Single Tickets for the 2014-2015 Season
On Sale ONLINE Friday, August 1st!
Subscriptions now on sale for new season
2014 Fall Season
Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo
The Hobbit by Dean Burry (Sarasota Youth Opera)
2015 Winter Festival Season
Tosca by Giacomo Puccini
The Marriage of Figaro by W.A. Mozart
The Golden Cockerel by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Sarasota Opera Premiere)
Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi (Sarasota Opera Premiere)
Sarasota, FL – Single tickets will go on sale exclusively ONLINE at www.sarasotaopera.org Friday, August 1st, 2014 for Sarasota Opera’s 2014-2015 Fall and Winter Season, one of the grandest seasons in the company’s history. Highlights include the return of some of Sarasota Opera’s most popular productions, acclaimed artists, and the Sarasota Opera premieres of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel as well as the Verdi masterpiece Don Carlos in the original Paris version.
“We are proud to present a 2014-2015 season which embodies all the elements for which we have become world renowned; Familiar operas along with works you won’t see anywhere else, in the highest quality productions,” says Richard Russell, Executive Director of Sarasota Opera.
Four and Five opera subscriptions are currently available for purchase at the Sarasota Opera Box Office. Single Tickets will be available for purchase online on Friday, August 1st and at the Sarasota Opera Box Office on Tuesday, September 2nd.
2014 Fall Season
Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
October 31, November 2, 5, 11, 13, 15
A Sarasota Opera production
The Fall season opens on October 31, 2014 with a revival of Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. In true theatrical tradition, a clown must go on with the comedy despite his real life humiliation at his wife’s infidelity. In partnership with the Sarasota Orchestra, this opera features the iconic tenor aria “Vesti la giubba.” Pagliacci will run for 6 performances through November 15th.
Tenor Michael Robert Hendrick, who won critical success for his recent performances as Erik in The Flying Dutchman and Lennie in Of Mice and Men, will return to sing Canio. He will be joined by the stellar soprano Danielle Walker as Nedda who dazzled the audience with her performance as Hélène in last season’s production of Verdi’s rarely seen Jérusalem. Sarasota favorite Marco Nisticò (The Barber of Seville) will return as Tonio. Maestro Victor DeRenzi will conduct and Stephanie Sundine will direct.
A perfect first opera for new operagoers, the less than two-hour Pagliacci will be followed by a new addition to the fall season. Following each performance the audience and artists will be invited to mingle at an after-party in the Opera House courtyard (weather permitting). A cash bar will be available.
The Hobbit by Dean Burry
Sung in English with English supertitles
November 15 at 7:00pm and November 16 at 1:30pm
A Sarasota Youth Opera production
Sarasota Youth Opera, the most comprehensive youth opera program in the United States, will present a remount of its acclaimed production of The Hobbit by Dean Burry on the Sarasota Opera main stage. Sarasota Youth Opera presented the U.S. premiere of this opera in 2006. The prequel to The Lord of the Rings, the opera recounts how the comfort-loving Bilbo Baggins, unwillingly dragged into a heroic quest, accidentally acquires the golden ring of power.
2015 Winter Festival Season
Tosca by Giacomo Puccini
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
February 7, 10, 15m, 18, 26
March 3m, 8, 14, 17, 22m, 25, 28m
A Sarasota Opera production
Opening the Sarasota Opera Winter Festival Season on Saturday, February 7th will be Tosca, Giacomo Puccini’s powerful melodramma about a tempestuous diva whose jealousy leads to tragedy. Two of Sarasota Opera’s favorite artists will return to reprise their respective roles from 2009. Soprano Kara Shay Thomson (Vanessa, Cavalleria rusticana) returns as the volatile opera singer, and tenor Rafael Dávila (Otello, I Lombard alla prima crociatai) returns as her lover Cavaradossi. The role of Scarpia will be shared by two of opera’s leading baritones today. Baritone Mark Walters (Die Fledermaus, Lakmé), described by Opera News as “a force to be reckoned with,” will sing all performances through March 22nd; baritone Todd Thomas, who has sung more than 50 performances with Sarasota Opera including Scarpia in 2009, will sing the final two performances. Maestro Victor DeRenzi will conduct and Martha Collins will direct.
