Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Bella bel canto!

‘Don Pasquale’ staged in Sun Valley

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Like Shakespearean plays, operas can move happily between eras and locations. The newest offering from the Sun Valley Opera is The Utah Symphony & Opera production of Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera "Don Pasquale."

Sung in English and re-located from 19th century Rome to the 19th century Wild West, performances are Saturday and Sunday, April 3 and 4, at 7 p.m. in The Community School Theater in Sun Valley.

The performers in "Don Pasquale" are 2003-2004 Utah Symphony & Opera Ensemble Studio Artists. Selected through national auditions, these young singers are in residence with the Utah company. During their tenure with the company they appear in supporting solo roles for mainstage productions as well as train in all aspects of opera with the Utah Symphony & Opera. They are Donna Smith as Norma, Steven Timoner as Don Pasquale, Daniel Cilli as Dr. Malatesta and Jason Baldwin as Ernesto. Gregory Pearson plays the other roles.

First performed in Paris in 1843, "Don Pasquale" concerns an aging miser who thinks he should be married. Others in the cast include a supposedly innocent girl who dominates everyone, a dopey nephew who only wants to play music and hang out with his girlfriend, and a conniving but well-meaning doctor who twists everyone's plans into knots only to be heroic as he straightens them all out.

The director is Robert Herriot, who staged "Don Pasquale" for the Calgary Opera last year, as well as for the Opera York in Toronto.

Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini and Gioacchino Rossini were the three great masters of the opera style known as bel canto. These works demanded great virtuosity from the singers and served as bravura showcases for leading operatic performers. Donizetti dominated the Italian opera scene during the years between Bellini's death and Guiseppe Verdi's rise to fame.

Tickets are available now at Chapter One Bookstore in Ketchum or through the concert line at 726-2220.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.