Guinness World Records Day

Sunday, November 15th, is the Annual Guinness World Records Day, so we thought that it would be fun to go share some Guinness World Records from the Opera world:

Oldest Opera Singer (Guinness World Record)

Luo Pinchao receiving his Guiness World Record

Luo Pinchao (b. China, 19 June 1912) began his singing career in 1930 and continued to regularly perform Cantonese opera and celebrated his 93rd birthday and record-breaking career with a performance at the Guandong Cantonese Opera Grand Artistic Theatre, Guangzhou, China on 20 June 2004.

Luo Pinchao passed away on 15 July 2010, at the age of 98.

Longest Opera (Guinness World Record)

Richard Wagner

The longest regularly performed opera is Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by German composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883). A normal uncut version can entail 5 hours and 15 minutes of music.

The opera The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin by Robert Wilson (b: October 4, 1941) was performed in 7 acts at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on December 14 and 15 in 1973 and required 13 hours 25 minutes. Act 7 was deemed by some to be the best.

The Heretics by Gabriel von Wayditch (1888–1969) has a piano-vocal score that numbers 2,850 pages of music and lasts 8½ hours.

Most Curtain Calls (Guinness World Record)

Luciano Pavarotti

Famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti holds the record with 165 curtain calls after a performance of Donizetti's The Daugher of the Regiment at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He was applauded for 1 hour and 7 minuets.

He also holds the record for longest applause ever at 1 hour and 30 minutes, most roles performed, most recordings made, most famous living operatic tenor at his 70th birthday in 2005, most money raised by an individual for charities, and another for the best-selling classical album (In Concert by the Three Tenors; the latter record is thus shared by fellow tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras).

Most Performed Opera (Guinness World Record)

The 2009 production of Verdi's La traviata at Sarasota Opera

According to Opera Database, Giuseppe Verdi is the most performed composer with 3009 operas programmed, and his opera La Traviata is the most performed opera with at 659 performances over the last five seasons from 2009-10 through 2013-14.

Composer and opera tables are based on counts of performance runs (how many times a work was programmed, not the number of performances) over five seasons from 2009-10 to 2013-14.

Sarasota Opera Visits Verdi - Last Leg

The final leg of Sarasota Opera’s Verdi Pilgrimage, took the group to the beautiful city of Venice.

Teatro La Fenice

Venice figured large in Verdi’s career. Several of his greatest operas were premiered in the city including Ernani, Attila, Rigoletto, La traviata,  and Simon Boccanegra. It was in the city he also met one of his closest collaborators and friends, librettist Francesco Maria Piave. In another act of the composer’s charity, Verdi supported Piave and his family after the poet was struck down by a stroke and left paralyzed in 1867, until his death in 1876.

The Sarasota group traveled from Parma to Venice by bus and then transferred by water taxi to the Bauer’s Hotel, near the Piazza San Marco. The afternoon was taken up with touring the Ca’ Rezzonico, a palazzo which once included Robert Browning and Cole Porter as its tenants and is now one of the finest museums of art in Venice.

Members of the group at dinner at Cipriani overlooking St. Mark's Basilica

Following the tour we adjourned to the island of Giudecca and the famous Cipriani Hotel where we had a private dinner overlooking the Grand Canal.

Despite the rain, the following morning a few hardy souls toured the Basilica of St. Marks, the Rialto Market, and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, a building for which Tintoretto provided all of the artwork, including some of his greatest masterpieces.

The group in front of the Teatro La Fenice

A performance at the Teatro La Fenice was on tap for the evening. The famous theater, site of the Verdi premieres (including the opening night fiasco of La traviata) in Venice, is named after the “Phoenix.” The beautiful, but ill-starred venue has had to repeatedly “rise from the ashes” as fires have destroyed the theater three times, in 1792, 1836, and most recently in 1996. It is one of the most historically important theaters in the country and one of the most ornate.

The artistic director of the Teatro La Fenice, Fortunato Ortombina, gave some insight into the theater and the production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly that we were about to see. Coincidentally, Mo. DeRenzi recognized Mr. Ortombina from his earlier work with the Institute of Verdi Studies in Parma.

