11.3.23 and 11.4.23 Crane Opera Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra

Evening Concert Series Snell Music Theater

2023 – 2024 Season Friday, November 3rd at 7:30 PM Saturday, November 4th at 7:30 PM

OPERA À LA CARTE Crane Opera Ensemble Crane Symphony Orchestra Andrew Voelker, music director Margaret Chalker and Steven Groth, stage directors Adrian Slywotzky, conductor Les Toréadors from Carmen

Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875)

No, no, non v’è from La Cenerentola

Gioachino Rossini (1792 – 1868) Clorinda: Gabby Maresco Tisbe: Victoria Lopez Cenerentola: Rebecca Gatto Alidoro: Brandon Smith

Cosa Sento!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from Le Nozze di Figaro (1756 – 1791) Susanna: Mady DeWater Basilio: Marco Ingrassia Count: Brandon Smith Cherubino: Jules Mast Caro elisir! Sei mio!...Esulti pur la barbara from L’elisir d’amore Adina: Catherine Boyd Nemorino: David Salce

Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848)

Hm! Hm! Hm! from Die Zauberflöte

Mozart

1st Lady: Danielle Albrecht 2nd Lady: Mady DeWater 3rd Lady: Sam Yetter Tamino: David Salce Papageno: Jimmy Quagliaroli Three Spirits: Rebecca Gatto, Catherine Boyd. Eve Meinsen O soave fanciulla from La Bohème

Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924) Mimi: Haleigh Vescio Rodolfo: Noah Unser Intermission

With Cat-Like Tread from The Pirates of Penzance Samuel: Ethan Mednik

Arthur Sullivan (1842 – 1900)

Pirates: John Calandra, Manny Coleman, Eddie Hayes, Johanna Hovanec, Marco Ingrassia, Annabelle Kahle, Sophia Mura, Antoinette Parisi, Maria Tartaglia Police: Kenzie Caccamo, Katherine Keegan, Ruthie Mager, Jules Mast, Eve Meinsen, Harley Neaves, Rowan Parsaca, Jimmy Quagliaroli, Hudson Smith, Sarah Wescott Hai già vinta la causa…Vedro mentr’io sospiro Riconosci in questo amplesso from Le Nozze di Figaro Susanna: Haleigh Vescio Marcellina: Alyssa Bonfardeci Don Curzio: Eddie Hayes Count: Dan Emmons Bartolo: Hudson Smith Figaro: Jacob Frenyea

Mozart

L’hanno saputo! from Gianni Schicchi

Puccini Zita: Sam Yetter La Ciesca: Maria Tartaglia Nella: Catherine Boyd Schicchi: Jacob Frenyea Gherardo: John Calandra Marco: Ethan Mednick Simone: Dan Emmons Betto: Hudson Smith

Stridono Lassù Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857 – 1919)

Nedda: Haleigh Vescio Canio: Noah Unser Troupe Members: Catherine Boyd, Kenzie Caccamo, Rebecca Gatto, Victoria Lopez, Ruthie Mager, Jules Mast, Eve Meinsen, Sophia Mura, Hudson Smith Les tringles des sistres tintaient from Carmen Bohemiennes: Danielle Albrecht, Gabby Maresco, Camila Arias Company

Pianists Amelia Arguelles, Ellie Barth, Johanna Saint-Vil Stage Managers Mady DeWater, John Calandra

Bizet

Crane Symphony Orchestra Flute Caleigh Dutton Elsie Munsterteiger Julie Williams Sabrina Clubine Oboe Annelise Herschbein Molly Murphy Christopher Mavrogian Clarinet Nick Alvarez Libby Sheldon Bass clarinet Jovany Rivers Bassoon Liam Hill Kerri Rauschelbach Horn Ryan Eckl Michael Shipps Mary Schlanger Tyler Kraft Trumpet Jacob Rushlow Dillon Niles Rebecca Wertenberger Trombone Victor Mainetti Jeremy Ong Aaron Baldwin Tuba John Lithco

Percussion Quinn Kinney Brianna Lizzo Aidan Sherwood* Gracie Wahl Bailey Yerdon Harp Ricky Chui Keyboard John Oswald Violin RJ Ahern-Stetson Madison Ballou Stephen Borgia Katie Caragiulo Hanna Carlson Gwendolyn Caro Shannon Darby John DiSpaltro Holly Goddard Noelle Gottfried Paolina Iori* Jess Jaworski Chris Lee Carlos Martinez Olivia Minarich Emma Oliveri Natalie Pontikes Amanda Quintanilla Maia Regan* Aidan Sperduti Alyssa Spina Morgan Stolz Michael Wong

Viola Lola Gehman* Kenny Gonzalez Victoria Lorenzi Ella Roth Finn Sanders Tyler Schiavone Brendan Travers Kiersten Wazny Cello Oliva Brigham Emily Buliung Olivia Charleston Maggie King Serenity Laird Emma Norris* Lauren Pacholec Miranda Paulino Mirabel Sasiela Hannah Tufano Maya Rose Waletzky Bass Shawn Berman Charlie Centeno Melody Cheng* Nicholas Dwarika* Molly Martellotta Logan Monti Ethan Schatz Andrew Sennoga-Kimuli

PROGRAM NOTES La Cenerentola (1817)

Rossini

Composed in 1817 to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, this telling of the classic Cinderella story was one of Rossini’s many great bel canto opera hits. La Cenerentola was the follow-up success to the immensely popular The Barber of Seville which premiered in 1816. Each Cinderella story throughout history has focused on different elements of the various tellings of the age-old story. In this opening scene of Rossini’s and Ferretti’s version, the conceited stepsisters are going about their beauty routine, while their lowly sister sits off to the side.

