Take one lyric operatic tragedy, contrast it with one light-hearted comic romp and you have a great evening of entertainment.
"The first half of the evening features the lyric tragedy Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, arguably England's greatest native composer," says Dr. Blaine Hendsbee, director. "Although the work was first performed in a girls' school in 1689, historians now believe it was actually commissioned for the court of King Charles II in 1685. Sadly, the King never saw it performed because he died unexpected the same year."
The U of L Opera Workshop performs Mar. 4-7 at 8 p.m. nightly in the David Spinks Theatre.
The opera's plot centres on the passionate, yet ultimately tragic, love affair between the Queen of Carthage (Dido) and Aeneas of Troy. Juxtaposed against the regal court scenes are episodes with three evil witches who wreak havoc on the lives of the two unsuspecting lovers.
"Witches had become quite a standard feature in plays and operas of this period, starting as far back as Shakespeare's Macbeth (1606)," says Hendsbee. "The witches conjure up a spirit to lure Aeneas away from his beloved Dido. After he abandons her, the broken-hearted Dido takes her own life . . . thus the element of tragedy."
The comedic half of the evening is the operetta Ten Belles and No Ring, written by Franz von Suppé and premiered in 1862. A master of the operetta form, von Suppé is credited with more than 40 of these Viennese musical delights.
"Although many of his works are no longer in the standard operatic repertoire, several of his overtures, including Poet and Peasant and The Light Cavalry, frequently appear on orchestral pops concerts to this day," says Hendsbee.
Since operetta plots demand a stretch of the imagination, audiences are invited to suspend their disbelief, relax and enjoy the fun. A widowed father, who lives with his 10 lovely unmarried daughters, is desperate to find husbands for them and posts an advertisement.
As luck would have it, a tenor happens upon the house and goes inside. The girls display their vocal charms to the young handsome suitor in an exotic potpourri of styles including Italian Aria, Viennese Waltz, Tyrolean Yodel, French can-can and Scots Ballad, among others.
The performance features 30 singers and two small instrumental chamber groups. A string quartet and harpsichord perform in Dido and Aeneas, while Ten Belles features music by a local composer.
"Sadly, the orchestral parts for Ten Belles were lost in a fire over 100 years ago," explains Hendsbee. "Jesse Plessis, a talented U of L music composition student has written a special arrangement for a small elite combo of instruments to accompany Ten Belles."
Ten Belles is set in a 19th century parlour and costumed in Victorian splendour. The Dido and Aeneas setting is more stark, with the costumes being a combination of stunning new designs by Professor Leslie Robison-Greene and costumes generously provided by Pacific Opera Victoria.
Tickets for the show are priced at $15 for regular admission and $10 student/senior from the
U of L Box Office.