Hi All:

Finally…I have been able to update my sched­ule on the web­site.  A cou­ple of new things for next year, but a lot of things for future years.  Hope to see you some­where, sometime!

Hi every­one!

Just a quick update.  We will open Semi­ramide on Fri­day evening here in Naples..sur­prise!!  We have a won­der­ful Semi­ramide, Laura Aikin who brings a great dra­matic com­mand to the part.  Sil­via Tro Santafe as Arsace and Simone Albergh­ini as Assur round out an excel­lent cast led by Gabriele Ferro in the pit.  Luca Ronconi’s new pro­duc­tion will be a fit­ting open­ing night treat.  This will mark my return to Idreno, the part that got me started as a true Rossini singer in Pesaro in 1992.  It’s been about 6 years since I’ve sung this role and I am every excited to sing it again, espe­cially here at the San Carlo in front of such a great pub­lic.  Open­ing night will be broad­cast on RAI Radio3 on Fri­day evening begin­ning at 19:00 CET (1:00 pm EST).

Here’s the link if you’re inter­ested:  http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/popup/player_radio.html?v=3

Enjoy!!

Hi every­one:

Just fin­ish­ing here with the Accad­e­mia di Santa Cecilia Orches­tra in Rome tonight with our last con­cert of Mat­teo D’Amico’s Veni, veni Mephostophilis and Liszt’s A Faust Sym­phony.  The D’Amico piece was great fun.  It’s a won­der­fully dra­matic and very singable piece.  The Liszt was not much to do, but it was a great plea­sure to do it with such a great orches­tra, choir and of course, Anto­nio Pap­pano whom I’ve known since our days at Lyric Opera of Chicago in the 8o’s but never got a chance to work with as a con­duc­tor.  He’s fantastic!

Back to Naples tomor­row to re-start rehearsals for Semi­ramide, now with Laura Akin as Semi­ramide.  We open on the 18th and I will sing just that one and the next on the 20th.  Then home for Thanks­giv­ing.  Whew!  Watch for some fun video post­ings and sched­ule updates in the next few days. Ciao…

OK, day 3 with orches­tra and it’s really start­ing to gel.  They’ve been great to work with and very patient as well with the new kid.  We had the soloists there for the first part of the rehearsal today and it was a LOT of fun.  We accom­plished every­thing we needed to accom­plish.  We’ve read it through twice but the real work begins tomor­row with the entire company.

I am soooooo look­ing for­ward to it!

More to come.….

Sooooo, today was the day I’ve thought about for a long time.  First day in the pit with the orches­tra.  And can I tell you…IT WAS A BLAST!!!  Thanks to all the won­der­ful musi­cians who were so kind and help­ful on this first day.  I think it actu­ally went veeeeeery well…and, we’ve only just begun.  Tomor­row, 5 more hours, Sat­ur­day the same and Sun­day we add the cho­rus and soloists on the stage.  Dress on Wednes­day evening.  CAN’T WAIT!!!!  Video will appear soon, so do keep a lookout.

Ciaoooooo!

Greg