Last week I returned from a fantastic experience and great honor in singing with the St. Louis Symphony. The history of this orchestra is just amazing and it was so cool to see the pictures, posters, and autographs from so many of the legends that have performed with them over the years. I was there to sing the role of Sarastro in an abridged Magic Flute that they did for their family concert series. Apparently, it is a new thing or them and thankfully it went very well. One never knows what to expect from an audience heavy with children, but this group did not disappoint. When all was said and done, we were treated to a marvelous standing ovation and even a return trip to the stage for more bows. We like that.
It was a wonderfully talented cast of singers led by the young conductor on the rise, Ward Stare, the current resident conductor who seems to be taking the fast track to the big leagues. It was a real treat to work with a young conductor who was so full of energy and confidence with his musical intention and ability to communicate it with the stick, but at the same time easy-going and making for a relaxed and fun working atmosphere. The orchestra was simply fantastic. I’ve done a lot of Magic Flutes in full production and various abridged versions and I’d say this was luxury accompaniment, without a doubt. Best of all, the orchestra’s home, Powell Hall, is not only beautiful, but has an acoustic that any orchestra would want for. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the hall practically sings itself. It seems strange to think a space would make us sing with more or less ease, but I can honestly say that a place like that does make it easy to sing. Again…we like that.
Here are some pics I took of the hall. I was told it was originally built as a movie theater. Grander days for the movie going experience, apparently.
 Powell Hall Below is the orchestra warming up for their concert the evening before our performance. They were doing Dvorak’s 7th Symphony, A Haunted Landscape by George Crumb (very cool piece), and Strauss’s Four Last Songs sung by Christine Brewer. A very enjoyable concert, for sure. Sorry the picture isn’t quite in focus, but it was taken with my iPhone and the usher lady scolded me with lightning speed for taking a picture .
 St. Louis Symphony As one last little offering, I will share something I found amusing. Downstairs in Powell Hall there are dressing rooms for the musicians where each has their own closet of sorts. One of the musicians had the door covered with various cartoons and commentaries. I liked this one so much I had to take a picture.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce the long awaited arrival of my Catskills debut. That’s right. You heard me correctly. I’m taking it to the sticks.
In all seriousness, I am thrilled to be taking part of the second annual installment of….
I will be joining a top-shelf cast to sing Masetto in Mozart’s great masterpiece, Don Giovanni. We will be performing outdoors in a wonderful stage/tent venue in the park in Phoenicia. The town and entire vibe is just fantastic. The performance takes place Saturday, August 6th, at 7PM. Click the banner above for more information at the festival website.
Check out this cast!
My latest adventure is as Giove, King of the Gods, in Francesco Cavalli’s La Calisto. The performances are taking place in an outdoor courtyard of an old box factory, now home to an art gallery in what is billed as “Brooklyn’s Venice,” by the Gowanus Canal, and is produced by Vertical Player Repertory. Performances are July 8, 10, 14 and 16, all at 8PM.
Using this unusual space to the fullest, I make my descent from the heavens, the roof of the adjacent four-story building, via my chariot, the fire escape. The initial mission is to help heal and save the world. But then I see a cute hunter girl with silly notions of virginal aspiration and, surprisingly enough, that changes my focus. The expected convoluted operatic mayhem ensues. You can be sure I get the girl in the end, but there’s that whole snafu of my wife turning her into a bear. DOH!
The cast a fantastic group of singers the spanning range of voice types including two very fine countertenors. We also have top notch band of musicians playing period instruments including harpsichord, theorbo, viola da gamba and two violins.
Click on the image above for the company website or here for ticket purchasing. Tickets are $30. Note that there is a rain date for each performance on the following day.
What an interesting work life I lead! You just never know what’s in store. March was the great Brahms Requiem. April was Séance on a Wet Afternoon, the new opera from Broadway great by Stephen Schwartz. Meanwhile, I was contacted by Billy Aronson who is responsible for the original concept and some of the lyrics for the show RENT as well as many other interesting projects, to do the voice of The Cow in a pilot for an animated children’s show being done for PBS. Did the recording the other day and it was such fun. Also a really cool change from the usual opera/classical singing thing. How awesome would it be if that got picked up and I had a regular-ish gig doing the cow for a kid’s show!??! VERY!
(By the way, I am usually annoyed and puzzled by websites with landing pages that use flash or whatever else to delay you from getting to the info you’re actually looking for. Billy, however, has by far the best and most affective use of this landing page thing that I have ever seen. Check it out.)
