Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Always known for searching out rare and intriguing works for the opera stage, this VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert tradition continues on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 2:30 pm with Saverio Mercadante’s I DUE FIGARO. Mercadante completed the work in 1826 but the premiere was delayed by the censors in Madrid until 1835 when it was heard at Teatro Principe. The work disappeared after its premiere and the score was only rediscovered in Madrid in 2009. Ricardo Muti presented the modern premiere in Ravenna in 2011 and since then there have been performances in Europe and the USA. “This is a very exciting moment for VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert”, said General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin. “Stuart Hamilton began OIC with a totally unknown opera, but never before have we presented a work thought to have been completely lost to posterity. Opera lovers rejoice!”
The cast features the first Stuart Hamilton Memorial Award recipient Beste Kalender as Countess Rosina ruling the estate outside Seville with Tonatiuh Abrego as Count Almaviva. The two competing Figaros are Nicholas Borg and Marjorie Maltais, really Cherubino in disguise as Figaro number 2. They will be joined by debuting Ilana Zarankin as the Count’s daughter Ines and Holly Chaplin as Susanna, Stuart Graham as Plagio and Edward Larocque as Torribio. Narmina Afandiyeva will lead the opera as Pianist and Music Director while Robert Cooper directs the OIC Chorus.
Mercadante and his librettist Felice Romani took a completely original approach to the continuation of the Figaro story from the original trilogy by Beaumarchais: They invented their own version of the Almaviva family saga. Cherubino is in love with Ines, the daughter of the Count and Countess Almaviva. Mother and Father are in disagreement as to whom Ines should marry. Figaro and Susanna remain in the service of the Almavivas and continue to take sides in the dispute, Figaro mainly for monetary gain. Mistaken identities, disguises and deceptions keep everyone in confusion until finally true love triumphs and the Count gives his blessing to the marriage of his daughter and Cherubino. Some musicologists feel that Mercadante is the ‘missing link’ between the bel canto era and the more romantic approach of Verdi. The work is filled with arias and ensembles of a graceful nature and Mercadante was adept at conveying character through his musical language.
The 2017-18 season concludes with the World Premiere of Victor Davies’ opera, THE ECSTASY OF RITA JOE, based on George Ryga’s play and features a cast of Indigenous artists including Marion Newman, Evan Korbut, Everett Morrison, Michelle Lafferty and Rose-Ellen Nichols. Mr. Korbut also receives one of this year’s Stuart Hamilton Memorial Awards. Robert Cooper conducts the cast, chorus and orchestra.
Opera in Concert is supported by the Jackman Foundation, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and Classical 96.3 FM. Single tickets are available from the St. Lawrence Centre Box Office, 27 Front St. East, by phone – 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 – or online at www.stlc.com. The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking. All performances are on Sunday afternoons at the St. Lawrence Centre at 2:30 pm
Photo: Cover of the sheet music for I due Figaro. ©2011.
2018-01-12
Toronto: Voicebox: Opera in Concert presents "I due Figaro" by Saverio Mercadante February 4