Looking Ahead to Sarasota Opera Season
The Daughter of the Regiment was last seen at the Sarasota Opera in 1987.
Image: Courtesy Sarasota Opera
The Sarasota Opera has kept patrons listening during the current pandemic, via online videos of singers performing solos, looks back at past productions, and radio shows on WSLR LPFM 96.5. But just a reminder, in case you haven’t yet purchased your season subscription, there is a live 2020-21 season planned.
That season begins with Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the tale of that infamous womanizer and his dramatic comeuppance, onstage at the Sarasota Opera House Oct. 30, Nov. 1, 4, 10, 12 and 15. The last time this work was performed by the Sarasota Opera was in 2011.
Sarasota Youth Opera will present Dean Burry’s The Hobbit, featuring Bilbo Baggins and his quest, for its annual fall production, Nov. 13 and 14.
The 2021 Winter Opera Festival commences Feb. 6 with Puccini’s tragic Tosca, last seen here in 2015. Other performances are set for Feb. 9, 11, 14, 17, 23 and 27 and for March 5, 10, 13, 18 and 20.
The Sarasota Opera's 2015 production of Tosca.
Image: Rod Millington
It’s been more than 30 years since the opera company has presented Donizetti’s colorful comedy The Daughter of the Regiment (1987, to be exact). It centers on Marie, a girl raised by a French regiment, her lover Tonio, and a claim by the Marquise of Birkenfeld that Marie is her long-lost niece. The Daughter of the Regiment will take the stage Feb. 13, 16, 18, 21, 26 and March 3, 7, and 13.
Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, set in Ceylon and telling the tale of a romantic triangle complicated by a heartfelt friendship, will be presented for seven performances Feb. 20, 24, 28 and March 2, 4, 12 and 20. It was last seen here in 2013.
A scene from The Pearl Fishers, last presented here in 2013.
Image: Rod Millington
And finally, a work by Verdi: his opera Attila, which features conqueror Attila the Hun in danger of being conquered himself, by his love for female warrior Odabella. Dedicated to avenging her lost father, she has a plan for Attila, though. Seven performances round out the season, March 6, 9, 11, 14, 17, 19 and 21. Attila was last seen in 2007.
Subscriptions are on sale online at sarasotaopera.org or by phone at (941) 328-1300. Single tickets will go on sale online Aug. 1. For more information, visit sarasotaopera.org.
