West Palm Beach, FL (August 26, 2024) – Palm Beach Opera announces the contract extension of internationally-acclaimed conductor David Stern through the 2026-2027 season with the new title of Music Director. Maestro Stern has served as Palm Beach Opera’s Chief Conductor since 2015, an appointment that was made following his impressive musical leadership of the company’s world premiere of Enemies, A Love Story by Ben Moore and Nahma Sandrow.
2024/25
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William Boyce, a contemporary of Handel, wrote his Seranata when Handel spent 9 months in Dublin. Based on the Song of Song of Solomon, the libretto is a delightful collection of erotic poetry from the bible, scored for two shepherds, a tenor and a soprano, chorus and orchestra.
Contrary to the claims of the reference edition, Hercules is not an oratorio. Handel always wanted it to be considered a musical drama, and thus an opera in English. In order to reinforce the dramatic tension and to give Hercules its operatic colors, David Stern proposes an interpretation based on the original manuscript and the reworkings that Handel made in 1749 and 1752.
If Verdi had spent too many summers sipping rosé wine on the French riviera he might very well had composed Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Quintessentially gallic, this work weaves beautifully melodies into the infamous tale and evokes the melancholy aspects of the story more than the heroic.
There is a reason that Verdi’s rendering of “la Dame aux Camélias” is immensely popular today: it is a perfect opera. The story, the music, the poignancy and the romance never fade or diminish. L’amor è palpito, per sempre.
Mozart’s last opera was by no means a return to an earlier style. This Opera Seria displays all the sensibility and colors of the composer’s late period. The relationship between the singers and the orchestra is nothing short of revolutionary.
This innovative program takes selections from a wide variety of Bach’s cantatas to underline the composer’s affinity to nature. The wind, the rain and the snow all become apparent through orchestrations that paint the texts, offering us the Leipzig master’s version of the 4 seasons.