Founded in 1998 by Opera Singer and Artistic Director
Anne Tormela, The Manhattan Lyric Opera Company (MLO), is uniquely
devoted to presenting elegant,
concise, user-friendly staged and
concert versions of the classic Operas, Operettas and Broadway works.
They specialize in making
the heart of this great music accessible to
established large facilities as well as to smaller venues which might
otherwise never have the resources to offer such artistic works in their
entirety or in part.
Employing only top artists, (MLO) performs at: Large
Theaters, Corporate Settings, Historic Houses, Museums, Libraries, State
Parks, Universities, High Schools, Grade Schools, Synagogues, Churches,
Music Festivals, Retirement Homes/Villages, Private Homes, Resort
Hotels, Restaurants, Cruise Ships, and can additionally offer their
service as a “Dinner and an Opera ™” evening.
Touring often, MLO cuts down almost all of their
productions to 90 minutes, adding supertitles and projected sets for a
user-friendly and
cost-effective approach.
In
October of 2008 they toured Iowa where they
performed the ever popular operetta
Die
Fledermaus.
Reviews from this recent
production were
“Manhattan Lyric Opera electrifies
theatergoers in Elkader…The farcical
operetta drew giggles and belly laughs from
the crowd but even more genuine rounds of
applause in admiration for the the stirring
showcase of vocal talent.”
Joleen Jansen/ The Clayton County Register.
Other tour productions have been
The
Elixir of Love, Rigoletto, La Traviata, and
Lucia di Lammermoor in southeast and
southwest Florida.
This past March of 2009 they returned to
tour Florida performing Franz Lehar’s
most beloved operetta
The
Merry Widow. This is a new and abridged
production written and directed by Stage
Director Marc Verzatt with projected sets
and scene explanations by Artistic Director
Anne Tormela.
In 2011 they will return to tour
Florida with a Romberg/Rodgers/Weber variety
act.
In addition to
Opera they perform a wide and varied repertoire which includes Broadway,
Neapolitan, Lieder, Oratorio, Spirituals and Popular Songs. They can
create a program in many languages, such as Italian, German, French,
Spanish, Russian and Hebrew and can customize a program to fit the needs
and the tastes of any audience.

Artistic
Director and Founder
A native New Yorker, Ms. Tormela
specializes in bel-canto, operatic and
early music style. She has been
noted for her
“secure technique, unfailing intonation
and expression and clear and sensitive
text.”
(Ulrik Cold, Royal Danish Opera), her
“ringing and
strongly expressive voice with
extraordinary vocal control.”
(Leif Kramp,Critic/Lübecker Nachtrichten)
and
“negotiating the upper reaches (of her
voice) with dazzling security”
(David Syrus, Head of Music, Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden).
This Fall she made her debut performance
of the role of
Mamette in Maestro Anton Coppola’s world premiere of (La
Coupe et les Lèvres) and covered the
role of
Lucia with Opera Tampa also under
the baton of Maestro Coppola.
In August, Ms. Tormela performed
the role of
Lauretta under the baton of Maestro
Anton Coppola at the Altamura Music
Festival’s production of (Gianni
Schicchi)
“Anne Tormela was lovely as Lauretta,
singing and acting with the grace and
vocal charm of the American Metropolitan
soprano Nadine Conner.
And, of course, she sang the aria
“O Mio Babbino Caro” perfectly.”
(
John Paul Keeler, Hudson-Catskill
Newspapers).
She
performed the roles of
Frasquita
and
Kate Pinkerton with Maestro Coppola
in the Metro Lyric Opera’s
July 2008 productions of (Carmen)
and
(Madama Butterfly). In May of 2007 she debuted with The Natchez
Music Festival
as
Nanetta in their production of (Falstaff)
under the baton of Maestro David
Blackburn.
“Anne Tormela was just about
perfect in her beautifully sung “Sul fil
d’un soffio” aria of Nanetta.”
(John Paul Keeler, Hudson-Catskill Newspapers).
Other
roles Ms. Tormela has performed
are:
Hanna Glawari in
(The Merry Widow),
Adina in (L’Elisir D’amore),
Amalia in Verdi’s (I Masnadieri), The Queen of the night
and First Lady, in (The
Magic Flute),
Zerbinetta
in (Ariadne auf Naxos), Rosalinda and Adele in (Die
Fledermaus), Ophélie in (Hamlet),
Violetta in (La
Traviata), Gilda in (Rigoletto),
Frasquita in (Carmen),
Rosina in (The
Barber of Seville), Cherubino and
Barbarina in (Le
Nozze di Figaro), Sophie in
(Werther),
Norina in (Don
Pasquale), Musetta in (La
Bohème).
In addition to opera, she is an
accomplished concert recitalist and has
performed all over the world
in Germany, Italy, France,
Sweden, Israel and the United States.
She made her debut recital at Weill
Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and
received a grant from the Rockefeller
Foundation to perform a solo recital in
their Fall concert series in Bellagio,
Italy.
In Germany she made her concert
debut at Thronsaal auf Schlo§ in
Schwerin; Stidtstheater, Wohnstift
Augustinum in Bad Neuenahr, and
Kammermusiksaal der Stadthalle Mülheim
in Mülheim an der Ruhr. In
2004 and 2005 she was a two time
recipient of a full scholarship to
perform at the International Vocal Arts
Institute in Israel under the auspices
of Joan Dornemann.
This December 2009 she has been
invited to perform excerpts of
Zerbinetta and Sophie
in the Metropolitan Opera
Guild’s “Spinning Strauss” Master
Class taught by Metropolitan Opera star
Jane Marsh.
She has appeared as a guest soloist with
the Lake Placid Sinfonietta Orchestra
under the baton of Maestro Mark Laycock
and in December of 2008 toured the
United States as a soloist with The
Sigmund Romberg orchestra’s program “A
Viennese Christmas” under the baton of
Maestro Jason Altieri.
In a pioneering effort to introduce
classical music to the masses, she has
performed in the past on a regular basis
with a city sponsored program called
Music Under NY in designated
permitted spots in the subway.
In addition to opera, Ms. Tormela has a
fourth degree black belt in Taekwon Do,
is an avid swimmer, practices yoga and
plays the clarinet.

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