Beach by day opera by night

Sarasota Opera, Florida, celebrates its 52^nd season this year and will feature a string of operatic heroines, including a few feisty divas.

Mixing classic works with less well-known modern repertoires, the opera company season includes favourites like Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which will open the 2011 performances in October. During 2012, opera lovers will also be able to see Donizetti’s tragic Lucia di Lammermoor, as well as admiring the multimillion dollar renovation of the building which dates back to 1926 and is now one of North America’s Historic Places.

The Sarasota Opera House is the perfect place for opera novices as well. On a smaller scale than many opera houses, with fewer than 1,200 seats, Sarasota Opera has won critical acclaim for its productions of well-known works by the great composers as well as offering some pre-performance lectures for rarer productions.

And this year, the company will be celebrating a special anniversary of its own during the season, marking 30 years of artistic leadership by Victor DeRenzi, who’s helped bring the company world-wide recognition.

Taking a look back over the decades, as well as forward to the future, Sarasota Opera will also be staging a gala concert where Maestro DeRenzi will conduct his favourite selections on March 25 2012.

Sarasota Opera’s popular ‘Opera Lovers Weekends’ allow audience members to see all the Winter Festival selections in three days, continue with three full weekends of opera in repertory. The final Opera Lovers Weekend will include the Gala Concert celebrating Maestro De Renzi’s 30th anniversary with Sarasota Opera. Opera Lovers Weekends for 2012 will be March 9-11, 16-18, and 23-25.

For general information on Sarasota call 0870 033 1501 and visit www.sarasotafl.org Tickets are on sale from the Sarasota Opera box office or visit www.sarasotaopera.org