Spring Opera to be Presented at Utah State University

Utah State University’s Symphony Orchestra and USU Opera Theatre combine forces this spring for the grand scale opera performance of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’amore” with more than 100 participants and personnel.

L’Elisir d’amore, (“The Elixir of Love”) will be presented on campus in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center April 20-22. Friday, April 20, the performance time is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21, sees a matinee performance at 1 p.m. and an evening performance at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22, has a 6 p.m. curtain time.

 

Tickets for any of the performances are available at the Kent Concert Hall one hour prior to each performance. General seating is $10, seniors $5 and all student and USU faculty/staff are admitted free.

 

Lynn Jemison-Keisker heads the USU Opera Theatre program in the department of music and coordinates this major effort. Two casts of principal singers are scheduled to appear with USU’s Symphony Orchestra under the baton of director Sergio Bernal, who conducts the Friday and Saturday evening performances. Jemison-Keisker conducts the Saturday matinee and Sunday evening performance.

 

Guest stage director Colin Baldy’s work at USU is sponsored by the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation. Baldy, a baritone, performs internationally and is a renowned director of opera and operetta in Britain, Italy and other European centers.

 

The cast and orchestra include talented undergraduate students currently completing degrees at Utah State University, said Jemison-Keisker. Ensemble members come from varied disciplines from across campus, as well as community supporters cast as supernumerary Italian soldiers and children.

 

“This is the first collaboration for opera on a grand scale with full orchestra on the campus in many years,” Jemison-Keisker said.

 

The work will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.

 

L’Elisir d’amore is described as an Italian opera gem of the bel canto period. It is set in the Piedmont area of Italy in the 1860s. Peasants living on the estate of the beautiful and wealthy Adina enjoy leisure time, while their mistress reads of the romantic adventures of Tristan and Isolde. Nemorino, a forlorn peasant, is determined that Adina return his love. She tires of his persistence and agrees to marry a dashing sergeant, Belcore.

 

After hearing the story of Tristan, Nemorino decides to buy a magic elixir from Dulcamara, a quack doctor traveling through the village with his dubious portions for love, medical care and wealth. Desperate, Nemorino signs a military contract to gather the necessary “scudi” for the precious “l’elisir.” Believing that in one day, Adina will love him, he drinks one full bottle, then another. When all the village girls turn their adoring attention on him, he truly believes the elixir works.

 

Jemison-Keisker encourages everyone to attend the magical, fun-filled performances with family and friends to find out “the rest of the story” and to hear the well known aria, “Una furtive lagrima!”

 

“Comedy, melody and spectacular moments promise to uplift your spirits as Nemorino believes in a miracle,” she concluded. “Join us for magical entertainment — night or day — at the opera.”

 

The production is mounted with financial support from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, USU’s department of music and community support.

 

Contact: Lynn Jemison-Keisker (435) 797-3038