HOUSTON GRAND OPERA
www.houstongrandopera.org
510 Preston Street Houston, Texas 77002 - 1594
Phone 713-546-0200

David Gockley, General Director

MAGIC REALISM—PINK RAIN AND METAMORPHOSIS

FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS

Houston Grand Opera Brings Back this Immensely Popular Spanish-Language Opera Inspired by the Writings of Gabriel García Márquez

THE STORY (Click here for the story and more pictures of FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS)

HOUSTON, TX – Houston Grand Opera concludes its 2000-2001 mainstage season with a revival of its most popular world premiere to date, Florencia en el Amazonas. Inspired by the writings of Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez, the libretto is by Mexican screenwriter Marcela Fuentes-Berain, a García Márquez protégé whom the author handpicked for the project. The beautifully lush score by composer Daniel Catán recreates the sounds and textures of a South American rainforest as a boat full of passengers travels down the Amazon. The river holds magic, mystery and transformation as each voyager searches for his or her own inner meaning.

Acclaimed soprano Patricia Schuman makes her HGO mainstage debut as the legendary diva Florencia Grimaldi, who hopes for a reunion with her long-lost love when the riverboat arrives at the fabled opera house in Manaus. Her fellow travelers include soprano Ana Maria Martinez and tenor Chad Shelton, both former artists of Houston Grand Opera Studio, as young idealists experiencing the highs of first love. Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán and baritone Hector Vasquez return to roles they created in the 1996 world premiere production—a married couple choking on the aftertaste of love grown bitter. Houston Grand Opera Studio bass Oren Gradus plays the boat's Capitán and bass-baritone Mark S. Doss (this season's Escamillo in Carmen) is the spirit of the river, Riolobo.


Acclaimed soprano Patricia Schuman makes her HGO mainstage debut as the legendary diva Florencia Grimaldi, who hopes for a reunion with her long-lost love when the riverboat arrives atthe fabled opera house in Manaus. FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS Opens on Saturday April 28th with further performances through May 13th, 2001 at the Wortham Center's Brown Theater, Texas at Smith, Houston, TX. Photo by Ken Howard for the Houston Grand Opera.



HGO Music Director Patrick Summers leads the cast and the HGO Orchestra and Chorus. Florencia en el Amazonas is a Francesca Zambello production remounted by Andrew Morton and features sets by Robert Israel, costumes by Catherine Zuber and lighting by Paul Pyant. Angela Scimonelli makes her HGO debut as choreographer and Richard Bado prepares the HGO Chorus.

Florencia en el Amazonas opens on Saturday, April 28, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. Further performances are on May 2, 4, 6m, 8, 11 and 13m at 7:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Please note that the performance on May 11 has a special curtain time of 8:00 p.m. Tickets are now on sale.

About the opera:

Florencia en el Amazonas is the first Spanish-language opera from a Mexican composer to be commissioned by a major U.S. opera company. The work is a lushly scored, lyrical opera conceived by composer Daniel Catán as an homage to Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, one of the world's most popular and respected novelists. Florencia en el Amazonas is not based on a particular work, but Catán borrowed themes and ideas from García Marquez’s writing, particularly from his novel Love in the Time of Cholera, a story of unrequited love. The cinematic score is replete with exotic sounds suggestive of the Amazonian journey, exploiting instruments such as the marimba and the djembé (a type of drum). The world premiere production at Houston Grand Opera in 1996 generated a buzz within the community that resulted in packed houses of multicultural audiences from high school students to senior citizens. Subsequent stagings of this production in Los Angeles, Seattle and Mexico City continued to captivate audiences.
About the artists:

A longtime admirer of the writings of Gabriel García Márquez, Patricia Schuman is making her Houston Grand Opera mainstage debut in the title role of Florencia en el Amazonas. The American soprano of Nicaraguan heritage began her professional career as a mezzo-soprano, singing with San Francisco Opera and Texas Opera Theater (Houston Grand Opera's former touring company), but soon took up the soprano repertoire upon the advice of Marilyn Horne. As a soprano, Ms. Schuman has appeared in starring roles on the world's leading opera stages: La Scala (Il Viaggio a Reims, Idomeneo); the Metropolitan Opera (Don Giovanni, Philip Glass's The Voyage); the Salzburg Festival (La Clemenza di Tito); Royal Opera, Covent Garden (Don Giovanni, Falstaff); Rome Opera (Dialogues des Carmélites), Cologne Opera (Falstaff); Glyndebourne Festival (La Clemenza di Tito); Edinburgh Festival (Genoveva) and many others.

