The Metropolitan Opera House (aka The Met) officially opened Oct. 22, 1883, and was an immediate success, socially and artistically.
Now located, since 1966, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the Met has been the artistic home of some of the greatest singers in the world, and a launching pad for opera stars.
Some of today’s leading opera artists got their big break by winning the company’s national auditions, as members of the young artist program, or by catching the attention of Met talent scouts.
The Met’s Rising Stars Concert Series offers opera fans across North America a rare opportunity to experience remarkable young artists on the cusp of extraordinary careers, a kind of spring training for emerging opera singers.
Performing this week in Carmel will be Lori Guilbeau. Called “a luminous soprano… with a beautiful tone and a graceful sense of phrasing” by the New York Times, she was a 2010 Grand Finals winner of the Met’s National Council Auditions. Local aficionados may remember her performance of Strauss’ “Vier Letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs)” with the Monterey Symphony in October of 2010.
Joining her: Simone Osborne, a lyric and operatic soprano and one of the youngest-ever winners of the National Council Auditions, in 2008 at age 21. Sarah Mesko, a mezzo-soprano, also joins in on the act; in 2009, Mesko was a national finalist of the National Council Auditions. Praised by The Washington Postfor her “consistently beautiful sound,” she is rapidly gaining attention for her rich voice and musicality.
Trevor Scheunemann, baritone, debuted at Teatro Municipal de Santiago as Sharpless in Madame Butterfly in 2015. South Carolina native Brent Funderburk, on piano, has partnered with world-class singers and instrumentalists in concert and on recordings. A wide-ranging program includes arias and duets ranging from Verdi, Puccini and Strauss to Richard Rodgers.
Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars Concert Series 8pm Friday, Feb. 5. Sunset Center, San Carlos at Ninth, Carmel. $59, $69, $79, www.sunsetcenter.org