Cecelia Hall (mezzo-soprano)

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Cecelia Hall
Born
North Carolina, U.S.
Education
Ryan Opera Center
OccupationOperatic mezzo-soprano
OrganizationsOper Frankfurt
Websitececeliahall.com

Cecelia Hall (born c. 1985)[1] is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. A native of North Carolina, Hall trained as a singer at DePaul University and the Juilliard School before becoming a member of the young artist programs at the Metropolitan Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She made her European debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2014 and became a resident artist at Oper Frankfurt in 2016; a position she remains in as of 2024. She continues to perform as a guest artist in operas and concerts with other organizations internationally. She has performed leading roles in the mezzo-soprano repertoire including title roles, both women such as Purcell's Dido, Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires, and men including Cavalli's Eliogabalo, Handel's Ariodante, Serse and Teseo, Mozart's Ascanio in Alba and Humperdinck's Hänsel.

Early life, education, and beginning career in the United States

Hall was raised in rural

Opera in the Ozarks portraying the title role in a production of Massenet's Cendrillon (English: Cinderella).[1] After graduating from DePaul in 2006,[2][3] she studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School where she portrayed the title character of a cross-dressing Greek Emperor in Francesco Cavalli's sexually charged Eliogabalo in 2007.[4] She later returned to the Aspen Music Festival as a guest artist in 2015; portraying the title role in Piazzolla's tango opera María de Buenos Aires.[5]

Hall next pursued graduate studies at the Juilliard School in New York City, achieving a master's degree in 2011.[6][1] While a student there, she portrayed four roles with the Juilliard Opera: both Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro[7] and the title role in Handel's Ariodante in 2009;[8] Nero in the school's 2010 production of Monteverdi’s L'incoronazione di Poppea with Harry Bicket conducting;[9] and Concepción in Ravel's L'heure espagnole in 2011.[10]

On March 6, 2010, Hall made her debut with the

Moscow Philharmonic (2017).[3]

After graduating from Juilliard, Hall was awarded a

Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (LOC); joining that organization in 2011.[1] Roles she performed with the LOC include Alisa in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (2011),[19] the Second Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute (2011),[20] the Voice of the High Priestess in Aida (2012),[21] the third maid in Elektra by Richard Strauss (2012),[22] and Annio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito (2014).[23] She was awarded LOC's Brian Dickie Outstanding Young Singer Award in 2012.[3]

In 2012, Hall portrayed the title role in Handel's Teseo at the Chicago Opera Theater.[1] She appeared as the Rhinemaiden Wellgunde in Wagner's Ring cycle at the Seattle Opera in 2013 under conductor Asher Fisch. A reviewer of this production wrote that all three Rhinemaidens "offered both welcome comic relief and gorgeous singing".[24] She returned the following year for Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni, alongside Nicolas Cavallier in the title role.[25] She later performed the role of Zerlina at Opera Philadelphia in 2014.[26]

International career: 2014-present

In 2014, Hall made her European debut at the

Le nozze di Figaro; filling in at the last minute for another performer.[28] The same year, she portrayed Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Toronto with the Canadian Opera Company.[29] In 2015, she performed at the Santa Fe Opera as Ramiro in Mozart's La finta giardiniera;[30] and returned to the Met as Javotte in Manon.[31] She also performed the role of Dorabella that year in a semi-staged performance of Mozart's Così fan tutte with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.[32]

In 2016, Hall used her North Carolina accent to great effect as Ruby in

Great Mass in C minor at the Mostly Mozart Festival.[34] In the summer of 2016, she appeared as the Geisha in Pietro Mascagni's rarely performed Iris at the Bard Music Festival.[35] She also returned to her home state in 2016 to portray Rosina with the North Carolina Opera;[36] a role she repeated in North Carolina with the Greensboro Opera in 2018.[37]

Hall joined the roster of resident artists at

La Damnation de Faust (2019),[48] Idamante in Idomeneo (2019),[48] Irene in Tamerlano (2019[49] & 2022),[50] Mercédès in Carmen (2021),[51] and Charlotte in Massenet's Werther (2022-2023).[52] She appeared as Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in 2017,[53] in a production that Barrie Kosky had created in 2010.[54] She later reprised the role of Dido in Frankurt in 2022.[55]

