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By Lisa Golda
None of us are strangers to love, regardless of where we live. The human heart can find happiness and turmoil in the streets of a small town, among the towering trees of an enchanted forest, or in the sands of a Spanish bullring. IU Opera's 2005-06 season, "Opera in Our Town," brings a whirlwind of passion to Bloomington from near and far, starting at a farcical school for lovers in the Italy of Mozart's time.
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The season commences with Cosí fan tutte, or The School for Lovers. One of Mozart's most mature and sublime operas, it is distinguished by orchestration richly imbued with horns and other wind instruments, suggesting the call of love as answered by the four main characters, as well as by a multitude of lush duets and ensembles, which further emulate the emotional entanglements sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella face together. Should they remain faithful to their absent fiancées, Guglielmo and Ferrando, who are unexpectedly and mysteriously drafted, or succumb to the amorous advances of two enticing suitors? Despina and Don Alfonso, a maid and a misanthrope, conspire to test the trustworthiness of the sisters, and all females, by aiding their fiancées in an elaborate deception. Find out whether Don Alfonso is right: Are all women really like that?
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Our operatic education for lovers continues with Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. Hardly anyone is unfamiliar with this Shakespeare classic, which does not end happily. The title characters defy their families, a vendetta, even death, to consummate their irresistible attraction. Younger audience members will enjoy the maturity and heroism attributed to these teens in the throes of forbidden love. Those of us with more experience can recapture the thrill of the first kiss and the ecstasy of first love, even if we already know how the opera will end. Some affairs are, paradoxically, too intense to survive. Come experience this untarnished tragedy in a new way through the subtle and delicate music of Gounod.
He loves her, but she doesn't love him. Her best friend hates her because he loves her instead of her. And his friend was engaged to marry her before she ran off with him. Confused? Even the omniscient and beautiful faeries of the wood can't unravel the romantic entanglements of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Benjamin Britten's shimmering adaptation of the Shakespeare play. Faerie King Oberon and his consort Tytania already have domestic troubles of their own when four lovers stumble into the forest in pursuit of unrequited love, revenge, and refuge. Oberon takes pity on the mortals, hoping to salve their hearts even as he resorts to spiteful measures against his own Queen Tytania. Add an amateur theater troupe rehearsing in the forest to the cast of characters and an evening of hilarity, befuddlement, and eventual resolution ensues.
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Everyone tells their secrets to the hairdresser. But how often does a barber go beyond the salon and actually take your problems, in addition to your hairstyle, into his own hands? A 17th century Spanish nobleman turns to his barber, Figaro, the Barber of Seville, to help him win the love of his secluded sweetheart in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Based on a once-controversial plays by Beaumarchais, Rossini's opera demonstrates, as does A Midsummer Night's Dream, that even powerful and privileged individuals are not immune to the follies and frustrations of infatuation. All ends well, but not before Figaro and his cronies have taken the Count Almaviva and his beloved Rosina on a comic and breathless romp through Seville. Rossini's effervescent, virtuosic, and quintessentially Italian score will leave you breathless as well.
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| Composer Ned Rorem |
The IU Opera Season visits small town America in the quiet streets of Our Town, Indiana-born composer Ned Rorem's new work, before returning to Seville for the season finale, Carmen. Set in a community not unlike Bloomington and based on the play by Thornton Wilder, the residents of Our Town often overlook, sometimes savor, the innumerable moments of love and loss that make up their lives. Sit on the porch with Emily and George, the young protagonists, and their parents; ponder your sorrows and romances as well as those of your neighbors; and participate in the premiere of an important new American opera.
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Carmen was a risqué and reviled sensation at the time of its premiere. It has become one of the staples of the operatic repertoire, thanks to the gypsy Carmen's tragic passions and the unforgettable music Bizet created for her and her lovers, the soldier Don Jose and the bullfighter Escamillo. Carmen bestows her favors, which are fleeting, upon a naive and obsessive Don Jose. She saves her heart for the proud and fearless Escamillo. Carmen expects Don Jose to play by her rules, convincing him to face jail and dishonor to win her affections. But even Carmen must obey the rules of Fate. Will she compromise the true love she's finally found to save herself from Don Jose's jealous wrath, or face her inevitable destiny, even as crowds cheer her new lover on to victory? Carmen brings the IU Opera Theater's 2005-06 season to a shattering and memorable close.
TICKETS!
- Single Tickets for the season go on sale August 29th! For information, call 855-7433, or visit the MAC Box Office on Jordan Avenue. Online sales through TicketMaster will be available by the second week in September.
- Season Subscriptions are available online, through the mail using an on-line document, or by visiting the MAC Box Office on Jordan Avenue.
Click here for more information
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