FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Amy Erato, Director of Marketing & Public Relations           
Phone: 414-291-5700 ext. 222
Email Amy Erato

Melody Drama and Intrigue:
The Florentine Opera Company Announces its 2007-2008 Season

(Milwaukee, Wis.)…. The Florentine Opera Company’s 2007-08 season captures three faces of opera–melody, drama, and pathos–in a perfect blending of plot and passion, acting and arias.  “Our 2007-08 season promises to provide the full gamut of the grand opera experience–from the light hearted but wistful strains of Lehar's beloved operetta The Merry Widow, to the searing musical and dramatic force of Strauss's Salome, and finally to the bittersweet, tuneful melancholy of Bellini's take on Romeo and Juliet, 

I Capuleti e i Montecchi.  These operatic treasures will be presented by world-class singers, conductors, directors, and designers, and accompanied by the peerless Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra,” remarks William Florescu, General Director.

The season begins as the Florentine presents one of the world’s best-loved operettas, Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow.  The sumptuous production will feature Diane Alexander, the leading national interpreter of the title role, and also marks the return of tenor Jonathan Boyd, who recently received critical acclaim in the Florentine Opera’s 2006 production of Don Giovanni. 

Next, Richard Strauss’s Salome will showcase the triumphant return of Erika Sunnegårdh in the title role, after her dazzling North American debut with the Florentine Opera Company in 2005’s stirring production of Fidelio. Sharing the role of Salome with Ms. Sunnegårdh is Kelly Cae Hogan–who will make her Florentine Opera debut. The production will also star Grammy award winner Mark S. Doss as John the Baptist in a role he will sing at Italy’s legendary La Scala in 2007.  Director John Hoomes returns to the Florentine after directing 2006’s innovative Don Giovanni.

This dramatic season will culminate in a production by one of Italian opera’s greatest composers, Vincenzo Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi.  Audiences will be engrossed by Bellini’s interpretation of the ultimate story of love and sacrifice, Romeo and Juliet.  The opera will feature soprano Georgia Jarman as Giulietta, who dazzled Florentine audiences as Marie in 2006’s The Daughter of the Regiment, and mezzo Marianna Kulikova as Romeo, a role she has sung in Italy under renowned conductor Riccardo Muti.

All performances are held in Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts
929 North Water Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202

The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar
Friday, November 16, 2007 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, November 17, 2007 @ 6:30 PM
Sunday, November 18, 2007 @ 2:30 PM

A beautiful young widow, rich with an overwhelming inheritance, could be the answer to a bankrupt country if she falls in love with the right man.  This comedic story dances to timeless waltzes from one man to another in an attempt to find Mr. Right while the rekindling of an old love may be just what the country, and Hanna, needs.  Staged with lavish sets, The Merry Widow will twirl and dip you to the perfect conclusion.

Conductor / Mark Flint
Augusta Opera General Director and Principal Conductor Mark D. Flint has led the majority of orchestras in world-renowned opera houses and symphonies throughout the United States and Canada. He has served as Music Director and Principal Guest Conductor (Michigan Opera Theatre), Music Director (San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theatre), Artistic and Music Director (Illinois Opera Theatre) at the University of Illinois. 

Hanna Glawari / Diane Alexander
American soprano Diane Alexander enjoys a flourishing career with opera companies and symphony orchestras across the country.  Her impeccable reputation for musical and dramatic excellence in opera and operetta earns vast acclaim in signature roles such as Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow and Violetta in La Traviata, as well as title roles in Manon and Susannah. Ms. Alexander was last seen on the Florentine stage as Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men.

Danilo / Philip Cutlip
Baritone Philip Cutlip has performed with nearly every major North American orchestra, and has appeared with companies such as New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Arizona Opera and Opera Theatre of St. Louis in such roles ranging from Papageno in Die Zauberflöte to Sharpless in Madame Butterfly, Dunois in The Maid of Orleans and Marcello in La Bohème.

Other notable appearances include the following artists:
Director / Albert Sherman                       Baron Zeta / Matthew Lau
Camille / Jonathan Boyd                        Njegus / Ryan Allen
Valencienne / Heather Buck                  St. Brioche / John Pickle
Cascada / Mark Andrew Baker

Salome by Richard Strauss
Friday, February 15, 2008 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, February 16, 2008 @ 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 17, 2008 @ 2:30 PM

In this sensuous tale of scandal and intrigue, Salome lives a life of impulse and seduction.  Singing of her desires, the twisted plot shifts once again with her stepfather’s longing. With a bribe, Salome participates in the lascivious Dance of the Seven Veils and seals the fate of John the Baptist.  Brimming with death, cravings for attention and disgust, this opera – and the fate of Salome – is sure to fascinate and astonish.

