PRESS RELEASE (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)
Opera Hong Kong and Le French May Arts Festival 2014 co-present
Faust
A grand opera in five acts
7:30pm, 9 to 10 May 2014 and 3:00pm, 11 May 2014
Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Producer:
Director:
Warren Mok
Paul-Emile Fourny
Conductor:
Benjamin Pionnier
Set and Costume Designer: Poppi Ranchetti
Orchestra:
Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Chorus:
Opera Hong Kong Chorus
(22 April 2014, Hong Kong) Opera Hong Kong and the Consulate General of France in Hong
Kong and Macau take the greatest pleasure in co-presenting Faust, a grand opera in five
acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, featured as
a highlight of Le French May Arts Festival 2014, and a keynote art event in Hong Kong.
Faust – Highlight in Le French May Arts Festival 2014
The coming performance Faust is a co-production of Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, Opéra Grand
Avignon and Opéra Théâtre de Saint-Étienne. The performances will be sung by a line-up of
internationally renowned artists including Stefan Pop, Shawn Mathey, Dimitry Ivashchenko,
Tatiana Lisnic, Kimy Mc Laren, Zhou Zhengzhong and Aurhelia Varak. Opera Hong Kong
Chorus and prominent local artists such as Sammy Chien, Carol Lin and Samantha Chong
will also join the performance. Faust will be accompanied by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta
under the baton of Benjamin Pionnier.
Faust was premiered at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris on 19
March 1859 and has become one of the most performed operas since then. Supported by
motifs including satanic powers and religion, romance, temptation and greed, the story tells
of Doctor Faust’s selling of his soul to the devil in exchange for youth and romance, which
leads to a series of tragic events. Faust’s successful seduction of Marguerite the beauty
ends in the humiliation of Siébel, a man who adores Marguerite genuinely; killing of Valentin,
Marguerite’s brother; and insanity of Marguerite. In the end, Marguerite receives salvation
and her soul rises to heaven while Faust is sent to hell. The plot is based on a play of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
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A free opera talk in Cantonese by Professor Rupert Chan will be held on a
first-come-first-served basis. Interested parties are welcome to join. The details are as
follows:
Title: Good versus Evil Beauty Contest: Faust
Date and time: 3 May 2014, 7pm
Venue: Activity Room 2, Hong Kong Central Library
(Address: 66 Causeway Bay Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong)
Tickets from HK$150 to HK$880 are available NOW at URBTIX. Half-price tickets are
available for citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and the minder, full-time
students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients.
WEBSITES:
Opera Hong Kong: www.operahongkong.org
Le French May: www.frenchmay.com
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Cynthia Chan, Ms. Vinci Li
Tel: 2234-0303
Email: cynthiachan@operahongkong.org / vincili@operahongkong.org
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***REFERENCE INFORMATION***
Faust: Synopsis
Faust, with music composed by Charles Gounod and libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel
Carré, is a grand opera in five acts. It debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Boulevard du
Temple in Paris on 19 March 1859.
The opera delivers a tale of romance, temptation, and the age-old battle between satanic
powers and religion. Doctor Faust sells his soul to the devil Méphistophélès in exchange for
youth, and is tempted by the innocent but fateful beauty of Marguerite. But there are no
winners, when making a pact with the devil – the trade-off has made Faust humiliate the
man who adores Marguerite, kill her brother and drive her into madness. The plot originates
in one of the great works of European literature and Gounod’s music is enticing throughout
with memorable hits.
About the Production Team and Cast
Paul-Emile Fourny Director
Born in Liège, Paul-Emile Fourny is a true man of the theatre who is proficient in both the
artistic and administrative sides of production. He was awarded the Medaille de Chevalier de
la Légion d’Honneur in 2007 for his contribution in artistic direction. He has directed wide
range of repertoires including Manuel de Falla’s La vida breve, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex,
Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Dukas’s Ariane and Barbe Bleue,
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Bellini’s Norma, Lehar’s The Land of Smiles, Gounod’s
Faust, Roméo et Juliette and Mireille, Massenet’s Werther, Offenbach’s The Tales of
Hoffmann, Verdi’s Aïda and Rigoletto, Puccini’s Tosca, Manon Lescaut and Il Trittico which
was a co-production of Opéra de Nice and Macau International Music Festival in recent year.
