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| The Forgotten
Opera Company's Spring 2007 production, Random Acts of Opera, was
performed April 21 and 22 at Bethesda Presbyterian Church at 8:00
p.m. The program consisted of three one-act operas by more-or-less
“American” composers of the 20th century: The Telephone
by Gian Carlo Menotti, |
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| Gallantry
by Douglas Moore, and The Stoned Guest by PDQ
Bach. |
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Gian Carlo Menotti, who passed away
earlier this year, was Italian by birth and musical |
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American musical scene, both on Broadway and in the opera house.
He was not only the composer of many operas and other theatre
pieces, but was a renowned stage director and impresario. This
year marks the 60th anniversary of The Telephone’s
world premiere. Though still fairly popular in college and conservatory
opera workshops Menotti’s operas are encountered in professional
opera houses much less frequently than in decades past, with
the exception of the perennial Christmas favorite, Amahl
and the Night Visitors. We feel strongly that these works,
featuring believably drawn characters and heartfelt musical
gestures, should not be forgotten. for more information. |
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| One of the relatively few 20th century
American operas to have held the stage long after its premiere
is Douglas Moore's |
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| The Ballad of Baby
Doe. While Gallantry is cut from the same cloth
musically, the “plot” couldn’t be more different.
It’s a delightfully whimsical “soap opera”
in the literal sense, with an Announcer who not only introduces
each scene of the drama, but hawks the sponsors’ products—including
Lochinvar Soap and Billy Boy Wax—during
commercial breaks! And what day-time drama would be complete
without a love triangle between the handsome but philandering
surgeon, the lovely and faithful nurse, and her fiancé,
whom she is surprised to find on the operating table? to learn more about our cast. |
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The noted American musicologist Peter Schickele,
a respected composer in his own right, has done the musical
world an inestimable disservice by rescuing the works of the
21st child of J.S. Bach from centuries of well-deserved neglect.
Having recently presented Mozart’s Don Giovanni,
we look forward to showing some of the same characters in
a very different light in PDQ Bach’s The Stoned
Guest.
for cast information.
Performances were April 21 & 22 at 8:00 p.m., at Bethesda
Presbyterian Church, 7611 Clarendon Road, Bethesda, Maryland. |
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