Rufus Wainwright
News
Prima Donna This July
Manchester International Festival has announced its commission for the World Premiere of Rufus Wainwright's debut opera, PRIMA DONNA. Prima Donna is a portrait of a fading opera singer, set in Paris and sung in French. Rufus wrote the opera and composed and arranged the music. It will be directed by Daniel Kramer, conducted by Pierre-André Valade and designed by Antony McDonald. Prima Donna will feature the noted soprano Janis Kelly, taking the lead role Madame. Soprano Rebecca Bottone, tenor William Joyner and baritone Jonathan Summers are also featured. Please note that Rufus will not be performing in Prima Donna.
There will be five performances of Prima Donna at Manchester's Palace Theatre in 2009: July 10th, 14th, and 17th (in the evening), as well as July 12th and 19th (matinee).
Tickets are available for purchase HERE or by phone +44 (0)844 815 4960.
| Rufus documentary to air on Alan Yentob’s TV show, Imagine, on BBC1
On July 7, 2009 at 10:35 p.m. (and at 11:05pm in Scotland and Wales) on UK's BBC One, Alan Yentob explores the rapid rise of one of modern music's most mercurial talents, Rufus Wainwright. Wainwright talks candidly about his background, his family of musical luminaries. The film also follows his journey into the classical world as he creates his very first opera, Prima Donna.
For more info on this documentary, please go to the BBC TV site HERE.
| Rufus on BBC's Jonathan Ross Show!
Tune in to BBC1's program on July 10th at 10:30pm, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross for an exclusive interview with Rufus! Click HERE for more info.
Also, Rufus recently was a guest on Jonathan Ross' BBC Radio 2 show, which you can check out streaming HERE.
| Note from Rufus regarding Blackoutsabbath
Dearest Sabbathites:
(Try saying THAT without a lisp!) Rufus here writing to you from the beautiful garden of the Berlin Ensemble where I've come to survey and perform in a TV taping of the Sonnets project I did with Bob Wilson. Don't know when it will air but stay posted and ready for more improved Anglo-German relations, hopefully there will be subtitles and we can really forget about the whole thing! Anyway, I suppose I should steer away from world history and focus on what's making history: the second annual Blackoutsabbath is upon us! Since I'm in and out of this play thing I'm going to have to keep this message short and save up my literary genius for a later date when I can recount my first Blackoutsabbath on an English moor. Yes, that's right! I'm presently living on a Bronte-esque patch of land, like, 1000 acre patch: opted for the eternal charms of the British countryside rather than the fast streets of downtown Leeds.
So, I have to make a confession: as well as being Blackoutsabbath, Saturday June 20th is also the first official tech run through of my opera, Prima Donna. Jorn is flying in and it's the first time all will see the whole thing with movement and without people reading the music. It's going to be pretty amazing and alas, I cannot miss it. Thus accordingly, my own personal Blackoutsabbath will start at 2 pm! Now, this obviously does not mean that everyone has to start later. Those who begin at noon feel free to start the blackout wave (sounds like some kind of plague). In reality, the fact that I'm starting late is, in fact, a great message for those of you who couldn't start at noon and can now follow the Master and begin when you can. So good luck, and good Blackoutsabbath, but most importantly (and this is serious!), candles can kill so be vigilant.
Love, Rufus.
| Prima Donna Ticket Giveaway
From Guardian.co.uk :
The second Manchester International Festival, sponsored by the Guardian, takes place across the city between 2 and 19 July.
Among the 2009 Festival's 20 world premieres is Prima Donna, Rufus Wainwright's debut opera and we have eight pairs of tickets for the opening night performance on Friday 10 July to give away. Click HERE to enter!
Set in Paris on Bastille Day in 1970. Régine Saint Laurent, once the world's most revered operatic soprano, is preparing for her return to the stage after six years of silence. But in doing so, Régine is forced to confront the ghosts of her past. Can she defeat the demons that destroyed her career, and emerge triumphantly once more into the spotlight?
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Martha Sings Piaf
The critically acclaimed singer/songwriter (and Rufus' sister), Martha Wainwright, will pair with producer Hal Willner to make a live record of rare Edith Piaf songs over three intimate performances at the newly relocated Dixon Place Theater, which has contributed to the artistic legacy of New York City over the past 20+ years by continuously presenting original works of theatre, dance, music and literature. Martha sites the French songstress as one of her biggest influences, will be backed up by a great group of New York musicians including pianist Thomas Bartlett, electric guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Doug Wieselman, and the bassist Brad Albetta.
Sunday, June 14 @ 8:00 PM
Monday, June 15 @ 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM
DIXON PLACE THEATER
161 Chrystie Street, Ground Floor
New York, NY 10002
212-219-0736
www.dixonplace.org
| See Rufus on Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...
Here's your chance to catch the episodes of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... featuring Rufus on CTV in Canada. His episode will be airing on the following days and times next month:
-Friday, May 15th on CTV (main network) at 10pm eastern (but check local listings as the time varies across the country)
-Saturday, May 16th on Bravo! at 8pm eastern and 1:15am eastern (Sunday morning)
-Sunday, May 17th on Bravo! at 6pm eastern.
Click HERE for more info.
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Do you have a photo of Rufus in lederhosen?
Then hit us with your best shot! We're on the lookout for a great photo of Rufus in lederhosen from the 2007/8 Release The Stars Tour. If you took a great live photo of Rufus performing in his lederhosen outfit, please email it to: releasethestars2@gmail.com . Weblinks are preferred but JPG and TIF files are also OK.
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A Not So Silent Night 2009
We're happy to announce information on this year's holiday show...
"A Not So Silent Night" featuring
Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Kate McGarrigle, Family & Friends
This special show will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on Wednesday, December 9th. The presale for tickets will start tomorrow, April 8th at 9am BST (British Summer Time). Click HERE to purchase tickets.
A limited number of exclusive A Not So Silent Night VIP Packages include excellent seats for the concert, entry to an intimate post-show cocktail with the performers, and unique gift bags. These packages can be obtained by making a donation of $1,000 CAD, $750 USD, or £500 GPB to the Kate McGarrigle Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to cancer care and research and affiliated with the McGill University teaching hospitals and Cedars Cancer Institute in Montreal, Canada. Proceeds from the sales of these VIP packages will benefit cancer care and research in Canada and the UK. For more information, call Cléa Desjardins at the McGill University Health Centre Foundation, toll-free at 1-877-601-4536 (1-514-931-5656 from outside North America), email clea.desjardins@muhc.mcgill.ca, and visit muhcfoundation.com/mcgarrigle.
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Shakespeare Sonnets in Berlin
Rufus' collaboration with Robert Wilson on Shakespeare Sonnets will premiere this Sunday, April 12th in Berlin at the Berliner Ensemble. Click HERE for more details.
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