On March 23, 2017, Scott Hendricks returns to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, in the highly acclaimed production by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier conducted by Maestro Antonio Pappano. It is the first of eleven performances running through April 25, 2017. Ermonela Jaho and Ana María Martinez will share the role of Cio-Cio-San, Marcelo Puente and Teodor Ilincai that of F.B. Pinkerton, and Elizabeth DeShong will be Suzuki.

“Sharpless is the moral conscience of the piece. He’s been put in an awful position by Pinkerton’s selfishness. It’s nice to not having to play a bad guy for a change”, says Scott Hendricks, who made his Metropolitan Opera debut in this same role three years ago. “It’s wonderful to return to the Royal Opera House and participate in this gorgeous production of Madama Butterfly. And it’s always a pleasure to become reacquainted with my upstanding old friend, Sharpless. The cast and crew are wonderful, and making music with Maestro Pappano has been exhilarating!”

In addition to the Royal Opera House’s Madama Butterfly, the baritone’s engagements in the 2016/17 season include Macbeth (title role) at La Monnaie in Brussels, Nixon in China (title role) at the Houston Grand Opera, The Cunning Little Vixen (Forester) at the Cologne Opera, and Carmen (Escamillo) at the Bregenz Festival.

Information about Madama Butterfly at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London:

Ermonela Jaho / Ana María Martinez (Cio Cio San), Marcelo Puente / Teodor Ilincai (Pinkerton), Scott Hendricks (Sharpless), Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki), Carlo Bosi (Goro), Jeremy White (Bonzo), Emily Edmonds (Kate Pinkerton), Gyule Nagy (Commissario Imperiale), Yuriy Yurchuk (Yamadori)

Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier (stage directors), Antonio Pappano / Renato Balsadonna (conductors)

Performances: March 23, 27, 30; April 4, 7, 10, 13, 17, 20, 22, 25

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/madama-butterfly-by-moshe-leiser-and-patrice-caurier

[Photo by Bill Cooper]