Maestro DeRenzi, Teatro La Fenice Artistic Director Fortunato Ortombina, and Executive Director Richard Russell
inside Teatro La Fenice

The performance of Puccini’s masterwork provoked much conversation among the group over dinner at the Taverna La Fenice, after the opera. Through a partnership with the Art Biennale, the set design was by visual artist Mariko Mori, whose futuristic aesthetic is reflected in the giant Möbius that dominates the spare stage and which inspired a modernistic interpretation of the opera. Notwithstanding the varying opinions of the production, everyone was glad to have experienced opera in this historic theater.

The interior of Venice's Teatro La Fenice with Mariko Mori's set for Act I of Madama Butterfly on stage

The following day, the last of the trip, took the group to Lake Orta and the beautiful Villa Crespi. Everyone assembled in the 2-Michelin starred restaurant for a delectable dinner and a chance to reminisce about the exceptional experiences of the past 9 days. Even Mo. DeRenzi, who had been to many of places we visited before, had never been to parts of the Casa Verdi in Milan and Villa Verdi at Santa’Agata that are not usually open to the public, as well as the opportunity to meet one of the composer’s descendants. Everyone was sorry to see the trip end and spirits were hardly dampened when the maître’d of the restaurant felt the need to cut off our attempt to pay homage to Verdi by singing “Va pensiero sull’ali dorate” from Nabucco one last time.

It was an experience that no one will soon forget and a fitting start to the season that will bring the Grand Finale to Sarasota Opera’s 28-season long “Verdi Cycle.”

Sarasota Opera Visits Verdi - Busseto and Piacenza

After our special night with the “Club of the 27” everyone was tired but in a very Verdi mood. So it was exciting that the next day would take the group to the land where the composer was born and lived all of his life.

The morning bus ride passed through the small town of Le Roncole (now called Le Roncole Verdi), where Giuseppe Verdi was born and spent his first years. Following this we made our way to the town of Busseto.

When the composer was 11, he moved to Busseto to attend school. There he became close to the family of Giovanni Barezzi, whose daughter would become his first wife. He later received financial support from the town (and especially from Barezzi) for his musical studies in Milan. However, his relationship with the community soured when following his first wife’s death, he returned to Busseto and lived openly with the singer Giuseppina Strepponi, who would later become his wife. The populace shunned Strepponi and felt  that Verdi was ungrateful for their earlier support. When he heard him claim that they “made” him, he declared that they should then “make another one.”

Inside the Teatro Verdi

Welcoming the group to Busseto were four members of the Club of the 27, who accompanied us on our day’s excursions. First stop on the day’s itinerary was the Teatro Verdi. The small (300 seat), beautiful, theater was named in the composer’s honor, despite his opposition to its construction. He felt the town was too small to support the venue, and made sure he was out of town on the day it was inaugurated. Nevertheless, it is elegantly decorated, with a box that was initially reserved for Verdi (but was never used by him.)

Crossing the square past a large statue of the composer, the next stop was the Casa Barezzi, home of the composer’s patron Giovanni Barezzi. It was as a lodger in this house, that the composer met his first wife Margherita, who, along with their two young children, died tragically only a few years after their marriage. The house was a center of musical life in the village and is now restored to display artifacts about the composer and his relationship to the Barezzi family.

After a quick stop for coffee at the Café Centrale and time to pose for a picture in front of the statue of Verdi, next on the itinerary was the Antica Corte Pallavicina, where “Culatello di Zibello” is made. This is a delicious type of Parma ham made from the butt of the pig. Verdi was one of  the past patrons of this delicacy. Among the current clients of the Antica Corte Pallavicina are Prince Charles and Prince Albert of Monaco (whose allocation could be found among the hanging meat).

Prince Charles stash of culatello

The Sarasotans were treated to a testing of cullatello, along with other types of prosciutto and salame, washed down with some local wine. This was the appetizer for a wonderful lunch next door at “Il Cavallino Bianco (The White Pony)” a Michelin-starred restaurant on the property.

Although after lunch everyone could have used a nice nap, the travelers moved on to one of the most honored places by Verdi lovers, the Villa Verdi at Sant’Agata. Following his unpleasant experience living in Busseto and being a farmer at heart, the composer purchased a farm in 1848 and immediately began extensive alterations and additions. He expanded the house and the grounds so that within in few years it was the biggest employer in the area encompassing many acres. The composer and his wife lived there from 1851 through their deaths.