Through her concert and operatic performances, Ana Maria Martinez (Rosalba) has become one of the world's most sought-after young sopranos. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ms. Martinez appeared at HGO at the very beginning of her career, debuting in 1994 as Micaela in Carmen while a member of HGO Studio. She was most recently seen at HGO last winter as Adina in The Elixir of Love. Ms. Martinez has established a close relationship with the Vienna State Opera, where her roles have included Adina, Mimi in La Bohème, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Micaela in Carmen. She has also performed leading lyric roles with Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, Stuttgart Opera, Seattle Opera, Florence's Teatro Communale, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. Concert tours have taken her through Canada, Germany, Spain and the Middle East with Plácido Domingo and throughout the United States with Andrea Bocelli. Recent CD releases include the world premiere recording of Albinez's Merlin and Bakalov's Misa Tango—both partnered by Plácido Domingo.

American mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán returns to HGO to sing Paula, a role she created in the 1996 world premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas. Her "devastatingly sexy" (Time Magazine) portrayal of Carmen in HGO's revolutionary 1998 Multimedia Modular Stage production will be reprised for outdoor performances of Carmen in Houston and Philadelphia this June. Ms. Guzmán sings regularly with Washington Opera and Los Angeles Opera where her credits include the nationally televised production of El Gato Montes and Tancredi, the opera in which she also made her 1990 European debut in Geneva. Ms. Guzmán debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in performances of La Traviata and Rigoletto. HGO appearances include Saint Teresa II in Robert Wilson's production of Four Saints in Three Acts in 1996, which toured to New York and Edinburgh. Ms. Guzmán has been honored by NBC as a role model to the Latino community, and she won Los Angeles Music Center's first Plácido Domingo Award and the Viva Award for outstanding classical musician.

American tenor Chad Shelton (Arcadio) is rapidly coming to the attention of opera companies worldwide. An alumnus of the HGO Studio, Mr. Shelton's roles with HGO include Laurie in the world premiere and last season's revival of Mark Adamo's Little Women, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Nemorino in The Elixir of Love, and Ferrando in the alternate-cast performance of Così fan tutte. "Heroically saving the evening" (Houston Chronicle) on opening night of Billy Budd, he filled the role of Captain Vere as an emergency replacement. Mr. Shelton has appeared as Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in Baton Rouge, and Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress for Wolf Trap Opera. In 2000, he made his international opera debut as Belmonte in Die Entfürung aus dem Serail at the Australian Opera.

Baritone Hector Vasquez returns to HGO to sing Alvaro, a role he created in the 1996 world premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas. Mr. Vasquez made his HGO debut earlier in 1996 as Schaunard in La Bohème. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1995 as Beaumarchais in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles and has subsequently appeared at the Met in Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, Capriccio, Khovanshchina, La Traviata, The Merry Widow, Carmen and The Tales of Hoffmann. He is a frequent artist with San Francisco Opera and has also appeared at Boston Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera and Seattle Opera. Mr. Vasquez has toured throughout the Pacific Rim in Carmen and La Bohème, including performances in Tokyo and Osaka. He makes his European debut this summer as Germont in La Traviata with Opera en Plein Air in Belgium.

Bass-baritone Mark S. Doss (Riolobo) has established himself as one of the world's most diversified artists in the opera and concert repertoire. He appeared at HGO last fall as Escamillo in Carmen. Last season, he appeared as Amonasro in four of HGO's performances of Aida and sang Escamillo for Lyric Opera of Chicago. Recent engagements include Verdi's Attila with Washington Concert Opera, Cinque in the world premiere of Amistad at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ferrando in New Orleans Opera's Il Trovatore, Amonasro in Minnesota Opera's Aida, Scarpia in Cleveland Opera's Tosca, Friar Laurence in San Diego Opera's Romeo et Juliette, and a Gershwin concert in Istanbul, Turkey. Mr. Doss is a 1993 Grammy Award Winner for his participation in the recording of Handel's Semele conducted by John Nelson.

American bass Oren Gradus (Capitán) is a second year artist with Houston Grand Opera Studio. At HGO he has appeared as Zuniga in Carmen, Seneca in The Coronation of Poppea, the King of Egypt in Aida, the High Priest in Nabucco, Dr. Lomax in Cold Sassy Tree and Don Alfonso in the alternate-cast performance of Così fan tutte. In the summer of 2000, he sang Colline in La Bohème at Glimmerglass Opera. Mr. Gradus is an alumnus of the Pittsburgh Opera Center where he sang Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, and Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti ed i Montecchi. He has also performed with Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv and San Francisco Opera's Merola Program.

