PORTLAND, OR. (Top40 Charts/ Mark Doss) - For the second year in a row, global opera star and Grammy Award winner Mark S. Doss will open his season in a Portland Opera production. Beginning
September 21, 2007 he takes the stage as Escamillo in Portland Opera's Carmen. Last year, Mr. Doss opened the season on the same stage as Mephistopheles in Faust.
This coming December, Mr. Doss returns to Germany for an encore performance with Oper Frankfurt, this time in the role of Mephistopheles. These upcoming performances will mark Mr. Doss' fifth role in Frankfurt since 2002.
Mark S. Doss has earned high praise for his portrayal of Mephistopheles in productions around the world. He is featured in the recently released CD of Mefistofele recorded live with Oper Frankfurt on the hr-musik.de label. The January edition of Opernwelt applauds his performance, saying, "Mark S. Doss can exist beside great predecessors such as Nazzareno de Angeles or Samuel Ramey with luster."
Mr. Doss' current work in the French Repertory (Escamillo in Carmen) comes on the heels of another role in French - Thoas in the San Francisco Opera's Iphigenie en Tauride (Gluck). The San Francisco Sentinel praised his work this past June, reporting that "Mark S. Doss was outstanding as Thoas." The review continued, "Mark's strong and authoritative bass-baritone voice is rich and bright throughout the entire range, his warm vibrato sensual and inviting. He is a handsome and formidable presence, perfectly cast as the tormented King of Tauris who believes that ritual sacrifice must befall any alien attempting to enter his kingdom. In his Act One aria, 'De noirs pressentiments mon ame intimidee,' Doss displayed the strapping bravado within his voice and the vigor and grandeur of a Classical actor."
In February 2008, Mr. Doss is set to perform with the Florentine Opera (Milwaukee, USA) as Jochanaan (John the Baptist) in Salome. Last season, Mr. Doss performed this same role at Milan's legendary Teatro alla Scala (La Scala), where he has been welcomed for five different roles since 2004.
Mr. Doss' 2007-2008 season includes the role of Amonasro in Pittsburgh Opera's Aida. He is featured in the same role on a recently released DVD, recorded live at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Reviewers applauded his work, recognizing "Another fine performance...from the powerful American bass, Mark Doss (Amonasro)," who was able to "subtly break free of the 'stand and deliver' directions and create a huge amount of emotion in his face and voice." (Reviewer Ltd., UK)
ABOUT MARK S. DOSS:
Mark S. Doss is a celebrated bass-baritone whose accomplishments include a Grammy Award (1993) for his work on the recording of Semele (Handel). He began his musical studies to aid in his ambitions to become a Catholic priest but was seduced by the opera world and has since emerged as one of the world's leading singers.
