Orchestra Miami Artistic Director and Conductor Elaine Rinaldi with guest soloist Elaine Alvarez (far right) in rehearsal for "Puccini's Legacy" on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Miami Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Miami. (Photo courtesy of Orchestra Miami)
In recognition of the centennial of the death of Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini, Orchestra Miami will perform “Puccini’s Legacy”, a gala concert featuring arias from Puccini’s operas on Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Miami Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Miami.
Orchestra Miami Artistic Director and Conductor Elaine Rinaldi in rehearsal for "Puccini's Legacy" on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Miami Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Miami. (Photo courtesy of Orchestra Miami)
Along with the 56 musicians of Orchestra Miami, the concert will feature performances by nine soloists: sopranos Elaine Alvarez, Elise Gutierrez, Marla Natale, Cong Cong Wang, tenors Ben Gulley, Minghau Liu, Martin Nusspaumer, baritones Joseph Lodato and Nelson Martinez. Joining the orchestra and soloists will be The Puccini Choir combining students from both the Florida Grand Opera Canto program and the New World School of the Arts.
Audiences will hear select arias from Puccini’s well-known operas, such as “La Boheme,” “Madama Butterfly,” “Tosca,” “Turandot” and the rarely played “Trio in A Minor/Scherzo in F Major” among other Puccini operas in a two hour plus intermission program.
For Elaine Rinaldi, Artistic Director and Conductor of Orchestra Miami, the celebration of Puccini is more than a professional selection of music for an evening of entertainment. She attributes Puccini as the reason she is now an orchestra conductor.
Orchestra Miami Artistic Director and Conductor Elaine Rinaldi. (Photo by Ada Stevens)
“In 1992, when residing in New York, I was hit by a car while biking. My collar bones were broken and I had to have facial reconstructive surgery. The damage from the accident ended my aspirations for a career as a concert violinist,” says Rinaldi.
“In recovery, I was listening to ‘Tosca’ and loved Puccini’s operas. My love of Puccini gave me the inspiration to get out of my depression and gave me a purpose to become an orchestra conductor. So, the celebration of Puccini’s great operas is very personal. It is a reminder to me of how great music inspires all of us to take on new challenges.”
Rinaldi especially admired the newly formed musical instruments that Puccini worked with in creating his operas.
Soprano guest soloist Elaine Alvarez will perform with Orchestra Miami on Saturday, Nov. 23. (Photo courtesy of Nelson Para)
“The discovery of electricity in Puccini’s era helped him to augment orchestral colors as he wrote his compositions for three trumpets, an unusual challenge for a composer that added so much to the quality of his operas,” says Rinaldi.
A highlight of soprano Alvarez’s performance will be her rendition of arias from both “Madama Butterfly” and “Tosca” in the concert.
“Puccini wrote for many people to sing his beautiful compositions and I am thrilled to sing his operas the way they were meant to be heard without microphones. Elaine (Rinaldi) knew that the Miami Scottish Rite Temple is the perfect venue for audiences to hear the beauty of Puccini. We will hear his compositions performed in the same way that audiences in the nineteenth and early twentieth century heard his works,” says Alvarez.
According to music historians, Puccini (1858-1924) was known for writing operas in verismo, a style of Italian opera that depicts the reality of everyday life. Puccini’s operas feature gritty plots, melodramatic violence and characters from the lower classes of society, such as bohemians and peasants.
For example, “La Boheme” is a four-act Puccini opera that premiered in 1896 and has become one of the most frequently performed operas ever written, focuses on the impoverished lives of the leading characters that lead to tragedy.
“Puccini’s music is marked by passionate declamation and emotionally charged harmonies and melodies. His music captivates me and I know our audience will be moved by hearing Puccini’s classic works,” says Rinaldi.
Orchestra Miami Artistic Director and Conductor Elaine Rinaldi in rehearsal for "Puccini's Legacy" on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Miami Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Miami. (Photo courtesy of Orchestra Miami)
Rinaldi learned to play piano by age six, guided by her mother who is a music teacher. After changing her career path to becoming a conductor, Rinaldi founded Orchestra Miami in 2006. She formed the orchestra three years after the bankruptcy of the now defunct Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003. Rinaldi hired many musicians for Orchestra Miami who used to perform for the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Musicians and audiences found a way to create an orchestra and I am so appreciative of the support that our community gives to Orchestra Miami each and every day for the past 18 years,” says Rinaldi
WHAT: Orchestra Miami performs in concert “Puccini’s Legacy” performing arias of operas by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, on the centennial of his death with 56 musicians and nine guest soloists and choirs
WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23
WHERE: Miami Scottish Rite Temple, 471 NW 3rd St., Miami
TICKETS: $25 to $75. A limited Gala Premium Experience is $100 reserved only for the first four rows and an exclusive reception at intermission.
INFORMATION: (305) 274-2103 or orchestramiami.org
