Michael Ching, composer and conductor, with the cast of Florida Grand Opera's "Gianni Schicchi" and "Buoso's Ghost." (Photo by Eric Joannes)
Composer Michael Ching's first job in opera was at Florida Grand Opera in the early 1980s. It was then the Greater Miami Opera, Ching remembers.
"It was 1981 to 1985. I was called the music assistant at first and then I was the music administrator. I conducted the chorus and coached singers that's how I came up."
Now after almost 40 years, Ching returns to FGO as composer and conductor of "Buoso's Ghost," a sequel to Giacomo Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi," which FGO will perform together, the first half of "Schicchi" and the second half "Ghost."
The first half is presented in Puccini's original Italian with English and Spanish supertitles. Ching's "Ghost" is in English with English and Spanish supertitles.
The double bill opens Saturday, Jan. 28 and runs Sunday, Jan. 29 and Tuesday, Jan. 31 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and Feb. 9 and 11 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
LEFT: Lauretta (Page Michels) pleads with her beloved father Gianni Schicchi (Franco Pomponi) to intervene in the Donatis' plight. RIGHT: The Donati family rejoices as Schicchi (Franco Pomponi, center) reveals his brilliant plan. (Photos by Eric Joannes)
So we all know how you can write a sequel to a blockbuster movie, but a sequel to an opera completed in 1917, which takes place in the beginning of the 13th century?
Ching explains that his opera begins with the last 20 seconds of the music from Puccini's "Schicchi" and is based on the premise that the character of Buoso Donati did not die of natural causes but under more sinister circumstances. In "Schicchi" Donati's will has left everything to the church, but Schicchi finds a way to inherit his wealth.
Schicchi comes up with a plan. From left to right (Front row): Robynne Redmon (Zita), Franco Pomponi (Gianni Schicchi), Phillip Lopez (Betto), Page Michels (Lauretta), Charles Calotta (Rinuccio). Back row: Eleomar Cuello (Marco), Erin Alford (La Ciesca), Anthony Reed (Simone), Ashley Shalna (Nella), Joseph McBrayer (Gherardo). (Photo by Eric Joannes)
Ching remembers the conception of "Buoso's Ghost."
"It began at a breakfast in Chicago we were having joint auditions. I ran the Memphis Opera we were having auditions with two other opera companies. We were just shooting the breeze about what happens to our favorite operatic characters when the opera ends: The Germont family in 'La Traviata,' the young lovers in 'Così fan tutte,' Cio-Cio-San's son in 'Madame Butterfly.' The subject of 'Schicchi' came up and what happens next."
It's comic and eclectic, Ching says, with the absurdity of his writing the score by borrowing various American musical styles and quotations.
LEFT: The Donati family reads Buoso's will. L-R: Joseph McBrayer (Gherardo), Ashley Shalna (Nella), Phillip Lopez (Betto), Charles Calotta (Rinuccio), Erin Alford (La Ciesca), Eleomar Cuello (Marco). Center, seated: Robynne Redmon (Zita), Anthony Reed (Simone). / RIGHT: The Donatis react to the outcome of Buoso's will. L-R: Phillip Lopez (Betto), Joseph McBrayer (Gherardo), Ashley Shalna (Nella), Charles Calotta (Rinuccio), Robynne Redmon (Zita), Anthony Reed (Simone), Erin Alford (La Ciesca) (Photos by Eric Joannes).
"If someone in the audience hears something that they think they recognize there's a fairly good chance that they are correct," says Ching, adding that he took Puccini's motifs and intertwined them with the styles of Sondheim, for instance.
"You know, it's a perennial subject, the mix of greed and family relations. It's a subject that never ages."
Ching says he enjoys the collaborative process of opera and welcomes ideas from directors and actors, but "one of the things that I did request was that I wanted the pairing done in a traditional Florentine setting in the Middle Ages and they honored that."
The cast of Florida Grand Opera's "Gianni Schicchi" and "Buoso's Ghost." (Photo by Eric Joannes)
The piece premiered at Memphis Opera on Jan. 25, 1997. Ching said it was last performed by the Detroit Opera just before COVID hit.
"The thing that you have to remember, of course, or you want to remind your audience, is that 'Schicchi' features one of the five best well-known arias in all opera, 'O mio babbino caro.' " While it is frequently performed as a solo, Ching says that part of the fun of hearing the famous aria is seeing it in the context of the opera where it originated.
"Gianni Schicchi" is the only operas in Puccini's repertoire that is comic.
"There are comic operas, 'The Marriage of Figaro' for instance has charming funny bits, but it isn't laugh out loud funny. I think 'Gianni' is just laugh-out-loud funny and hopefully audiences will think so, too."
He also believes that the time is right for audiences to see a comic opera, to leave the problems of the world outside of the theater door.
"A lot of arts organizations have been asked to do light programming for awhile. It is certainly a reaction to the times, where you know audiences are looking to forget about the news and to have a fun time," Ching says.
The production runs Saturday, Jan. 28, Sunday, Jan. 29, and Tuesday, Jan. 31 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, and Thursday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Purchase at fgo.org or call 800-741-1010.
