Announcements
Press Releases
Palm Beach Opera 2018-19 Mainstage Season Announcement
Palm Beach Opera has announced its 2018-2019 mainstage opera season, which will include performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, as well as a new concert, Rising Stars of Opera. All of Palm Beach Opera’s thrilling and elaborate productions will be performed in the Dreyfoos Concert…
2017-2018 Young Artist and Apprentice Artist Program Participants, and a New York City Concert
Palm Beach Opera is proud to announce the final roster of Benenson Young Artists and Apprentice Artists for the upcoming 2017- 2018 opera season, which includes nine returning artists and nine new participants. During the 2016-2017 season, Palm Beach Opera increased its commitment to training the next generation of artists, where young opera talent is…
Opera Announces Programs with The Lord’s Place
Palm Beach Opera is proud to announce a new collaboration with The Lord’s Place, a local leader aimed at eradicating homelessness in Palm Beach County. Palm Beach Opera will bring both its ANIMA program and Story Time Series to The Lord’s Place family campus in West Palm Beach this fall. Story Time Series makes opera…
Palm Beach Opera 2018 Season Announcement
Palm Beach Opera is thrilled to announce the 2018 mainstage opera season, which will include performances of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca January 26-28, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide February 23-25, and Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart March 23-25. All mainstage opera performances will take place at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.
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Madama Butterfly at the Kravis Center
Today, Madama Butterfly is one of the most adored stage shows in any opera company’s repertoire. Around the world, its appearance on a season schedule incites anticipation and excitement within the local arts community. But the immense popularity of this production nowadays is a stark contrast to its awkward beginnings on the original opening night over 100 years ago.
After the unqualified successes of La Bohème in 1896 and Tosca in 1900, the Milanese society at the famous La Scala opera house was expecting big things from the premier of Giacomo Puccini’s latest effort in 1904, Madama Butterfly.
The bubbly and glamorous Rosina Storchio, a crowd favorite, was cast as the lead soprano and she opened the show with an energetic prelude in her role as Cio-Cio-San. But instead of the anticipated uproar of applause and “bravas!” from the audience, there was only the deafening sound of silence. Crickets. A rare response, indeed, from the normally fervent La Scala crowd.
The rest of that night at the opera didn’t go much better. Puccini was distraught, to say the least. So much so that he cancelled the remaining shows in Milan, refunded the money he had been advanced, and took his musical score back to the proverbial drawing board.
Several months later, the revised version was relaunched in Brescia, led by Maestro Arturo Toscanini. This time the performance duly wowed the audience. More than wowed them, they were overcome by the emotion of the music and the passion of the singers’ voices. There were boisterous cheers, prolonged rounds of applause, and repeated calls for encores!
The precise reasons for the lukewarm opening night have never been adequately explained. Suffice to say, whatever issues that had cursed the premier performance have long since been worked out. According to OperaBase, Madama Butterfly was the #5 opera in the world for the 2014-2015 season; right behind another one of Puccini’s blockbusters, Tosca.