2011-2012 Season Love forbidden, not forgotten Luisa Fernanda La rondine Rigoletto Roméo & Juliette LUISA FERNANDA SUBSCRIBERS SEE © Javier del Real for Teatro Real LA RONDINE 4 OPERASFORTHEPRICEOF © Carol Rosegg for New York City Opera RIGOLETTO © Ken Howard for San Diego Opera ROMÉO & JULIETTE 3 © Michal Daniel for The Minnesota Opera Dear Florida Grand Opera Subscriber, I am delighted to invite you to join us for Florida Grand Opera’s 2011-2012 season, which will begin with our first-ever presentation of a zarzuela, Federico Moreno Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda, in a remarkable production from Madrid’s Teatro Real. Zarzuela, a traditional form of Spanish musical theater, has been championed by the world’s great Hispanic opera singers, including Montserrat Caballé, Pilar Lorengar, Alfredo Kraus, and Teresa Berganza. The great tenor Plácido Domingo actually began his magnificent career singing zarzuela and has kept it in his repertory over the years. This Teatro Real production has been seen at Milan’s La Scala, Washington National Opera, and Los Angeles Opera, and we are proud to be able to present it to our Maestro Ramon Tebar and Bob Heuer South Florida audience. It promises to be a highlight of the season. The season will also include Florida Grand Opera’s first-ever production of Puccini’s La rondine, which has been enjoying renewed worldwide popularity, and truly remarkable artists in productions of Verdi’s Rigoletto and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. I hope you will join me in welcoming FGO’s new Music Director, Ramon Tebar, who will assume that role during the 2011-2012 season. His conducting of our 2010 Lucia di Lammermoor and our recent Turandot has been enthusiastically received by our audience and critics alike, and his artistic vision and leadership will be an important contribution to our maintaining the highest musical standards. This is a season that I’m sure we will long remember, and I look forward to enjoying it with you! Sincerely, Robert M. Heuer General Director and CEO Photo of Luisa Fernanda © Javier del Real for Teatro Real FEDERICO Florida Grand Opera presents its first zarzuela, Federico Moreno Torroba’s MORENO Luisa Fernanda. Zarzuela, a popular Spanish form of musical theater, TORROBA incorporates both spoken dialogue and singing. Luisa Fernanda, which had its premiere in Madrid in 1932, is considered to be the last great romantic zarzuela. People throughout the Spanish speaking world are familiar with its great musical scenes. Luisa Fernanda takes place during the republican-monarchist conflicts of 1868 in Spain, during which Luisa, the heroine, finds herself in a romantic triangle with Javier, a dashing young army officer, and Vidal, a wealthy landowner. The production originates from Madrid’s Teatro Real and will be conducted by Pablo Mielgo and directed by Emilio Sagi. Below is an introduction to zarzuela by Plácido Domingo, who inspired this production. An introduction to zarzuela from an expert! Zarzuela is a traditional Spanish musical genre that is frequently compared to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and the Viennese operettas of Johann Strauss. For most of you, zarzuela is merely a difficult word to pronounce. For me, the word zarzuela represents something very special — they are the lullabies I heard my parents sing during my first days of life as they gently cradled me in their arms. My Plácido Domingo parents were both great singers of zarzuelas — this very traditional and very beloved operetta-like music of Spain. Sung in Spanish with English and Spanish projected titles. A co-production of Florida Grand Opera and SaludArte Foundation. This production is made possible by a generous gift from Photos © Karin Cooper for Washington National Opera, Javier del Real for Teatro Real, and Armin Bardel for Theater an der Wien. Photo of Plácido Domingo © Greg Gorman for Los Angeles Opera. LUISA FERNANDA LUISA Subscribe Today! www.FGO.org or 800.741.1010 “Against my will, I have loved you always… when you loved me, when you long forgot me.” LUISA TO JAVIER, ACT III SET IN MADRID, SPAIN GIACOMO Written when Puccini was unquestionably the most popular opera PUCCINI composer in the world, La rondine is finally gaining the popularity it deserves, with new productions frequenting the world’s premiere opera houses and finest sopranos coveting the leading role of Magda. Its combination of romantic melodies and 20th century musical styles perfectly defines the atmosphere of Paris, where Magda abandons a comfortable life as a kept woman to pursue true romantic love in the south of France. La rondine means “the swallow” and refers to the bird that flies south for the winter. Magda is faced with circumstances that force her to be completely honest with herself; heartbroken, she returns to