The Orlando Philharmonic, in collaboration with Mad Cow Theatre, proudly relaunches Opera in Central Florida with the concert opera presentation of …
PORGY & BESS
Friday, APRIL 9, 8:00 PM
Sunday, APRIL 11, 2:00 PM
Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
Christopher Wilkins, conductor • Alan Bruun, Artistic Director
Purchase PORGY & BESS Friday 8 PM | Puchase PORGY & BESS Sunday 2 PM | Friday Opera Subscription Series – 8 PM | Sunday Opera Subscription Series – 2 PM
Featuring
Marquita Lister, as Bess
Alvy Powell, as Porgy
Porgy & Bess, George Gershwin’s American masterpiece, tells the poignant story of a crippled beggar, the headstrong woman he loves and the community that sustains them both. This successful blend of classical music, popular song, jazz, blues and spirituals boasts the acclaimed songs “Summertime” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” The Philharmonic performs this opera in collaboration with the “Negro Spiritual” Scholarship Foundation.
For the past two decades, international opera sensation Marquita Lister has continued to earn worldwide critical praise for her intense and expressive operatic roles, as well as for her purity of tone and vocal versatility. In addition, her precise, intelligent technique and her determination to dare the utmost in each performance have garnered kudos from critics and colleagues alike, while audiences the world over relish her enormous dramatic capabilities.
Her impressive repertoire includes the works of Verdi, Puccini, Gershwin and Strauss. Her exquisite voice has been heard in the world’s most important opera houses, including San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, La Scala, Montreal Opera, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Opera Bastille Paris. And her on-stage partners have been world-renowned artists such as Placido Domingo, Justine Diaz, Frederica Von Stade, Marcello Giordani, Simon Estes and Sherrill Milnes. Click Here to read more about Marquita Lister.
Bass baritone Alvy Powell has won acclaim for his performances in the United States and abroad, both as a soloist with the U.S. Army Chorus and in independent vocal performances. He has become one of the world’s best-known interpreters of Gershwin’s Porgy and has performed major baritone roles inLe Nozze di Figaro, Madame Butterfly, La Bohème and other operas.
He debuted at Carnegie Hall as Joe in a concert production of Shoe Boat in 2008, and returned to the hall in January 2009 for a concert production of Porgy and Bess. Mr. Powell has performed the male lead in Porgy and Bess more than 1,200 times, including the PBS Live at Lincoln Center broadcast of the New York City Opera. “A triumph at La Scala, Alvy Powell is Porgy, a perfect interpreter,” exclaimed Il Giornale. The critic for Il Sole wrote that Mr. Powell’s Porgy was “was intense, human and vibrant.” He has sung the role with the major companies in San Francisco, in Cape Town, South Africa, in Sydney, Australia, and in Houston, where, USA Today commented that his Porgy was “incredibly magnetic” and the production’s “center of gravity.” He is featured in the Nashville Symphony’s recording of Porgy and Bess released on the Decca label. Mr. Powell made his film debut as Balthazar in the BBC production of Amahl and the Night Vistors. CLICK HERE to Read more about Alvy Powell.
Purchase PORGY & BESS Friday 8 PM | Puchase PORGY & BESS Sunday 2 PM | Friday Opera Subscription Series – 8 PM | Sunday Opera Subscription Series – 2 PM
(FEB 24, 2006) Listen as reporter Rebecca Bain, NPR “All Things Considered,” discusses Porgy & Bess – the way Gershwin intended (from his last revisions in 1935)– insight from Alvy Powell and Marquita Lister with conductor John Mauceri and the Nashville Symphony. Click Here
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