By Robert Croan Florida Grand Opera’s 2024 version of Puccini’s La Bohème (seen May 2 at the Broward Center) was the 13th production since 1947, which makes it the most frequently performed opera in the company’s history. According to recent surveys, La Bohème is in the top three most frequently performed operas nationwide, as well, and the work lends itself to varied … [Read more...]
FGO reinvigorates, expands ‘Pagliacci’ in gripping production
By Michelle F. Solomon On Valentine’s Day in 1942, tenor and voice teacher Arturo di Filippi, co-founder of the Opera Guild of Greater Miami, the precursor to Florida Grand Opera, produced its first production. It was Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and it played for only one night at Miami High School. It was groundbreaking because only four years later, The Opera Guild … [Read more...]
Director’s smart touches refresh FGO’s well-sung ‘Traviata’
By Robert Croan Verdi’s La Traviata, as staged for Florida Grand Opera by Chía Patiño [seen at the Broward Center, Nov. 30], contained many original and unusual touches while retaining the opera’s original 19th-century milieu. Early on, in retelling Alexandre Dumas fils’ story of the courtesan who sacrifices her one chance of true love, the consumptive heroine --- … [Read more...]
2023-24 Season in Opera: Area’s companies play it (mostly) safe
It’s fair to say the world of opera is in flux, with the nation’s preeminent company, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, sharply modernizing its repertoire, and locally, with the three opera houses pulling back from innovation somewhat and sticking with box-office certainties. Palm Beach Opera The West Palm Beach-based company opens its 62nd season with the most reliable … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2022-23: The season in opera
South Florida’s two regional opera companies are adding some new things to a lineup heavy in audience favorites, while across the state in Sarasota, the repertory company is returning to an early Verdi masterwork and offering a French rarity. The country’s largest opera troupes are making moves this season into a much more modern direction, with new works, especially … [Read more...]
FGO’s ‘Agrippina’ has fascinating staging, recitative-heavy editing
By Rosie Rogers Florida Grand Opera closed out its season this month with an ambitious production of Handel’s Agrippina. First performed in 1709, the 313-year-old Agrippina is a tongue-in-cheek tale of political ambition and sexual competition. This production made an admirable musical effort inside of an interesting, if somewhat confusing, framing device. This Agrippina … [Read more...]
Poetry in motion: Steady action, score make for captivating ‘Fellow Travelers’ at FGO
By Rosie Rogers Florida Grand Opera’s production of Gregory Spears’s 2016 opera Fellow Travelers told a Lavender Scare love story with a sweetly melancholic score. With direction from Peter Rothstein, the smooth set changes produced a constant motion well-matched to the minimalism of the orchestra. Starring Hadleigh Adams and Andres Acosta as the two romantic leads, … [Read more...]
Thomas’s towering performance leads strong ‘Rigoletto’ at FGO
By Rosie Rogers Directed by Kathleen Belcher, Florida Grand Opera’s most recent production of Verdi’s Rigoletto -- seen at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale on March 31 -- was enjoyable overall, with experienced baritone Todd Thomas in the title role elevating the show. Placed in its traditional setting, long trains of dresses, towering stone walls, and a multicolored … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2021-22: The season in opera
It may be that the biggest news of the American operatic world has been the drama over at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, which has only just settled things with its crews after 18 months of COVID hiatus. But local opera companies have stayed in the game, too, perhaps none more so than Palm Beach Opera, which mounted an outdoor festival in February at the iThink Financial … [Read more...]
FGO offers short contemporary operas, special concerts for season
By Robert Croan “Even in this time of COVID and other calamities, our need for music and art is ever present,” says Susan T. Danis, Florida Grand Opera’s general director and CEO. “We are excited to be performing in intimate yet socially distanced spaces that are perfect for a unique storytelling experience." In the time of COVID-19, an opera set during the AIDS crisis … [Read more...]