The Verdi Chorus’ 39th season culminates with VERDISSIMO! Plus! for two performances only at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica on April 29 and 30. Led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, the Verdi Chorus is the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus. The program will feature selections from four Verdi operas – Otello, Il trovatore, La forza del destino, and Un ballo in maschera, as well as beloved melodies from Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
Conductor Anne Marie Ketchum says, “When I started looking for possibilities for this concert, the more I searched, the more I realized everything I was coming up with was Verdi, and I thought to myself ‘of course it’s all Verdi, why not?’ It’s simply some of the greatest music there is, especially for an opera chorus.“
Ketchum continues, “Our program is filled with wonderful colors and contrasts. I love the storm scene at the beginning of Otello in which the chorus goes absolutely crazy, and you can hear the actual storm itself in the music. The second act finale of Il trovatore is simply gorgeous – and this opera includes the Anvil Chorus, which is always great fun. For dessert, what could be sweeter than a little Viennese operetta in the form of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus? This led me to the “plus” in this concert’s title, and I realized I had it – a perfect program, complete with four exceptional guest soloists. Our audiences will even get to hear Todd Wilander sing the lead tenor role in Un ballo In maschera before he flies off to New York to cover this role for the Met! We get him first!”