Cenerentola sings her favorite fairy-tale of a king who traveled far, earnestly and desperately seeking the unknown woman of his desire. As her sisters rebuke her for singing the same old song over and over, a knock comes at the door. In comes Alidoro, a tutor at the royal court, but disguised as a beggar. He asks for the pity of a bite to eat, which Cenerentola hurries to provide. Our scene comes to an end as the stepsisters complain to their sister for her insistence on charity, while Alidoro sings his thanks.

Le Nozze di Figaro (1786) — Act I

Mozart

In 1786, Joseph II was on the Hapsburger throne of the empire seated in Vienna.

After 6 six years as sole ruler of the empire, his reputation as Reformer of an Enlightened society had gone through its full cycle. His many social and political reforms which had been so popular with the people were now scorned. Social unrest and scorn towards the political authorities was foment enough among that undercurrents of resistance were primary among new plays entering the theaters of the city. Two years prior, the Figaro plays of Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais had premiered in Vienna, to rousing success among the general people, but to virulent criticism among the aristocracy. It is certainly amazing to an extent that Mozart’s operatic setting of the second play, The Marriage of Figaro, was allowed on the public stage at all. Figaro and Susanna are to be married tomorrow. They are servants in the estate of Count Almaviva. Feudal rights which were recently abolished by the Count would have given him rights to the bride before her wedding ceremony. In his regret, he seeks Susanna in her bedroom, only to find the troublesome page Cherubino hiding, and the smarmy music teacher Basilio looking in.

L'elisir d’amore (1832)

Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti wrote nearly 70 operas during his lifetime. A contemporary of fellow bel-canto composer Vincenzo Bellini, he assumed the task of continuing the legacy of Rossini as a leading composer of Italian opera after the older Rossini retired from opera composition in 1830. One of his most enduring works is The Elixir of Love, excerpted tonight. Premiered in 1832, this opera was not one of the composer’s particularly notable successes, especially after the rousing success two years earlier with Anna Bolena, but it set the stage for his most successful, and still most performed opera, Lucia di Lammermoor (1835). Donizetti became so popular throughout Italy and France, that he would churn out multiple operas per year. The Elixir of Love is a comedy of love and circumstance. The poor farmer Nemorino has become enamored with the lovely Adina, the daughter of a wealthy, land-owning family of a town in the Italian countryside. Try as he might, Nemorino cannot get Adina to give him any attention whatsoever. However, when the traveling Dr. Dulcamara comes through town, he receives a bordeaux labeled “Elixir of Love”. Fooled and affected by the delicious bottle, Nemorino believes that Adina will fall in love with him in just 24 hours. Will it work?

Die Zauberflöte (1791)

Mozart

A prince travels in an unknown land. Suddenly, he is accosted by a fearsome serpent. As he faints, a mysterious presence slays the beast. Now what is he going to do? This final opera by Mozart tells a tale of fantasy, magic, brotherhood.

Premiered in 1791, the same year as the composer’s death, The Magic Flute is one of the most beloved and most frequently performed operas worldwide. The servants of the Queen of the Night come to send the young prince Tamino on a quest to rescue her daughter, the unfortunate victim of a bitter divorce who currently lives with her dad, Sarastro. Caught in the middle by simple misfortune and a bit of tendency to tell lies, is the bird-catcher Papageno. His misdemeanors earn him a spot alongside the prince for the dangerous journey. The Three Ladies in service of the Queen give Tamino his commission and a magic flute, and send the misfit duo upon their journey.

La Bohème (1895)

Puccini

The second half of the nineteenth century saw a rebirth of Italian opera after the decline of bel canto and the rise of the verismo or realism movement in the arts.

Giuseppe Verdi led the charge, becoming an Italian national icon with works such

as Rigoletto and La traviata. Near the end of Verdi’s life, a new generation of composers sought to continue his legacy with operas that told stories of real people living out their lives as they really did. Operas no longer had to remain entrenched in centuries-old conflicts of the royal and aristocratic. Instead, audiences began to see for the first time stories to which they could relate, often from literary works that did the same. Here we receive the case of Henri Murger’s Scènes de la vie de Bohème. This 1851 collection of stories in novel form was revived in popular literature in the early 1890s, sparking the attention of young composer Giacomo Puccini. With a libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa. The opera La bohème made little positive impression on its audience when it premiered in 1896, but in the last 127 years has become a beloved classic of opera worldwide. It tells the story of 4 young Bohemian men living in a cold garret in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The poet Rodolfo meets his neighbor, a seamstress called Mimi whose candle has gone out. They instantly fall in love as they tell each other about themselves, their lives, and their passions. As the first act concludes, they sing a rapturous love duet before heading out to join their friends at the café Momus.

