In the title role, Leah Partridge gives what Jack Zink of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel called "a splendid, multihued performance ... [her] coloratura ranges from silvery to ebony ... [and she] sustains a credible balance of the occasionally too-close-for-comfort mishmash of joy and sorrow."
As Amina's fianc_, Elvino, Bruce Sledge "displayed a plangent lyric tenor, assured stage presence and great facility in Bellini's long lines," wrote Lawrence A. Johnson in The Miami Herald, "throwing off top Cs and Ds with ease." Bass-baritone David Pittsinger sings the role of Count Rodolfo "with a commanding yet velvet presence" (Sun-Sentinel). And in the pit is veteran conductor Richard Bonynge, whose experience with this score includes numerous performances with his own wife (a certain Joan Sutherland).
La sonnambula receives one further performance at the Carnival Center in Miami, tomorrow night at 8 p.m., and then travels up I-95 to Fort Lauderdale for two performances at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on March 1 and 3. More information and tickets are available at www.fgo.org.
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All photos by Debra Gray Mitchell