Playbill UniverseReviews: What Did Critics Think of Florencia en el Amazonas at the Metropolitan Opera?
Mary Zimmerman's production of Daniel Catán’s opera opened November 16.
By
Natan Zamansky
November 17, 2023
The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas, by composer Daniel Catán and librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain, opened November 16 —and the reviews are in!
The opera, inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, tells the story of a ship of passenger traveling through the Amazon to hear the famed opera singer Florencia Grimaldi perform at the reopening of the theater in Manaus. The passengers include a bickering couple, Paula and Alvaro, the captain's nephew Arcadio, and a journalist, Rosalba, who is intent on interviewing the legendary singer. Unbeknownst to the other passengers, Florencia herself is also on the boat, traveling incognito, lamenting her lost love Cristóbal, a butterfly hunter who previously disappeared into the jungle.
Soprano Ailyn Pérez stars as Florencia, alongside soprano Gabriella Reyes as Rosalba, tenor Mario Chang as Arcadio, mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera as Paula, baritone Michael Chioldi as Alvaro, baritone Mattia Olivieri as Riolobo, and bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as the Captain.
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Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
Director Mary Zimmerman returns to the Met for her sixth production with the company, leading a team which includes set designer Riccardo Hernández, costume designer Ana Kuzmanić, lighting designer T.J. Gerckens, projection designer S. Katy Tucker, and choreographer Alex Sanchez. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Daniel Catán's lush, neo-romantic score.
Florencia en el Amazonas is the third of four contemporary operas receiving their Met premiere this season, following Ivo van Hove's season-opening production of Dead Man Walking, and Robert O'Hara's production of X: The Life And Times Of Malcolm X, which continues through December 2. The Met's fall season will continue through December with revivals of Wagner's Tannhäuser and Verdi's Nabucco, as well as Julie Taymor's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, presented abridged and in English for the holidays, and, to ring in the new year, a new production of Bizet's Carmen by director Carrie Cracknell.
Performances of Florencia en el Amazonas run through December 14. For more information, visit MetOpera.org.
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See Production Photos of Florencia en el Amazonas at the Metropolitan Opera
From getting the best view of the rumble to the quickest way to the stage door, here's where to sit for the hit musical at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
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