Trimmed to fit the space-time needs of youthful Santa Cruz audiences, and sung in Italian with recitative plot lines spoken in English, Mozart’s dazzling comic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro takes over the UCSC Recital Hall for four performances beginning May 29.
Director Sheila Willey says Figaro “simply has the best music, the most charm, the best written characters.” She maintains, “It has drama, comedy, romance—it is the full package.” Figaro also offers clever social critique, lots of disguises and hiding in unexpected bedrooms, plus some of the finest vocal quartets ever written.
The hugely popular musical entertainment debuted in Vienna in 1786, with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and brilliant libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Willey and her UCSC Opera Program team have set the upcoming production on an estate in the 1920s.
“I love Figaro set in the 18th century, but wanted to give the students a chance to work in a time that felt a bit more within reach: a mere 100 years ago. Our production is set on a country estate in the Hudson River Valley. We have some of the evening glamour of East Coast society with the relaxed feeling of a country garden party. Our costume designer, Brooke Jennings, is creating some very beautiful looks.”
This masterwork contains some of the most difficult and humorous music in all of Mozart’s stage works.
“I’ve been having such a wonderful time becoming Cherubino,” says opera student Err Shirley. “And being able to sing Mozart’s work in Italian! It’s a really unique and important experience to be able to perform in a full-length opera in general as an undergraduate, but to be able to do it in Italian has been an exciting challenge. Working with Sheila is always a treat.”
Produced and directed by UCSC Opera Program Director Sheila Willey and performed by the UCSC Orchestra, Figaro will be staged May 29–31 at 7:30pm and June 1 at 3pm in UCSC’s Music Center Recital Hall. Tickets ($0-$29) must be reserved in advance at eventbrite.com/cc/ucsc-opera-4238503
Without music, said Nietzsche, life would be a mistake. Like so many, I’ve suffered the turmoil of our current worldscape and found solace in music. Singing with the Santa Cruz Chorale has given me and my colleagues an oasis of creativity and peace. A sure way into the joy that great music can provide is through the masterwork by Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, which forms the centerpiece of the Santa Cruz Chorale’s upcoming concerts. The style we know today as polyphony—many vocal parts weaving a sonic tapestry of overlapping themes—was given its innovative shape by this Italian composer 500 years ago.
The a capella concert, with the traditional litany of Palestrina’s Mass along with works by Heinrich Schütz and modern composers Randall Thompson, Charles V. Stanford and Arvo Pärt, takes place May 17, 8pm, and May 18, 4pm, at Holy Cross Church, 126 High St. santacruzchorale.org
Music in May, founded by Juilliard graduate Rebecca Jackson-Picht, offers another opportunity for renewal that only the performing arts can provide. Celebrating its 18th season on Memorial Day weekend, MiM offers exquisite chamber works by Mozart, Mendelsson, and many others in three programs at Peace United Church in Santa Cruz and Samper Recital Hall at Cabrillo College, May 23, 24 & 25. For more about the artists and ticket information, visit musicinmay.org.
Espressivo Orchestra, led by guest conductor Daniel Henriks, director of I Cantori di Carmel, offers a concert of ultra-romantic music at 7pm on June 8 at Peace United Church (also in Monterey on June 7). In addition to Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C, and Pastorale d’été by Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, the concert includes Hector Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été, joined by the vibrant soprano of Emily Sinclair, Bay Area performer and teacher of vocal repertoire. Yes, Lars Johannesson will be there with his magic flute. Full details at espressorch.org.
Note: The time was changed for Espressivo’s June 8 concert.