He was appointed as General and Artistic Director for the Opéra de Nice in 2001. Since 2011,
he has been the Director of the Opera de Metz Metropole.
Benjamin Pionnier Conductor
Born in 1977, Pionnier graduated from the Conservatoire National in Nice in piano and
chamber music. He received further training from the National Conservatory in Paris. He had
worked in opera houses and festivals in France, Europe, Asia and South America. His
repertoire is varied which includes the main French operas as well as Italian and German
works. His future plans include Pelleas et Melisande and Werther in Teatro Argentino,
Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Macbeth, Otello, Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Giovanni, Così fan
tutte, L’elisir d’amore, La Traviata, Eugene Oneguin, Il Trittico, Samson and Delilah,
Rigoletto as well as some classical ballets and many symphonic concerts. Benjamin
Pionnier has been appointed Artistic Director and General Music Director of the National
Slovene Opera in Maribor, starting with the 2011/2012 season.
Stefan Pop as Faust
Born in 1987 in Bistrita, Romania, tenor Stefan Pop completed his studies in volin at the
School of Music and later at the Academy of Music Gheorghe Dima of Cluj-Napoca in 2010.
His debut was in the role of Paolino in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto with the Hungarian
National Opera, followed by Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with the Romanian National Opera
of Timisoara in the 2008/09 season. Despite his youth, Pop has already appeared at Royal
Opera House Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Verdi di Trieste,
Hamburg Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera di Roma, Tel Aviv Opera, Zurich Opera,
Teatro Carlo Felice Genoa, Teatro di San Carlo Naples, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow and
Mikhailovsky Theatre St Petersburg. On the concert platform, he has recently appeared in
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Asia and other theatres including Royal Opera House Oman with Angela Gheorghiu and the
Viva Musica Festival in Bratislava and Arena di Verona with Placido Domingo.
Shawn Mathey as Faust
Tenor Shawn Mathey performs his versatile repertoire from Mozart to Britten in the most
important and distinguished opera companies and music festivals in the world including the
Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Opernhaus Zurich, Salzburg Festival, Paris
Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Theater an der
Wien, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Frankfurt Opera and the English National Opera. This
season, Mr. Mathey made his debut in Seoul, Korea as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto,
followed by one of his signature roles, Tamino, in Kansas City. He then debuted the Night
Watchman in St Saëns’ Les Barbares at the Opéra de St Etienne, France, which was
recorded for commercial release. In the summer, Mr. Mathey returns to the Cincinnati Opera
for Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Further projects include a return to the Washington
National Opera and a debut in Vichy, France for leading roles.
Dimitry Ivashchenko as Méphistophélès
Dimitry Ivashchenko is a graduate of the Glinka Conservatory in Novosibirsk. From 2000 till
2004 he was a member of the ensemble of the theatre in Augsburg, Germany, where he
sang roles like Gremin in Eugene Onegin and the title role in Don Quichotte by Massenet.
Further appearances included Sarastro at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Osmin at the Scottish
Opera and the Teatro Gayarre de Pamplona, where he returned as Sir Giorgio in I Puritani
by Bellini. The Russian bass won great acclaim for his impressive portrayal of Gurnemanz in
Parsifal and for Méphistophélès in Faust as well as for his appearance as Kaspar in Der
Freischütz at the Baden-Baden Festival under Thomas Hengelbrock. Ivashchenko
performed at houses and festivals such as the Théatre du Capitole de Toulouse, La Scala in
Milan, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Salzburg
Festival, the Komische Opera, Opera Zurich, Opera de Paris / Bastille and Bayerische
Staatsoper.
Tatiana Lisnic as Marguerite
Tatiana Lisnic was born in Moldova. In 2000 she received the Herbert von Karajan
scholarship and began her operatic career with the roles of Nedda and Ilia in Cluj of
Romania. Since then, she has appeared in several major international opera houses
including La Scala Milan, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Berlin and Opera
Frankfurt. She made successful debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Olga in Fedora, and
maintained a close collaboration where she extended her roles to Adina, Lauretta, Ilia,
Zerlina and Susanna under the baton of Riccardo Muti. At the Staatsoper Hamburg, she also
made regular appearances including Liu in Turandot, Adina in L’elisir d’Amore, Marguerite in
Faust and a new production of Flavius Bertaridus by Telemann. In recent years, she
appeared as Micaela in Carmen in Catania and Toulon, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro
in Taiwan and Ravenna, Mimi in La Bohème in Liège and Brussels, Violetta in La Traviata in
Strasbourg and Zurich, and many others.
