Lyric Opera of Kansas City opened their second season in the brand new Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts with Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly . Dinyar's cast-mates included Elizabeth Caballero in her first turn as Cio-Cio San, Weston Hurt as Sharpless, Doug Jones as Goro, Elizabeth Trident as Suzuki, and was conducted by Ward Holmquist. The production received rave reviews including this one of Dinyar:
" Dinyar Vania was extraordinary in the complicated role of Pinkerton. The facility and dependability of his high range were remarkable. In “Dovunque al mondo” and “Amore o grillo,” Vania was powerful, nimbly answering the call to move between recitative and aria. At first, Vania’s Pinkerton is perfectly flippant and cavalier, just careless enough to allow the audience to despise his recklessness. But Vania fashioned a persona that left room for interpretation, and he also communicates signs of humility and humanity. Both “Viene la sera ” and “Bimba dagli occhi” depict Pinkerton sort of acting across the boundaries of good and evil, and he sings of love, somewhat convincingly, as if he knows the extent of its powers and its dangers (especially in “Addio, fiorito asil,” as he admits to his cowardice with such raw emotion). Although the audience was sort of shell-shocked by Butterfly’s final moments, so that she was all they could think about during the curtain calls, the neglect of Vania in those moments does not reflect the impact he made on this production."
Click here to read the rest of the review from KC Metropolis!
Dinyar in front of the Kaufmann Center