Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/251767
Following the critical success of last fall's pro- duction of Die Fledermaus, Sarasota Opera will open its 2014 Winter Festival Season on Saturday, Feb. 8, "marking the company's 55th consecutive season of bringing grand opera to the Florida gulf coast," the Opera has announced. The season will include the return of some of Sarasota Opera's most acclaimed produc- tions, as well as the Sarasota Opera premiere of Verdi's Jérusalem — part of the ongoing Verdi Cycle, a news release points out. "This will be a season of celebration," says Executive Director Richard Russell in the release. "Not only will Sarasota Opera be marking the company's 55th consecutive season, we will continue our commemoration of the anniversaries of the birth of three of opera's most significant composers through our programming: Wagner, Britten and, of course, Verdi." The Winter Festival Season will open with a new production of Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi, thanks to the vision of Scenic Designer Michael Schweikardt (Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vanessa). "Not seen in Sarasota since 1993 (Sarasota Opera per- formed the French version, Le Trouvère, in 2002), Il Trovatore tells the story of a trou- badour's quest for love, a soldier's lust and a mother's undying thirst for vengeance," the release explains. SARASOTA OPERA'S WINTER FESTIVAL SEASON TO OPEN ON FEB. 8 An 1847 press illustration engraved by Henry Valentin features the final scene of Act 3 of Jérusalem. The opera will make its Sarasota debut in March. Image from Wikimedia Commons Sarasota News Leader January 31, 2014 Page 113