Members of the Hope College Opera Workshop Ensemble will present scenes from operas by Mozart and Menotti on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 8 p.m. in Wichers Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
A total of 13 students were invited to participate in the workshop, which seeks to give voice students stage experience in operatic scenes. The students met during the January and February to practice scenes from "The Magic Flute," "Cosi fan Tutte," "The Old Maid and the Thief," and "The Medium."
The first piece on the program is from Wolfgang Mozart's, "The Magic Flute." A fairy tale-like story, "The Magic Flute" is one of the most popular operas of all time. The students will present the opening scene of the opera, in which Prince Tamino is chased by a serpent and then rescued by three attendants of the Queen of the Night. The same scene will also be performed during the college's Musical Showcase concert on Monday, March 4, at DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids.
Following the Mozart piece are two scenes from Gian Carlo Menotti operas. The first, "The Old Maid and the Thief," is a comic radio opera that tells the story of an old woman and her maid who inadvertently shelter an escaped convict. The second scene comes from the opera "The Medium." In the scene, a fraudulent psychic beats her foster son Toby, who is mute, while her daughter Monica tries to protect him.
The program will conclude with a scene from Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte." The sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi send their fiances off to war not knowing that the men are deceiving them about leaving in order to bet on the women's fidelity. In the scene, the sisters mourn the absence of their fiances while their feisty maid Despina encourages them to find new lovers.
Nykerk Hall of Music is located on the former 12th Street between College and Columbia avenues.