The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
February 14, 17, 19, 22m, 25
March 10m, 13, 20, 27
A Sarasota Opera production
On Valentines Day, Saturday, February 14th, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro will return to the Sarasota Opera stage. In her efforts to thwart the lecherous advances of the Count Almaviva, Susanna and her fiancée Figaro join the Countess Almaviva, to outwit the countess’ husband. Making their Sarasota Opera debuts this season, soprano Maeve Höglund will sing the role of Susanna and Uruguayan soprano María Antúnez will sing Countess Almaviva. Baritone Philip Cutlip (Hansel and Gretel) returns to sing the role of her betrothed Figaro and Sarasota Opera veteran baritone Sean Anderson (Die Fledermaus, Of Mice and Men) will return as Susanna’s pursuer Count Almaviva.
Stage Director Allison Grant (The Magic Flute), will return to direct and Maestro Marcello Cormio (The Barber of Seville) will conduct.
The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Sarasota Opera Premiere
Sung in Russian with English supertitles
February 21, 24 and March 8m, 11, 14m, 19
A Sarasota Opera premiere
Saturday, February 21st, will be the Sarasota premiere of The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Based on a story by Pushkin, The Golden Cockerel is the tale of the bumbling King Dodon who enlists the help of a magical Golden Cockerel to protect his country from attack. However, when the King is seduced by the alluring Queen Shemakha, both he and his country meet an unhappy end. Once a favorite show piece for coloratura sopranos like Lily Pons and Beverly Sills, this rarely heard masterpiece by the composer of Scheherazade is a fairy tale filled with exotic and beautiful music such as the famous aria “Hymn to the Sun.”
Russian bass Grigory Soloviov will make his Sarasota Opera debut as King Dodon and stage director Tom Diamond (The Flying Dutchman), will direct. Additional casting TBA.
Don Carlosby Giuseppe Verdi
Sung in French with English supertitles
March 7, 12, 15m, 18, 21m, 24
Sarasota Opera Premiere/Verdi Cycle Opera
In the penultimate year of it’s acclaimed Verdi Cycle, Sarasota Opera will present Verdi’s epic Don Carlos in the original Paris version which premiered in 1867. Sarasota Opera previously performed the revised four-act La Scala version in 2009. Verdi’s powerful drama recounts the ill-fated attraction between Don Carlos and Elisabeth, the wife of his father, King Philip of Spain. Set in Renaissance Spain dominated by the inquisition, this powerful drama is one of opera’s great masterpieces.
Soprano Michelle Johnson, whose career trajectory has taken off since winning the 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, will make her Sarasota Opera debut as Élisabeth de Valois. Returning artists include tenor Jonathan Burton (Turandot) who sings the title role of Don Carlos and mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips (Ariadne auf Naxos, The Tales of Hoffmann) who will sing the role of Eboli. Reprising their roles from the 2009 four-act La Scala version of Don Carlos, bass-baritone Kevin Short (The Flying Dutchman, A King for a Day) will sing King Philippe II and baritone Marco Nisticò (The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto) sings the role of Rodrigue. Maestro Victor DeRenzi will conduct and Stephanie Sundine will direct.
Subscriptions for the 2014-2015 Season are available now. Single tickets go on sale online on Friday August 1 and at the Sarasota Opera Box Office on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014. For more information or to secure your subscription for the 2014/2014 season, contact the Sarasota Opera Box Office at (941) 328-1300 or visit in person at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.
ABOUT SARASOTA OPERA
Based in Florida’s beautiful Gulf Coast, Sarasota Opera is approaching its 55th consecutive season. In 1960, the company began presenting chamber-sized repertoire in the historic 320-seat Asolo Theater on the grounds of Sarasota’s Ringling Museum of Art. Recognizing the need for a theater more conducive to opera, the company purchased the former A.B. Edwards Theater in downtown Sarasota in 1979 and first performing in it in 1984 as the Sarasota Opera House. The theater has just undergone a $20-million renovation and rehabilitation enhancing audience amenities, while updating the technical facilities including increasing the size of the orchestra pit. The theater, which reopened in March 2008, has been called “one of America’s finest venues for opera” by Musical America.
Since 1983 the company has been under the artistic leadership of Victor DeRenzi. Since then the company has garnered international attention with its Masterwork Revivals Series, which presents neglected works of artistic merit, as well as the Verdi Cycle producing the complete works of Giuseppe Verdi. Recognizing the importance of training, Maestro DeRenzi founded the Apprentice Artist and Studio Artist programs. Sarasota Opera also maintains a commitment to education through its Invitation to Opera performances for local schools and the unique Sarasota Youth Opera program.
Sarasota Opera is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Programs are supported in part by an award the Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Sarasota County Arts Council. Additional funding is provided by the City of Sarasota and the County of Sarasota.
Sarasota Opera
61 N. Pineapple Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 366-8450
www.sarasotaopera.org