Outside the Casa Verdi in Sant'Agata

Several of the 100 rooms of the house are now maintained as a museum but the rest is still used as a home by Verdi’s descendants. The rooms of the museum are maintained as they were in Verdi’s time. However, the Sarasota visitors got a special treat, when the guide took them to rooms not generally open to the public including the salon, foyer, dining room,  and billiard room, where they were  joined by Angiolo Carrara-Verdi, the great-great-great grandson of Verdi’s heir Filomena Maria Carrara-Verdi and his wife.

After a quick stop at the Church in Le Roncole, where Verdi first played the organ, the group headed back to the hotel after a tiring, but enlightening day.

The following day included a short tour of conductor Arturo Toscanini’s birthplace and the beautiful Teatro Farnese. The travelers then had some time to wander the streets of Parma on their own before meeting for a trip to Piacenza for a concert performance of Verdi’s I due Foscari at the Teatro Municipale.

Teatro Municipale before the performance of Verdi's I due Foscari

The audiences in region of Parma are known as some of the most discerning and judgmental in the world. Singers who don’t make the grade have been literally run out of town. But when they are enthusiastic, they are indescribably appreciative and demonstrative. That was certainly the case this evening.

I due Foscari was performed without sets or costumes, but was sung complete with orchestra and chorus. The cast included world renowned baritone Leo Nucci, tenor Fabio Sartori, and soprano Kristin Lewis, who was known by the the Sarasota audience from her performance of Musetta in La bohème there in 2006.  Since then she has made a successful career in Europe and is now based in Vienna. The conductor was Donato Renzetti.

The theater was pulsing with excitement for the performance. All the principals were exciting and easily thrilled the audience. But the palm for this performance had to go to veteran baritone Nucci, who at the age of 73 still has the goods to deliver. After his final aria the audience could not contain themselves and lept to their feet in appreciation.

Baritone Leo Nucci takes a bow alongside conductor Donato Renzetti. Photo courtesy of Operaclick.com

Adjourning around the corner to the  Antica Osteria del Teatro for cocktails and another sumptuous dinner, the group was joined by the stars of the performance, Leo Nucci and Kristin Lewis. One of the group Terry Osborne, received an extra special thrill as the singers serenaded him with “Happy Birthday.”

Renowned baritone Leo Nucci (left) with Terry and Valerie Osborne

Few will forget this exciting day and a performance that was a special highlight of the trip.

Sarasota Opera Visits Verdi (Day 3 and 4)

The Duomo in Milan

Despite rain, the Sarasota Verdi lovers spent the morning touring two of the major sites of Milan, the Duomo and Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”. The painting, housed in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, is one of the glories of western art despite its severely deteriorated condition. The Sarasotans were struck by its beauty in, what was for some, a very moving visit.

The following day, the group decamped from Milan to the city of Parma, the area that was the birthplace and home of composer Giuseppe Verdi. First order of business was a tour of the Teatro Regio, a beautiful theater, similar in size to the Sarasota Opera House, where a Verdi Festival is held each October.

Sarasotans enjoying a tour of the Teatro Regio di Parma

This was followed by a visit to the Corale Verdi, home of the Verdi Choral Society (begun in 1905) and also a wonderful restaurant. The promised light lunch, was instead a simple, but sumptuous meal of Parmesan delicacies including tortelloni, stuffed veal, and roast Prosciutto (Parma Ham). The meal was accompanied by a sparkling white wine and Lambrusco, a sparkling red wine that is a speciality of the region.

Sarasotans enjoying lunch at the Corale Verdi

The evening that followed will no doubt for many, be the highlight of the tour. In March 2013, Sarasota Opera had a visit from four members of the “Club of the 27”.  Each of these devoted enthusiasts of the music of Giuseppe Verdi are named after one of the composer’s operas. They meet once a week to discuss music and have developed ongoing education programs in the schools about music and Verdi.

This year, the Sarasota Opera group visited “the 27” in their clubhouse, a small cove underneath Parma’s musical school “Casa della Musica.” The visitors entered a dark room the only illumination highlighting a bust of Verdi.

