Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 30, 2001

Volume 29, Number 24

Christian Van Horn (top) portrays Mephistopheles and Kevin Hill and Laura Danehower Whyte star in the roles of Faust and Marguerite, respectively, in the Yale Opera program's production of Gounod's "Faust."

Yale Opera stages musical
retelling of Goethe's 'Faust'

Yale Opera will present Charles Gounod's operatic masterpiece "Faust," based on Goethe's timeless story of passion and redemption, Friday-Sunday, April 6-8, at the Shubert Performing Arts Center, 247 College St.

The full-scale production, under the direction of Yale Opera artistic director Doris Yarick-Cross, will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Singers from Yale's opera program will be accompanied by members of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Randall Behr. Robert Tannenbaum, who has directed operas throughout the United States and Germany, will be the stage director for the performance.

Behr has conducted numerous opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, including the San Francisco Opera, the Chicago Lyric Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Spoleto USA, Central City Opera and Opera Memphis. He also has performed with many of the world's leading opera companies.

He has served as music director of the Department of Vocal Arts and of the Juilliard Opera Center at The Juilliard School, and led some 24 productions as resident conductor of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera. He also served as music director of the Long Beach Opera. His international roster of performances includes concerts and operatic appearances at the Vienna Staatsoper, Hamburg Staatsoper, Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, Orchestre Nacional de Lyon and the Las Palmas Festival, among many others. Also a pianist, he has performed in recitals throughout Europe and in Hong Kong.

Tannenbaum began his career with the San Diego Opera, becoming resident stage director. He later served as director of opera at the Stadtische Bühnen in Münster and was engaged as a guest director for productions throughout Germany, France and the United States.

In 1992 he became the only American general director of a German state theater, the Stadttheater Giessen, holding that post until 1996. In recent seasons he has directed productions for the New Orleans Opera, The Florentine Opera Company in Milwaukee, Orlando Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Edmonton Opera and the Landestheater Linz in Austria, as well as the Yale Opera. In the fall of 2002, Tannenbaum will become director of opera for the Badisches Staats-theater Karlsruhe. He has served on the faculties of universities in the United States and Germany.

Tickets for "Faust" are $16-$35 and may be purchased at the Shubert box office or by calling 1-800-228-6622. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.tickets.com or www.shubert.com.

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