Pagliacci & Suor Angelica

Miami – Adrienne Arsht Center ◙ November 14, 18, 20, 22(m), 24, 28, 2009
Fort Lauderdale – Broward Center ◙ December 3 & 5, 2009

A nun with a “past” and a clown’s vengeful act!
Two times the tragedy for one amazing evening of raw emotion

Kelly Kaduce as Sister Angelica. Photo by Ken Howard for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

And if that is not enough to tear your heart out…Pagliacci, the famous play-within-a-play, is the story of a clown who makes others laugh while sobbing inside because his unfaithful wife has taken a young lover. His overwhelming jealousy leads to rage, revenge and murder.

The season will open with a double-bill of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Puccini’s Suor Angelica. American soprano Kelly Kaduce will sing both the role of Nedda in Pagliacci and the title role in Suor Angelica in all performances. Kaduce has appeared with Florida Grand Opera in the title role of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina in the 2007 world premiere production and returned this past season as the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. This summer she will sing the title role in Richard Strauss’s Salome at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Mezzo-soprano Mzia Nioradze will sing the role of the Princess, Suor Angelica’s cruel Aunt. Her recent appearances at the Metropolitan Opera have included the roles of Matryosha in War and Peace, Maddelena in Rigoletto, and Amneris in Aïda.

Jay Hunter Morris as Pagliacci. Photo by Tim Wilkerson for The Atlanta Opera.

Miami – Adrienne Arsht Center ◙ January 23, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31(m), 2010
Fort Lauderdale – Broward Center ◙ February 4 & 6, 2010

It’s not your typical wedding when the bride brutally stabs the groom!

Eglise Gutiérrez as Lucia. Savonlinna Festival, Finland, 2007.

Florida Grand Opera’s second production of the season will be Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor. A South Florida favorite soprano, Eglise Gutiérrez, will return in the title role. Gutiérrez’s performances as Violetta in this season’s La traviata were highly acclaimed, and she is quickly becoming a major star. The 2009-10 season will see her debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence, Teatro Real of Madrid, the Ravinia Festival, the Vancouver Opera and the Greek National Opera. Baritone Mark Walters, seen earlier this season as the elder Germont in La traviata, returns as Enrico Ashton. (Maria Alejandres and Jeremy Kelly perform January 27 & 30.)

Miami – Adrienne Arsht Center ◙ February 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28(m), 2010
Fort Lauderdale – Broward Center ◙ March 4 & 6, 2010

Figaro Figaro Figaro

Sarah Coburn as Rosina. Photo by Carol Pratt for Wolf Trap Opera Company.

American soprano Sarah Coburn returns to FGO as Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Coburn last appeared here in 2007 as Kitty in the world premiere of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina. Since then, she has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Princess Yueyang in Tan Dun’s The First Emperor, with Plácido Domingo. Her additional previous roles with FGO include Norina in Don Pasquale, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, and Oscar in Un ballo in maschera. She will be joined by tenor Frédéric Antoun, who just completed an acclaimed portrayal of Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola for FGO, as Count Almaviva. The English baritone Roderick Williams will make his FGO debut as Figaro. The English magazine Opera recently stated that Mr. Williams “lends distinction to all he undertakes and is now in the front rank of British baritones.” Baritone Sanford Sylvan, long acknowledged as one of America’s leading vocal artists, makes his FGO debut as Bartolo for all performances. (Lielle Berman, Andrew Bidlack and Kyle Pfortmiller perform February 24 & 27.)

Miami – Adrienne Arsht Center ◙ April 24, 28, 30, May 2(m), 4, 8, 2010
Fort Lauderdale – Broward Center ◙ May 13 & 15, 2010

Seductress and Every Man’s Fantasy…

Kendall Gladen as Carmen. Photo by Robert Shomler for Festival Opera.

The season will conclude with Bizet’s Carmen. The young American mezzo-soprano Kendall Gladen will make her FGO debut in the title role. Ms. Gladen is a graduate of both the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Gerdine Young Artist Program and the Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera. She was recently seen in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the San Francisco Symphony in San Francisco and in New York at Carnegie Hall. Last year she made her Los Angeles Opera debut as Mercédès in Carmen, and assumed the title role for two performances conducted by Plácido Domingo. She will make her debut as Carmen later this year for Michigan Opera Theatre.

Miami’s own Elaine Alvarez will make her FGO debut in the role of Micaëla. In 2007, the Cuban-American Alvarez replaced Angela Gheorghiu as Mimì in performances of La bohème at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in a much-publicized operatic incident, and had a resounding triumph. "Luminous," declared the Chicago Sun-Times of Elaine Alvarez's Lyric Opera debut as Mimì. "Conveying lyric pathos seems to come as naturally to Alvarez as breathing" (Chicago Tribune).

Tenor Adam Diegel will make his FGO debut as Don José. Mr. Diegel recently performed the roles of Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur and Cavaradossi in Tosca at the National Theater of Hungary. His upcoming engagements include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Savonlinna Opera Festival and Rodolfo in La bohème with The Minnesota Opera. Baritone Mark Walters, following his appearances earlier in the season in Lucia di Lammermoor, will return as Escamillo.