Cavalleria rusticana
Pietro Mascagni
- Loaded with truly passionate Italian music and in-your-face stories, Opera Santa Barbara’s productions of both “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” did not spare any gut punches. Every opera-lover knows the stories of Cav and Pag; OSB did both with tear-jerking emotion, telling it like it is. Both were brilliantly conducted by Valéry Ryvkin. The sets and costumes were right on target – as were the gymnasts doing somersaults across the stage during “Pag.” Allan Glassman brilliantly tackled the lead roles in both operas with sheer, totally realistic verismo. Indeed, all of the casts were well chosen and perfectly suited for their roles.
– Opera Warhorses
- “With Allan Glassman starring in both Cavalleria and Pagliacci, the stage was set for wild passions. Director Linda Brovsky has set both shows in 1947, and did a great job of conveying post-war Calabria and Naples. Glassman performs the clown’s signature aria with great skill and heartbreaking emotion. When Canio becomes a murderer, it is easy to imagine that it is all for love.”
– Charles Donelan / SB Independent
Direction
Valéry Ryvkin
Valéry Ryvkin
Conductor / Carmen
Jan/Feb 2002
Conductor / The Barber of Seville
May 2001
Conductor / La traviata
December 2000
Conductor / La Cenerentola
Mar/Apr 2000
Conductor / Le nozze di Figaro
Jan/Feb 2000
Conductor /
Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci
October 1999
Conductor / Madama Butterfly
May 1999
Conductor / Il trovatore
January 1999
Conductor / The Merry Widow
December 1998
Conductor / Don Pasquale
February 1998
Conductor / Così fan tutte
January 1998
Conductor / Tosca
September 1997
Conductor / Don Giovanni
January 1997
Conductor / La bohème
Nov/Dec 1996
Conductor / Carmen
August 1996
Conductor / La traviata
July 1995 (debut)
Artistic Director
1999–2008
Linda Brovsky
Linda Brovsky
Stage Director / Le nozze di Figaro
Jan/Feb 2000 (debut)
Jean-François Revon
Jean-François Revon
Mark Somerfield
Mark Somerfield
Miller James
Miller James
Artists
Layna Chianakas
Layna Chianakas
In a career that has spanned three decades, Stage Director, Mezzo-Soprano, and Voice Teacher, Layna Chianakas has portrayed over 50 leading opera roles across the United States, including over 80 performances of Carmen. Most recently, she was heard with Intermountain Opera, in the role Mme. Larina in Eugene Onegin and with Livermore Valley Opera as Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin. She returns to both companies this spring as Emilia in Verdi’s Otello, and Marcellina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.
As an award-winning opera Stage Director, her most recent win was the 2021 American Prize for Opera Production for Livermore Valley Opera’s double-bill of Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy and Pucinni’s Gianni Schicchi and the National Opera Association third prize for Postcard from Morocco for the San José State Opera Theater. For Opera San José, she directed La Voix humaine, Hansel & Gretel, Carmen and Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other directing credits include, Le nozze di Figaro, Cavalli’s L’Ormindo, Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortileges, Die Fledermaus, Orpheus in the Underworld, as well as a fully-staged version of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Rachel J. Peter’s Rootabaga Country marked her third production as the Stage Director for the Vivace Youth Chorus Summer Opera Workshop, which saw her productions of Menotti’s Chip and His Dog, and Krasa’s Brundibar. Opera Santa Barbara presented her Summer Youth Opera production of Ben Moore’s Odyssey, Jake Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus for Soprano Young Artist, Brooklyn Snow, and she returns again this October to stage their double-bill of Falla’s El amor brujo (with choreographer, Cecily MacDougall) and Puccini’s Il Tabarro.
In addition to a thriving private voice studio, Ms. Chianakas is Vocal Director of Musical Theater for Valley Christian High School Conservatory in San Jose, CA, where her credits include, Hello, Dolly!, Mary Poppins, Godspell, Found: A Musical Revue, and The Addams Family.
She lives in San Jose, CA with her husband, and two children; her greatest productions.
Last OSB Role: Stage Director for OSB’s Young Artist Showcase, At the Statue of Venus by Jake Heggie, Brooklyn Snow, Soprano
Upcoming Opera: Emilia, Otello, Livermore Valley Opera; Marcellina, Le nozze di Figaro, Intermountain Opera
Carmen / Carmen
Jan/Feb 2002 (debut)
Allan Glassman
Allan Glassman
Turiddu / Cavalleria Rusticana
February 2008
Canio / Pagliacci
February 2008
Manrico / Il trovatore
January 1999
Don José / Carmen
August 1996 (debut)
Malcolm MacKenzie
Malcolm MacKenzie
Victoria Hart
Victoria Hart
Berta / The Barber of Seville
May 2001
Mamma Lucia / Cavalleria Rusticana
October 1999 (debut)
Tihana Herceg
Tihana Herceg
Lola / Cavalleria Rusticana
October 1999
Hansel / Hansel and Gretel
October 1994
Prince Orlofsky / Die Fledermaus
December 1993 (debut)
Barbara Divis
Barbara Divis
Micaëla / Carmen
Jan/Feb 2002
Nedda / Pagliacci
October 1999 (debut)
Daniel Narducci
Daniel Narducci
Matthew Peña
Matthew Peña
Brent Wilson
Brent Wilson
Conductor / The Consul
April 2014 (debut)
Assistant Conductor & Chorus Master
2011–2015