The Opera at Florham will complete its 2010-11 season at 3 p.m. on June 5 with a semi-staged production of the famed La Traviata in the newly renovated and handicapped-accessible Dreyfuss Theater at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison.
The Opera, in three acts, will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. As a semi-staged production, it will be sung in its entirety on a smaller stag in costume and with a modest amount of scenery.Running a little over two hours, it will feature a limited orchestra conducted by Robert W. Butts, Artistic and Music Director of the Opera at Florham and The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey.
The production will feature top-flight talent with soprano Jessica Rose Cambio as Violetta, tenor Luigi Boccia as Alfredo, and baritone Jonathan Beyer as Germont, Alfredo’s father. Cambio and Boccia are resident artists with the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, which has a long history of cultivating singers who go on to star in the world-famous Metropolitan Opera. In the last calendar year alone, Cambio has earned prestigious First Place Awards from three different New York City music foundations: Puccini, Gari, and Gerda Lissner. Boccia has gained recognition in numerous competitions in past few years, perhaps most notably winning First Prize in the Gerda Lissner Competition in 2008. Beyer was the First Prize Winner in the 2011 George London Foundation Competition and will be appearing in leading roles in several operas this year.
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La Traviata is the story of Violetta, who, knowing she is dying, reluctantly falls in love with her admirer Alfredo. They move out of Paris to the country and live happily, until Alfredo learns Violetta is selling off her property to finance their living arrangements. After Alfredo leaves their home to return to Paris and make money to support them, his father Germont arrives and convinces Violetta to leave Alfredo for what Germont sees as the good of his family. Later, some time after Alfredo has a confrontation with Violetta’s new lover, Germont feels guilty and tells his son what he has done. Alfredo reaches Violetta on her death bed, and the two reconcile before she dies.
Ticket-holders are also entitled to a free operalogue held in Hartman Lounge in Hennessey Hall (The Mansion) on Sunday May 22 at 3 p.m., where they can learn about the opera, its composer Giuseppe Verdi, and its history. An experienced lecturer on opera, Richard Kopp, Ph.D, who taught as a professor at the university for nearly 40 years and serves as the first Vice-Chair of the Opera at Florham, will lead the discussion. For more information call, 973-443-8620.