The Pirates of Penzance (1879)

Sullivan

In Victorian England of the late-nineteenth century, opera audiences had begun to grow tired of the pomp and circumstance of grand opera. Composers began to poke fun at the tired conventions of pomposity and grandeur - stories where characters took themselves far too seriously in all kinds of ludicrous situations.

So, the librettist-composer team of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan turned to satire. They created a light opera genre catered specifically to the English people that allowed everyone to simply laugh at themselves. The Pirates of Penzance tells such a tale. A young man named Frederic has been conscripted into a pirate horde, where he must remain until his 21st birthday. How cruel the Fates, as the poor fellow was born in a leap year! Meanwhile, there’s trouble a-brewin’ in town. The local police-folk are none too keen to confront the steel-bearing pirate foe. They lie quietly asleep, while toward them the stealthy pirates creep. With an ever-encroaching engagement, even a thoroughly Modern Major-General is in danger.

Le Nozze di Figaro — Act III

Mozart

Two acts have now gone by in the opera since the Act 1 trio heard earlier. In the meantime, Figaro, along with Susanna and the Countess Almaviva have hatched a plan to expose the Count’s infidelity and dishonorable actions - Susanna will

agree to meet him in the garden later that evening, and he will be caught redhanded. At the end of the second act however, we find out that the old spinster Marcellina is suing Figaro! She claims that he must marry her since he never paid back an old loan, a contract upon which the judge Don Curzio now comes to deliberate. New details emerge that threaten to either ruin everything or to finally bring peace.

Gianni Schicchi (1918)

Puccini

Around 1904, after a string of successful operas, Giacomo Puccini set about composing a triptych of one-act operas with the idea of capitalizing on the success of Pietro Mascagni’s one-act opera Cavelleria rusticana. This project continued until the premiere of Il trittico in 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Gianni Schicchi is the final of the three short operas, preceded by Il tabarro and Suor Angelica. The story is taken from an episode in Dante’s Divine Comedy.

A family stands mourning over the deathbed of their wealthy uncle, Buoso Donati. It soon becomes evident that each family member is hoping to receive a major inheritance. They are devastated to find out however, that their dear Buoso has left everything to a monastery. They decide that their only chance to get a reconsideration of a will for the dead man’s estate is to enlist the help of their new town neighbor, Gianni Schicchi. Gianni agrees to help, realizing that no one else in town knows Buoso is dead. So, the family dresses him in the dead man’s bedclothes, and settles him into bed so that in their ruse, he might dictate a new will. As they work, each family member whispers a request for inheritance to Gianni. In the end, they are all taken for fools when the new Buoso “reads the new will”, leaving all the best property to his “devoted friend Gianni Schicchi”.

Pagliacci (1892)

Leoncavallo

The verismo movement in Italian opera is considered to have fully taken over as the new way in 1876 with Amilcare Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. Then, in 1890, Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana gave the opera world a new shorter form in one act, containing all the heightened, realist drama of a full grand opera in just about one hour. Ruggiero Leoncavallo responded to Mascagni’s massive success with his own version of the short-form opera, but in two short acts. Pagliacci (Clowns) is based on the true story of a murder in 1865. In this plot, a troupe of traveling performers has settled in a village where they will perform in residence for a few days. Their show, based on the historic characters of the commedia dell’arte, stars the beautiful Nedda. She is the wife of Canio, but is involved in an

affair with the charming (baritone) Silvio. Canio, whose temper and jealousy give rise to deep fear in Nedda, is unaware of her infidelity, until Tonio the scorned fool of the troupe suggests that Nedda’s affections are elsewhere. In these two hallmark arias, Nedda consoles her fears with a joyful song about the beautiful warmth of August; Canio on the other hand, furious and heartbroken, sings of despair and his pathetic, cuckold life as nothing but a painted clown.

Carmen (1875)

Bizet

Georges Bizet’s Carmen, based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée, premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1875, scandalizing the audience for all the ways in which it broke with French opera conventions. It was an era of exoticism, this time leaning into perceptions of Spain and the roaming Roma who lived in the area of Seville in the early nineteenth century. This is the story of the beautiful and cunning Carmen, seductive and charming, especially to the officer Don José.

The opera centers around themes of love and fate, and boasts some of the most famous opera music of all time, like the Habanera, Seguidilla, and the Toreador Song. In this scene, the curtain rises on Act 2, the song of the Roma. The townspeople, visitors, and soldiers gather at Lilas Pastia’s Inn. As they all sit about eating, drinking, and taking a respite from daily life, three Roma girls entertain them with song and dance, eventually rising to the tumult of general ribaldry.