Robert Strauss |
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Robert Strauss, tenor Robert Strauss is thrilled to be returning to the stage as Gastone with Mercury’s production of La Traviata. He was recently seen as Spoletta in Mercury Opera Rochester's stunning production of Tosca. Although praised also for his sense of comic timing, he has shown his dramatic versatility in roles such as Peter Quint (The Turn of the Screw) and Cardinal Richelieu in a staged reading of Raise Your Sword. Other favorite operatic roles include Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Kaspar in (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Mayor Upfold (Albert Herring), and Federico in L’amico Fritz with the Centro Studi Italiani Opera Festival. His concert performances have included the tenor solos in Messiah, The Creation, St. Nicolas (Britten), Christmas Oratorio (Saint-Saëns), The Christmas Story (Schütz), and the Requiems of Pinkham and Mozart. Strauss feels just as comfortable on the musical theatre stage, where he has portrayed Jack Point (The Yeoman of the Guard), Tony (West Side Story), Anthony Hope (Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Archibald Craven (The Secret Garden) and most recently Simeon/Butler in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, for which he learned to play accordion. The revue, Finding a Way Back, a collaboration with local performers Chandra Downs and Don Kot and featuring selection from the contemporary musical theatre repertoire, was premiered in Rochester last fall. As a recitalist, he is praised for his attention to musical and textual nuance, as demonstrated in the programs The Recital that Dare Not Speak Its Name and Seasons in Song both with pianist Benton Hess, and Inner Voices, for mezzo-soprano and tenor, which had its premiere in North Carolina in 2007. The tenor has experience behind the production table as well, having served as assistant stage director for Mercury’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia in the fall. He stage directed the inaugural production of Amahl and the Night Visitors for Mercury, having also directed area productions of Seussical, the Musical, Dido and Aeneas, Trial by Jury, The Turn of the Screw, and the NY premiere of Felice by Benton Hess. Strauss currently teaches at Nazareth College and the Eastman Community Music School, having also served on the faculties at SUNY Fredonia and the University at Buffalo. |