Jill Gardner, star of the Toledo Opera’s upcoming “Tosca” production, sang the aria from Act II at the guild luncheon Wednesday at Inverness Club, with Kevin Bylsma accompanying on piano. Visit the Toledo Opera Guild’s Facebook page to view a video. Click here to read the full article on the guild’s blog, Cast of Characters.
John Birge of Minnesota Public Radio interviews Soprano Jill Gardner and tenor Adam Diegel at a Mill City Summer Opera rehearsal of Puccini’s ‘Tosca’. Listen to a sneak preview of a gorgeous love duet between Jill and Adam here. Photo by Michael Yeshion Photography
For its third season of outdoor, summertime opera, Mill City Summer Opera has chosen to stage “TOSCA,” the Puccini tearjerker, with Jill Gardner in the title role. Artistic director David Lefkowichwill direct a staging set in the 1940s, and Brian DeMaris will be the show’s music director. Other cast members include Jake Gardner (Scarpia) and Dinyar Vania (Cavaradossi). As usual, Mill City will stage the opera outdoors in the Mill City Museum’s Ruin Courtyard. The past two seasons (“Pagliacci” and “The Barber of Seville”) have mostly sold out, so this is a hot ticket. Click here to read the full article and to reserve your seat!
By Steven Mark / smark@staradvertiser.com See the original posting here. “Tosca” is one of the most popular operas in the repertoire, and it’s easy to see why. Puccini’s melodrama features everything from political and sexual intrigue to manipulation, torture, backstabbing (literally) and other assorted mayhem. No wonder a part of it was used in the James Bond film “Quantum of Solace.” It’s all tied up in a singer named Floria Tosca, a raven-haired, dark-eyed beauty who proclaims — in third person no less, like a star athlete touting his talents — “Tosca’s blood burns with a mad love.” “She is a very complex, multifaceted, mercurial, chameleonlike character,” said soprano…
Catch glimpses of rehearsals for HOT’s Tosca and hear stage director Jay Lesenger and singers Jill Gardner, Ta’u Pupu’a and Michael Chioldi talk about this beautiful and passionate opera by Giacomo Puccini.
Tucson Lifestyle Magazine features Jill Gardner’s performance of TOSCA with Arizona Opera, January–February 2013. Read the full article here.
The online publication OPERA LIVELY featured an exclusive interview with Jill for her performances of TOSCA with Opera Carolina in October 2012. Read the full article here. Jill is also featured in the book by the same name, Opera Lively: The Interviews which is available on Amazon.com here.
In anticipation of Opera Carolina’s production of Tosca in Charlotte, NC, on October 13, 18, and 21, 2012, Opera Lively has interviewed Ms. Jill Gardner who will be singing the title role. Read the full article here.
Former Glimmerglass Opera Sponsor, Judy Brick Freedman, attended one of Jill’s TOSCA performances in Boston and writes about the joyful reunion on the Glimmerglass Opera Blog.
The highlight of the Boston Lyric Opera’s “A Roman Affair’’ gala on Saturday night might have been “Tosca’’ star Jill Gardner hamming it up as Marilyn Monroe . She sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. Emperor’’ — as opposed to “Mr. President’’ — to keep with the night’s Agrippina-inspired theme. Read the full article here.