Opera Orlando Announces its 2018-2019 Season

Opera Orlando returns to the intimate setting of the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for part of their 2018-2019 season. Three productions comprise The Opera on the Main Stage series as the company presents its third season of fully staged operas. the company also will inaugurate its Opera on the Town series in 2018-2019, performances in various venues in Central Florida. Numerous special events also will be held.

"I think we have truly come of age in our current 2017-2018 season," said Gabriel Preisser, executive and artistic director of the company. "We've been able to add exciting concerts and operas outside of the Pugh to this season. Even still, the Dr. Phillips Center remains our 'homefield.' "

First up will be Jacques Offenbach's (1819-1880) magnum opus, The Tales of Hoffmann, first performed a year after the composer's death. The opera interweaves four interconnected stories derived from the works of romantic German author E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), who is the opera's lead character. Making her Opera Orlando debut as the four female heroines will be Cuban-born soprano Laura León. Bass-baritone Dennis Jesse, who was a principal in the company's 2016 production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale, will portray the four villains of the story. Also making his Opera Orlando debut will be Argentinian conductor Jorge Parodi. Opera Orlando's production will highlight the magic and fantasy of the story. The opera will be sung in its original French.

The Tales of Hoffmann will run for five performances, October 24-30, 2018.

In December, Opera Orlando will present Engelbert Humperdinck's (1854-1921) fairy-tale fantasy Hansel and Gretel, which premiered in 1893. Its beautiful score and charming characters have made this opera a holiday tradition, a distinction bolstered by it being the first complete Metropolitan Opera radio-broadcast performance on Christmas Day in 1931. The cast will include mezzo-soprano Sarah Purser as Hansel, soprano Jillian Marini as Gretel, soprano Samantha Barnes Daniel as the mother, baritone Craig Irvin as the father, and tenor Jess Muñoz as the witch. Marini will be making her main-stage company debut. Purser, Daniel and Irvin were principals in Opera Orlando's March 2018 production of Rossini's Cinderella, and Muñoz will be making his company debut. Opera Orlando's music director, Robin Jensen, will conduct, and the company's production manager, Grant Preisser will direct. This traditional production will be sung in English translation from its original German.

Hansel and Gretel will run for three performances, December 8-9, 2018, at the Dr. Phillips Center with additional performances on December 14 at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna.

Opera Orlando hits unchartered territory with the final offering of its Main Stage series with a premiere pairing of Ruggero Leoncavallo's (1857-1919) legendary one-act opera Pagliacci, which debuted in 1892, and Igor Stravinsky's (1882-1971) ballet with song, Pulcinella, which debuted in 1920. Both works garner inspiration from Italy's commedia dell'arte tradition. Pulcinella will include original choreography and professional dancers.

"We're going to mine an exceptional musical and theatrical experience for our audiences with this combination," said Preisser. "Pagliacci was a breakthrough work, a harbinger of the verismo movement in the late 19th century. It's an agonizing yet strangely beautiful work, relying on a story-within-a story structure. Pulcinella is about the most irreverent ballet ever conceived, filled with humor, slapstick, and irresistible tunes. We'll use theatrical, show-within-a-show devices to unify the two works."

Soprano Suzanne Kantorski will make her company debut as the betraying Nedda in Pagliacci and will sing the female role in Pulcinella. Both works will be conducted by Clinton Smith and will be directed by Octavio Cardenas, who are making their Opera Orlando debuts. All singing will be in the original Italian.

Pagliacci and Pulcinella will run for five performances, March 20-26, 2019.

Discounted season ticket packages for Opera on the Mainstage are now on sale by visiting the Dr. Phillips Center Box Office at 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando or by calling 844-513-2014. More details are available at www.operaorlando.org; info@operaorlando.org; or 407-512-1900. Single tickets for each opera will go on sale in August.

Opera Orlando: The 2018-2019 Season

Opera on the Main Stage

All performances in the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater at the

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach

October 24, 27, 28, and 31, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; October 29, 2018, at 2 p.m.

Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck

December 8, 2018, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; December 9, 2018, at 2 p.m.

Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo and Pulcinella by Igor Stravinsky

March 20, 22, 23, and 26, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.; March 24, 2019, at 2 p.m.