The Florentine Opera Company is one of Wisconsin 's oldest professional performing arts centers and the sixth-oldest opera company in the United States. The company presents three to five staged productions per season largely from the standard operatic repertoire . The fabulous larger than life Opera productions take place at the Marcus Center in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin .
13-627: The Florentine Opera was founded in 1933 by John-David Anello. At that time, the group was called the Italian Opera Chorus, and it met at the Jackson Street Social Center. In 1942, the group became The Florentine Opera Chorus, remaining under the direction of John D. Anello. He explained that the change in name "was to honor the birthplace of opera as we know it. The craft originated in the Italian city of Florence, which has been known as
26-522: A bustling center for the arts for many centuries." By this time, the chorus had grown to a group of 100 members of many nationalities, with a waiting list of over 100 more. In the program of the first "Opera Album" after the name change is written the Florentine Opera Chorus motto: "If our song has stopped one heart from aching, we have not lived in vain." In 1950, the Florentine Opera Chorus extended its efforts from operatic choral performances to
39-677: Is a charter member organization of the United Performing Arts Fund and receives funds from the city of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, the state of Wisconsin, corporations such as the Target Corporation , patrons and foundations such as the Bradley Foundation , and individuals. The Florentine Opera Company is a member of Opera America. Lowell Liebermann Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961, in New York City )
52-536: Is an American composer , pianist and conductor . At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall , playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music with David Diamond and Vincent Persichetti , earning bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The English composer-pianist Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji also expressed interest in Liebermann's early work, having critiqued
65-602: The Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation to compose "Three Lullabies" for two pianos. Opus Two recorded an album of all of Liebermann's chamber music, Chamber Music of Lowell Liebermann with guest artists Andrés Díaz , Erika Eckert, and the Ying Quartet ( Albany Records , TROY684 2004) Liebermann has also written the music for the ballet Frankenstein , a co-production between The Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet (2016). A recording of
78-577: The Florentine Opera have included Diane Alexander, June Anderson , Angela Brown , José Carreras , James Courtney , Gilda Cruz-Romo , Plácido Domingo , Dale Duesing , Marisa Galvany , Anthony Dean Griffey , Jerome Hines , Lise Lindstrom , Spiro Malas , Susanne Marsee , James McCracken , Sherrill Milnes , Raquel Montalvo , Jan Peerce , Luciano Pavarotti , Ewa Podleś , Samuel Ramey , Natalia Rom , Beverly Sills , Erika Sunnegårdh , Harry Theyard , and Richard Tucker . The Florentine Opera
91-523: The General Director and CEO of the Florentine, as of 2019. William Florescu was general director from 2005 to 2018. Joseph Rescigno was the principal conductor and artistic advisor, having served from 1981-2018. Scott Stewart was the chorus master and associate conductor from 1978-2019. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra serves as the orchestra in performances for the Florentine Opera. Notable performers at
104-1059: The composition faculty at Mannes College The New School for Music and is the director of the Mannes American Composers Ensemble. Gargoyles for piano, Op. 29 Gargoyles , Op. 29, a four-movement suite for solo piano written by the American composer Lowell Liebermann in 1989. The suite was commissioned by the Tcherepnin Society for the pianist Eric Himy , who played its world premiere that October 14 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City . The score exemplifies Liebermann's modernist style, in which tonal harmony and expressive gestures grounded in tradition coexist with avant-garde procedures. The piece has become one of Liebermann's most popular efforts, receiving more than ten recordings. Many cathedral gargoyles portray grotesque faces with great humor, and Liebermann intends precisely that in his pieces, which have
117-450: The mordant wit of Sergei Prokofiev 's "bad boy" style in their ancestry. The brief opening movement commences with an arresting three-note “signal” and move forward with perpetual motion rhythms , the narrative studded with shock-effects. The following Adagio semplice , by contrast, is deeply introverted, presenting melancholy melodizing over patterns based on two alternating chords. Later, a still slower melody unfolds against repetitions of
130-661: The production of complete operas and the company became a private venture, changing its name one final time to the Florentine Opera Company. Over the past decade, the Florentine Opera has premiered several new American operas. It produced the American premiere of Lowell Liebermann 's opera The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1999. In 2009, the Florentine presented Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein's Elmer Gantry . A world premiere of Don Davis ' Spanish language Río de Sangre opened in 2010. Another Aldridge opera, Sister Carrie , premiered in 2016. Maggey Oplinger serves as
143-465: The second piano concerto (1992), the opera The Picture of Dorian Gray (1996), a second symphony (2000), a trumpet concerto (2000), a violin concerto (2001), Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra (2001), and the opera Miss Lonelyhearts (2006) which was commissioned as part of the festivities surrounding the centennial of the Juilliard School. He was also commissioned by
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#1732859136265156-744: The work's Premier was released in 2021 on the audiophile label Reference Recordings. His music combines elements of traditional tonality and structure with more adventurous harmonies. Liebermann's music is often highly polytonal and Liebermann explores different bitonal possibilities in many of his pieces. His Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, and Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra have been recorded by James Galway . American clarinetist Jon Manasse premiered his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (2009) with The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Neal Gittleman. Liebermann resides in New York City. He presently serves on
169-402: The young composer's Piano Sonata in a private exchange between the two; Liebermann's Concerto for Piano, op. 12 would be dedicated to Sorabji. His most recorded works are his Sonata for Flute and Piano (1987), Gargoyles for piano (1989), and his Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1992). Other notable works include a sonata for flute and guitar (1988), five cello sonatas (most recently 2019)
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