This recording of "The Leopard" is a world premiere recording and was made in March 2022 at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in Miami, Florida.
Composer Biography
Michael Dellaira's opera "The Leopard" is his third collaboration with J. D. McClatchy, a poet and librettist whose translation of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" is a staple at The Metropolitan Opera.
Performer Biography
Gerard Schwarz, the conductor of this recording, is an internationally recognized American conductor who has won eight Emmy Awards and received fourteen GRAMMY nominations.
Performer Biography
Kim Josephson, who sings the role of Don Fabrizio Corbera, is an opera baritone who has performed over 250 times in 29 roles at The Metropolitan Opera and has appeared in five world premieres.
Critical Reception
The premiere of "The Leopard," conducted by Gerard Schwarz, was described by Opera Magazine as 'superbly crafted' and was exceptionally well received.
Composition History
Michael Dellaira's opera "The Leopard" is based on the 1958 novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, a Sicilian aristocrat who chronicled changes in Sicily during the Italian Risorgimento.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Composer Michael Dellaira aimed for the music of "The Leopard" to embody the novel's central tension between change and stasis, sounding fresh and unpredictable while celebrating operatic conventions.
