Jacob Bettinelli

Often, modern compositions reflect social issues we see in our society, and they can provide an important and engaging message for the audience.
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Author:

by Alice Lechner
April 14, 2023
Read the entire

No.3/2023

of opera charm magazine

INTRODUCTION

OPERA Charm wouldn’t be as enchanting without the fresh vibes the Charming beginnings protagonists bring with them in their conversations with us! The young generation of singers makes us think positively and dare to dream big of the future of the most complex and charming art form - opera. Jacob Bettinelli is one of the two protagonists of this special issue’s Charming beginnings interview. In a discussion led by Alice Lechner, the young bass-baritone talked about his most recent engagements, Handel’s Agrippina with HGO, a non-profit charity managed by volunteers and dedicated to young singers. His repertoire ranges from Handel to contemporary opera, which he is passionate about. Why? You will find out only by reading Jacob’s interview! We are thrilled to introduce to you Jacob Bettinelli, ladies and gentlemen!

BIOGRAPHY

In summer of 2022, Bettinelli made his debut at Opera Holland Park as Ford in the British Youth Opera’s production of Sir John in Love, conducted by Marit Strindlund. Other operatic appearances during the season include Escamillo in Carmen with Carshalton Opera, Don Alfonso in a semi-staged production of Così fan tutte with St Bart’s Chamber Orchestra—conducted by Hong Kong female conductor Peggy Wu—and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Barefoot Opera. Bettinelli recently appeared in a masterclass led by soprano Danielle de Niese at Glyndebourne and joined the Pegasus Opera Mentoring Programme, through which he is further developing his skills under the tutelage of baritone Roderick Williams. Bettinelli’s notable engagements in the rest of the 2022/23 season include singing the roles of Landgrave Rudolf in Der Wald with The Opera Makers, Claudio in Agrippina with HGO as well as Alessio and Count Rodolfo (as cover) in La Sonnambula under the baton of Adrian Kelly at Buxton International Festival. With his passion for contemporary opera, Bettinelli has breathed life into numerous roles on stage and screen, including Henry Johnson in The Aspern Papers (UK premiere) by American composer Philip Hagemann at Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music; Jai in The Silver Spoon by Lisa Logan, performed with Keynote Opera under the baton of Anthony Hose at Gŵyl Beaumaris Festival; Wofie in Red! by Lucy Mulgan with Barefoot Opera; and Paul in The Heavenly Ledger by Evan Henry and John Klaess with Random Opera, an opera on film released in winter 2022 for which he contributed to the creation of the role.

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INTERVIEW

Dear Jacob, thank you for having accepted our invitation. It’s such a pleasure to have this conversation with you. I would like to start with your next performance of Händel’s Agrippina with HGO. HGO is a non-profit charity and is managed by volunteers, and is entirely dedicated to young singers. HGO stages first-class award-winning opera […]

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Alice Lechner

Alice Lechner

Alice Lechner comes from a music-loving family. Her first encounter with the opera universe was at the tender age of six. The grandeur of the stage productions and costumes, the backstage chatter, and last, but definitely not least, the music left her in awe, beginning with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The overall feeling that opera awakens in anyone who gets a glimpse into this part of artistic eternity, that each and every day passes the test of time, was what drew her to stay and be a part of this world. The Opera House of Brașov became her second home, and the people who worked there were her second family.

Since then, Alice has devoted her spare time to maximising her musical knowledge through instrumental studies, studying both piano and violin for a short time. In the following years, her number one passion stepped out of the limelight and graciously gave way to Law Studies.
Since 2018 she has been studying Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.

Her passion for opera, even if it is no longer her top professional priority in terms of career, it has most definitely become her priority during her free time. Wanting to experience the best of both worlds and extend her musical horizons, she regularly attends opera performances throughout Romania and abroad.
With OPERA Charm Magazine, Alice aims to nurture her creative side to help it flourish and bloom and to discover, alongside the magazine’s readers, the fascinatingly complex world of opera.

Currently, she is an LL.M. in Business Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.

Oana Zamfir

Oana Zamfir is a second year MA student at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts, at the Department of Musicology.

She studied violin for 12 years at the “Stefan Luchian” High School of Art in Botosani, later focusing on the theoretical aspects of music. In 2019 she completed her bachelor studies in Musicology as a student of the National Academy of Music “Gheorghe Dima” in Cluj-Napoca. Her research during 2018-2019 brought to the forefront elements of the archaic ritual within works of composers who activated during the communist period, giving her the opportunity to start a research internship at the “Carl von Ossietzky” University in Germany. In this context, she recorded conversations with members of the Sophie Drinker Institute in Bremen, and had access to documents directly from the Myriam Marbé archive.

Since 2019 she has been a teacher of Music Education and Theoretical Music Studies, making full use of interactive methods in the musical training of students and working, at the same time, with the children’s choir founded in the first year of her activity.

Her interests include pursuing a degree in interior design in 2020.

Alexandru Suciu

Alexandru Suciu inherited his passion for art growing up in a family of several generations of musicians. He began his musical studies at the “Augustin Bena” School of Music in Cluj, where he studied piano and guitar. Even though his main study direction was philological, his passion for music prevailed. He began his academical journey at the Faculty of Letters of the “Babeș-Bolyai” University, studying Comparative literature and English. He continued by studying Opera Singing at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy. He also graduated the Musical Education section, followed by Artistic Directing at the Musical Performing Arts department.

His multidisciplinary education opened the doors towards research, which is seen both through his participation in national and international conferences and symposia, such as the Salzburg Easter School PhD-forum, organized by the Salzburg Universität or the Silesian Meeting of Young Scholars, organized by the Institute of English at the University of Silesia, as well as the collaboration with Opera Charm Magazine.

During his student years, he won several prizes, including the Grand Prize at the “Paul Constantinescu” National Musical Interpretation Competition, the Romanian Composers and Musicologists’ Union Prize at the same competition, the First Prize and the Schubert Prize at the “Ada Ulubeanu” Competition.

He further developed his artistic skills by specializing in courses and masterclasses held by personalities such as Vittorio Terranova, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Marian Pop, Ines Salazar, Riccardo Zanellato, Paolo Bosisio, Valentina Farcaș and Manuel Lange in contexts such as the Internationale Sommerakademie für Operngesang Deutschlandsberg, Corso Internazionale di Canto Lirico I.M.C. Licata or the Europäische Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst Montepulciano. Besides his activity on-stage, he currently teaches Opera Singing Didactics, and Pedagogical Practice within the Department for Teacher Education and Training at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy.

Cristina Fieraru

Cristina is a 24 year-old Romanian soprano & a student at the National University of Music Bucharest, where she pursues the MA program in Vocal Performance.

She made her debut in Pamina from “Die Zauberflöte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at only 19 years old at the Bucharest National Opera House, as a member of the Ludovic Spiess Experimental Opera Studio. Over the years she made her debut in roles such as Contessa d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Mimì & Musetta (La Bohème), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) in her university’s opera productions.
Her passion and experience extends in the field of choral music, too.

She has been part of our dream team since the fall of 2021. For a good period of time she took care of OPERA Charm’s social media and took you on the monthly journey through the history of opera through our Legends rubric – and a few times through the Theaters around the World rubric.

Her little soul rubric – from 2021 to present – is definitely the Conductors of the Future, where, every month, she gives you the chance to meet a young star of the world of conducting and, of course, to find out what’s the most charming feature of opera in these artists’ views.

BIANCA L. NICA

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