Sarasota Opera Announces 2021-2022 Season

June 7, 2021 – Sarasota

Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi and General Director Richard Russell are pleased to announce the 2021-2022 Season. Inspired by the enthusiastic audience response to the early Rossini works performed this past winter and spring season, Sarasota Opera will present The Silken Ladder (La scala di seta) for the 2021 Fall Season in November. The 2022 Winter Season will see the return of grand opera, with the four works originally planned for 2021, including Puccini’s Tosca, Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, and Verdi’s Attila. 

The 2021-22 Season will also mark the 40^th season of Victor DeRenzi as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. Special events will celebrate Maestro DeRenzi’s achievements throughout the season.

General Director Richard Russell stated, “The community has been so generous with support over the past year, and we wanted to show our appreciation by making a return to ‘normal’ as soon as possible.” Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi added, “We are very much looking forward to having the community gathered in the theater again and enjoying live opera together.”

2021 Fall Season

The fall season will open on Friday, October 29, 2021 with Gioachino Rossini’sThe Silken Ladder (La scala di seta). This spirited one act comedy begins with a well-known overture, and goes on to spin a seductive story of a secret husband and would-be lovers who scale a silken ladder into and out of a lady’s room. Six performances: October 29, 31, November 3, 9, 11, 13, 2021.

Although the Sarasota Youth Opera will be returning to in-person rehearsals this fall, it is not feasible to mount a Sarasota Youth Opera production, which usually takes place in November. Instead, the Youth Opera will give a concert jointly with the Sarasota Opera Apprentice Artists and the Sarasota Opera Orchestra during the Winter Festival on March 20, 2022 at 7:30 pm.

2022 Winter Opera Festival

The 2022 Winter Opera Festival will open on Saturday, February 12, with Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. Set in Rome, a diva’s jealousy plays into the hands of the lecherous chief of police, Baron Scarpia. An escaped political prisoner seeks the help of his friend, the painter Mario Cavaradossi, the lover of the famous diva Floria Tosca. In an attempt to recapture the fugitive, Scarpia plants a seed of suspicion in Tosca and sets a dreadful trap. Eight performances: February 12, 16, 20, 22, 24, 27 and March 11, 19, 2022. Tosca was last seen in 2015.

The Daughter of the Regiment (La fille du régiment) by Gaetano Donizetti. Love for Marie, a girl raised by a French regiment, will lead the young Tonio to unexpected lengths in this colorful comedy set in the Tyrol during the Napoleonic Wars. Seven performances: February 19, 23, 26 and March 1, 3, 6, 18, 2022. The Daughter of the Regiment was last seen in Sarasota in 1987.

The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) by Georges Bizet. Set in legendary Ceylon, longtime friends Nadir and Zurga are reunited. Their friendship faltered when they shared the same forbidden love for the priestess Leila—a love they swore to renounce. Six performances: March 5, 8, 10, 13, 16, 19, 2022. The Pearl Fishers was last seen in 2013.

Attila by Giuseppe Verdi. Attila the Hun has conquered most of Western Europe and is about to take Rome itself, but is brought to his knees by his love for a female warrior, Odabella. Five performances: March 12, 15, 17, 20, 22, 2022.Attila was last seen in 2007.

Special Events, Concerts, and Talks

The Apprentice and Studio Artists Concerts will be returning, along with public tours of the Opera House, “Meet the Artists” talks, and other events to be announced in August. 

Ticket Information

Subscriptions for the 2021-2022 Season will be available for renewal June 14, 2021 online at SarasotaOpera.org, by phone at (941) 328-1300, via email atBoxOffice@SarasotaOpera.org and at the Sarasota Opera Box Office.Subscription purchases completed before July 16, 2021 will receive a special early subscriber discount of 15%. Single tickets for the 2021-2022 season will go on sale on September 1, 2021 online and at the Sarasota Opera Box Office, located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.