Conductor / Joseph Rescigno
This season is Joseph Rescigno’s 26th season as the artistic advisor and principal conductor of the Florentine Opera Company. A frequent guest conductor, he has also recently conducted The Barber of Seville (New York City Opera), Little Women (Kentucky Opera), Hector Berlioz’ rarely performed oratorio, l’Enfance du Christ (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra), and other audience favorites including Tristan und Isolde, Falstaff, Rigoletto, Otello, La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Turandot and The Consul.

Director / John Hoomes
Mr. John Hoomes is currently serving as the General and Artistic Director of the Nashville Opera Association. He is also a seasoned free-lance Stage Director, directing over 75 productions of opera and musical theater with such companies as Kentucky Opera, Cincinnati Opera, The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Memphis, Glimmerglass Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and Sarasota Opera.  Hoomes returns to Milwaukee following his acclaimed direction of the Florentine’s 2006 production of Don Giovanni.

Salome / Erika Sunnegårdh (Feb 15 & 17)
Swedish-American soprano, Erika Sunnegårdh made her astonishing operatic debut in September of 2004, in the title role of Turandot at the Malmö Opera och Musikteater in southern Sweden. Ms. Sunnegårdh returns to the Florentine stage after her successful Milwaukee debut in 2005 as Leonore in Fidelio.  She has recently performed at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, and additional upcoming engagements include the world premiere of a commissioned work by Carl Unander-Scharin written especially for Ms. Sunnegårdh and the world-renowned percussion ensemble, Kroumata.

Salome / Kelly Cae Hogan (Feb 16)
Soprano Kelly Cae Hogan joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera this past season for Salome, Tosca, Die Walkure and La Bohème.  Throughout her career, she has delighted audiences in a variety of noted roles, including Musetta in La Bohème, the title role of Salome and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She is a winner of the American Opera Auditions, a New York winner of the MacAllister Awards, and sang a debut recital in Alice Tully Hall in New York as a winner of the Liederkranz competition. 

Other notable appearances include the following artists:
John the Baptist / Mark S. Doss
Herod Antipas / Joel Sorensen
Herodias / Joyce Castle
Narraboth / Eric Johnston
Page of Herodias / Katherine Pracht

The Florentine Opera's production of Salome is sponsored by Donald and Donna Baumgartner.

Romeo and Juliet (I Capuleti e I Montecchi) by Vincenzo Bellini
Friday, April 25, 2008 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, April 26, 2008 @ 7:30 PM
Sunday, April 27, 2008 @ 2:30 PM

Based on Italian sources, this reworking of a legend tells the 13th Century story of rival political factions.  Separated by family, drawn irresistibly together by young love’s yearning, Romeo & Juliet sacrifice everything because they are unwilling to sacrifice just one thing–their love for each other.  With a poignant, lyrical libretto, the destiny of Romeo and Juliet will make your heart ache.        

Giulietta / Georgia Jarman
Imaginative Bel Canto interpretations and “coloratura so crisp and crystalline you could see it floating in midair” have brought worldwide acclaim to the young soprano Georgia Jarman. In 2006, she delighted Florentine audiences with her stunning portrayal of Marie in La Fille du Regiment, a role that she will reprise with Indianapolis Opera in the spring of 2007.

Romeo / Marianna Kulikova
Born in Kiev and raised in Chicago, Marianna Kulikova has delighted audiences throughout the world in such places as Munich in the role of the Foreign Princess in Rusalka with the Bayerische Rundfunkorchester, her debut at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto as Adalgisa in Norma, Lola in I Pagliacci at the Dallas Opera, the Savonlinna Festival as Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and to Saarbrücken for Verdi’s Messa da Requiem under the baton of Marcello Viotti.

Other notable appearances include the following artists:
Director / Bernard Uzan
Tebaldo / Scott Piper
Capellio / Jamie Offenbach
Lorenzo / Kurt Link

The Florentine Opera's production of Romeo and Juliet (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) is sponsored by Nancy and Terry Anderson.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

SUBSCRTIPION INFORMATION

Subscriptions to the Florentine Opera’s 2007-2008 Season range in price from $75 to $376. To request a season brochure email us at info@florentineopera.org or call 414.291.5700.

FLORENTINE OPERA 

Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera Company is Wisconsin’s oldest and most enduring performing arts organization. It is also the fifth oldest opera company in the United States. Today Florentine audiences enjoy beautifully mounted main stage productions each season that include first-rate vocal artistry, the visual excitement of elaborate, period authentic sets and costumes, high drama, light hearted comedy and superb choreography. Audiences also enjoy outstanding modern works such as the 1999 North American premiere of Lowell Lieberman’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the 2002 Milwaukee premiere of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the 2003 Florentine premiere of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.