SP&O TO PRESENT PUCCINI’S “TOSCA” ON MAY 5
FULL CONCERT PERFORMANCE TO BE SEMI-STAGED
The Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera (SP&O) is proud to announce that the performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca on May 5, 2018 will be presented in a semi-staged production. The production, which will bring the record-setting 2017/18 season to a stunning close, will feature cast and chorus in full costume and make up with dramatic lighting. The orchestra, on stage during the production, will be situated on a specially designed set to enhance the visual beauty of the performance and place Puccini’s orchestra at the heart of the action.
Mark Streshinsky, the General Director of the incredibly creative West Edge Opera in Berkeley, will direct a cast of singers drawn from around the country. Mr. Streshinsky, who has directed productions at some of the leading opera houses in the United States, brings years of experience designing creative productions for unique spaces and semi-staged productions with orchestra. The highly lauded Christoph Campestrini will conduct the performance. Lynne Giovannetti, long-time costume designer for the Sacramento Opera, will design costumes for this production. The full cast will be announced on March 19, 2018.
Alice Sauro, Executive Director of the SP&O said: “We are thrilled to present Tosca, one of Puccini’s grandest symphonic operatic masterworks. It further demonstrates our desire to serve the opera and theater lovers of our community. This symphonic realization of Tosca, elaborately semi-staged, takes us that much closer to staged opera in seasons to come as the company secures and sustains a financially responsible future.”
Laurie Nelson, Immediate Past President of the SP&O Board of Directors and longtime champion of opera in Sacramento, said: “I am so excited that we are enhancing this performance of Tosca. The Board of Directors has been actively working over the last couple of years to fulfill the promise we made to the region’s opera lovers. We are enthusiastic about the future of opera at SP&O in this supportive community.”
Just a few tickets remain for the single performance of Tosca on May 5, 2018, and are selling swiftly. Please visit www.SacPhilOpera.org for more information.
Performance Date: Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 8:00 pm
Location: Sacramento Community Center Theater
Director: Mark Streshinsky
Conductor: Christoph Campestrini
Costume Designer: Lynne Giovannetti
Cast: TBA on March 19, 2018
About Mark Streshinsky
Mark Streshinsky has created many productions for West Edge Opera, starting in 2003 with Eugene Onigin and continuing with productions of Legend of the Ring, Xerxes, Ariadne auf Naxos and many others. Nationally, Mark has been on the staging staffs of several large companies including San Francisco Opera, The Dallas Opera, Los Angeles Opera and New York City Opera. He has directed his own productions for Florida Grand Opera, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Boston Baroque, Cincinnati Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. For the Reina Sofia Opera House in Valencia, Spain he directed Massenet’s Manon. Mark has worked with students at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Yale Graduate School of Opera and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Outside of the opera world, Mark has an association with The Crucible center for industrial art where he has created several fire performances, most recently “Machine” — a fire opera for which he wrote the libretto and directed and produced the huge fiery production.