Nobody can illuminate and explain opera quite like Maestro Sforzini. Take a look inside his recent “Opera Therapy – The Final Meltdown” at the Museum of Fine Arts, and you’ll agree. There’s one more opportunity to experience this uniquely fun introduction to opera – this Thursday (March 21) at the Iberian Rooster.
MEET THE ARTIST: Say hello to watercolor artist Jenny Bleackley, whose solo exhibition ‘Halcyon Days’ is now at the Mirella Cimato Gallery at Opera Central. If you weren’t able to get to the Second Saturday ArtWalk here’s a quick guide to the work, from Jenny herself.
Coming this Saturday (March 9), Creative Collaborations at Opera Central brings together a diverse and eclectic collection of music and musicians. Among the performers: Tampa’s Lloyd Goldstein, a composer, and arranger, and a restlessly creative double bassist. Lloyd played with the Florida Orchestra for 21 years before joining the Arts in Medicine program at Moffitt …
Lloyd Goldstein & Joshua Paul: Creative Collaborators Read More »
New at the Mirella Cimato Gallery The exciting new exhibition at the Mirella Cimato Gallery, inside Opera Central, is HALCYON DAYS by esteemed watercolor artist Jenny Bleakley from Sussex, England – now a resident of St. Pete with a studio in the Arts XChange! Come and see works from her colorful Florida Flowers series and lots more! Second Saturday …
Jenny Bleakley’s Halcyon Days at Mirella Cimato Gallery Read More »
Based on a Russian folk tale, Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) combines chamber music, narration, dance and theater to relate the time-tested parable of a man who sells his soul to the devil. Appropriately, this legendary work is the centerpiece of St. Pete Opera’s Creative Collaborations, Saturday, March 9 at Opera Central. Maestro Sforzini …
by William S. Oser Any self-respecting musical lover in this area is already planning to or better get to The Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg for one of the three remaining performances of St. Petersburg Opera Company’s excellent Kiss Me, Kate. Kiss Me, Kate opened in December of 1948 as a big fat hit and …
Maestro decided that St. Pete Opera’s contribution to the Celebration would be the legendary Broadway musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate – which is, of course, adapted (in a Cole Porter sort of way) from the Shakespeare comedy The Taming of the Shrew.
Kate is the Runaway Hit of the Season Opening weekend for our production of the Cole Porter musical Kiss Me, Kate at the Palladium Theater was a sold out, across-the-board smash! Audiences thrilled to the live-on-stage, Broadway-style orchestra, and to the exuberant and virtually non-stop dancing in this hilarious, and terrifically tuneful, high-energy show. Three …
St. Petersburg Opera Company is thrilled to be part of the inaugural St. Petersburg Celebration of the Arts, a monthlong cultural salute to the works of Shakespeare. With book by Samuel and Bella Spewack, and Porter’s unbeatable, Tony-winning music and lyrics, Kiss Me, Kate is the story of a touring theatrical production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of …
Cole Porter’s sensational musical opens this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Palladium Theater. Join us afterward for a delicious beverage and musical shenanigans at the fabulous Iberian Rooster!