 So now I am in rehearsals for this weekend’s VOX Opera Lab, concert performances of new operas in development with orchestra, presented by New York City Opera.
I will be singing in two very different and interesting pieces. This Saturday afternoon at 2:30 at NYU’s Skirball Center, I will bring to you the role of The Monster in a beautiful and poignant section from the opera Mary Shelley by composer Allan Jaffe and Librettist Deborah Atherton. Believe it or not, I get to sing quite lyrical and enjoyable lines with a picturesque and thought provoking text. No silly growling and grunting and such.
Then, on Sunday the 15th at 7:30PM, I am in De Deo by composer Paola Prestini and librettist Donna di Novelli. I will be unleashing a dramatic tour-de-force, singing three roles in one as the Thug/Shephard/Jailer. This will be taking place at the super hip and cozy club, Le Poisson Rouge. This is a spot for the coolest of cats, so make sure your face is in the place!
So there it is. I was inspired for the opening theme of this post by my schedule the other day when I recorded the cow voice for the PBS thing and then went to City Opera for VOX rehearsal to give voice to the Monster and then the Thug/Shephard/Jailer. Very interesting work, indeed. (That’s what I tell myself, at least, when I look at my bank account!  )
New York City Opera is opening Séance on a Wet Afternoon this coming Tuesday, April 19th. It is the first opera by Stephen Schwartz, famed composer of many noteworthy shows and scores including the smash success Wicked. I will be covering the role of Inspector Watts. For you lay-people, that means I will be ready and waiting to step in and save the day should the artist performing the role become indisposed for any reason. In this case, the artist in question is Phillip Boykin. Fortunately for him, he is an incredibly nice guy and I like him a lot. As a result, I have had to put a halt to my plans to pull a Tanya Harding and have someone take his knees out.
All that said, the rehearsals have been going very well and it has been fantastic to finally hear the score with the orchestra. The orchestration is quite lush and beautiful in all the right spots and the show is filled with one fantastic melody after another, as one would expect from a successful veteran of the Broadway world. But have no fear, for those wondering if it’s going to be a real opera…..this is legit. Like a good opera does, it has full throated singing, spinny-floaty stuff, touching (and difficult) duets, and effectively built ensemble scenes. Even the occasional dramatic outburst that will raise the hair on your neck. Add in some fun chorus numbers and a story-line with intense psychological turmoil providing plenty for the fantastic cast to dig in to and you’ve got a powerful night of theater.
Come on out! Beside the fact that it is a show well worth seeing, City Opera needs your money!
The show runs April 19 – May 1 with 10 performances including a few matinees. More info here.
What can I say? Some gigs are just a great experience from start to finish. When the organization treats you well and the rehearsals and performances are seamless AND you happen to be dealing with one of the greatest works by one of the greatest composers of all time, you are….as they say in the headlines of late….Winning!
We had three performances of the Brahms Requiem with the Silicon Valley Symphony for very engaged and appreciative audiences at the beautiful California Theater in San Jose. Gregory Vajda led the big ensemble with soul, conviction and nuance. Lisa Vroman sang simply beautifully in the soprano solo. The chorus and orchestra came together powerfully to provide that broad and earthy wall of sound so crucial to this piece. Your truly, bringing up the low end, did my best to sing with both passion and subtlety in the powerful baritone solo. Thankfully, this reviewer enjoyed my contribution. The review on whole is a bit confusing and, for my taste, a bit unfair and perhaps undereducated in some of the comments about the orchestra and chorus. Nevertheless, I’ll gladly take the high praise he dished on me:
“Yet the performance improved when Curran started
singing in the third section (“Lord, make me to know
mine end”). Whether feeling inspired or challenged
by his bold delivery, the choir suddenly found a
strength that had been lacking. Unfortunately, it
lasted only through the end of Curran’s solo.
Elegantly and powerfully, the bass stole the
spotlight. When he sang “Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in thee,” the audience surely felt the
helplessness in that cry….
Curran’s return in the penultimate movement (“For
we have no permanent city, but we seek one to
come”) once again underscored his power to draw
more musicality from the whole ensemble.”
This one I am SO excited for! I will be singing the Baritone Solo in Brahms’ German Requiem with Symphony Silicon Valley in San Jose, CA. Not only is it probably my favorite of all the major works for chorus and orchestra, but I will be working once again with Maestro Gregory Vajda, who conducted the Bohème I did with Atlanta Opera this past fall. He is a passionate musician and a great guy, so I am very much looking forward to working with him again.
