SEASON INCLUDES MASTERPIECES BY MOZART, HUMPERDINCK and VERDI
Tampa, Fla. ─ Opera Tampa proudly announces its 2024 season at the Straz Center featuring the work of Mozart, Humperdinck and Verdi.
Love and betrayal take centerstage as three grand opera classics anchor Opera Tampa’s 2024 mainstage season. From the ultimate scoundrel in Don Giovanni, a wicked witch luring children with sweetness in Hansel and Gretel and a great love sacrificed in La Traviata, Opera Tampa will hit all the high notes.
A hybrid of drama and music and visual spectacle, it’s for good reason that opera is known as the “Queen of the Performing Arts.” Opera Tampa’s 2024 season promises to be a sparkling jewel in the Queen’s crown as the transcendent music of these classic works washes over Straz Center audiences in a cascade of sound. As Stephanie Hayes of the Tampa Bay Times put it earlier this year after seeing a performance of the company’s Norma, “The emotions swell so large that the actors have no choice but to sing, as if a force has reached inside their bodies and retrieved the depths of human suffering, confusion, betrayal, hope and maniacal intrusive thoughts.”
“Our 2024 season lineup promises to thrill audiences with the grand composition and magnificent spectacle that only opera can deliver,” said Artistic Director Robin Stamper. “Veteran opera fans and curious novices alike will delight in the depth of human emotion brought into focus on our stage through this glorious music.”
The 2024 Opera Tampa season includes:
Mozart
DON GIOVANNI
Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024 at 2 p.m.
Ferguson Hall
The famed seducer, philanderer and man with no moral compass is headed for a tragic downfall in this comedic masterpiece filed with glamour, power, romantic intrigue and tragedy. Amadeus Mozart’s wonderfully tuned music is part of the lure along with the spell cast by our lothario who moves from conquest to conquest, with some murder on the side, until his last seduction is thwarted and severely punished. The final act contains the famed composer’s most innovative and alarming music while librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte helped devise a protagonist who is overwhelmingly handsome yet profoundly loathsome. George Bernard Shaw observed that Don Giovanni is the greatest of all opera and singled it out for “its uncommon share of wisdom, beauty and humor” – maybe you’ll agree.
Humperdinck
HANSEL AND GRETEL
Friday, March 8, 2024, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 10, 2024, at 2 p.m.
Ferguson Hall
Follow the breadcrumbs to composer Engelbert Humperdinck’s re-telling of the popular Brothers Grimm fairytale, that features a libretto by Adelheid Wette. Steeped in the world of folk songs, including dances, idyllic forest scenes and supernatural goings on, the opera is rooted in German traditional music. It’s proven so popular, especially as the perfect first opera for children, Hansel and Gretel has never not been performed since its 1893 creation. You’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat as you root for the young duo who find an irresistible gingerbread house inhabited by a witch who sees the lost children as tasty treats. This presentation, which includes Patel Conservatory vocal students and dancers from the Patel Conservatory Youth Ballet, is a family-friendly adventure filled with sweet melodies, mystery and magic.
Verdi
LA TRAVIATA
Friday, April 19, 2024, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 21, 2024, at 2 p.m.
Ferguson Hall
The world’s most performed opera is Verdi’s twisted love story of familial strife that explores class, reputation and hopeless devotion with heartbreaking consequences. Inspired by Alexander Dumas’ novel La Dame aux Camelias (The Lady of Camelias), it’s the tragic story of Paris courtesan Violetta Valery, ill with a fatal disease, who is consumed by the love she finds with nobleman Alfredo. When their love threatens to bring shame on Alfredo’s family, an act of self-sacrifice brings an end to the couple’s happiness. Known for its soaring arias, including the well-known “Sempre libera,” and heart-wrenching finale, this production will have you contemplating “how much would you sacrifice for love?”
Casts, conductors and other creative team members for the 2024 Opera Tampa season
will be announced at a later date.
In addition to the three mainstage performances, the Opera Tampa season also incorporates a variety of special events including performances by the Opera Tampa Singers, pre- and post-performance receptions and the elegant Opera Tampa Grand Gala, which is scheduled for Saturday, March 2, 2024. Information on these programs, including dates, times, prices, etc. will be announced later.
OPERA EDUCATION and COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Opera Tampa provides meaningful arts education and community engagement experiences for children and adults throughout the year.
During the last decade, the Opera Tampa Singers have engaged more than 70,000 students, teachers, families and seniors in the joy of opera at more than 300 locations throughout the Tampa Bay region. This comprehensive outreach program includes school assemblies, pop-up performances, artist residencies and so much more.
And every year, hundreds of students – many experiencing opera for the first time – attend dress rehearsals of Opera Tampa mainstage productions. From sound check to orchestra tuning to lights down, they get a peek behind the curtain as the productions unfold before their eyes.
Current Opera Tampa season ticket holders will receive renewal invoices the week of April 24 and must renew by June 9 to guarantee their seats. Patrons also can sign up now to become new season ticket holders. Prices for the three-show season package range from $90 to $349.59. For more information, call the Straz Center Ticket Sales Office at 813.229.STAR (7827) or outside the Tampa Bay area at 800.955.1045 or visit www.strazcenter.org. Individual opera tickets will go on sale Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.
For more information about Opera Tampa and its upcoming events, please visit www.operatampa.org
Thank you to our Opera Tampa season sponsors and donors. Their unwavering support keeps opera alive and vibrant. Click here to see the complete list of Opera Tampa donors.
Events, days, dates, times, performers and prices are subject to change without notice.
The David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts and its programs are funded in part by the City of Tampa; the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners; the Tourist Development Council/Hillsborough County; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Cultural and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.