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EVENTS Opera Time Steal away for a magical night that ends on a high note Words by Martin Haro Fernanda, for a number of reasons, including working with Domingo and with an old and dear friend. "I have very fond memories of zarzuela Plácido Domingo Seventeen years ago, two of South Florida's greatest artistic institutions – the Greater Miami Opera and Fort Lauderdale's Opera Guild, Inc. – merged, creating the Florida Grand Opera (FGO), one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the state. This 2011-'12 season marks FGO's 71st season of continuous performances, and the powers that be have secured a treat for patrons to celebrate another year of greatness: None other than Plácido Domingo will star in FGO's gala night on Tuesday, November 15, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. The legendary tenor will be part of a production of the zarzuela Luisa Fernanda, playing the leading role of Vidal Hernando for one night only. Making this event extra special is the fact that this will mark Domingo's first performance in Miami since 1991 – so see if you can still score one of the $1,500-a-pop tickets. (Well, that price actually comprises a number of receptions and elbow rubbing. Tickets to the zarzuela only range from $65- $500…but are probably sold out.) Now, Domingo's arrival in the Magic City to star in Luisa Fernanda is the attention- grabbing headline of an FGO season that promises to be pretty swell, but there is more to report. Welcome Ramon Tebar This season, the Florida Grand Opera has welcomed a new music director in Ramon Tebar, a Spanish-born conductor who is making a bit of history. Ramon Tebar First, though, a bit of background: Since his arrival in the United States in 2005, Tebar has been part of the musical staff of Palm Beach and Cincinnati operas, working in around 30 productions, while maintaining a full schedule in Europe. He has been working steadily since he was 15, and he is just thrilled to be here, in Miami, a place he now considers his second home. "I am actually the first Spanish conductor to serve as the music director of a major American opera company and an American symphony at the same time," he said, "as I hold the same title with the Palm Beach Symphony." Tebar is honored to follow in the great tradition forged by a number of his peers who have achieved international careers, and is keen to make his mark at FGO. "As a Spanish musician, I have a lot of pride in being able to bring the name of my country to wherever I conduct and fate had it that I was the first to achieve something like this here, but I am sure that, with the talent that Spain has to offer to the world, I won't be the last." For his first season, he is presenting pieces from three very different lyrical styles – in Spanish, Italian, and French – kicking off with Luisa Fernanda. Then, the season will carry on with two well-known Italian operas, Puccini's La Rondine and Verdi's Rigoletto, before coming to an end with a French operatic adaptation of Romeo et Juliette by Gounod. Tebar is most excited about Luisa from very early in life and remember hearing it played at home and in the streets of my hometown, Valencia," he said. "When I started working with singers, I'd do summertime concerts and tours and we would perform zarzuela in small villages and, later in my career, in big halls with singers like Amparo Navarro, who'll sing the role of Luisa Fernanda in Miami. "She's actually a schoolmate of mine. We did so many concerts together, so you can imagine how happy I am to have her as my leading lady." As Luisa Fernanda Starring in the 1868-set zarzuela's title role of a woman torn between two men (one a young officer in the Queen's army, the other a wealthy landowner) is Amparo Navarro, a Valenciana who is making her Miami – and American – debut in the co- production between FGO and the SaludArte Foundation. "I am very excited about it all," she said. "I've actually had the opportunity to share the stage with Plácido before, in Valencia, in Gluck's Iphegenie en Tauride. Above any expectations, it is truly an honor for me and above all a privilege to sing with him and, what's more, to do so performing a genre so dear to us both." So what can Miamians expect of the show, of zarzuela, which, btw, is a distinguished form of Spanish musical theater tradition inspired by bourgeois life that dates back to the 17th century Spain and the reign of King Philip IV? "The audience can only expect to experience marvelous music and a love story that is very real. Just let it take you and you are sure to enjoy it greatly." For more information about the Florida Grand Opera, call the box office at (1-800) 741-1010 or visit fgo.org. For more information about the zarzuela gala, contact, Denise Courshon at (305) 854-1643. ML MIAMILIVING 51