Elizabeth Futral
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Futral is an American coloratura
soprano
who has won acclaim throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan.
Raised in Covington, Louisiana
, Futral earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Samford University
. After studying with Virginia Zeani
at Indiana University
, she spent two years as an apprentice with the Lyric Opera of Chicago
. She first garnered acclaim in the title role of the 1994 New York City Opera
production of Delibes’
Lakmé
. Edward Rothstein
wrote in The New York Times: "Ms Futral's performance was crucial to the success of the evening.... Ms Futral was refined and accurate, hitting her high notes without strain or artifice, giving her vocal acrobatics warmth without ever succumbing to egoism. She was not out to prove anything; the song ['The Bell Song'] was not laden with excessive emotion or elaborate musical gestures: it had the virtues of her performance throughout the evening, offering simplicity, grace and directness." In 1995 Futral won 2nd Prize in Plácido Domingo
's Operalia International Opera Competition. In 1996 she was invited to the Rossini Opera Festival
to sing the title role in the first production of Rossini's
Matilde di Shabran
since 1821. Later that year, she sang the role of Catherine in Meyerbeer's
L'étoile du nord
at the Wexford Festival
.
In September 1998, she created the role of Stella in the world premiere of André Previn
’s A Streetcar Named Desire
for the San Francisco Opera
. In February 2001, she debuted with the Los Angeles Opera
as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare
. Other roles she has sung for the Los Angeles Opera include Sophie in Strauss's
Der Rosenkavalier
and Violetta in Verdi's
La traviata
.
On January 8, 1999, Futral made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera
in the title role of Donizetti’s
Lucia di Lammermoor
. In 2003, she sang the role of Princess Eudoxie in the Met's first performances of Halévy’s
La Juive
since 1936. She returned to the Met in December 2006 to star opposite Plácido Domingo
and Paul Groves
in the world premiere of Tan Dun
’s The First Emperor
, later appearing in I puritani. In 2009 she portrayed Laura Jesson in the world premiere of Houston Grand Opera
's production of André Previn
's Brief Encounter
with Nathan Gunn
as Alec Harvey.
The soprano's recordings include Six Characters in Search of an Author, L'étoile du nord, A Streetcar Named Desire, Otello (of Rossini), Lucia di Lammermoor (in English translation), Of Mice and Men (of Floyd), Zelmira, Orpheus & Euridice (of Gordon), and Brief Encounter (with Nathan Gunn
), as well as "Sweethearts" (on Newport Classic
).
Futral and her husband, noted conductor and artistic director of Opera Roanoke Steven White, live in Franklin County, Virginia
, near Roanoke.
Coloratura
Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who has won acclaim throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan.
Raised in Covington, Louisiana
Covington, Louisiana
Covington is a city in and the parish seat of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,483 at the 2000 census. It is located at a fork of the Bogue Falaya and the Tchefuncte River....
, Futral earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Samford University
Samford University
Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....
. After studying with Virginia Zeani
Virginia Zeani
Virginia Zeani is a Romanian soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially the role of in "La traviata".-Early life:Zeani was born Virginia Zehan, in Solovăstru, Romania...
at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, she spent two years as an apprentice with the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
. She first garnered acclaim in the title role of the 1994 New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
production of Delibes’
Léo Delibes
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
Lakmé
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
. Edward Rothstein
Edward Rothstein
Edward Rothstein is a critic and a composer.Rothstein holds a B.A. from Yale University , an M.A. in English literature from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago...
wrote in The New York Times: "Ms Futral's performance was crucial to the success of the evening.... Ms Futral was refined and accurate, hitting her high notes without strain or artifice, giving her vocal acrobatics warmth without ever succumbing to egoism. She was not out to prove anything; the song ['The Bell Song'] was not laden with excessive emotion or elaborate musical gestures: it had the virtues of her performance throughout the evening, offering simplicity, grace and directness." In 1995 Futral won 2nd Prize in Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
's Operalia International Opera Competition. In 1996 she was invited to the Rossini Opera Festival
Rossini Opera Festival
The Rossini Opera Festival is an opera festival held in August of each year in Pesaro, Italy, the birthplace of the opera composer Gioachino Rossini....
to sing the title role in the first production of Rossini's
Gioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
Matilde di Shabran
Matilde di Shabran
Matilde di Shabran , ossia Bellezza, e cuor di ferro , is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti after François-Benoît Hoffman’s libretto for Méhul’s Euphrosine and J. M. Boutet de Monvel's play Mathilde...
since 1821. Later that year, she sang the role of Catherine in Meyerbeer's
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord is an opéra comique in three acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe....
at the Wexford Festival
Wexford Festival Opera
The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...
.
In September 1998, she created the role of Stella in the world premiere of André Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
’s A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (opera)
A Streetcar Named Desire is an opera composed by André Previn with a libretto by Philip Littell in 1995. It is based on the play by Tennessee Williams and received its premiere at the San Francisco Opera during the 1998-99 season.-Cast:...
for the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
. In February 2001, she debuted with the Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
. Other roles she has sung for the Los Angeles Opera include Sophie in Strauss's
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
and Violetta in Verdi's
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
.
On January 8, 1999, Futral made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in the title role of Donizetti’s
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
. In 2003, she sang the role of Princess Eudoxie in the Met's first performances of Halévy’s
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...
La Juive
La Juive
La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
since 1936. She returned to the Met in December 2006 to star opposite Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
and Paul Groves
Paul Groves (tenor)
Paul Groves is an American operatic tenor. In 1991 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and in 1995 he won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award...
in the world premiere of Tan Dun
Tan Dun
Tan Dun is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.-Early life in China:...
’s The First Emperor
The First Emperor
The First Emperor is an opera in two acts with a libretto written in English by Tan Dun and Ha Jin, and music by Tan Dun. The opera received its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera at the Lincoln Center in New York City on 21 December 2006, conducted by the composer and with Plácido Domingo in the...
, later appearing in I puritani. In 2009 she portrayed Laura Jesson in the world premiere of Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
's production of André Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
's Brief Encounter
Brief Encounter (opera)
Brief Encounter is an opera in two acts by composer André Previn. The English libretto by John Caird is based on Noël Coward's play Still Life and Coward's screenplay for the 1945 David Lean film Brief Encounter. Commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera, the opera premiered on May 1, 2009 in...
with Nathan Gunn
Nathan Gunn
Nathan Gunn is an operatic baritone from the United States.He has appeared in many of world's well-known opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera,...
as Alec Harvey.
The soprano's recordings include Six Characters in Search of an Author, L'étoile du nord, A Streetcar Named Desire, Otello (of Rossini), Lucia di Lammermoor (in English translation), Of Mice and Men (of Floyd), Zelmira, Orpheus & Euridice (of Gordon), and Brief Encounter (with Nathan Gunn
Nathan Gunn
Nathan Gunn is an operatic baritone from the United States.He has appeared in many of world's well-known opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera,...
), as well as "Sweethearts" (on Newport Classic
Newport Classic
Newport Classic, Ltd, is a record label of classical music, and is located in Newport, Rhode Island.In its catalog are recordings of both familiar and unusual works, including Casanova's Homecoming, A Waterbird Talk, Trouble in Tahiti, A Ceremony of Carols, Médée , Il campanello di notte, The Jumping...
).
Futral and her husband, noted conductor and artistic director of Opera Roanoke Steven White, live in Franklin County, Virginia
Franklin County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,286 people, 18,963 households, and 13,918 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 22,717 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile...
, near Roanoke.