West Bay Opera

West Bay Opera’s 52^nd Season, 2007–2008

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Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni		Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo
October 12–14 & 19–21, 2007 in Italian with English titles Conductor: José Luis Moscovich Director: José María Condemi
Southern Italian village life, dominated by a peculiar mix of Church morals and the Sicilian code of honor, provides the backdrop for these two verismo masterpieces about love and betrayal. In Cavalleria rusticana, tipped off by Santuzza, the betrayed and pregnant girlfriend, Alfio kills Turiddu, his wife’s lover, in a knife fight. In Pagliacci, blurring the line between performance and life, Canio the clown kills both Nedda, his wife, and Silvio, her lover, on the circus stage in front of a stunned audience.

Così fan tutte
February 15–17 & 22–24, 2008
music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
(in Italian with English titles)
Conductor: Barbara Day Turner
Director: Douglas Nagel

In 1700s Naples, Don Alfonso convinces two young officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, to test the faithfulness of their girlfriends, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. Mozart wrote some of his most sublime operatic music for Così fan tutte, as he and master librettist Lorenzo da Ponte poked fun at a practice well known to the Viennese Court: girlfriend (and boyfriend) swapping. It’s betrayal of love, with a happy ending.

Der fliegende Holländer
(The Flying Dutchman)
May 23–25 & May 30–June 1, 2008
music and libretto by Richard Wagner
(in German with English titles)
Conductor: José Luis Moscovich
Director: David Ostwald

For centuries, the Flying Dutchman sails the seas, condemned to live until he can find salvation in the love of a truly faithful woman. Senta, a teenage village girl on the Norwegian coast, proves faithful to the death. This is love, betrayal, and redemption Wagner style. Der fliegende Holländer is an early work of genius, and the last of Wagner’s italianate operas.

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West Bay Opera’s 52nd Season, 2007–2008

West Bay Opera’s 52^nd Season, 2007–2008