Thu 3/24-Sat 3/26 @ 8PM
Sun 3/27 @ 2PM
Italy’s Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) preceded the 19th century golden age of Italian opera (Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti), writing more than 80, mostly comic, operas. Unlike those composers, only one of his operas is at all known today: Il Matrimonio Secreto (The Secret Marriage), which debuted in 1792.
That opera features music some have compared favorable to his contemporary, Mozart, and a dizzying, complicated “love pentangle,” taking place in the household of a wealthy businessman, his two daughters, his sister and his secretary, as the characters match, mis-match, connive, deceive, confuse and get confused.
Oberlin Opera Theater takes on the work for four performances at Oberlin’s Hall Auditorium.
“It’s not like you’re getting a poor man’s Mozart,” says director Jonathon Field, associate professor of opera theater at Oberlin. “This opera endures because, musically and theatrically, it is full of moments that lead you directly into Rossini and Donizetti. There are a lot of later Italian opera traditions in this piece, which makes it feel very familiar when you listen to it.”
The opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles. The singers will be accompanied by the Oberlin Orchestra, directed by guest conductor Christopher Larkin. General admission tickets are $10, $8 for students. Get them by calling 800-371-0178.
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