By Robert Croan For her first production as general director and CEO of Florida Grand Opera, Maria Todaro came up with an original, innovative concept of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Jeffrey Marc Buchman, in which the protagonists were present-day teenagers playing immersive fantasy role-playing board games --- something like Dungeons and Dragons, according … [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...]
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...]