Hobart and William Smith Colleges

28 June 2013 Comic Opera at Smith Opera House

American Landmark Festivals (ALF) is presenting the comic opera Don PasqualeJuly 19and 21in the newlyair-conditioned Smith Opera House, 82 Seneca St.Gaetano Donizetti wrote the three-act work about Don Pasquale, a wealthy man who demands people obey him but doesnt have much success in getting them to do so. The plot includes a headstrong nephew and a wife who turns out to be quite different than Pasquale expects her to be.

Sung in English, the full production has been staged and directed by Albert Bergeret, founder and artistic director of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, andfeatures a talented castled by Metropolitan Opera veteran basso Ryan Allen and popular baritone JimiJames. Soprano Michelle Seipeland tenor Cameron Smith sing the demanding partsof the frustrated sweethearts, while smaller parts are sung by soprano SarahGilbert, baritone Glenn Friedman and outstanding local singers,including Hobart and William Smith Professor of Music Robert Cowles, Steve Kane, Mariami Bekauri and Garsevan Bekauri.

Laugh as the doddering old fool Pasquale is tricked into thinking he has wed the sweet, demure and innocent convent-raised Sofronia. But shes really Norina, in love with Pasquales nephew whom he is trying to disinherit. Once married, she becomes a shrew who shows Pasquale that he was definitely better off without a wife.

Like Rossinis frequently performed The Barber of Seville, Don Pasquale is among the most popular of comic Italian operas known as opera buffa in which the plot revolves around pranks and jokes played on a buffoon-like older man.

Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. on July 19and 2 p.m. on July 21.Tickets are $25 general admission, $35 per couple, $15for a seniors and students, and are free for children K-12. VIP tickets for the Friday night performance are also available for $50 or $80 per couple. Those include preferred seating and a receptionwith theartists following the performance.Tickets are available at The Smith box office, by calling 315-781-5483 or online atwww.thesmith.org. They are also available at Area Records & Music in Geneva, Rossi Music in Canandaigua and The Copy Shop in Seneca Falls.

Basso Allen has performed with theMetropolitan Opera and virtually every opera house in America-includingSyracuse where hereceived an Artist of the Year award early in his career. Aspecialist in the classicbasso bufforoles, he has performed the role of Pasquale44 times. His brilliantperformance at The Smith last summer of TheBarberof Sevillewas his 100threndition of that great Rossiniopera.

James has one of the mostspectacular baritone voices before the opera public today with stage presence,comic timing and impeccably cleardiction that never fails to delight neophytes and the most knowledgeable opera aficionado.His career has taken him from the Syracuse Opera to major opera houses of Americas mid-west and east coast.

ColoraturaSoprano Seipel includes acclaimedperformances with Opera Vivente, theSt. Petersburg Opera and Shreveport Opera where she was named Singer of theYear.Tenor Smith has performed with Lake George Opera, among others,and is featured in the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players productions.

Gilbert studied with Benton Hess in Italy and Martile Rowland in Colorado, and has a graduate degree from McGill University.Friedman has performed in San Francisco and the New York City metropolitan area. He has degrees in music, law and anthropology.Cowles is professor of music and department chair atHobart and William Smith Colleges. He is artistic director of theSyracuse Vocal Ensembleand holds advanced degrees from Indiana University andthe New England Conservatory of Music. A graduate of Eastman School of Music,Kane is the organist and choirmaster of Trinity EpiscopalChurch in Geneva and is heard often in the area as tenor soloist.A Geneva High Schoolgraduate, Bekauri just received degrees in physics and musicfrom Wellesley College andbegins graduate studies at Brown University in the fall. Bekauri hasappeared incompromarioparts inseveral summer operas under the direction of Bergeret, and is currently astudent at Geneva High School where he is active in dramaand recently won a statewide sportscompetition.

Hailed byNew York Magazine as the leading custodian of Gilbert & Sullivanclassics, Bergeret directs and conducts the entire 13-play repertory of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players and is resident stage director for theNew York Grand Opera in Manhattan. His company justreturned from anationwide tour and his comic sensibilities have been hilariously displayed atthe Smith Opera House in recent productions ofThe Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Cosi fan tutte, La Cenerentolaand The Barber of Seville.

Pianists Hilda Collins and Meg Heaton both prominent area musicians and members of Genevas Tuesday Quartet will also be heard in this production.

American Landmark Festivals is a non-profit 501(c)3organization dedicated to the presentation of cultural and performing artsevents inlandmark venues, including the 1894 Smith Opera House withits exceptional acoustics. For more information, visitwww.AmericanLandmarkFestivals.org.

The photo above features Professor of Music Robert Cowles.