Weekend Preview (2/3-5) – USA: Phoenix Ends Run of ‘Madama Butterfly’ As LA & Chicago Give Single Performances of Classics

By David Salazar

It won’t be a busy opera weekend around the United States, but there are notable companies showcasing major productions throughout the country.

The Arizona Opera’s run of “Madama Butterfly” gets its final three performances in Phoenix on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Florida Grand Opera will also continue its run of “Eugene Onegin” on Friday and Saturday, the latter performance taking place in Miami.

“The Abduction from the Seraglio” will get a presentation on Feb. 4 with the Los Angeles Opera while the Lyric Opera of Chicago gives just one performance of “Norma” this weekend on Sunday. That run will continue to see Sondra Radvonovsky in a towering role that by her own admission has “changed her life.

The Metropolitan Opera will showcase three operatic classics on its calendar. Audiences will get to see Bizet’s “Carmen” on Friday starting Clementine Margaine.

Saturday’s matinee performance of “Rigoletto” stars Olga Peretyatko, Stephen Costello, Andrea Mastroni and Željko Lučić in the title role.

The evening showcase will be Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” starring Pretty Yende. Regarding Yende’s performance, OperaWire wrote, “Her voice, big and sweet, has a fresh tone and a flexibility that allows her to not only climb the octave scale so easily but to move around the stage. But if you think this is just for pure effect, each florid run was carefully timed for the drama.”

Categories

News