In 2020, during the

Le vin herbé had Hall in the role of Iseut's mother; directed by Tilmann Köhler.[57] When Mozart's Figaro was given a new production by Oper Franfurt in 2023, the first with the new GMD Thomas Guggeis, she portrayed Marcellina in the premiere,[58][59] alternating with Cherubino,[60] A reviewer from the FAZ noted that she portrayed Figaro's mother with luminous tone as a potentially dangerous rival of Susanna.[58] She performed the title role of Mozart's Ascanio in Alba at the Bockenheimer Depot venue,[61][60] portraying the young man that Mozart conceived at age 15, with a development from "initially somewhat pallid" to the expression of anguish and joy in an "exhilarating" duet.[61]

Since joining Oper Frankfurt, Hall has continued to perform as a guest artist with other performing arts organizations. In 2017, she portrayed Sesto in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.[62] That same year, she created the role of Sorrel in the world premiere of Lembit Beecher and Hannah Moscovitch’s war drama I Have No Stories to Tell You with Opera Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That work was presented in a double bill with another opera about war, Claudio Monteverdi's Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, in which Hall portrayed Clorinda.[63] In 2018, she performed the role of Dinah in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra; a performance which was recorded and later broadcast on NPR station WEKU during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.[64]

In 2021, Hall portrayed Romeo in

Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and portrayed the title role in Handel's Serse at London's Opera Holland Park.[3] She repeated that role in 2023 in a production conducted by Konrad Junghänel at the Komische Oper Berlin, with the arias given in Italian, but the recitatives in German.[66] That same year she performed the title characters Ariodante at the Israeli Opera and Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Boston Lyric Opera.[3]

