Don’t call it a comeback. Or do, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the Sarasota Opera is back in full swing come October 28th at the commencement of their Fall Season. In 2022-23 the Sarasota Opera will put on six productions, including one from the Youth Opera, back this Fall after its two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the entire season features a wide variety of enticing operas–two of which are being done at the Opera for the first time–look to the Fall Season opener, Dominico Cimarosa’s The Secret Marriage (Il Matrimonio Segreto) to kick off your time at the Opera. The comedy, which involves a daughter’s secret marriage to her social-climbing father’s clerk, is premiering at the Opera for the first time - a treat for audiences and those at the Sarasota Opera alike. “The Secret Marriage is an Opera, which as somebody who’s been involved with Opera for over 30 years, I’ve often heard about but never seen live. Anytime I talk to someone who’s seen it, they mention how delightful and funny it is. We’re really looking forward to bringing that here for the first time,” says Richard Russell, General Director of the Sarasota Opera. For the Sarasota Opera, it’s a chance to entice audiences with something new and fresh right off the bat, jumpstarting the rest of the Fall and Winter Seasons. “We’ve always tried to do some operas that have been outside of the standard repertoire. Most of our audience haven’t seen either of these works and it’s an attraction for them. Opera lovers seek out new operas and ‘collect’ them, especially those from major composers such as Dominico Cimarosa,” says Russell.
What’s especially interesting about The Secret Marriage is its significance in opera history. “Cimarosa was a composer active in a number of places, including Naples, and was well known for comic opera. This opera was actually written for Vienna - the story is that it was played for the first time for the emperor in Vienna and he liked it so much that as soon as it was over everybody went for dinner and they came back and did it a second time. It’s the only instance I know of encoring an entire opera,” says Russell.

Sarasota Opera, October 28 – November 12, 2022, sarasotaopera.org.