conductor
Figaro in the City is a modern-day retelling of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro: “la folle journée” is full of playful and hurtful intrigues that lead up to one of the most moving final scenes in opera history. Opera Fuoco’s young singers step into a staging that takes them away from the confines of a stage and into the city of Paris’ quirky ateliers, streets and gardens. Filmed in playback to allow for theatrical intimacy and the safety of the cast during the Covid-19 pandemic, the camera itself becomes a character, reacting to each turn of the plot. As the instrumentalists and conductor disappear, the characters move fluidly from the opening opera rehearsal atmosphere to a real-life scenario. (more…)
ITHINK Financial Amphitheatre
February 19th 7:30 PM / February 24th 7:30 PM
In February of 2021, Stern will lead performances of La Bohème and the Magic Flute in a 5000 seat open air arena, as part of the first Palm Beach Opera Festival. This innovative project will be key to bringing back live performance in the 20-21 season.
February 21st – 2:00 PM/ February 26th – 7:30 PM
Known for its enduring story and infectious score, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte captures the imaginations of young and old.
Date: 17th March 2021
Time: 19:30
Location: MC2 - Grenoble
More info
2020/21
Soloists Opera Fuoco Young Artist Program
Musical direction – David Stern
Opera Fuoco Orchestra
Start date: 18th April 2021
End date: 19th April 2021
Time: 11:00 and 19:30
Location: Lübeck Theater
Program :
C.P.E. BACH – Symphony in D major 183/1
F. CLEMENT – Violin concerto n° 1 in D major
P. MONTAN BERTON l’AINE – Nouvelle Chaconne in E minor
F. J. HAYDN – Symphony n°104 in D major
Violin – Mirijam Contzen
Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra
Date: 7th May 2021
Time: 20:00
Location: Salle Ravel de Levallois
Soloists of Opera Fuoco Young Artist Program
Actor – François Macherey, Niels Ohlund
Piano – Karolos Zouganelis
Stage direction – Catherine Vrignaud-Cohen
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.
“Stern drew out Puccini’s singing phrases adroitly, providing strong, coherent support for the singers. Without a curtain coming down to produce premature applause, it was great, for once, to hear the final soft harp lines following the Mimi-Rodolfo duet in Act I and the final quiet brass chords at the conclusion. Standing to the rear of the orchestra, the small chorus sang vigorously as holiday revelers at the Café Momus and workers awaiting to enter the city’s gates on a fridged morning.”
Lawrence Budmen – South Florida Classical Review.
Read the full review here
“(…) The tone was set by conductor David Stern’s nicely shaped overture, taken at a moderate pace, with solo instruments given the freedom to ornament their lines. This musical approach immediately engaged fans of bel canto opera and signaled that this would not be a routine reading of a familiar score. Throughout the evening, the prospect of interesting variations never let the listener’s attention lag and each singer was able to personalize his or her character musically. Stern kept a firm had throughout the evening with a brief exception during the Act I finale, from which the ensemble quickly recovered. (…)” Karl Hesser
Grammophone magazine’s review of David Stern’s recording with NDR Radiophilharmonie and Ania Vegry of Gassmann’s rare opera arias and scenes: “Conductor David Stern draws alert playing from the NDR Radiophilharmonie. “
Florian Leopold Gassmann – Ah, ingrato Amor (Opera arias & sinfonias) – CPO, 2020
Ania Vegry / David Stern & NDR Radiophilharmonie
`New releaseOPERA FUOCO – APARTÉ
Opera Fuoco’s latest recording features three former members of the Opera Fuoco studio, Lea Desandré, 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.
Cherubini, Boisselot, Hérold
Karine Deshayes / Opera Fuoco