Amazon opera sure to click with audience
Daniel Catán’s spellbinding, magical masterpiece, “Florencia en el Amazonas,” will be broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera stage to the big screen at the Newport Performing Arts Center this Saturday, Dec. 9.
Inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, the enchanting story follows a Brazilian opera diva who returns to her homeland to perform at the legendary opera house of Manaus and to search for her lost lover, who has vanished into the jungle.
A riverboat wends its way along the Amazon River. On board is renowned vocalist Florencia Grimaldi, who has embarked on a desperate, clandestine mission in search of her long-lost, butterfly-hunting lover, Cristóbal. Also on board are a middle-aged couple who bicker incessantly, the writer of Florencia's biography and a mysterious figure who somehow seems to know everyone on board. Through storms, losses, a man overboard and the threat of cholera, a mysterious journey unfolds.
Poignant and evocative, Florencia's long-awaited Metropolitan Opera premiere marks the first Spanish-language opera at the Met in nearly 100 years. It’s also the first opera at the Met by a Mexican composer, Catán, whose librettist, Marcela Fuentes-Berain, also hails from Mexico City.
Mexican-American soprano Ailyn Pérez, who grew up in Chicago the daughter of Mexican immigrants, stars in the title role, trading in the usual operatic Italian and French for the Spanish she speaks fluently. The set designer for Mary Zimmerman’s visual feast of a production is the Havana-born, Buenos Aires-raised Riccardo Hernández, in his Met debut. A distinguished ensemble of artists portrays the diva’s fellow travelers, including soprano Gabriella Reyes, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, baritone Mattia Olivieri and tenor Mario Chang.
The production will be broadcast live with English subtitles. Run time is approximately 2 hours and 15 mins, with one intermission.
“Florencia” will begin at 10 am at the Newport Performing Arts Center, located at 777 W Olive Street. Tickets range from $15.50 to $25.75. For more information, go to coastarts.org or call 541-265-2787.