Sarasota Opera to Present Final Performances Of Its 2024 Winter Opera Festival

The Sarasota Opera 2024 Winter Opera Festival is in its final weeks of performances. Productions of the ever-popular Carmen by Georges Bizet, the Bel Canto tragedy Lucia di Lammermoor, and the fiery drama of Verdi's Luisa Miller have been praised by critics and audiences alike. The final opera of the season, the rarely heard comedy by Joseph Haydn Deceit Outwitted (L'infedeltà delusa) opens on March 15 with just five performances. All performances take place at the historic Sarasota Opera House called “one America's finest venues for opera” by Musical America. 

The response to the 2024 Winter Opera Festival has been overwhelming. Bizet's popular opera Carmen has been an audience favorite with most performances nearly sold-out. Gayle Williams in The Observer commented that “with stellar actors in the principal roles, a dazzling orchestra with an even more dazzling score, a robust chorus, realistic sets and the vision of both stage director Martha Collins and conductor Victor DeRenzi, this is a ‘Carmen' that will tear at your heart in the best way.” Additional performances of Carmen are on March 17 and March 23 at 7:30 p.m. and March 19 at 1:30 p.m.

Audiences have been mesmerized by soprano Ashley Milanese's tour-de-force performance in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. According to Williams in The Observer “Milanese had the audience hanging on her every note, unable to look away, as she leapt from one extreme to another” in the famous Mad Scene.  Remaining performances will take place on March 16 and March 23 at 7:30 p.m.

As the only company to have produced all of the composer Giuseppe Verdi's works, Sarasota Opera has become “Verdi's American Home.” This season's production of Luisa Miller features an incredible cast of exciting singers including soprano Aviva Fortunata in the title role, company favorite Rafael Dávila as Rodolfo, baritone Ricardo José Rivera, who wowed audiences in last season's Ernani, as Miller and rising Ukrainian bass Vladyslav Buialsky in his company debut as Count Walter. Under Victor DeRenzi's masterful baton, theses artists bring the drama of this beautiful work to life. Additional performances are on March 14 and March 20 at 7:30 p.m. and March 16 and March 24 at 1:30 p.m.

Joseph Haydn's Deceit Outwitted (L'infedeltà delusa) the final opera of the Winter Opera Festival opens on March 15 at 7:30 p.m. with additional performances on March 19 and March 21 at 7:30 p.m. and March 17 and 23 at 1:30 p.m. This delightful comedy is a Sarasota Opera premiere and has not been seen in a fully-staged professional production in the U.S. since 1971. Haydn is well known for his symphonies, chamber music, and oratorio, but his charming comic operas are a lesser known facet of his composing genius.

Ticket Information

Remaining tickets can be purchased online at SarasotaOpera.org, by phone at (941) 328-1300, and at the Sarasota Opera Box Office. at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.

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