Singers to Perform Gounod's "Faust" in Coeur d'Alene

Tenor Vale Rideout will sing Faust.

"Faust, the old professor, restored to youth and vitality by his deal with the devil, is played by nationally acclaimed Vale Rideout, whose love songs soar on majestic high C’s. He has been acclaimed by New York Times, Opera News, Boston Globe, Denver Post, to name a few. Just this year, he will be singing lead roles in Tampa and Phoenix, will be a soloist with the Dallas Symphony at Carnegie Hall, and will have leading roles in world premieres of two new operas. Marguerite, the beautiful, gentle innocent who is seduced by Faust, condemned by her brother, and reduced to insanity and murder is played by Shana Blake Hill. Her performance of Rosalba in the Cincinnati Opera’s Florencia en el Amazonas was hailed by the national Opera News as 'floods of glorious sound.' Bass Jamie Offenbach, makes the Satanic Méphistophélès alternatively thunder through the auditorium then softens to hypnotically sweet tones of enticement. Jamie has sung leading roles with the opera houses in Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Baltimore, San Diego Opera and many more. He is a regular at the Savonlinna, Finland Music Festival. Valentin, the devout soldier challenges Mephistopheles and his protégé, Faust, to avenge his sister’s honor, but finds the sword is no match for satanic power. His role is played by Jason Detwiler, whose career has encompassed over thirty leading roles from San Diego to Virginia. This year North Idaho also gets to meet Michele Detwiler as Dr. Faust’s student,

Bass Jamie Offenbach and soprano Shana Blake Hill.

Siebel. Critics have described her as 'amber-voiced,' a 'velvety mezzo soprano.' 'riveting,' 'holding center stage commandingly.' Stage directing will be by Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, a frequent lead singer at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Acclaimed throughout North America for both singing and acting, he debuted as a singer at the Met under the direction of the famed Placido Domingo. His concept for this performance of Faust includes the mists and long dark shadows of German impressionism, similar to the feel of the original Dracula movie." [Source] Performances will be at North Idaho College on Friday, September 23 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 25 at 2:00 PM.

Venice Film Festival 2011 Winners

The winners of the 2011 Venice Film Festival have been selected by the jury, led this year by Darren Aronofsky, who won the Golden Lion in 2008 for The Wrestler" and was twice nominated, in 2006 for "The Fountain" and last year for "Black Swan". Among this year's winners, Michael Fassbender was chosen as Best Actor, for his role as a sex addict in Steve McQueen's drama "Shame". The Best Actress award went to Deannie Yip for "A Simple Life". The Silver Lion for Best Director went to China's Shangjun Cai for "People Mountain People Sea". And, the top honor, the Golden Lion, went to russian director Aleksander Sokurov for "Faust", a work of cinema that Arronofsky himself said it was one of those films that "changes your life the moment you see them for the first time".

Here is the full list of winner :

Golden Lion for best film : Faust by Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)

Silver Lion for best director: Shangjun Cai for People Mountain People Sea (China)

Special jury prize: Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese (Italy)

Best first feature: Là-Bas by Guido Lombardi (Italy)

Best actress: Deanie Yip for A Simple Life (Hong Kong)

Best actor: Michael Fassbender for Shame (Britain)

Emerging performer: Shota Sometani and Fumi Nikaido for Himizu (Japan)

Best screenplay: Alpis (Alps) by Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece)

Best cinematography: Robbie Ryan for Wuthering Heights, directed by Andrea Arnold (Britain)

---

     RELATED POSTS :

• 2011 Emmy Nominations Announced
• TOTAL RECALL First Official Image
• Writer and Release Date Announced for THOR 2
• THE AVENGERS (2012) - On-Set Character Photos
• WORLD WAR Z (2012) - On-Set Zombie Attack Video

---

Jonas Kaufmann To Honor Post-Surgery MET "Faust" Dates

"Jonas Kaufmann, a major international tenor who has become an increasingly important presence at the Metropolitan Opera, plans to go ahead with an Oct. 30 recital at the house just two months after undergoing chest surgery, the Met said on Monday. He also remains committed to a run as the title character in a new production of Gounod’s Faust, which opens on Nov. 29, and to appearances in the Ring cycle in the spring, the Met said. 'Jonas Kaufmann has assured the Met through his management that he plans to sing all of his scheduled performances here this season,' according to a company statement. Mr. Kaufmann said on his Web site that he needed to have an operation to remove a node from his chest. 'I do not wish anyone to become alarmed reading this, but my physicians have ordered me to have the surgery done as soon as possible, and it will take place after my appearance in Stockholm on Sept. 2,' he said. He is scheduled to sing in the Jussi Björling gala that day at the Royal Opera. Mr. Kaufmann’s Web site lists five other performances in October, starting on Oct. 10." [Source]