Mark Gresham | 9 NOV 2020
Mezzo-soprano Megan Marino is one of the 12 singers in The Atlanta Opera‘s new Atlanta Opera Company Players, established by artistic and general director Tomer Zvulun as part of an innovative pathway to create and perform opera in the midst of the ongoing pandemic conditions.
Marino portrays Beppe as a trouser role in Leoncavello’s Pagliacci, presented concurrently as part of company’s current Big Tent Series with Viktor Ullmann’s The Kaiser of Atlantis — the two productions alternate performance dates. Opening night for Pagliacci was Thursday, October 22.
She also took part in Mack the Knife: An Evening of Kurt Weill in late October, one of three one-night-only concerts The Atlanta Opera is presenting in addition to the pair of operas. Marino will perform in both of the remaining concerts well: this Tuesday’s Mezzo Extravaganza and Crossroads: A Variety Show on the afternoon of Sunday, November 15, in advance of the final performance of Pagliacci that same evening.
Megan Marino as Beppe in “Pagliacci” (credit: Raftermen)
In early 2020, in the months immediately before the pandemic shut down performances, Marino portrayed Flora Bervoix in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata.
Her last pre-pandemic performance appearance with The Atlanta Opera was as Olga in the 2019 production of Eugene Onegin, a role she first sang in 2017 with Kansas City Lyric Opera.
If pandemic conditions allow, OperaBase shows Marino scheduled for a triple-Mozart booking with Opéra Royal de Versailles: as Susanna in Le Nozze de Figaro, as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Dorabella in Così fan Tutti — all in January 2021.
We talked with Marino at length via Skype this past Friday, November 6. We offer here a 28-minute audio stream drawn from that conversation, which covered a range topics such as the mezzo voice, transcribing roles meant for other vocal ranges, being part of a company of players, the future of opera, and her own musical origins.
This is the final week of The Atlanta Opera’s “Big Tent Series.” Remaining performance dates for the two operas are as follows.
- Pagliacci: Nov. 11, 13 & 15
- The Kaiser of Atlantis: Nov. 12 & 14
In addition, two special one-night concert performances remain:
- Mezzo Extravaganza on Nov. 10
- Crossroads: A Variety Show on Nov. 15
For more information visit The Atlanta Opera’s “Performances” webpage or click on the Atlanta Opera graphic display ad on this webpage. ■
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