Nikola Printz, mezzo-soprano
UC Davis Symphony Orchestra
Christian Baldini, music director & conductor
February 4, 2024 - Rising Stars of Opera
Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
“Casta Diva” is the most famous aria of Vincenzo Bellini’s “Norma” (1831). It is sung by the title character, a Druidess or priestess of the Gauls, in the first act. The opera takes place in Gaul between 100 and 50 BCE when the Romans were occupiers. The Gauls want Norma to declare war on the Romans, who have been oppressing them. Norma is hesitant to do so because she is secretly in love with Pollione, the Roman proconsul, and with whom she has borne two children. She assuages the people’s anger and convinces them that this is not the right time to revolt. She asserts that the Romans will eventually fall by their own doing, and the Gauls do not need to rise up now. It is at this point that Norma sings “Casta Diva,” a prayer to the moon goddess for peace, and eventually, conquering the Romans. When things between her and Pollione go sour, Norma tries to kill their children but ultimately cannot bring herself to do so. Eventually, she confesses her relationship with Pollione and sacrifices herself on the funeral pyre of her lover. “Norma” was the first of two operas commissioned in 1830 for which Bellini was paid an unprecedented 12,000 lire. “Norma” premiered on December 26, 1831 at La Scala, and the second opera, “Beatrice di Tenda,” premiered in 1833, but in Venice (La Fenice). Bellini collaborated with his long-time librettist and famous poet, Felice Romani, for “Norma.” Romani based his story on Alexandre Soumet’s verse tragedy “Norma ossia L'infanticidio” (“Norma, or The Infanticide”).
The role of Norma is one of the most taxing and wide-ranging parts in the repertory of bel canto opera. The role was written for the famed soprano Giuditta Pasta, who reportedly balked at the difficulty of “Casta Diva.” Bellini’s music is typified by melodic and rhythmic symmetry, and “Casta Diva” is no exception. This aria, as in the rest of the opera, is full of long melodic lines and difficult ornamentation (roulades and melismas). The melody systematically rises and climaxes at the end--a new technique in 1831. In other words, the aria is both technically difficult and unconventional, making it doubly hard to sing.
Artistically fluid mezzo Nikola Adele Printz uses music to communicate who they are, and not just what they can do. That sense of personal conviction was evident in their recent Schwabacher Debut Recital at San Francisco Opera Center. The Chronicle named the performance one of San Francisco’s Best of 2022, writing, “Listeners reveled in the beauty of Printz’s singing - their lustrously dark chest tones, their elegant phrasing… such commitment and tonal splendor.”
Following three pandemic-era summers as a participant in the prestigious Merola Opera Program, Printz began their tenure as an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera in 2023. During SFO’s centennial season, Printz covers Frida in the world premiere of Gabriela Lea Frank’s El ultimo sueño de Frida y Diego as well as singing Imagen #2, and performs Musetta in Bohème out of the Box.
Recent performance highlights include the title roles as Carmen in Carmen and Dido in Dido and Aeneas with Opera San Jose, L’italiana in Algeri with Opera Memphis, the Grand Duchess in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein with Pocket Opera, Ermelinda in Freschi’s Ermelinda with Ars Minerva, Orfeo in Orfeo ed Eurydice with West Edge Opera, and Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia with Green Mountain Opera Festival. They have also appeared as Elle in La voix humaine, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Fox in Cunning Little Vixen, Olga in Eugene Onegin, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, and Aldonza in Man of La Mancha.
Printz’s first musical homes were in jazz and cabaret clubs, and they are well-versed in crossover styles of singing. In addition to engagements at Yoshi’s Jazz Lounge and Club 1923, Nikola also created the role of Velma Louise Cole in Boxcar Theater's immersive Speakeasy SF and joined San Francisco Symphony for their annual queer variety show Holiday Gaiety. An accomplished aerialist, Printz has also developed and performed on spinning trapeze in both grand concert halls and smoky cabaret clubs.
Offstage, Printz plays several small stringed instruments, rides their bicycle around San Francisco, and pens charmingly bad poetry. They are an advocate for accessibility in the arts and are currently learning ASL.
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