The Sarasotans in front of a statue of Verdi in his hometown of Busseto

The members of the 27 were lined up against the wall and began singing “Va, pensiero,” the chorus of the Hebrew slaves from Verdi’s opera Nabucco, which is a second national anthem for Italians. Following this ritual, the president Enzo Petrolini (Un giorno di regno) presented the Sarasotans with gifts and medals in the image of Verdi. There was then some social time with the two groups over prosecco and local Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Next was a concert in honor of the Sarasota guests, in the Casa della Musica. Five accomplished young Italian singers, soprano Renata Campanella, soprano Scilla Cristiano, mezzo-soprano Leonora Sofia, tenor Antonio Corianò, and bass Davide Ruberti, were accompanied by Simone Savina, in arias from operas by Verdi and others. All of these singers are working in Italy and at the beginning of promising careers.

Everyone (including the artists) then moved to a restaurant just outside of Parma, Il granaio. The Sarasota travelers were the guests of the Club of the 27 for another typical and generous Parmesan meal: Tortelloni in brodo, ravioli alla erba, and a selection of delicious Parmesan meats including coppa, salami, and of course Prosciutto di Parma. Despite the pleas of the guests that they were stuffed, their hosts continued to bring out more food including wonderful desserts of fruit, various tortes, a delicious treat of apples baked in wine and gelato.

One more presentation ended the evening: a plaque that commemorates the friendship between the Club of the 27 and Sarasota Opera.  Members of the club promised that many of them would join their new friends in Sarasota for the Grand Finale of the Verdi Cycle in March 2016.

Sarasota Opera Visits Verdi (Day 2)

The entrance to the Sala Verdi

The Sarasota Opera Visits Verdi began the evening of the second night with a reception in the “Sala Verdi”, the suite that was the composer’s home in Milan for 30 years and where he died in 1901. When Verdi wasn’t using it, his presumptive heirs like Pietro Mascagni could gain access, but when Verdi wanted it, the current occupant was asked to leave so the composer could have its use. In recent years luminaries like Oprah Winfrey have occupied the prized room in the hotel.

The reception was a precursor to attending a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot at La Scala. Unfortunately Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi and Executive Director Richard Russell had to leave the gathering early to meet La Scala’s sovrintendente Alexander Pereira and Director of External Affairs Dr. Donatella Brunezzi. Mr. Pereira welcomed the Sarasotans to La Scala. Mr. Pereira and Dr. Brunezzi already knew about Sarasota Opera and the company and listened with interest as Mo. DeRenzi and Mr. Russell talked about the end of their Verdi Cycle and plans for the future.

Puccini’s opera Turandot received its world premiere at La Scala in 1926, a year and a half following the composer’s death. Left unfinished at the time of Puccini’s demise, it was completed by composer Franco Alfano for the first performance. More recently composer Luciano Berio took another stab at the ending and it was in this version that the Sarasota Opera group saw it on Wednesday night.

Promotional poster for Turandot at La Scala

The performance starred Swedish soprano Nina Stemme in the title role, with Aleksandr Antonenko as Calaf and rising young Italian soprano Maria Agresta as Liù.  Music director designate Ricardo Chailly conducted. The production, much more conceptual than the traditional production seen in Sarasota in 2013, was directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. The audience was extremely enthusiastic about the singers but the visitors from Sarasota were surprised to hear booing as the conductor took his bow. It’s not something we are used to in Sarasota, but a staffer at La Scala warned everyone that it happens often in Italy.

Puccini's Turandot at La Scala

Click HERE to continue onto day 3 and 4 of Sarasota Opera's adventures in Italy...

Sarasota Opera Visits Verdi

At the end of March 2016, Sarasota Opera will complete its Verdi Cycle, a 28-season effort to perform all of the works of Italy’s greatest composer Giuseppe Verdi. This will be a landmark season for the company, with national and international attention focused on Sarasota Opera.

To kick-off the celebratory season, Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi and Executive Director Richard Russell are accompanying a group of 27 Sarasota Opera patrons to Italy as “Sarasota Visits Verdi.”  The 9-night tour includes a sample of audience members who live in Sarasota full-time, are snow-birds and some who come from as far as California and London to join this pilgrimage to visit places where the composer lived and worked.

The trip kicked off on Tuesday night (5/19) with a welcome dinner at the Grand Hotel et de Milan.  This 5-star hotel was the composer’s residence in Milan during the last 30 years of his life and it was in a suite on the first floor that he passed away at the age of 87 on January 27, 1901.

