Thursday, February 15, 2024
Doors: 7:00pm | Show: 7:30pm
If you are unable to attend the rescheduled performance, please contact the Box Office by calling 508-752-8808 or e-mailing jbode@mechanicshall.org
About the Show
What better way to show your love than with tickets to an evening of Italian opera staged in historic Mechanics Hall and organized by Leonardo Ciampa.
Maestro Ciampa, an acknowledged expert in Italian opera, has coached and accompanied operatic singers in Italy and the U.S. His operatic flair will be on full display as he accompanies a truly impressive sextet of soloists, in some of the greatest arias and duets in the Italian repertoire. This evening will include everything from Bel Canto to Verismo to the greatest of them all Giuseppe Verdi.
Italian charcuterie and wine available for purchase and a special Valentine’s Day package available but supplies are limited .
Floor Seating:
- Fully accessible
- 6 seats per table, all facing the stage
- Reserved seating
- Purchase and enjoy charcuterie boxes
Balcony Seating:
- Accessed via a flight of >20 stairs
- Reserved seating
- Food not permitted
Floor Table Seating and Balcony Seating
Adult - $20
Senior - $15
12 & Under - FREE (ticket required for entry)
Add-On Charcuterie Boxes:
(Can be added to any FLOOR seat ticket purchase. Not permitted in the balcony)
Meat & Cheese - $20
Veggie & Cheese - $15
Charcuterie Boxes will be for sale at the bar, but are only guaranteed by ordering ahead!
Featured Performers
A native of Torre del Greco (Naples, Italy), Giovanni Formisano has been called, “Truly an Italian tenor in the grand tradition.” He has received high praise for his interpretations of the Italian lyric tenor repertoire, with a special affinity for the classic songs from his native Naples.
Winner of the “Talents of the World” voice competition in Boston and recipient of the Emerging Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club Foundation, Mr. Formisano was featured in a tribute concert in honor of the legendary baritone Dimitri Hvorostovsky at Carnegie Hall, alongside renowned mezzo-soprano Nino Surguladze and many others.
His operatic and concert appearances include:
the tenor solo in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Don José in Carmen with the Commonwealth Lyric Theater, the tenor solo in Verdi’s Requiem with the Paul Madore Chorale and Salem orchestra in Salem MA, Alfredo in La traviata with Opera Providence, The Young Gypsy in Rachmaninoff’s Aleko with the Commonwealth Lyric Theater, Camille in The Merry Widow with Opera Providence, and Rodolfo in La bohème with Boston Opera Collaborative. Mr. Formisano’s past roles include the tenor solo in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Amherst College, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia and Opera del West, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Commonwealth Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca with the Lowell House Opera, Pong in Turandot with the Connecticut Grand Opera and Lowell House Opera, Spoletta in Tosca with the Cape Cod Opera and the Ruggero in La rondine at the Longy School of Music.
Described by the New York Times as, “Provocative, powerful, and poignant,” and by the Boston Globe as, “Virtuosic, riveting, and radiant," Elizabeth Keusch has received international acclaim for her interpretations of concert and stage works spanning from the late Renaissance era through the 21st Century. On the operatic stage she has sung title roles in world and national premieres with the Paris Opera in Matthias Pintscher’s L’espace dernier; and in Helmut Lachenmann’s Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern with the Teatro Colón, Stuttgart State Opera, Neue Oper Wien, and Opera ad Hoy (Madrid). Additional operatic performances include Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera with Arizona Opera. With Encompass New Opera Theatre (NYC) she has performed Dominick Argento’s Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night, Britten’s Phaedra, and George Antheil’s Venus in Africa. Performances of Tan Dun’s Water Passion for St. Matthew have taken her to the Europäische Musikfest in Stuttgart, Germany for the world premiere in addition to performances in London, Tokyo, Singapore, Perth, Macau, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Oregon Bach Festival. Other festival collaborations include performances at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music, Vienna Festwochen, Hörgänge (Vienna), Festival d’Automne (Paris), Berliner Festwochen, Festival Ultraschall (Berlin) and Edinburgh Festival Fringe among others. The soprano has collaborated extensively with conductor Helmut Rilling, singing oratorios and masses of Bach, Handel, Brahms, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Britten for the International Bachakademie Stuttgart and the Oregon Bach Festival. Ms. Keusch has performed in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore and Indianapolis symphonies, Berio’s Laborintus II with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Britten’s War Requiem with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico, Golijov’s La Pasión Según San Marcos with the Boston Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the Minnesota Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic, Haydn’s Paukenmesse with the National Chorale at
Avery Fisher Hall, Knussen’s Requiem: Songs for Sue with the Cleveland Orchestra, Liszt’s Missa Solemnis with the American Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the Boston Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall and Symphony Hall, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Seattle Symphony and National Symphony of Canada, Mozart’s Requiem with the National Chorale in Avery Fisher Hall and with the Choral Arts Society of Washington at the Kennedy Center, and Schubert’s Third Mass with the Houston Symphony. Ms. Keusch holds a Bachelor of Music from University of North Texas, a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music. Ms. Keusch serves as Conductor and Alto soloist at Temple Beth Elohim (Wellesley), Cantor at St. Leonard Catholic Church (Boston), and Minister of Music/Organist at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Holden.