In May 2024, she is scheduled to perform the title role in Bizet's

Austin Lyric Opera,[67] and perform as the alto soloist in Mozart's Requiem with the New York Philharmonic and Musica Sacra under conductor Kent Tritle.[68]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Meyer, Graham (April 9, 2012). "Cecelia Hall in Chicago Opera Theater's 'Teseo'". Chicago.
  2. ^ Pat Mikos (ed.). "Class notes" (PDF). Sound Investment: A Report from DePaul University School of Music, 2011–12: 12.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Holden, James (October 2023). "Internationally Acclaimed Mezzo-Soprano To Perform in Boston". SOCO: The Southcoast Magazine of Massachusetts and Rhode Island: 47–49.
  4. ^ MacMillan, Kyle (August 20, 2007). "Racy "Eliogabalo" gets new life". The Denver Post.
  5. ^ Steiman, Harvey (August 18, 2015). "Harris Hall gets steamy with Piazzolla's tango opera". The Aspen Times.
  6. ^ a b Marchioni, Tonimarie (October 2010). "Vocal Arts Honors Recitalists Choose Diverse Programs". Juilliard Journal. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  7. ^ "Classical Music/Opera Listings". The New York Times. February 12, 2009.
  8. ^ Smith, Steve (November 12, 2009). "A Condemned Princess, Freed With Global Voices". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Anthony Tommasini (November 18, 2010). "Bad Guys Singing Of Love And Power". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (April 28, 2011). "Objects of Operatic Desire: Abundant Money and Men". The New York Times.
  11. ^ "2010 Mar 06 / Young People's Concert / Boico (ID: 10196)". Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Archives. New York Philharmonic. March 6, 2010.
  12. ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (March 25, 2010). "A Contemporary Composer, and a Visit From Ophelia". The New York Times.
  13. ^ Pincus, Andrew L. (August 4, 2010). "Ariadne auf Naxos Ignites Tanglewood Stage". The Berkshire Eagle.
  14. ^ Oestreich, James R. (August 3, 2010). "When the Trifle Turns Serious, Experience Counts". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "Opera review: Fort Worth Opera mounts an entertaining 'Ariadne auf Naxos'". The Dallas Morning News. May 5, 2013.
  16. ^ Duffy, Robert W. (May 20, 2016). "Opera Theatre: Shining enlightenment on the region with words and music for 41 seasons". NPR, St. Louis On The Air.
  17. ^ Yohalem, John (February 2011). "Iphigénie en Tauride, New York". Opera Today.
  18. ^ Miller, Michael (April 22, 2011). "GLUCK'S IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE AT THE MET WITH SUSAN GRAHAM AND PLÁCIDO DOMINGO". New York Arts.
  19. ^ Von Rhein, John (October 12, 2011). "A heroine goes sweetly daft as Donizetti's greatest hit returns to Lyric Opera repertory".
  20. ^ Hoffman, Gary (February 2012). "Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at Lyric Opera of Chicago". Opera Today.
  21. ^ Johnson, Lawrence A. (January 22, 2012). "Giordani and a worthy cast belatedly ignite Lyric Opera's "Aida"". Chicago Classical Review.
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  23. ^ Wang, Dan (March 11, 2014). "Clemency in a burning capitol". Bachtrack.
  24. ^ Walder-Biesanz, Ilana (August 12, 2013). "Götterdämmerung at Seattle Opera is the perfect end to an extraordinary Ring". Bachtrack. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
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  26. ^ Cohen, Steve (May 13, 2014). "Opera Philadelphia's 'Don Giovanni'". Broad Street Review.
  27. ^ "Il turco in Italia at the Aix Festival". Opera News. July 2014.
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  30. ^ Sohre, James (August 30, 2015). "Santa Fe: Secondary Mozart in First Rate Staging". Opera Today.
  31. ^ Levine, Robert (March 11, 2015). "Damrau and Grigolo battle through Pelly's Manon production... and win". Bachtrack.
  32. ^ Schmidt, Elaine (September 19, 2015). "MSO season begins on an exquisite note with 'Cosi fan tutte'". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  33. ^ Moravcsik, Andrew (February 2016). "February 8, 2016; Cold Mountain, Philadelphia". Opera Today.
  34. ^ Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da (August 21, 2016). "At Mostly Mozart, a Self-Effacing Magnetism". The New York Times.
  35. ^ Sava-Segal, Edward (July 25, 2016). "Mascagni's Iris: music beyond verismo in New York". Bachtrack.
  36. ^ Dicks, Roy C. (April 3, 2016). "NC Opera takes lyrical approach to 'Barber of Seville'". The News & Observer.
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  49. ^ Hirsch, Jeremy (November 19, 2019). "Patience Rewarded In Oper Frankfurt's Tamerlano". SCHMOPERA.
  50. ^ Salazar, David (May 4, 2022). "Asmik Grigorian, Jessica Pratt, Corinne Winters, Bianca Andrew, Zanda Svede Headline Oper Frankfurt's 2022-23 Season". Opera Wire.
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  53. ^ Romahn, Ilse (October 9, 2017). "Dritte und letzte Wiederaufnahme von Dido und Aeneas und Herzog Blaubarts Burg an der Oper Frankfurt". Frankfurt Live.
  54. ^ "Spritziger Barock trifft auf dunkle Moderne". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). November 3, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  55. ^ Berry, Mark (June 13, 2022). "Barrie Kosky's intriguing double bill of Purcell and Bartók in Frankfurt". Seen and Heard International.
  56. ^ "Liebe im Setzkasten". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). September 20, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  57. ^ Brachmann, Jan (July 10, 2023). "Das Verhängnis". FAZ (in German). Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  58. ^ a b Fuhrmann, Wolfgang (October 10, 2023). "Kluger Frauen Gegenwehr". FAZ (in German). Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  59. ^ Häußner, Werner (October 7, 2023). "Frankfurt / Oper: Le nozze di Figaro". Online Merker (in German). Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  60. ^ a b "Cecelia Hall". Oper Frankfurt. 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  61. ^ a b Berry, Mark (December 19, 2023). "Thoughtful and skilful presentation in Frankfurt of a rare opera by the teenage Mozart". seenandheard-international.com. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  62. ^ Sohre, James (June 2017). "Titus Lightens Up in Saint Louis". Opera Today.
  63. ^ Kelsall, Cameron (September 20, 2017). "Opera Philadelphia's O17 Festival presents 'War Stories'". Broad Street Review.
  64. ^ "WEKU And Lexington Philharmonic Bring Symphony Performance To Kentuckians During COVID-19 Crisis". Lexington Philharmonic. April 21, 2020.
  65. ^ Salazar, Francisco (September 29, 2021). "Andriana Chuchman & Cecelia Hall Headline Opera Omaha's 'The Capulets and the Montagues'". Opera Wire.
  66. ^ Hoppe, Bernd (May 23, 2023). "Berlin: "Xerxes", Georg Friedrich Händel". deropernfreund.de (in German). Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  67. ^ "Calendar: Carmen". KXAN-TV. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  68. ^ "Cecelia Hall". New York Philharmonic. 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2023.

External links

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