Mexican composer Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas premiered in 1996 at Houston Grand Opera, followed by successes at Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera and Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. His opera Rappaccini's Daughter, with text by Octavio Paz, premiered in Mexico City in 1991 and received its U.S. premiere at the San Diego Opera in 1994. Among his other compositions are a Cantata with text by Saint John of the Cross; the ballet Ausencia de flores; Tierra final with text by Jorge Ruiz Dueñas; Mariposa de obsidiana; and En arbol de la vida and En un doblez del tiempo for symphony orchestra. Mr. Catán is a widely published author on music and the arts. He received the Plácido Domingo Award in 1997 for his contribution to opera and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000.

Librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain has written for the press, radio, television, movies and theater as a storyline and script writer. Nominated for two Ariel awards (best original screenplay/movie script) in 1995 by the Mexican Film Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has authored the films Hasta Morir (Until Death, 1994, first choice by popular vote in Mexico City and Guadalajara, second place at Spain's Huelva Festival); Las Esposas Felices se Suicdan a las Seis (Content Wives Commit Suicide at Six, 1994), co-written with Gabriel García Márquez; and Ciudad de Ciegos (City of the Blind, 1991), co-written with José Agustín and Paz Alicia Garcíadiego. She has also written scripts for various theater works and television serial dramas.

Conductor Patrick Summers, music director of Houston Grand Opera, most recently led performances of Mozart's Così fan tutte to great acclaim at both HGO and the Metropolitan Opera. Maestro Summers is known for his diverse operatic experience and enthusiasm for a wide range of works including period scores, bel canto, late romantic opera and contemporary music. In addition to two HGO world premieres—Cold Sassy Tree (2000) and Resurrection (1999), he has led HGO productions of La Traviata, The Elixir of Love, Little Women, Nabucco, and leads Don Carlo this spring. Maestro Summers is principal guest conductor of San Francisco Opera, where he has conducted a vast repertoire since 1989 ranging from Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea to Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. He also enjoys a close association with Opera Australia in Sydney. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in December 1998 conducting Die Fledermaus. Maestro Summers leads the Orchestra of St. Luke's in a recording of bel canto arias featuring soprano Renée Fleming to be released later this year.

Acclaimed soprano Patricia Schuman makes her HGO mainstage debut as the legendary diva Florencia Grimaldi, who hopes for a reunion with her long-lost love when the riverboat arrives atthe fabled opera house in Manaus. FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS Opens on Saturday April 28th with further performances through May 13th, 2001 at the Wortham Center's Brown Theater, Texas at Smith, Houston, TX. Photo by Ken Howard for the Houston Grand Opera.



Producer Francesca Zambello made her professional directing debut with HGO in 1984 with Fidelio. Zambello has staged a wide range of works for the leading opera companies and festivals in Europe and North America, including the Olivier Award-winning productions of Khovanshchina at English National Opera and Billy Budd and Paul Bunyan at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Her Paul Bunyan also received the Evening Standard Award for Best Opera Production, and when Billy Budd was produced at the Opéra Bastille, it won the Grand Prix palmarès de la critique. Recent projects have taken her to the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan, Opéra Bastille, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera and English National Opera. She has directed nearly a dozen productions for HGO, including Prince Igor earlier this season.

A designer of world renown, Robert Israel has designed sets and costumes for more than sixty productions in opera houses worldwide. For HGO he designed sets and costumes for Philip Glass's Akhnaten (1984) and sets for Florencia en el Amazonas (1996). Other highlights of his career include Katya Kabanova for Metropolitan Opera; productions of Aida and a full Ring cycle for Seattle Opera; collaborations with Philip Glass on The Voyage, Satyagraha, Akhnaten, and Orphée; productions of The Fiery Angel, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Don Giovanni, and The Capulets and the Montagues for Los Angeles Opera, The Magic Flute for the Glimmerglass Festival and National Opera of Canada; and Alice in Wonderland for the Royal National Theatre in London. Mr. Israel's work has been exhibited at numerous museums and galleries.

Catherine Zuber, principal costume designer of American Repertory Theater, has created the costumes for nearly fifty of that company's productions. Ms. Zuber's credits include work at the nation's most prestigious theatrical venues. Broadway credits include The Triumph of Love (Connecticut Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk nomination), Ivanov (Drama Desk nomination), The Sound of Music, Twelfth Night, The Red Shoes, London Assurance, The Rose Tattoo and Philadelphia Here I Come. For HGO, she has designed costumes for Annie Get Your Gun (1992), Florencia en el Amazonas (1996) and Salome (1997). Ms. Zuber was the recipient of the 1997 Obie Award for sustained achievement in design.

