By Ludwig Van Beethoven
Ludwig Van Beethoven composed only one opera in his life. He had strong opinions about the opera of his day and found many of the contemporary German libretti lacking in appropriate seriousness. At the beginning of the 19th century, Beethoven’s mind was heavy with the themes of stoic suffering and heroic resolve. Put off by what he felt were trite tales of moral ambiguity and emotional triviality in his own land, he finally found the noble inspiration he sought in revolutionary France.
Written and twice revised between 1804 and 1814, Fidelio is based on Jean-Nicolas Bouilly’s Leonore, ou L’amour conjugal, (Leonore, or the Triumph of Married Love in its English translation). The story follows the heroine, Leonore, who disguises herself as a young man, Fidelio, in order to find and save her jailed husband, Florestan. Though many believe him to be dead, Leonore feels in her heart that he lives and through her ingenuity, virtue, and steadfastness, she sets out to find her beloved husband.
By Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi’s enduring masterpiece was premiered in 1851 and is based on the Victor Hugo play, Le roi s’amuse. The project initially raised the eyebrows of the police censors in the commissioning city of Venice, but by the time word of this got to Verdi, he had found his muse and insisted on continuing. Further drama would soon ensue, pitting Verdi and his librettist against the will of “official opinion.” Luckily a compromise was reached, one that allowed Verdi to retain many essential story elements, most notably the iconic hunched back of the title character.
The action follows Rigoletto, a duke’s jester, whose insensitive mocking of another man’s anger earns him a curse and an eventual loss of horrific proportions. Rigoletto is both contributor and victim to the opera’s proceedings and, in the end, suffers most as a result of the complications that come from a life in service to an awful man, who reserves even the opera’s most famous music for himself.
By Gaetano Donizetti
Among Gaetano Donizetti’s incredibly large catalogue of operas, L’elisir d’amore of 1832 is one of the most recognizable and famous. A two-act melodrama and exemplar of 19th century opera buffa, the piece was written during a time of increasing European popularity for the composer, a time when Donizetti would conquer not only the comic form but the bel canto style as well with the ensuing Lucia di Lammermoor. These back to back creations would define his career and live forever among the finest examples of their respective genres.
The story of L’elisir is of Nemorino, a love-struck youth who cannot seem to hold the attention of his dream girl, Adina. He buys a “magic” potion but it doesn’t seem to work. It only begins to take effect on the other women of the town after news spreads of his rich uncle’s passing and this convinces Nemorino that he needs to buy more to use on Adina. But Nemorino has much to learn about elixirs and love, and the confusion he sows with his potion threatens to ruin everything.
Experience the March 16th performance with Cadenza: Click here
By Carlisle Floyd
Continuing a new tradition of staging American works, Utah Opera presents Carlisle Floyd’s 1969 adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men. As with his highly popular Susannah, Floyd wrote his own libretto for Of Mice and Men and his words and music capture the distinctively American pathos of the book’s depression-era setting and themes.
Like the novel, the story centers around George and his childlike companion Lennie as they struggle to find a path to their simple dream, the dream of a house and farm they can call their own. It is not to be however as Lennie’s simple kindness and fear of upsetting those around him unwittingly lead to tragedy and the end of the plans he and George share. Theirs is the quintessential hard-luck odyssey, always one step ahead of disaster and so very far from salvation. More tragedy is sure to follow.
Experience the May 5th performance with Vivace: Click here
