Portrait of Elizabeth Futral, Star of L'etoile du nord
Biography
American soprano Elizabeth Futral has been noted as one of her generation's leading lyric-coloratura sopranos for her rich, vibrant voice, captivating stage personality and her radiant beauty. Her future engagements include appearances with the San Francisco Opera as Stella in the world premiere of Andre Previn's A Streetcar named Desire; the Washington Opera as Juliette in a new production of Romeo et Juliette; the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels as Gilda in Rigoletto; the Santa Fe Opera as Hero in Beatrice and Benedict and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos; the New Orleans Opera in Lakme; the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Juliette in Romeo et Juliette and Adina in L'Elisir d'amore; the Grand Theatre de Geneve as Romilda in Serse; the Bayerische Staatsoper as Nanetta in a new production of Falstaff; the Teatro Comunale di Firenze as Nanetta in a new production of Falstaff; the London Symphony as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini; and the Metropolitan Opera as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor. Recent appearances include performances with the Santa Fe Opera in the title role in Handel's Semele, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as L'Ensoleillad in Massenet's Cherubin and as Musetta in La boheme; the Bayerische Staatsoper for Pamina in Die Zauberfloete; the 1996 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Flori da Grand Opera in Lucia di Lammermoor; the 1996 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro singing the title role in Matilde di Shabran; the 1996 Wexford Festival as Catherine in L'Etoile du Nord; the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Romilda in Xerxes; with the London Symphony Orchestra in A Midsummer Night's Dream; with the Minnesota Opera as Melisande in Pelleas et Melisande; and the Grand Theatre de Geneve as Amour in a new production of Gluck's Orphee et Euridice. Her recording projects include live recordings of Meyerbeer's L'Etoile du Nord (for Marco Polo) and Rossini's Matilde di Shabran (for RCA/BMG Records), as well as Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortileges for Deutsche Grammophon. She has recorded Richard Strauss' "Deutsche Motette" with Musica Sacra, for RCA/BMG Records, Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox for Euphorbia Records and Weisgall's Six Characters in Search of an Author for New World Records. She recently recorded scenes from Kurt Weill's The Firebrand of Florence with Thomas Hampson for EMI, which has just been released. She has also appeared with the Israel Philharmonic singing the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor; with the New York City Opera in the title role of Delibes' Lakme; with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Cunegonde in Candide and with the Florida Grand Opera as Juliette in Romeo et Juliette; and Amour in a new production of Gluck's Orphee et Euridice at the Grand Theatre de Geneve. She has worked in concert with such conductors as Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Herbert Blomstedt, Yves Abel, Bruno Bartoletti, John McGlinn, Gustav Kuhn, Daniel Barenboim, Robert Shaw and Raymond Leppard.
Interview with Elizabeth Futral