Lighting designer Paul Pyant's credits encompass opera, theater and ballet. For HGO he designed lighting for the world premiere of Sir Michael Tippett's New Year (1999), Tosca (1996), the world premiere of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas (1996), The Flying Dutchman (1998) and The Elixir of Love (2000). Recent operatic credits include productions for the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, La Scala, Glyndebourne Opera, English National Opera and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. His theater awards include a Tony nomination for Best Lighting for Arcadia and a Critics Circle Award nomination for Carousel.

All performances of Florencia en el Amazonas are held in the Wortham Center's Brown Theater, Texas at Smith. Florencia en el Amazonas is sung in Spanish with English surtitles—English translations projected over the stage.

The Southwestern Bell Pre-Curtain Lecture Series takes place thirty minutes before each performance. Guest speakers present a twenty-minute informal lecture on the sixth floor of the Grand Foyer. These lectures, free and open to all ticket holders, are intended to enhance the audience's enjoyment by preparing them for the production they are about to attend.

The Wortham Theater Center features easy wheelchair access to both theaters, with a choice of seating locations and ticket prices. An infrared listening system, generously underwritten by Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, is available and free of charge at all performances. Please call HGO Subscriptions at (713) 546-0246 or 1 (800) 346-4462 for details. Descriptive services for persons with vision loss are available with 48-hour advance reservations. Please call HGO Education and Outreach at (713) 546-0708 for details.

Single tickets for Florencia en el Amazonas, priced from $22 to $200, are now on sale. Tickets are available by telephone at (713) 227-ARTS, out of town at 1(800) 828-ARTS, in person at the Wortham Ticket Center located in the lobby of the Wortham Theater Center, or on the website at http://www.houstongrandopera.org. Ticket prices include all city surcharges.

Student and senior citizen rush tickets are $10 and $25 (depending on seat location - one ticket per ID) and go on sale 90 minutes before curtain time on the day of performance, subject to availability. To check availability, please call (713) 227-ARTS or 1 (800) 828-ARTS the day of the performance. For weekend performances call the Friday before the performance to check availability.

Call Houston Grand Opera at (713) 546-0200, during business hours, for general information.


The Guarantors for Florencia en el Amazonas are The Kinder Foundation and
The Bill and Sara Morgan Family Foundation, Shell Oil Company Foundation,
and the Nelda and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

Commissioned in part through a grant from Drs. Dennis and Susan Carlyle.

Florencia en el Amazonas is an Opera New World production. Opera New World is sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc.

Since its inception in 1955, Houston Grand Opera has swiftly moved from a small regional organization into one of the largest and most prestigious opera companies in the United States. With David Gockley as its general director, HGO has widened its circles, both in repertoire and in reach. The company has an international reputation for commissioning and producing new works (25 world premieres and six American premieres since 1973) as well as a reputation for reaching out to new audiences. HGO has toured extensively, including trips to Japan, Italy, Egypt and France, and the company is the only one in the United States to win a Tony, two Grammys and two Emmy awards. HGO has an eye on the future of opera too, launching not only the acclaimed Houston Grand Opera Studio (a program designed to train young singers for major careers) but also the Community Connections Initiative (a multi-pronged program aimed at educating and developing new audiences). For its 2000-2001 season, Houston Grand Opera’s budget exceeds $20 million.

Performance Summary

All performances of Houston Grand Opera’s production of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas are held in the Wortham Center’s Brown Theater, Texas at Smith, Houston, TX.

Sung in Spanish with English surtitles.

Performance Dates

Saturday, April 28, 2001 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 2, 2001 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 4, 2001 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 6, 2001 at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 8, 2001 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 11, 2001 at 8:00 p.m.*
Sunday, May 13, 2001 at 2:00 p.m.

* Please note later curtain time.



Ticket Information:

Single tickets for Florencia en el Amazonas priced from $22 to $200 (inclusive of all city surcharges) are now on sale.
Single tickets are available by telephone at (713) 227-ARTS, out-of-town at 1 (800) 828-ARTS, in person at the Wortham Ticket Center located in the lobby of the Wortham Theater Center, or on the website at http://www.houstongrandopera.org.
Call (713) 546-0200 during regular business hours for general information.
Student and senior citizen rush tickets are $10 and $25 (depending on seat location - one ticket per ID) and go on sale 90 minutes before curtain time on the day of performance, subject to availability. To check availability, please call (713) 227-ARTS or 1 (800) 828-ARTS the day of the performance. For weekend performances call the Friday before the performance to check availability.
Disabled access: (713) 546-0246 or 1-800-346-4462; TDD: (713) 546-0246 or 1 (800) 346-4462; Descriptive Services: (713) 546-0230.