VIP donors get a unique look at the many activities that go into bringing a Broadway musical to the stage in St. Petersburg. We recently welcomed a group of Chorus Level donors into Opera Central for a backstage peek at a Kiss Me, Kate rehearsal. This is a special perk for donors of a specific …
Opening Jan. 12 and running through Feb. 28, the new exhibit at the Mirella Cimato Gallery features acrylics by St. Petersburg’s Elaine Anagnos, and by Czech artist Miro Sedlar, who has wintered in the area since 1976. At Opera Central, 2145 1st Avenue SouthOpening Reception: Saturday, Jan. 12, 5-9 p.m. (during the Second Saturday Art …
When Kate met the Maestro: Join us for music and fun William Shakespeare meets Cole Porter in Kiss Me, Kate, our next Mainstage production (Feb. 2-10). In the latest fun and freewheeling editions of our Maestro series, live music and performances by several of St. Pete Opera’s very best singers augment Maestro Sforzini’s introduction to …
If you’ve seen theatre or opera in Tampa Bay, you’ve probably seen a production Keith Arsenault helped bring to life. A skilled lighting designer, set designer, theatre tech consultant and arts administrator, Keith is the resident lighting designer of the St Pete Opera, runs HCC Ybor’s beautiful Performing Arts Center, has worked as a voiceover …
By Bill DeYoung Since his debut in Carlo Collodi’s 19th century children’s book, Pinocchio – the wooden puppet who can walk, talk and get into trouble – has appeared in countless adaptations, from fine art and theater to radio, cinema and television. Always, the lesson is the same: Tell the truth, and you will find …
A sweet, satisfying introduction to opera for children Read More »
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart broke barriers in opera, and not just by weaving those impossible harmonies with seemingly little effort. Together with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, he also relished any chance to tweak the upper class, first in The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. The St. Petersburg Opera opened its season Friday with Don Giovanni …
See a staged reading of the hilarious new musical Sunshine City at Opera Central! Written by Dewey Davis-Thompson and Tom Sivak, both members of the SPO family, and starring Matt Acquard (Bad Jews) and Julia Rifino (Avenue Q) as Sunshine Citizens who fall in love while concocting publicity stunts to draw tourists to St. Pete. …
Andrew Meacham gushes: Musically, the creative team behind the St. Petersburg Opera’s season-ending musical, The Music Man, were clearly going all out. Meredith Willson’s paean to small-town Americana outdid West Side Story in the 1958 Tony Awards with a hit parade of tunes — including Goodnight My Someone, Seventy-Six Trombones and Till There Was You …
Why can’t you behave? Characters who simply can’t control themselves permeate this intrepid opera company’s 13th season which includes Don Giovanni, Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi, Madama Butterfly and Kiss Me Kate along with Pinocchio and the popular Maestro Series St. Petersburg, Fla. ─ June 5, 2018 – The St. Petersburg Opera (SPO) comes out swinging with …
New pages for new season: Pinochet? no! Season for Spackle Dingy Vonni Sour Angels My Damn Barrista Kate’s Kisser
TampaBay.com: After the National Anthem and some introductory remarks by the maestro, a teacher from Chattanooga, Tenn., addressed a crowd at the Palladium Tuesday about the short work they were about to hear from the Tampa Bay Symphony. “This piece is about community,” said Kenyon Wilson, whose composition, Five, honors four Marines and a Navy …
Our own Maestro Sforzini will be dusting off his bassoon to play a recital this Saturday night with clarinetist Brian Moorhead. Moorhead (41 years Principal Clarinet with the Florida Orchestra) commissioned Sforzini to compose a Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon. Additional commissioners include Belinda Dumont and Gayle Bertelstein. Moorhead and Sforzini played 15 …
Reviewer Andrew Meacham wrote: An unconscious prince in a magical forest gets rescued by three witchy women who serve a mysterious queen. He soon returns the favor, rescuing the queen’s daughter with whom he has fallen instantly in love. What’s not to love about this adult fairy tale immortalized by Mozart in The Magic Flute? …
Strong leads propel St. Petersburg Opera’s ‘The Magic Flute’ Read More »
Maestro Sforzini and Kelly Butler appear on Morning Blend with a preview of The Magic Flute. Click here to see.
