Washington National Opera has chosen an unusual American opera as their season opener at the Kennedy Center on September 20: Florencia in the Amazon, by Mexican-American composer Daniel Catán.
Soprano Christine Goerke will portray Florencia Grimaldi, a world-famous diva who is returning to her homeland of Brazil for a performance after an absence of 20 years. She takes an enchanted riverboat journey through the Amazon, hoping to find her long-lost lover, a butterfly hunter who has disappeared into the jungle.
The tale is inspired by the magic realism of Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. Beset by storms and a cholera outbreak, Florencia and her fellow travelers are carried deeper into the rain forest, where the perilous forces of love, magic and nature converge.
WNO will present this Spanish-language opera, with a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain, on September 20-28 at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Goerke will portray Florencia at most performances; Melody Moore will sing Florencia on September 24.
The cast also includes Norman Garrett as the mystical river creature Ríolobo; soprano Andrea Carroll in her WNO debut as the journalist Rosalba, who hopes to write a book about Florencia; and bass-baritone David Pittsinger as the captain of the riverboat "El Dorado."
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