Members of Sarasota Opera's pilgrimage to the sites of Giuseppe Verdi join in the
Grand Hotel et de Milan for a welcome dinner

From the Royal Box at Milan's famed Teatro alla Scala,
a member of the staff  explaines the workings of  Italy's most
venerated Opera House 

The next morning everyone made the short walk to Milan’s famous “Teatro alla Scala,” probably the most venerated opera house in the world. Nevertheless, even this theater, which opened in 1778, and was the site of the premieres of Verdi’s Oberto, Un giorno di regno, Nabucco, I lombardi alla prima crociata, Otello, and Falstaff has not performed all of the composer’s operas, as Sarasota Opera will have by next year.

La Scala has an interesting museum attached to the opera house which charts its history and has a room devoted exclusively to Verdi. The visit also included a guided tour of the auditorium and backstage from one of the theater’s music staff.  The plush historical interior of the theater is in stark contrast to the updated technology visited backstage (result of a 3-year renovation from 2001-2004).

Entrance to the Casa di Riposo in Milan

Following the theater visit, a bus took the group to the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti (Rest Home for Musicians) which is more commonly known as the Casa Verdi. In a letter to a friend the composer wrote: “Among my works, the one I like best is the Home that I have had built in Milan for accommodating old singers not favored by fortune, or who, when they were young, did not possess the virtue of saving. The poor, dear companions of my lifetime! Believe me, my friend, that Home is truly my most beautiful work (la mia opera più bella.”)

Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi contemplates a bust of Giuseppe Verdi in the sitting room of the Casa Verdi, the retirement home for poor musicians the composer built in Milan  

It was a novel idea to build and equip a rest home for the disadvantaged when Verdi proposed this idea in in the last years of his life.  It was not the first example of this type of philanthropy. A few years earlier he had built a hospital for the residents of Villanova, a town near his country estate at Sant’Agata. He acquired land on the outskirts of Milan in 1889 for the retirement home and oversaw the design and construction of the building, attending to every detail. He endowed it  with the royalties from his operas (which expired in  1962; it is now funded by a private foundation and the state.)

Under a portrait of the composer Giuseppe Verdi, members of Sarasota Opera's Verdi trip 
hear about his life at the Casa Verdi  

The Sarasotans were  met by the Director of Communications for the Casa Verdi, who highlighted Verdi’s place not only as a great composer of opera, but as a national hero whose music inspired Italians in their quest for unification in the mid 1800s. The house is full of artifacts from Verdi’s collection (including a small piano that he was given as a boy and kept all of his life) and it is in a crypt off the courtyard of the house that is his final resting place, along with his second wife Giuseppina Strepponi.

The crypt at the Casa Verdi where the composer and his wife are buried.

The evening will take the Sarasota contingent back to La Scala for a performance of Turandot by Verdi’s heir, Giacomo Puccini.

Stay tuned for more updates as Sarasota Opera continues its travels through Italy and the life of Giuseppe Verdi. 

ARTISTS CORNER: Soprano Michelle Johnson

Soprano Michelle Johnson

Soprano Michelle Johnson makes her Sarasota Opera debut this season as Élisabeth de Valois in Verdi's Don Carlos. Since being a Grand Prize winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2011, Ms. Johnson's career has skyrocketed taking her leading roles at Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Kentucky Opera, and now Sarasota Opera. Her voice is described as being "velvety and pliant" and regarded as "similar to young Renata Tebaldi." 

Continuing reading to learn more about this soprano on the rise. 


Q. Where are you originally from and where do you make your home now?

A. I am from Pearland, Texas close to Houston, Texas.

Q. What drew you to become a singer?  Was there a specific “Aha!” moment of clarity?

A. When I was 8 years old I saw a production of Madame Butterfly on PBS. I have been hooked ever since.

Ms. Johnson in the title role of Puccini's Manon Lescaut.
Photo by Kelly & Masa Photography

Q. Did you have other career aspirations in the works before you decided on singing?  

A. I come from a long line of educators. I was certain that I was going to be a teacher in the field of English or History

Ms. Johnson as Elisabeth de Valois in
Verdi's Don Carlos at Sarasota Opera. 

Q. What can you tell us about the character of Élisabeth?  What is her role in the opera?

A. Élisabeth is a strong young woman dealing with heavy decisions throughout the entire opera. She battles with being faithful to her duties as royalty and her own wants for her life. She is the face of hope, honesty, and purety.

Q. This is not exactly what one would consider a standard sized role in opera. What challenges do you face taking on a role of this length?

A. My main focus is stamina. One must not give too much too soon. With the leadership of Maestro DeRenzi the role is becoming super familiar.

