TOSCA: A Dramatic Season 8 Finale A historic Southwest Florida production

In a historic first for the Southwest Florida region, Gulfshore Opera will be the first production company to perform consecutively at the largest theaters in all three counties.

Partnerships for this grand scale production include the Naples Philharmonic as the orchestra and the Ft. Myers Mastersingers as the chorus.

The plot entails a tragic and political love triangle involving Mario Cavaradossi, a painter, who is deeply in love with Floria Tosca, a famous opera singer. His jealous rival is the sadistic Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia. The lethal political thriller is set in Rome, June of 1800 during the Napoleonic Wars.

This full-scale production with original sets and costumes will be sung in Italian with English supertitles. Featured in this opera are two of the most famous powerful arias ever written, “Vissi d’arte” and “E lucevan lestelle.”

The title role will be performed by Robyn Marie Lamp, whose voice has been described as “robust, easily produced, golden but warm rather than metallic”. She is this year’s winner of the D’Angelo competition and has appeared with Boston Lyric Opera and made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2019.

Roman native Alessio Borraggine, tenor, will portray the heroic painter Mario Cavaradossi. He is consistently praised for the beauty of his tone, his musicality and the physical embodiment of his roles. Upon his operatic debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the International Festival of the Aegean, “the Italian tenor with a beautiful sound and a good technique. Upon his New York City debut with Teatro Grattacielo in the lead role of Marcello in Leoncavallo’s La bohème, “of particular note were those of Borraggine, who carried us away with Marcello’s love” (Opera News).

Corey Crider, baritone, will portray the jealous Baron Scarpia. He recently made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Other recent highlights include Marcello in La bohème with the Munich Philharmonic, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Dayton Opera, and Escamillo in Carmen with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Corey is an alumnus of Ryan Opera Center of Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The conductor for the production will be internationally acclaimed Jorge Luis Parodi. He has worked extensively in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia; including work with New York City Opera, The Atlanta Opera, The Juilliard School, Opera Tampa and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The tri-county adventure begins April 23rd at the Charlotte Performing Arts Center in Punta Gorda. On April 26th, the production will move to Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hallin Ft. Myers and will conclude on April 29th at Artis—Naples in Naples.

Robyn Marie Lamp, a powerful Florida-based soprano, wasn’t quiet for too long during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Virtual, outdoor and socially distanced concerts, street stages, live streams — even a “porch concert” in her neighborhood — are among the ways she lifted her voice and spirits, remaining connected with her craft and audiences. Her 2021-22 season will include singing the title role in Tosca for Gulfshore Opera, Mozart’s Requiem with the Palm Beach Symphony and Master Chorale of South Florida, and Beethoven’s Egmont with Orchestra Miami.

The 2019-20 season sent her to Boston, where she appeared as Clotilde and covered the title role in Bellini’s Norma with Boston Lyric Opera as an Emerging Artist. Another highlight was appearing as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra at the Broward Center. She returned to Gulfshore Opera to sing an all Puccini concert and portrayed the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with Opera Fusion, a South Florida company. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in her 2018-19 season, singing the soprano solo in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with Mid-America Productions. That season she also sang three Verdi Messa da Requiems, one with only hours’ notice, as she filled in for an ailing soprano with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Lamp was scheduled to be the soprano soloist for Masterwork Chorus’ performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Carnegie Hall, but that performance was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Lamp has been the recipient of multiple competition awards from the Opera Tampa D’Angelo Young Artist Vocal Competition, Rising Stars Vocal Competition at Vero Beach Opera, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Lois Alba Aria Competition, the New York Lyric Opera Vocal Competition, and others.

Discovered by the renowned tenor Giacomo Aragall, Roman native Alessio Borraggine is one of today’s up and coming Italian liricopieno tenors. He is consistently praised for the beauty of his tone, his musicality and the physical embodiment of his roles. He is fast garnering consistent acclaim in his performances winning critics and audience alike. Upon his operatic debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the International Festival of the Aegean, “the Italian tenor with a beautiful sound and a good technique convincingly conveyed the hero who marries the young geisha and then leaves her behind.”

