MARCH 19, 2009 ISSUE
Hayes School of Music Presents Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte March 26 to 29
Opera To Be Staged at Hayes Center in Blowing Rock
Soprano Ashley Hollar plays Fiordiligi and tenor Craig Brown plays Ferrando in the Hayes School of Music Opera Theater’s production of Mozart’s opera comedy Così fan tutte. Photo submitted
Every spring, the students of the Hayes School of Music bring the musical art form of opera to the High Country. From Thursday through Sunday, March 26 to 29, the ASU Opera Theater presents Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock.
The production—an opera buffa, or comedy—will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Così fan tutte is an opera with a lighthearted look at infidelity. Translated “thus are they all” and subtitled The School for Lovers, Così fan tutte “pokes fun at the inevitable unfaithfulness of women but also at the unscrupulous behavior of the male gender,” said a press release about the opera. “The opera is a comedy and is full of masterful musical wit, but as in all good comedy, there are elements of tragedy as well.”
The opera begins at a coffee house in 18th-century Naples, where the cynicical Don Alfonso discusses the fickleness of women with two young military officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo. Don Alfonso insists women are wayward and that they will be unfaithful when presented the chance. The young officers insist their fiancées would never indulge in such behavior. So, Alfonso proposes a wager—if the officers do everything he asks of them for 12 hours, he will prove that each of their fiancées will fall for another.
Randall Outland, producer and director of the opera, said that Così fan tutte is “extremely accessible”—even to those who have never before been to an opera. The Italian opera will be sung entirely in English, and the recitatives (passages that carry the story line and are normally sung) have been transformed into spoken dialogue.
“It’s a great one to start with,” Outland said.
Each of the six main characters have been double-cast. In the Thursday and Saturday productions, baritone David Clark will play Don Alfonso, tenor Craig Brown is Ferrando, baritone Harrison Bumgardner is Guglielmo, soprano Ashley Hollar is Fiordiligi, mezzo-soprano Constance Waddell is Dorabella and soprano Kate Edahl is Despina. The Friday and Sunday cast features baritone Nathan Brown as Don Alfonso; tenor Tyler Young, Ferrando; baritone David Dunlap, Guglielmo; soprano Brynne Pulver, Fiordiligi; mezzo-soprano Torrey Slack, Dorabella; and soprano Lauren Hayworth, Despina.
The Hayes Center is a perfect venue for the Hayes School of Music’s spring operas, Outland said. The Appalachian Chamber Orchestra will accompany the singers and stage action.
“It’s great for us because it’s a real theater that we have access to, with a pit for the orchestra,” Outland said.
Hannah Roten is the opera’s costume designer. The Opera Theater will borrow costumes from the stocks of the ASU Department of Theatre and Dance as well as the Blowing Rock Stage Company. Using sketches that Outland created, set designer Tim Billman will design and build simple sets and projections for five different scenes with eight scene changes.
“It should still be a feast for the eyes though it’s simple in its nature,” Outland said.
Tickets are $18 for adults and $9 for students. For tickets or more information, call the Hayes Center box office at 828-295-9627.
Want To Go?
Date: Thursday through Sunday, March 26 to 29
Time: 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday/2:00 p.m. Sunday
Location: Hayes Center, Blowing Rock
Cost: $18 adults/$9 students
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