Kimy Mc Laren as Marguerite
A graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Kimy Mc Laren was a winner at
the International Mozart Competition in 2002 and the Mario Lanza Competition in 2003. At
the Opéra national du Rhin she performed the nymph in Les Boréades, Sesto in La
Clemenza di Tito, Ortlinde in Die Walküre, Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung and Ninfa in
Orfeo, a role which she had also appeared in Lille, Caen and Paris. Her other repertoires
included Nadia in The Merry Widow and l’Infante in Le Cid, Leïla in The Pearl Fishers,
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Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Marzelline in Fidelio, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, the title
role in La Belle Hélène and Marie in Wozzeck. Recently she performed The Governess in
The Turn of the Screw in Rouen, Marguerite in Faust in Metz, Julie Jordan in Carousel at the
Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and Octavie in Cléopâtre in Marseille. Coming engagements
are the role of Cinderella in Into The Woods at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and Juliet in Roméo
and Juliet in Metz and Reims.
Zhou Zhengzhong as Valentin
Zhou Zhengzhong studied in Shanghai and at CNIPAL in Marseille, before becoming a
member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at Covent Garden and then joining the
Deutsche Oper ensemble. At Covent Garden Zhou stood in for Dmitri Hvorostovsky to sing
Valentin in Faust to critical acclaim. He also appeared as Des Grieux in Massenet’s Le
Portrait de Manon. In the 12/13 season he sang several roles at the Deutsche Oper, made
his debut at the Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse and returned to Covent Garden before
making his Chinese debut as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro at the National
Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing. In the 13/14 season Zhou appeared at the
Beijing Music Festival in Peter Grimes as Balstrode, before singing Marcello in La bohème in
London's Royal Albert Hall followed by Sir Riccardo Forth in I Puritani at Opera de Santiago.
Future engagements include Silvio in I Pagliacci at Opera Monte Carlo, Poet in il Turco in
Italia at Opera de Santiago, his debut for Cincinnati Opera and further appearances at the
Deutsche Oper and NCPA.
Aurhelia Varak as Siébel
With her beautiful voice, innate musical sensitivity and charismatic stage presence, the
attractive French mezzo-soprano Aurhelia Varak is increasingly in demand on the operatic
stages of Europe, America, Asia and South America. She studied at the Conservatorium van
Amsterdam, under the guidance of celebrated Dutch voice teacher Margreet Honig. She
was the recipient of a full scholarship to study with Shirley Verrett at the l’Accademia
Chigiana di Siena and was a member of the Rossini Festival Opera Academy in Pesaro in
2003, under the direction of Alberto Zedda. Varak won prizes at several competitions
including 2011 Leoncavallo International Singing Competition in Italy, 2000 International
Maîtres du Chant Français Competition, 1998 d’Art Lyrique de Béziers Competition and
Concours d’Art Lyrique d’Alès. Varak performed in numerous operas including Carmen, The
Marriage of Figaro, Giulio Cesare, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Così fan tutte, Hänsel und
Gretel, and Pollicino. She recently appeared as Nicklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann and
the title role in Carmen in Hong Kong and Brazil.
Team & Cast List
A co-production of Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, Opéra Grand Avignon and Opéra Théâtre de
Saint-Étienne.
Producer
Warren Mok
Director
Paul-Emile Fourny
Conductor
Benjamin Pionnier
Set & Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Faust
Méphistophélès
Poppi Ranchetti
Jacques Chatelet
Stefan Pop (9, 11 May) / Shawn Mathey (10 May)
Dimitry Ivashchenko
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Marguerite
Tatiana Lisnic (9, 11 May) / Kimy Mc Laren (10 May)
Valentin
Zhou Zhengzhong
Wagner
Sammy Chien
Siébel
Marthe Schwerlein
Aurhelia Varak (9, 11 May) / Carol Lin (10 May)
Samantha Chong
Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Opera Hong Kong Chorus
ABOUT OPERA HONG KONG
Opera Hong Kong is the first opera company to have been established in Hong Kong. The
company was formed in July 2003 as a non-profit organization. Since its inception, Opera
Hong Kong has become a firmly established part of Hong Kong’s cultural scene.
