On the latest Big COC Podcast you can hear Gianmarco Segato, Wayne Gooding, Paula Citron and I discuss, among other things, Sarasota Opera’s decision to put on Pagliacci without a companion piece.  They are instead offering some instrumental pieces and an after party.  They claim their audience has expressed a preference for shorter evenings at the opera.  I was reminded of this by seeing de Falla’s La Vida Breve this afternoon.  (You’ll have to wait for the next edition of Opera Canada for a review).  This performance added a tribute to de Falla composed by the music director as a kind of prelude to round things out. Continue reading →