Il corsaro
2004 Sarasota Opera Production
March 6, 9, 11, 14m, 17, 21m, 27m
Tragic Melodramma In Three Acts, Sung In Italian
Poetry By Francesco Maria Piave
Based On The Poem The Corsair By Lord Byron
Conductor
Victor DeRenzi
Stage Director
Nathaniel Merchant
Scenic Designer
Troy Hourie
Costume Designer
Howard Tsvi Kaplan
Lighting Designer
Jeff Davis
Wigs And Make-Up Designer
Georgianna Eberhard
Chorus Master
Roger L. Bingaman
Assistant Conductors
Daniele Piattelli
Fight Director
Brian Robertson
Surtitle Supplier
Words For Music
Surtitle Translator
Victor DeRenzi
New Production Created By Sarasota Opera
Cast
Corrado, captain of the corsairs
Gabriel González
Giovanni, a corsair
Justin Petersen*
Medora, Corrado's young lover
Dara Rahming*
Gulnara, Seid's favorite slave
Barbara Quintiliani
Seid, Pasha of Coron
Joshua Benaim
Selimo, an Aga
Mark T. Panuccio*
Eunuch
Toffer Mihalka**
A Slave
Andrew Bidlack**
* Studio Artist
* Apprentice Artist
Sarasota Opera Orchestra
Chorus: Sarasota Opera Apprentice And Studio Artists
Reviews
“Sarasota Opera has proven it is capable of world-class quality, and its audiences are coming to expect the best.”
—Gayle Williams, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“Strong, idiomatic conducting by Sarasota’s artistic director Victor DeRenzi is the bedrock of Sarasota’s Verdi, and this Corsaro did not disappoint.”
—George Loomis, Financial Times
“Where else outside of Italy could you experience Oberto, Alzira, and Il Corsaro?”
—John Fleming, St. Petersburg Times
“The company’s artistic director and guiding light was at his finest, drawing such committed and combustible playing from the Sarasota Opera Orchestra that one almost forgot this was a minor Verdi score.”
—Lawrence A. Johnson, Sun-Sentinel
“Il Corsaro played to capacity for seven performances in the 1,000-seat opera house. Such support is the envy of regional companies that have trouble attracting an audience for anything but favorites such as La Bohème and Carmen.”
—Opera News
“The Sarasota production … makes one realise that the opera is entirely worthy of being restored to the standard Verdi repertory.”
—Tom Rosenthal, Opera Now
(Photos: Deb Hesser / Sarasota Opera)