Since our establishment, Opera Hong Kong has gone from strength to strength under the
artistic direction of Warren Mok, MH, the internationally acclaimed Hong Kong tenor, with
grand-scale productions of operas including La Traviata, Turandot, Carmen, The Marriage of
Figaro, Roméo et Juliette, Aïda, Werther, Don Carlo, The Magic Flute, Poet Li Bai, Manon,
La Bohème, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, The Tales of Hoffmann and The Flying Dutchman. Apart from
operas, the company has also presented the musical Jinsha, as well as concerts, including
Samson and Delilah, the Yellow River Cantata and Opera Highlights, Mozart Requiem and
Favourite Arias, Liao Changyong Recital, Denyce Graves Recital, Opera Gala Concert,
Musical Gala Concert, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Ode to Beethoven, Gong Dongjian
Recital and Celebrity Fundraising Concert; and Operas and Musicals for Families as part of
the education and outreach programme. Opera school tours, summer schools and master
classes are held regularly to reach the young population. Opera Hong Kong Chorus and
Opera Hong Kong Children Chorus were established in 2004 and 2008 respectively and are
becoming recognized forces in the local choral scene.
ABOUT LE FRENCH MAY
Organized by the Consulate General of France in collaboration with the Alliance Française,
and with the support of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong, this
year Le French May celebrates its 22nd edition as one of the major arts festivals in Hong
Kong and Macau.
Dedicated to the promotion of the French arts and creativity, in order to facilitate the cultural
exchanges between Hong Kong and France, Le French May is open to the general public for
everyone’s enjoyment. The Festival has attracted over 5 million visitors since its inception
in 1993.
With more than 500 events, Le French May presents the widest choice of artistic disciplines,
from visual arts to opera, dance, classical / world / jazz / rock / electro music, theatre and
cabaret, as well as cinema.
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By developing Le French GourMay and Le French Fashion May, the Festival also invests in
the fields of fashion and culinary arts, and promotes new talented designers and chefs and
their creations.
Honorary Patron of Opera Hong Kong and Title Sponsor of 9 May Performance:
K. Wah International Holdings Limited
K. Wah International Holdings Limited (“KWIH”, stock code: 0173), listed in Hong Kong in
1987, is the property flagship of K. Wah Group. KWIH aims at establishing a position of
large-scale integrated property developer and investor in the Greater China region. With a
property portfolio encompassing premium residential developments, Grade-A office towers,
retail spaces, hotels and serviced apartments, KWIH has a presence in Hong Kong,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Southeast Asia. Driven by a keen market sense and a versatile
strategy, and backed by strong financial capability, KWIH has built up a sizeable and prime
land reserve in major cities of China, and thus a strong foothold for future growth.
Principal Patron of Opera Hong Kong:
Prince Jewellery & Watch
Founded in 1984 by Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jimmy Tang MH, Prince Jewellery & Watch has
now 14 strategically located boutiques in Hong Kong. Trendy gold jewelry brand Just Gold
was fully acquired by Prince in 2011 and chic & young watch retail brand Just Watch was
then set up targeting the new generations.
Prince’s relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction is recognised by the Hong Kong Retail
Management Association (HKRMA) in 2012. To accredit Prince Jewellery & Watch’s
leadership in watch and jewellery retailing, the Company will receive the “2012 Service
Retailers of the Year – Watch & Jewellery Category” award of the Association’s Mystery
Shoppers Programme and also the overall award among the programme’s 20 categories,
the “2012 Service Retailers of the Year – Grand Award”. In addition, Prince Jewellery &
Watch is also qualified to the final round of the HKRMA’s 2012 Service & Courtesy Award in
both its Junior Frontline Level and Supervisory Level of the Watch & Jewellery Category.
END
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