Opera Salon

Culture Klatches for the Gables Erudite

May 2018

This month the Florida Grand Opera is holding a series of lectures in Coral Gables that uses the company’s mainstage production of Daniel Catán’s “Florencia en el Amazonas” as the platform for discussions. At each of the three, free lectures, music will enliven the conversation, all set against the magical realism of the first Spanish-language opera commissioned by a major U.S. opera company (Houston Grand Opera, 1996). 

Metamorphosis: Journey of the Human Spirit  

An exploration of the timeless themes of love, loss and self-discovery, featuring voices from the Florida Grand Opera Studio and spoken words from scholars at the FIU Green School. 

April 7 (Sat.), 6 pm 

Coral Gables Congregational Church 

3010 De Soto Blvd.  

305.448.7421 

Spoken and Sung: A Collaboration with Gables Stage 

Inspired by the magical realism of “Love in the Time of Cholera,” this conversation pairs “Amazonas” excerpts sung by Florida Grand Opera Studio artists with performances by actors. 

April 11 (Wed.), 7:30 pm 

Gables Stage at the Biltmore 

1200 Anastasia Ave. 

305.445.1119 

Ecology of the Rainforest 

This collaboration brings experts from Fairchild to discuss preserving the world’s largest, most diverse rainforest, followed by “Amazonas” highlights sung by Florida Grand Opera Studio artists. 

April 17 (Tues.), 7:30 pm 

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden 

10901 Old Cutler Road 

305.667.1651 

If after these talks you want more, the Café at Books and Books in the Arsht Center will hold an opera-themed farm-to-table dinner April 23, from 6 pm to 8 pm, prepared by Chef Allen Susser. Chef Allen’s Monday Night Farm to Table Dinner: Opera Edition – Daniel Catán’s “Florencia en el Amazonas” will cost $25 per person + $14 optional wine. To RSVP, email Keith Green: keith@booksandbooks.com 

Very Rare, Beautifully Illustrated Antique Engraving of Etiquette of the Drawing Room – a Fashionable Evening Entertainment Victorian Engraving, 1879. Source: Original edition from my own archives. Copyright has expired on this artwork. Digitally restored.