to take from what’s intended as a temporary solution.
“Right now we’re catering so much to the audience experience,” he said, which is an exercise in finding ways to “keep opera friendly without mitigating what opera is.”
Find the full article here
Florian Leopold Gassmann – Ah, ingrato Amor (Opera arias & sinfonias) – CPO, 2020
Ania Vegry / David Stern & NDR Radiophilharmonie
Scena di Berenice and arias by Haydn, Mariana Martinez, Mozart, Johann Christian Bach, Mazzoni, Hasse
Chantal Santon, Natalie Pérez, Lea Desandre
OPERA FUOCO – APARTÉ
Opera Fuoco’s latest recording features three former members of the Opera Fuoco studio, Lea Desandre, Natalie Perez, Chantal Santon and the Opera Fuoco orchestra conducted by David Stern. Berenice, che fai? is a compilation of late Baroque and early Classical works based principally on Metastasio’s famous 18th-century opera scene « Ah Berenice » from his opera Antigono.
Not only was the scene set to music by such composers as Haydn and Hasse, but also by Antonio Maria Mazzoni and Marianna Martinez, a composer of Spanish descent who was widely connected to the Viennese music scene and, for a time, lived in the same noble house as Metastasio and Haydn at Grosse Michelstrasse. The young Mozart’s concert aria « Berenice » and Johann Christian Bach’s aria « Confusa, smarrita» from the composer’s lost pasticcio opera, Berenice, as well as Hasse’s Antigono overture complement the program.
Arias and cantatas by Cherubini, Boisselot, Hérold
Karine Deshayes / Opera Fuoco