Native of Kyiv, Ukraine, Olga Lisovskaya holds degrees from Middlebury College, École Normale de Musique d'A. Cortot in Paris, France and L'Institut des Sciences Politiques in Paris, France. Hailed as “soprano extraordinaire” by WBUR, Olga is a critically acclaimed classical soprano, whose career involves both singing on prestigious concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, teaching & coaching, and producing performances/events/festivals.
Olga produced award-winning operas at Commonwealth Lyric Theater, a Boston-based opera company, and Talents of the World’s Annual Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. As a performer, Ms. Lisovskaya’s concerts have been featured on Ukrainian, Italian and American TV and radio, including on the Today Show and WBUR.
Olga is also a founder of a nonprofit organization, Music, Arts and Fashion Productions, whose mission is to promote the arts and to educate.
Ms. Lisovskaya is a sought-after voice teacher since 2001. As diction and public speaking coach she has been working with Tanglewood Festival Chorus at Boston Symphony, AstraZeneca pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, with Odyssey Opera, and New England Conservatory, among others.
Being a passionate connector, Olga serves as Managing Partner at Sky International Center, the largest international social, cultural and business network of 25,000 members in New England. Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Olga co-founded Sky Philanthropy, a non-profit organization, which supports people in crisis. Sky Philanthropy produced two Boston Ukrainian Festivals, which were attended by over 3,000 people (in 2022) and 5,000 people (in 2023) and were featured in major news outlets. Ms. Lisovskaya has been giving performance lectures about Ukrainian music and song literature to audiences ranging from children, to students in universities, to adults and seniors.
Baritone Michael Meraw has performed with companies across North America (including: Pacific Opera Victoria, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Banff Centre, Edmonton Opera, the Richard Eaton Singers, Symphony Regina, the National Arts Centre, the Thirteen Strings, Opéra Atelier, Opera in Concert, Montreal Opera, Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Handel, to Webern and Szymanowski. Not only has Meraw garnered critical acclaim in the standard repertoire, winning praise for his Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville and Orff's Carmina Burana, but he has also brought lesser-known works to new audiences through his incisive portrayals of such roles as King Roger by Szymanowski ("Meraw did well as Roger, with nervy urgency and gripping delivery of his increasingly anguished lines..." — Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star) and Sir John A. MacDonald in Somers's Louis Riel ("Dealing with a vocal part that veers from sprechgesang to dramatic declamation, baritone Michael Meraw showed great vocal cut and thrust, in addition to contributing a striking stage presence." — Richard Turp, Opera Canada). Mr. Meraw has performed many of the standard baritone parts in oratorio including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Judas Maccabeas, Joshua and Israel in Egypt, and the Requiems of Brahms and Fauré. A regular recitalist, his repertoire spans the baritone repertoire in English, French, German, Italian and Russian.
As well as his regular voice studio at New England Conservatory and his responsibilities as the Artistic Director of NEC’s Undergraduate Opera Studio, Mr. Meraw has become a regular Master clinician and adjudicator at several festivals in China, and will be joining the faculty of AIMS in Graz this summer. Many of his students have gone onto success, winning positions in young artist programs and artist contracts in the United States, Canada and Europe. Michael’s students can include La Scala, the Chatelet, L’Opera Comique in Paris, Minnesota Opera, St. Louis Opera, Montreal Opera, BBC Proms, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra among their recent credits.
British soprano Letitia Stevens has been praised for her expressive performances, warm, rich tone and comic timing. Ms. Stevens recently returned to singing soprano, after many years singing mezzo-soprano: her first soprano role was Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with Connecticut Lyric Opera, November 2017, a role she recently reprised with Opera51, "a wonderful Queen of the Night!... high Fs are amazing!" In October 2021 she premiered a set of songs, Les quatre written for her by composer Leonardo Ciampa; at Mechanics Hall. In April 2023 she was the soprano soloist in the world-premiere of Requiem for William, also by Ciampa. She has appeared as soloist with Boston Bel Canto Opera and Greater Worcester Opera, and has given recitals in Boston, at the Shaftesbury Fringe (Dorset, UK) and in France. Her first post-COVID production was with Cambridge Chamber Ensemble, covering Isabells in Wagner's Forbidden Love. Immediately pre-COVID she was fortunate to sing Madame Herz/Goldentrill in Der Schauspieldirektor with Rhode Island Opera on Tap, as well as excerpts of Queen of the Night and Countess. In July 2019 she gave return recitals at Rozet an in south-west France, about which Charente Libre wrote, "...she ignited the room with a majestic interpretation...". In early 2019 she appeared as Rosalinde in Die Fledermau with Lyric Opera Studio, Weimar and before that she sang Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare with The Connecticut Virtuosi & Connecticut Lyric Opera. In 2018-2020 she was a semi-finalist in: The American Prize, in both Opera and Art Song divisions; Talents of the World Competition and Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition.