John Osborn, Elizabeth DeShong, Mané Galoyan, London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Mark Elder
Biography John Osborn, Elizabeth DeShong, Mané Galoyan, London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Mark Elder
John Osborn
In 1994, the American tenor John Osborn was victorious at the New York Metropolitan Opera’s auditions and in 1996 he took first prize at the Plácido Domingo International Competition in Bordeaux. During the 1996 / 1997 season, he made his debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera and his European debut at the Cologne Opera (as Fenton in Falstaff). In the early years of his career, he focused on the bel canto repertoire. The role of Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia earnt him a place on the stages of the Vienna Staatsoper, the Berlin Staatsoper and the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Orlando Operas. He has played Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri, Elvino in La sonnambula, Tonio in La Fille du régiment, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore and Arturo in I puritani appearing on some of the great international stages in the process. He made his Paris Opera debut in 2002 in La Cenerentola and returned there in 2007 to perform the role of Léopold in Halévy’s La Juive.
He then began to tackle a wider repertoire: Arnold in Guillaume Tell (Rome, 2007), Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (Salzburg, 2008), Des Grieux in Manon (Buenos Aires, 2010), Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Brussels, 2010), the title role in Rossini’s Otello (Lyon, 2010), Raoul de Nangis in Les Huguenots (Brussels, 2011), Roberto Devereux (Zurich, 2013), Pollione in Norma (Salzburg, 2013), Hoffmann (Lyon Opera, 2013), Henri in I Vespri Siciliani (Caramoor Festival, 2013), Alfredo in La Traviata (Verona, 2013), and Werther (Frankfurt, 2014).
More recently, he sang the title role in Benvenuto Cellini at the Rome Opera, the Liceu in Barcelona and the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. His other roles include Rodrigo (La Donna del lago) and Arnold (Guillaume Tell) at the Metropolitan Opera, Rossini’s Otello at the Theater an der Wien, Fernand (La Favorite) at La Fenice in Venice, Léopold (La Juive) for his debut appearance at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper, Elvino (La sonnambula) at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Libenskof (Il viaggio a Reims) at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and Jean (Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète) at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse. This season, he is singing the title roles in Fra Diavolo in Rome, Faust at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, and Tonio (La Fille du régiment) at the Maestranza in Seville.
Elizabeth DeShong
has developed a reputation as “one of the most intelligent stage performers of her generation (Opera News).” Lauded equally for her musicianship and commanding stage presence, she has established herself as a regular on concert and operatic stages worldwide.
The 2022-2023 season marks DeShong’s return to San Francisco Opera, where she will debut the role of ‘Octavia’ in the world premiere of John Adams’ “Antony and Cleopatra”. 2023 includes a tour of Handel’s Alcina (Bradamante) with Les Musiciens du Louvre and Marc Minkowski, followed by her Dallas Opera debut as ‘Dorabella’ in Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte”. From there, DeShong will make another exciting house and role debut as ‘Fricka’ in Atlanta Opera’s production of Das Rheingold. The season closes with a return to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, where she will rejoin John Adams for a performance of “The Death of Klinghoffer”.
DeShong began the 2021-2022 season by joining The English Concert and Harry Bicket, as Bradamante (debut), on a tour of Handel’s Alcina. Following the tour, she reprised the role of ‘Calbo’ in Rossini’s Maometto secondo with Washington Concert Opera. The season continued with a return to The Metropolitan Opera where she performed her much-lauded portrayal of ‘Suzuki’ in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. In June, DeShong made her debut with the Festival de Saint-Denis in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. This was followed by a return to London for a recording and performance of Mercadante’s “Il proscritto” with Opera Rara.
During the 2019/20 season, Ms. DeShong returned to the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera for performances as ‘Suzuki’ in Madama Butterfly, the latter conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. She made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony as Hänsel in a concert performance of Hänsel and Gretel and sang ‘Pauline’ in Pique Dame at Lyric Opera of Chicago -- both conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Sir Mark Elder
has been Music Director of the Hallé since September 2000. He was previously Music Director of English National Opera (1979–1993) and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. From 2022/23 he has taken up the post of Principal Guest Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He has enjoyed long relationships with the London Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras as well as working with leading symphony orchestras throughout the world. He is a Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and has appeared annually at the Proms for many years, including—in 1987 and 2006—the internationally televised Last Night. He has enjoyed a long association with the Royal Opera House and has appeared in many other prominent theatres including the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Paris, Bavarian State Opera, Zürich, Dutch National Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He was the first English conductor to conduct a new production at the Bayreuth Festival. From 2011 to 2019 he was Artistic Director of Opera Rara, and he has made many award-winning recordings in a wide repertoire with the Hallé, including a complete Ring cycle, Parsifal and the three great Elgar oratorios. Sir Mark Elder was appointed a Companion of Honour in 2017, knighted in 2008 and awarded the CBE in 1989. In May 2006 he was named Conductor of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society and he was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2011. He is International Chair in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music and Barbirolli Chair at the Royal Academy of Music.