Upon his New York City debut with Teatro Grattacielo in the lead role of Marcello in Leoncavallo’s La bohème, “but of particular note were those of Borraggine, who carried us away with Marcello’s love” (Opera News) and “Alessio Borraggine sang the role of Marcello with delight and tenacity. His voice carried across the theater with purpose and connection to his character.” (Opera Wire) In his debut in La Traviata, “tenor Alessio Borraggine as Alfredo Germont – Violetta’s ardent lover – nailed the part, both vocally and dramatically.” (Captiva Current) He has been heard in concert in such prestigious venues as the Musikverein in Vienna and the Auditori of Barcelona. His recent and future engagements include his role debuts of Marcello(Leoncavallo’s La boheme) with the Teatro Grattacielo for their 25th Anniversary Gala, Don Jose in Carmen for the Narnia Festival, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Juneau Lyric Opera, Osaka from Mascagni’s Iris with Teatro Goldoni di Livorno, Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata and Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Talia di Tagliacozzo and Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème at the Teatro Ginnasi di Roma, Marcello Giordani and Friends Anfiteatro di Siracusa and a Gala concert Homage to Maria Callas at the AltBe aOrpietor Fnrea nCkofurret.y Crider is an alumnus of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center and recently returned to the company as Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Additional recent highlights include Marcello in La bohème with the Munich Philharmonic and Arizona Opera, Sharpless in Madame Butterfly with Dayton Opera, and Escamillo in Carmen with Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

In the 2021-2022 season, Corey joins The Metropolitan Opera for their production of Don Carlos, and brings his Scarpia in Toscato Gulfshore Opera. In the 2019-2020 season, Corey returned to Opera Roanoke as Tonio in Pagliacci, the Dallas Opera as Prince Affron in The Golden Cockerel and was slated to appear with Toledo Opera as Amonasro in Aida and with Manitoba Opera as the title role in Sweeney Todd, both canceled due to COVID-19.

The 2018-2019 season saw him as Dancairo in Carmen with The Dallas Opera, the Captain in Florencia en el Amazonas with Pensacola Opera, Germont in La Traviata with Opera on the James, and Lancelot in Camelot with Charlottesville Opera. Corey’s 2017-2018 season included Escamillo in Carmen with Madison Opera, Germont in La Traviata with Opera at DuPage, a return to Opera Roanoke as Marcello in La bohème, and an appearance with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra for Belshazzar’s Feast.

An alumnus of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opera de Montreal, Canadian baritone Philip Kalmanovitch is quickly establishing himself across North America with his exciting voice and dynamic stage presence. The 2019-2020 season sees Philip appear as Peter in Hansel and Gretel with City Lyric Opera alongside concert performances in and around New York City. He recently made his European concert debut with the Printemps Musical de Sillyin Belgium and was Bill Jones in the North American debut of Brokeback Mountain with New York City Opera. A frequent collaborator with l’Opera de Montreal his performances of Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro and the Secret Police Agent in The Consul were lauded by Opera, and his vibrant portrayals of Wagner in Faust and the Motor Cop in Dead Man Walking were singled out by critics. In Montreal he also appeared in Verdi’s Rigoletto (Conte Ceprano), Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux (Ilfamiliare), Puccini’s La Boheme (Sergente), and Bizet’s Docteur Miracle (Le podestat).

Active in oratorio and concert, Philip has appeared as a soloist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal under the baton of Kent Nagano, the Fairfield County Chorale, the Grand Philharmonic Choir, Ottawa Choral Society, Toronto Orpheus Choir, Chorus Niagara, the Annex Singers, the Virginia Tech Vocal Arts and Music Festival, The Aldeburgh Connection (Bayfield Festival of Song and Discovery Series), La choeur lesvoix de la montagne, VIVA Youth Choir, and The Bach Festival.

He has twice performed Poulenc’s Le bal masque under the baton of Paul Nadler. He is especially proud to have premiered two oratorios in Canada: James MacMillan’s Mass, and Nils Lindberg’s A Christmas Cantata.

Tosca | April 23 – 7:00 p.m.

Charlotte Performing Arts Center – Punta Gorda

Premium Ticket $65,

Preferred Ticket $50,

Standard Ticket $35

Tosca | April 26 – 7:00 p.m.

Barbara B Mann Performing Arts Hall – Fort Myers Tickets range from $25 to $100

Tosca | April 29 – 7:00 p.m.

Artis–Naples – Naples Tickets range from $59 to $99

About Gulfshore Opera

Your regional opera company serving three counties, Gulfshore Opera presents the highest quality of opera theater and vocal music performances while maximizing accessibility for diverse audiences of all ages. Gulfshore Opera was founded with core values of a community based creative collaboration. The company also promotes community well-being through musical education programs. Its mission is to make opera accessible to the general public by maintaining affordable ticket prices, and a wide range of performance experiences suitable for diverse audiences.

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