VCU Opera premieres two comedic operas

Samantha Foster

Assistant Spectrum Editor

VCU Opera’s spring production of the operas, “The Old Maid and the Thief” and “Amelia goes to the Ball” premieres this Friday.

Both operas were written by Italian- American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who is best known for his opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and for founding the Spoleto Festival. The Spoleto Festival is the world’s largest performing arts festival, located in Charleston, S.C. every spring.

The first opera, “The Old Maid and the Thief,” was originally commissioned by NBC and premiered on the radio in 1939 before being adapted for the stage. It is credited with being the first opera ever composed specifically for radio.

“The Old Man and the Thief” follows an elderly woman and her maid as they help a young traveler they have taken into their house, despite their questions about his past.

“Its based in the ’40s during the depression. It’s primarily about Mrs. Todd being an old spinster,” said Abigail Stinnett, a senior vocal performance major who plays Mrs. Todd. “She’s lonely and this man comes into her life. She’ll basically do anything to keep him in her life.”

“‘The Old Maid and the Thief’ has shorter scenes that sometimes reuse the same material,” said Daniel Myssyk, director of orchestral studies and conductor. “It’s rhythm is quick, and the music is closely connected to the words. It is mainly declamatory.”

The second one-act opera, “Amelia Goes to the Ball,” is Menotti’s first successful opera buffa as a composer. An opera buffa is a short opera, generally composed of lighter music and a limited number of singers.

“‘Amelia Goes to the Ball’ forms more of a continuum. There is a flow to it that makes it unified in terms of texture and color,” Myssyk said.

“Amelia Goes to the Ball” is a farce based around the life an Italian socialite as she overcomes an eager lover and a jealous husband in order to attend the first ball of the season.

“You see this whole drama unfold between the lover and the husband quarreling,” said Kelsey Snyder, a junior vocal performance major. “You have to go to the show to see if she goes to the ball or not.”

“These two single-act operas are essentially comical in nature,” Myssyk said. “I doubt that anyone could take anything in them seriously. They are organized very differently, both structurally and musically.”

Last year’s spring opera placed second in a National Opera Association competition. The competition includes the orchestra, the singers, the costumers and the technicians.

“I think we have a really good chance of winning first place this year. We just have to work really hard,” Stinnett said. CT

Both operas premiere Friday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 29 at 4 p.m. at The Singleton Performing Arts Center in the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for VCU faculty and seniors and $8 for VCU students.