Q. At the end of the performance, what knowledge about the character of Élisabeth would you like the audience to walk away with?

A. Élisabeth wants the best for everyone, her people of France and the people of Spain. She’s willing to give up her happiness for the happiness of others.

Q. Are there any famous “Élisabeth’s” from the past whose performances you admire?

A. I admire any soprano who attempts this role!

Ms. Johnson as Minnie in Puccini's Girl of the Golden West at Kentucky Opera. 

Q. Thus far, what is the most bizarre experience you have had during a rehearsal?  During a performance?

A. Unfortunately, I have had to hold up a skirt or two until the end of a scene. It’s not fun!

Q. Do you have any pre-performance rituals?  Performance superstitions?  Good luck charms?  

A. The only thing I need is about 20 minutes of meditation then I’m ready to go!

Q. How do you relax in between performances?  What hobbies do you enjoy at home and “on the road”?

A. I love movies. So, Netflix is very dangerous. I travel with my Yorkshire Terrior, Jasper, so I hang out with him a ton when I’m off.

Ms. Johnson as Giulietta in Jacque Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.

Don't miss Ms. Johnson's performance as Élisabeth de Valois which was described as "a pure-voiced soprano of regal deportment" by classicalvoicenorthamerica.org. Remaining performances are March 15, 18, 21, and 24. Go to www.sarasotaopera.org or call (941) 328-1300 for information and tickets. 

Opera is Alive and Well!

For those of us who are opera lovers and follow the comings and goings in the opera world, we might feel that there is cause for despair. Recent tales of doom include one failed company (New York City Opera) and another that was saved from the brink (San Diego Opera.)  In addition the leader of the largest opera company in the world has been complaining that opera audiences are dying, the art form is moribund, and without significant union concessions, his company will go bankrupt in a few years.

James Buckhouse of Twitter presents to more than 500 attendees at the 2014 Opera America Conference.
Photo by Jerry Placken/Meyer Sound

I’ve just returned from the Opera America conference in San Francisco where representatives from most of the opera companies in North America met, shared best practices, and worked on strategies for the future. I believe that we all returned from that experience with renewed positive energy and a certainty that opera is not only alive and well, but thriving.

First let me just say that the situations in New York and San Diego were unique. New York City Opera succumbed after years of board and management missteps, well documented in the press and to the despair of many of us who grew up with that company. San Diego Opera on the other hand was saved by explosive community involvement that wouldn’t let the agenda of a few in the management and board close a company that had seen 28 years of surplus budgets.

As for the dilemma of the Metropolitan Opera, I won’t comment on a union negotiation, about which I don’t have the full details. I will, however, dispute Peter Gelb’s claims that opera is a “dinosaur of an art form.” Unlike that extinct species, opera is alive and breathing and more vital than ever.

At Opera America were many great stories to tell. Companies like San Francisco Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Houston Grand Opera have seen an increase in subscription sales. In an informal poll taken amongst General Directors of opera companies, most reported ending their fiscal years in the black. Performances have increased, the repertoire has widened, and many companies are finding interesting ways to innovate to attract new audiences.

One of the most heartening examples of the broad based appeal of operas is the reaction to the stadium or park simulcasts. Initiatives in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, and Houston to broadcast a live opera to a broad-based audience in baseball parks and public spaces far exceeded expectations, generating thousands of new opera lovers, many of whom turn into opera goers in the opera house.

The news here in Sarasota is positive as well. This past year we’ve seen an increase in subscriptions. And the response of our patrons to the Patterson Challenge to eliminate the Nadel clawback debt generated an overwhelming response that not only closed the appeal within a month of its announcement, it brought us a significant number of new donors, reversing a trend that has held since the outset of the recession in 2008.

And for the second year in a row, we closed our fiscal year with a substantial surplus, this year nearly $300,000.

And if some claim that our audiences are too old, I invite you to attend one of our Youth Opera events. This year’s enrollment included 80 young people and our summer camp exceeded 70 for the second year in a row.

To report that all is perfect in the opera world would be insincere. Like all non-profit arts organizations we face challenges. We are all recovering from the 2008 recession and we have to find a way to overcome the high cost of producing opera and to keep ticket prices at a level that are affordable, especially for new audiences. We have to bring the art form more to the public consciousness and eliminate stigmas (remember when opera singers were regularly on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show) and we have to find a way to expose even more of our youth to the glories of opera, since availability in schools have decreased.