by Susie Hellman Spatafora (Assoc. Director of Development at St. Pete Opera and lover of opera education for kids!) Everyone here at Opera Central is super excited about our opera for children, Pinocchio! Sunny Spaces, our set designer and builder, is hard at work perfecting the set in Preis Hall, and Maestro Sforzini has assembled …
Join the fun at our inaugural Cocktails with the Maestro in vibrant downtown St. Petersburg. Gather your friends and join us after work or school to enjoy a great venue and opera antics…a perfect duo. Maestro Mark Sforzini will lead a 90 minute program themed to enhance your experience in an engaging and entertaining way. …
Seasoned cast scores an extra-base hit for St. Petersburg Opera with ‘Faust’ says Andrew Meacham, Times Performing Arts Critic: Charles Gounod’s Faust sets the table early. The world-weary philosopher immortalized in a dramatic poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is in his study, lamenting his state of affairs. He’s willing to give away everything he …
Gounod’s romantic, French grand opera Faust presents us with glorious melodies and sumptuous orchestrations for this dark tale. Unhappy with life, Faust yearns for a return to his youth; makes a pact with the Devil and draws a host of characters into his bargain. Méphistophélès is only too happy to service Faust in his desire …
Meet me at the opera. You have your ticket, right? Read More »
St. Petersburg Opera Company is delighted to announce the first ever DVD recording of the Carlisle Floyd opera Susannah, with Maestro Mark Sforzini and starring Susan Hellman Spatafora, Stefanie Izzo and Aleksandra Ritums. Filmed in 2014 at the Palladium Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida, the DVD includes bonus materials including an interview with composer Carlisle …
St. Petersburg Opera Company’s Samuel Hall sings Nessun dorma at the Palladium Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida on December 18, 2016 with Maestro Mark Sforizini directing the St. Petersburg Opera Orchestra and Chorus in the annual Seasonal Sparkle celebration of all four seasons!
Michael Eddy of Stage-Directions.com writes: Lighting Designer Keith Arsenault recently lit the St. Petersburg Opera Company’s production of the Jacques Offenbach classic, Tales of Hoffmann. Following a poet through three fanciful stories of unrequited love, this opera has held sway over audiences since it debuted in Paris 136 years ago. Its bright, lively music and a clever libretto are …
Arsenault’s design brings out the full richness of Tales of Hoffman Read More »
William S. Oser says in Talkin’ Broadway “I would have been delighted to encounter a performance this good of this opera at any of the … European Opera Houses.” The glories of this production all come from the infrastructure of St. Petersburg Opera, Maestro Mark Sforzini (why aren’t other regional opera companies banging on his …
Peter Bates at Stylus notes: Jacques Offenbach composed over 100 operas. But waste no pity on him because he has only one in the repertoire (and for dying before he could see it). Tales of Hoffman, based on three short stories by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, is immortal, right up there with (many of) Giuseppe …
Hear Maestro and some cast members on WUSF discussing St. Pete Opera and The Tales of Hoffman.
From Creative Pinellas: Maestro Mark Sforzini dispels notions of opera being too stuffy or boring. The affable conductor, composer and director of the St. Petersburg Opera hosts amusingly informative events that de-snobify the genre. His Evenings and Mornings with the Maestro and the cheeky Opera Therapy series offer explanations, conversations and mini-performances that shed light …
Creative Collaborations 2017 Program Notes Co-Sponsored by Belinda Dumont & William Ward Rhapsody for Bassoon and Marimba – World Premiere by Mark Sforzini Performed by John Shaw (marimba) and Mark Sforzini (bassoon). meiuqeR: A Tragedy in Reverse – World Premiere Book & Lyrics by Dewey Davis-Thompson Music by Chris Romeo Starring Chris Romeo (voice/guitar) and …
Andrew Meacham writes Il Trovatore opens with foreboding and menace as a Spanish military officer lays the groundwork for revenge. Musically and in tone, the table is set: This will be dark. The opera by Giuseppe Verdi premiered in Rome in 1853, sandwiched between Rigoletto and La Traviata, and is considered one of the composer’s …
Il trovatore is the second of the great trio of mature, middle-period Verdi masterpieces which cemented Verdi’s reputation as the greatest Italian composer of his time. Preceded by Rigoletto and followed by La traviata, this opera demonstrated Verdi’s ability to find the perfect melody to express a character’s emotional state. In Il trovatore the characters …
Part 1 The Duel Scene 1: The guardroom of the Palace of Aliaferia. Late at night. Ferrando, Captain of Count di Luna’s guards, warns his men to stay alert for signs of a mysterious troubadour who has been singing below the window of the Count’s fiancée. They ask him to tell the story of …