Paris and her old life. Following her triumphant performance as Liù in Turandot, soprano Elizabeth Caballero returns to FGO to sing Magda’s ravishing music. CAST PRODUCTION MAGDA Elizabeth Caballero CONDUCTOR Ramon Tebar LISETTE Corinne Winters DIRECTOR Nicola Bowie PRUNIER Daniel Shirley/James Barbato PRODUCTION DESIGNER Ralph Funicello RAMBALDO Craig Colclough COSTUME DESIGNER Sam Kirkpatrick Elizabeth Caballero Corinne Winters Craig Colclough Sung in Italian with English and Spanish projected titles. This production is made possible by a generous gift from the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation and the Adams Supporting Foundation. Photos © Carol Rosegg for New York City Opera. LA RONDINE Subscribe Today! www.FGO.org or 800.741.1010 “If I could live again the joy of that hour!” MAGDA, ACT I SET IN PARIS, FRANCE GIUSEPPE The deformed court jester Rigoletto is famous for mocking the husbands of VERDI the women the Duke has seduced. When Rigoletto’s own daughter, whom he has kept carefully hidden, falls victim, he vows to have revenge. But repaying evil with evil goes horribly wrong, and Rigoletto learns that he has reaped what he has sown. This first work of Verdi’s maturity began a series of masterpieces that would come to define Italian grand opera. Rigoletto has continued to fascinate and thrill audiences for more than 150 years. Outstanding American baritone Mark Walters returns to FGO in the title role, and fresh from their debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, tenor Michael Fabiano and former FGO Young Artist Rachele Gilmore appear as the Duke and his victim Gilda. CAST PRODUCTION THE DUKE Michael Fabiano CONDUCTOR Andrew Bisantz RIGOLETTO Mark Walters DIRECTOR Jeffrey Marc Buchman GILDA Rachele Gilmore COUNT MONTERONE Joo Won Kang SPARAFUCILE Ray Aceto MADDELENA Dana Beth Miller Michael Fabiano Mark Walters Rachele Gilmore Sung in Italian with English and Spanish projected titles. Photos © Ken Howard for San Diego Opera. RIGOLETTO Subscribe Today! www.FGO.org or 800.741.1010 “Give an old man back his daughter; it costs you nothing, and she is everything in the world to me.” RIGOLETTO, ACT II SET IN MANTUA, ITALY CHARLES Shakespeare’s famous play has inspired many operas over the years, but GOUNOD none as enduring or successful as Charles Gounod’s creation. From the breathtaking love duet at sunrise to the opera’s shattering conclusion in the tombs of the Capulets, Gounod’s lushly romantic music captures perfectly the unrestrained passions of youth and the tragedy visited on the lovers and their bitter rival families. Soprano Sarah Coburn returns to FGO as Juliette, following her highly acclaimed Rosina in our 2010 production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. French tenor Sébastien Guèze, who sings Christian in FGO’s production of Cyrano, returns to FGO as Roméo. CAST PRODUCTION ROMÉO Sébastien Guèze CONDUCTOR Joseph Mechavich JULIETTE Sarah Coburn DIRECTOR David Lefkowich MERCUTIO Jonathan G. Michie PRODUCTION DESIGNER Erhard Rom FRIAR LAURENT Craig Colclough COSTUME DESIGNER Jennifer Caprio Sarah Coburn Sébastien Guèze Jonathan G. Michie Sung in French with English and Spanish projected titles. This production is made possible by a generous gift from Randy Gage. Photos © Michal Daniel for The Minnesota Opera. ROMÉO & JULIETTE Subscribe Today! www.FGO.org or 800.741.1010 “But what sudden light through yonder window breaks?” ROMÉO, BENEATH JULIETTE’S WINDOW, ACT II SET IN VERONA, ITALY Miami Buy 3 operas and get 1 free Four operas in Miami* PERFORMANCES OPENING NIGHT SATURDAYS SAT 7 PM FRIDAYS • SECOND SATURDAYS FRI 8 PM SAT 8 PM Luisa Fernanda Nov 12 Luisa Fernanda Nov 18 Nov 26 SANFORD & DOLORES La rondine Jan 21 La rondine Jan 27 Feb 4 ZIFF BALLET OPERA HOUSE Rigoletto Jan 28 Rigoletto Feb 3 Feb 11 Roméo et Juliette Apr 21 Roméo et Juliette Apr 27 May 5 Adrienne Arsht Center Ticket Tax-Deductible Total Ticket Tax-Deductible Total Seating Section Price per Donation Price per Seating Section Price per Donation Price per for the Performing Arts Subscription with this Seat Subscription Subscription with this Seat Subscription First Tier n Grand Tier Box $752 $3,500 $4,252 First Tier n Grand Tier Box $676 $1,000 $1,676 of Miami-Dade County Orchestra Level n Prime Orchestra Rows A-J $676 $1,500 $2,176 Orchestra Level n Prime Orchestra Rows A-J $528 $500 $1,028 n Prime Orchestra Rows K-T $676 $500 $1,176 n Prime Orchestra Rows K-T $528 $250 $778 1300 Biscayne Boulevard n Orchestra Box $676 $500 $1,176 n Orchestra Box $528 $250 $778 Miami, FL 33132 n Front Orchestra $528 — $528 n Front Orchestra $388 — $388 www.FGO.org F 800.741.1010 n Orchestra Circle $388 — $388 n Orchestra Circle $288 — $288 Second Tier n Mezz Box/Mezz Row A $388 $250 $638 Second Tier n Mezz Box/Mezz Row A $288 $125 $413 n Mezz Rows B-G $236 —