Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District is pleased to announce that Florida Grand Opera (FGO), a partner of The District Consortium and the oldest continuously running performing arts organization in the state, has planned an extraordinary 2017–2018 season at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The season’s performances are Gaetano Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” Richard Strauss’ “Salome,” and Christoph Willibald Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.”
FGO, celebrating its 77th season, has brought world-class opera to the Broward Center since the mid-1990s. FGO has planned a season of unusual depth and variety, designed to appeal to the richly varied tastes of South Florida’s opera audiences.
“Florida Grand Opera has had a long-standing presence at the Broward Center, and we are pleased that these two partners of The District Consortium are once again providing remarkable, diverse performances to local residents and visitors,” said Carmen Ackerman, Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District project manager.
FGO’s 2017–2018 performances at the Broward Center are:
“Lucia di Lammermoor”
Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Gaetano Donizetti’s Italian bel-canto masterpiece, based on Walter Scott’s classic novel “The Bride of Lammermoor,” is a Gothic tale of love and rivalry between two families, and murder. Lucy Ashton, a young Scottish girl, is manipulated into helping her family restore its fortunes by marrying the wealthy and prominent Sir Arthur Bucklaw. On their wedding night, she goes insane and stabs him to death, which triggers one of the most spectacular mad scenes in the history of Italian opera — an extended display of vocal pyrotechnics that is a challenging test of coloratura sopranos.
The title role in “Lucia di Lammermoor” is shared by sopranos Anna Christy, acclaimed star at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Haeran Hong, 2011’s First Prize Winner in the prestigious International Queen Elisabeth Competition. The role of Lucia’s true love, Edgardo, is shared by two in-demand tenors, Joshua Guerrero and Jésus Léon. The stage director is Elise Sandell, well-known for her work at Houston Grand Opera. Alexander Polianichko, who received critical praise for leading FGO’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” last winter, conducts.
“Salome”
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Richard Strauss’s vivid masterpiece, which had its premiere in 1905, has lost none of its power to unnerve audiences with its potent mixture of eroticism and religion. Now, for the first time in 15 years, FGO presents Strauss’s exotic brew, in a production helmed by award-winning master director Bernard Uzan. A world-class cast is headed by Melody Moore, whose successes at San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and New York City Opera have made her one of the fastest-rising sopranos on the scene; and Kirsten Chambers, whose résumé includes the Metropolitan Opera and Finland’s Savonlinna Opera Festival; who share the title role. The two sopranos are supported by baritone Mark Delavan, powerhouse star of the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera; veteran mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop, heralded for her performances at the Met and Washington National Opera; and tenor John Easterlin, whose credits range from “Salome” at the Met to Weill’s “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” at Los Angeles Opera. Timothy Myers, noted for his appearances at Houston Grand Opera and in Wexford Festival Opera’s prize-winning 2016 production of Samuel Barber’s “Vanessa,” conducts.
“Orfeo ed Euridice”
Thursday, March 29, 2018, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 31, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
FGO’s spring season brings the company’s first-ever production of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” Famous for its immortal aria, “Che farò senza Euridice,” “Orfeo” is the classic story of the poet and musician who travels to the terrifying depths of the Underworld to bring back his beloved wife. The enormously gifted countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, recently profiled in The New York Times, sings Orfeo. The role of Euridice is sung by Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutiérrez, who has ignited the stages of Opera Orchestra of New York, Wexford Festival Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Keturah Stickann, whose résumé includes productions at Dallas Opera and Sarasota Opera, directs. Anthony Barrese, who led FGO’s 2016 production of “Norma,” is the conductor.
For tickets to FGO’s 2017–18 season, go to www.riverwalkae.com/?s=Florida+Grand+Opera or call 1-800-741-2010. For tickets directly from the Broward Center, go to www.browardcenter.org or call 954-462-0222.
About Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District
Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District is a unique partnership of arts and entertainment organizations located along the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale with the express mission of promoting cultural tourism in South Florida. Presenting over 1000 individual events each year, The District attracts well over 1 million visitors annually. Partners of The District Consortium include Broward Center for the Performing Arts, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Florida Grand Opera, Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, the Historic Stranahan House Museum and Bonnet House Museum & Gardens. It is supported by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. For more information about The District and its partners, visit www.riverwalkae.com.
