Sarasota Opera’s 2022-23 Season Presents ‘Familiar And Beloved’ Works

SARASOTA, FL — Sarasota Opera says its 2022-23 season will feature works “both familiar and beloved,” as well as two operas that the company has never performed, according to a news release.

The 2022 fall season will feature Domenico Cimarosa’s “The Secret Marriage,” along with a production of the Sarasota Youth Opera, Dean Burry’s “The Secret World of Og.”

Opening the 2023 Winter Opera Festival on Feb. 18 will be Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Giuseppe Verdi’s “Ernani” and Jules Massenet’s “Thérèse.”

“As we hopefully return closer to normal, we are thrilled to present a varied season with some of our favorite works, along with operas that we’ve never given before,” said Richard Russell, general director.

Artistic director Victor DeRenzi added, “During our 64th season, we look forward to introducing our audience to some important, lesser-known operas, including one that has never before been seen in a U.S. opera house.”

2022 Fall Season

The fall season opens Oct. 28 with Cimarosa’s “The Secret Marriage (Il matrimonio segreto),” a Sarasota Opera debut. A social-climbing father wants his eldest daughter to marry an aristocrat and is prepared to buy his way in. When the would-be suitor arrives, his eye falls on the younger daughter instead. But she has secretly married her father’s clerk.

Although not often performed, this comic opera was such a hit at its premiere that the audience insisted on an encore of the entire opera, Sarasota Opera said.

Sarasota Youth Opera will also present Burry’s “The Secret World of Og” on Nov. 5-6. A group of siblings venture into the dark subterranean world of the Ogs to rescue their baby brother and cat. This story has been a favorite with Canadian children since its publication in the 1960s by Canadian children’s author Pierre Berton.

2023 Winter Opera Festival

The 2023 Winter Opera Festival will open Feb. 18 with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” A young geisha known affectionately as Madama Butterfly is swept off her feet by an American Naval officer. Left with a promise that he would return one day, Butterfly waits faithfully for three years, but is met with heartbreak in one of opera’s most enduring tragedies.

Ten performances of this opera are scheduled: Feb. 18, 21, 23 and 26, and March 1, 4, 10, 15, 21 and 24.

“Don Giovanni,” Mozart’s most famous opera, is a comic and tragic masterpiece. Set in 17th century Spain, this tale of obsession, betrayal, crime, and retribution centers around the infamous lover Don Juan, who leaves a path of broken hearts wherever he goes, Sarasota Opera said.

Eight performances are planned on Feb. 25 and 28, and March 2, 5, 8, 12, 18 and 25.

In “Ernani” by Verdi, the bandit Ernani has lost his land, wealth, and title, and faces competing suitors, including the king, as he pursues his true love, Elvira. One of the greatest of Verdi’s early works encompasses love, honor, and tragedy with passionate choruses, emotional arias, and a stirring score, Sarasota Opera said.

Six performances are planned for March 11, 14, 16, 18, 22 and 26.

Another Sarasota Opera debut — as well as a U.S. professional premiere — is “Thérèse” by Massenet. A love triangle during the French Revolution is the setting for this rarely heard work. Thérèse is torn between love for her former lover and her affection and duty towards her husband. Moments of lyrical beauty are punctuated by the drama of the “Reign of Terror” in this opera.

Five performances are scheduled for March 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25.