But, as Mark Twain purportedly said, “reports of my death are exaggerated.” Opera lives on and will continue to stimulate, excite, and entertain audiences for many years to come. I’m excited to be part of that, and I hope you are too.

- Richard Russell, Executive Director

ARTISTS CORNER: Baritone David Pershall

Baritone David Pershall
Photo by Arthur Cohen

ARTISTS CORNER: Meet baritone David Pershall who will be making his role debut as the jealous and vengeful Count De Luna in this season's production of Verdi's Il trovatore.  With his "smooth, evenly produced lyric baritone" combined with his “persuasive” stage presence Mr. Pershall is quickly making a name for himself on stages around the world. This year he joined the roster at the Metropolitan Opera as well as bowed on the stages of Dallas Opera, Virginia Opera and El Paso Opera.  Upcoming engagements include appearances at Washington National Opera, Minnesota Opera, and several appearances at the Vienna State Opera House next season.  Continue reading to learn more about Mr. Pershall and how he came to opera.  



Q. Where are you originally from and where do you make your home now?
A. I was born in Oklahoma City OK, but grew up in Temple TX. I currently live in New Brunswick, NJ and will move to Vienna, Austria in September as the majority of my work next year will be with the Vienna Staatsoper.

As the birdman, Papageno, in Mozart's
The Magic Flute at Virginia Opera

Q. What drew you to become a singer?  Was there a specific “Aha!” moment of clarity?
A. I have always had a love for music – my mother is a piano instructor so naturally that was my first instrument. Through the years I began to take voice lessons. I have always ADORED opera, and I heard my very first one in high school on a record my first voice teacher loaned me. It was not until college when I was studying at Baylor University that I thought I would try to make a living singing opera.

Q. Did you have other career aspirations in the works before you decided on singing?
A. I have always been fascinated with math and the stars.  There was a time I thought I would become an aerospace engineer or astrophysicist

Mr. Pershall as Enrico in Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor 

Q. Singing the role of the Count de Luna will be a role debut for you, correct?  What made you decide to take it on?
A. Yes, this will be my debut singing the role of Count de Luna. I was thrilled at the thought of taking on the part because Il trovatore is one of my most favorite operas.

Q. What can you tell us about this character?  What do you want the audience to know about him?
A. I think this opera tells a special story. De Luna is known as the BAD guy in this opera- which is true to a point. De Luna’s life sort of unravels as a result of love. This in and of itself inspires sympathy. However, the story of De Luna also teaches restraint, in that his life is torn apart because of the obsessive type of love he feels for Leonora.

Mr. Pershall in concert at the Beethoven
Easter Festival in Warsaw, Poland

Q. What is your process for preparing a role for performance?
A. First and foremost I begin technical preparations to ensure my body is up to the task at hand. Then I study the libretto to dig into the psychology of the character in the way he speaks and the way he relates to others. This is followed with a study of the score, which provides clarification on what the composer thought of the character and gives the ultimate indication on how to turn a phrase dramatically. The final step is putting it altogether. These steps provide the most efficient and effective way to communicate with the audience.

Q. Thus far, what is the most bizarre experience you have had during a rehearsal or performance?
A. My pants split in a performance of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

Q. Do you have any pre-performance rituals?  
A. I pray and ask God to enhance the gifts He has bestowed upon me.

Mr. Pershall as Zurga in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers
at Virginia Opera.  

Q. How do you relax in between performances?  What hobbies do you enjoy at home and “on the road”?
A. I enjoy spending time with my wife, reading, going for walks, and checking out the local museums.

Q. How do you stay connected to family and friends when you are “on the road”?  Do you keep a blog? Website? Facebook?  Twitter?
A. I call my wife daily when she is not with me. I have a website which people can check out at www.DavidPershall.com.  I also keep a personal Facebook account, I am on Twitter (@DavidPershall), and people can enjoy clips of my performances on my YouTube channel.  Just search DavidPershallOPERA on YouTube (or you can just click here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidPershallOPERA.)

Don't miss the chance to see Mr. Pershall's debut as Count de Luna in Sarasota Opera's Winter Festival production of Verdi's Il trovatore opening February 8th and running through March 22nd.  Tickets are available at www.sarasotaopera.org or by calling (941) 328-1300.