Workshop To Perform Mozart's Comic Opera
The SHSU opera workshop will join the music world’s
celebration of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s
birth by presenting his two-act comic opera, “Così
fan Tutti” (“Women are Like That”), at the
Old Town Theatre on Thursday (April 6), Saturday and Sunday
(April 8-9).
Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Saturday
and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
After the success of his opera, “Le Nozze di Figaro,”
Mozart was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II to write “Cosi
fan Tutti.”
It is said the plot is based on an actual story that was the
subject of much gossip in Viennese social circles of the day,
according to Mary Kay Lake, director of operatic studies.
“In many subtle ways the opera explores the frailties
of human affection and loyalty,” she said.
At the center of the story is Don Alfonso, a cynical bachelor,
who bets his friends, Guglielmo and Ferrando, two officers,
that their fiancées are not trustworthy.
He then tells sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella that their
fiancés must go off to war, which, of course, is not
true, and the lovers pledge a vow of fidelity.
With the help of Despina, the sisters’ maid, Don Alfonso
introduces the women to two handsome “Albanians,”
who happen to be Gugliemo and Ferrando in disguise.
Each man pursues the other’s fiancée and the
plot thickens as the women first reject, and then yield to
the “strangers.”
With numerous hysterical twists and turns, all orchestrated
by Don Alfonso and Despina, the happy couples are eventually
reunited.
Joining the graduate and undergraduate casts for the production
will be SHSU faculty members Robin Cobb, soprano, as Fiordiligi
(Act I); Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano, as Dorabella (Act I);
Jay Whatley, coach/ accompanist; and Allen Hightower, conductor
(Act I). Co-director, Padula, will also conduct Act II.
“I am so thrilled to have my colleagues perform in and
with this production. They are such fine singers and musicians,”
Lake said. “They bring an enormous level of professionalism
to the show.
“It is an incredible experience for the young singers
to have the opportunity to work with the faculty,” she
said.
The opera will be sung in Italian with English subtitles.
The Old Town Theatre is located at 1023 12th St. in Huntsville.
Tickets will be available at the door for $8 for adults; $5
for senior citizens, students and children; and free for SHSU
faculty, staff and student with an ID.
For information, call 936.294.1360 or 936.294.1395.
—END—
SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer
Gauntt
March 28, 2006
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