Brahms German Requiem
Thursday 7:30 pm March 24, 2011
Saturday 8:00 pm March 26, 2011
Sunday 2:30 pm March 27, 2011
Information and tickets can be found at www.symphonysiliconvalley.org.
Brahms is one of my favorite composers of song. I love the way he writes so generously and naturally for that “slow and low” kind of vibe that a bass like myself likes. There is an earthiness about his music that I just can’t get enough of.
So I really fell in love with his body of song literature first. But then when I first heard and experienced the Brahms Requiem live, the profound greatness of the composer was forever confirmed in my mind. What was most amazing was to learn that he was only 35 years old when he completed it, having started it three years earlier. The picture I have used of him here is from about that time, showing not the wise, old, intense and bearded Brahms, but a fairly youthful-looking one. I got this image off a blog post I found which has quite a nice succession of pictures of Brahms through his life.
Whether you are a well-schooled lover of classical music or a complete newcomer to the vast repertoire of the great composers, I strongly recommend taking some time to familiarize or re-acquaint yourselves with one of the greatest pieces in the vast repertoire written for the human voice. Here is the Wikipedia page for the piece, which very nicely highlights one of the wonderful distinguishing characteristics of the piece:
Although the Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic liturgy begins with prayers for the dead (“Grant them eternal rest, O Lord”), A German Requiem focuses on the living, beginning with the text “Blessed are those who bear pain: for they shall be comforted.” This theme—transition from anxiety to comfort—recurs in all the following movements except the final one. Although the idea of the Lord is the source of the comfort, the sympathetic humanism persists through the work.
On that note, I would like to acknowledge the passing of Dr. James McDonald. I was fortunate enough to study with him and his wife Ruth Ann during my time at Indiana University and for two summers in the German for Singers program at Middlebury College. His love for people, music, laughter, the voice and even the German language gave me and so many others a treasure chest of fond memories and wonderful lessons, both in and out of the studio. My performance in this Brahms Requiem will be dedicated to both the memory Dr. J and the life of Ruth Ann. How could anyone think of one and not the other?
For a beautiful site established by their daughter with many wonderful words from family, friends and former students, visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/drjamesjimmcdonald
 I am very happy to be making my first appearance at Carnegie Hall this Sunday, January 30 at 2PM. I will sing the role of La Chef de la Flotte with the American Symphony Orchestra in a concert performance of the rarely performed opera Bérénice, by Albéric Magnard.
This dramatic tour de force, considered by many to be the best of the French Wagnerian operas, tells of the dramatic love affair between the Queen of Judea and Titus, heir to the Roman Empire. It explores contrasts between East and West, romantic and classic, female and male.
Conductor’s Notes – Maestro Leon Botstein explains it all in special Q&A sessions starting one hour before each concert in Stern Auditorium. Free for all ticket holders.
Thae cast and chorus sound fantastic! Come on out.
Strangely enough, I greet you once again from Germany. More auditioning. 
It is long overdue, however, that I report what a fantastic time I had singing Colline in Atlanta Opera’s La Boheme. We had a stellar cast with great chemistry and energy to boot. Wonderful, full houses and all the performances were received with great enthusiasm. I also received a nice nod of approval from the local reviewer. Considering that Colline is not quite central to the plot, I’m happy for any mention. So I’ll definitely take it.
“Bass Matthew Curran, the philosopher Colline, solidly offered a farewell to his beloved coat.” Pierre Ruhe – Atlanta Journal-Consitution
Many thanks to all of my wonderful colleagues in that production and the fantastic staff and family at Atlanta Opera.
Liebe Grüsse aus Deutschland! I am writing from Germany, where I am currently traveling a bit and doing some auditions. The ever adventurous life of an opera singer!
I am excited to make a long overdue announcement here that I will be making my debut with Atlanta Opera this fall. I will be singing Colline in Puccini’s masterpiece, La Bohème, with performances Oct. 2, 5, 8, and 10. I am also thrilled to be joining fellow alumni from both schools where I did my undergraduate and graduate degrees. A fellow member of the Wolfpack at Loyola U. New Orleans, Bryan Hymel will be singing Rodolfo. Timothy Kuhn, another of the many talents coming out of Indiana University, will be singing Marcello.
It will be a true Bohemian reunion!
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