Winter Opera Saint Louis’ 9th season is in full swing and began on October 30th with highly acclaimed performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Yeomen of the Guard.” Mozart’s highly entertaining “Cosi fan tutte” will kick off the new year and will be followed by Verdi’s classic “IL Trovatore.” All performances take place at the Skip Viragh Performing Arts Center at Chaminade College Preparatory School , 425 South Lindbergh Boulevard. Both season and individual performance tickets for all of Winter Opera productions and special events are available on line at www.winteroperastl.org by calling 314.865.0038.
“Winter Opera continues to grow both in terms of our artistic reputation and our ability to engage audiences of all ages,” said Gina Galati, general director. “The performances planned for our ninth season are a wonderful blend of comedy, intrigue and drama, with incredible music and appealing characters.”
Cosi fan tutte
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On January 22 and 24, 2016 Winter Opera will perform “Cosi fan tutte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.
The opera buffa was first presented in 1790 and made its first debut in the U.S. in 1922. The storyline involves two military officers who make a bet with an old philosopher that their two fiancees will be eternally faithful. The three engage in a plot to test the women, faking the officers’ call to war, only to return in disguise to see if each can woo the other’s love. The women resist through much of the two acts, only to succumb to the persistent seductions, discovering the ruse too late in the final act. All is then forgiven because “cosi fan tutte.” (“That’s the way women are”).
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Winter Opera’s own Gina Galati singing Fiordiligi and Sara Jordan as Dorabella will perform as the two pursued women, while Daniel Gerdes will sing Fernando and Christopher Holmes as Guglielmo will present in the roles of the scheming officers. Nichola Giusti, a master of the Italian style, will conduct the orchestra. Giusti is known for his work
alongside international opera artists June Anderson, Rockwell Blacke, Cecelia Bartoli, Franco Bonisolli, Renato Bruson, Placido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Giancarlo Menotti, to name a few.
“We had so much success last season with our production of “The Marriage of Figaro” that we wanted to produce another Mozart opera this season,” noted Galati. “Cosi is great for all audiences, with beautiful ensembles, arias, comedy and great characters in this opera.”
IL Trovatore
The finale of Winter Opera ninth season will be Giuseppe Verdi’s “IL Trovatore” on March 4 and 6, 2016. The production is sponsored by Nancy Pillsbury Shirley and is sung in Italian with English supertitles.
“IL Trovatore” completes our three year production plan to produce the amazing works of Verdi,” said Galati. “We began the trilogy with “Falstaff,” then presented “Otello” last season and will conclude with “IL Trovatore” for our final Verdi opera. The composition is packed with extreme drama and incredible music. It will pack a punch to the audience and we are excited to bring this opera to our patrons.
“IL Trovatore” premiered in 1853 and has been described as “a high flown, sprawling melodrama flamboyantly defiant of the Aristotelian, packed with all manner of fantastic and bizarre incident. “The story involves a running conflict between the Count Luna and a troubadour, Manrico, who contest over the love of a noble woman, Leonora. Azucena, a gypsy befriends Manrico, but Luna accuses her of murder and orders her execution. Attempting to free Azucena, Manrico himself is arrested and sentenced to die causing Leonora to commit suicide rather than marry Luna.
Famed tenor Jorge Pita Carreras, who performed with Winter Opera last season in Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz, will sing the role of Manrico. Fritz Baritone Neil Nelson is cast as Luna with soprano Maria Kanyova as Leonora and mezzo-soprano Ellen Putnet Moore as Azucena. The orchestra will be conducted by Darwin Aquino.
About Winter Opera
Winter Opera is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide St. Louis with world class operatic performances during the winter months. The Opera’s productions feature nationally and internationally known artists, performing classic operas in their original languages with English supertitles. Winter Opera also highlights local performers and strengthens the local artist community year-round through community outreach programs and workshops. For more information, go to www.winteroperastl.org