Opera extracts to enchant Hanoi audiences

Opera lovers are in for a treat on Wednesday and Thursday when Hanoi Opera House hosts works by Johann Strauss, Giuseppe Verdi, and George Gershwin.

A Grand Night of Opera will feature extracts from Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Verdi’s La Traviata and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

The delightful operetta Die Fledermaus, begins with a sparkling overture featuring some of classical music’s most cherished melodies.

The narrative revolves around Baron von Eisenstein, who is facing imprisonment for non-payment of taxes. On his way to jail, he is induced by his friend Dr Falke to attend a fancy-dress party hosted by Prince Orlovsky’s. Unbeknown to Eisenstein, however, Falke is still bitter about being tricked into going home from a previous fancy-dress party dressed as a bat (hence the name Die Fledermaus – or The Revenge of the Bat).

The Opera House is putting on Act II: The gala party of the prince. Adele, Gabriel and Rosalinde Eisenstein’s chambermaid, attends the party wearing her mistress’ dress. Rosalinde is also at the party, disguised as a Hungarian countess. During the party, Eisenstein flirts with his own wife while dressed as the Marquis Renard. He later toasts the prison governor, Frank.

The romantic opera La Traviata was inspired by the novel Camille by Alexandre Dumas in which a young poet falls in love with a courtesan dying of tuberculosis. The opera opens at a lavish party at Violetta Valery’s home in 1850s Paris. Alfredo Germont, a fervent admirer, who has come with Gastone, is enchanted by the hostess’ charm and beauty. A group of friends – Flora Bervoix, the Marquis d’Obigny; Gastone and Violetta’s patron, the Baron Douphol – are among the revellers. Having long adored her from afar, Alfredo serenades Violetta with a rousing drinking song.

Porgy and Bess

Has been called an American Folk Opera. It was Gershwin’s last work for the musical stage. This simple story is set in South Carolina during the Great Depression with run-down Catfish Row as the backdrop. Porgy, a crippled beggar, falls in love with Bess, a woman of uncertain reputation who is under the domination of a bully pimp named Crown. Crown kills a Catfish Row inhabitant and then flees. Bess seeks sanctuary with the only person who would take her in, Porgy. Bess is later enticed to New York by flashy gambler Sportin’ Life. At the opera’s end, Porgy leaves for New York to search for her.

While Die Fledermaus and Porgy and Bess will be performed in English, La Traviata will be sung in Italian. American mezzo-soprano Eva Nagorka is the director.

Audiences will also have the chance to meet again American guest conductor Daniel R Perkins, who has worked on several symphony concerts in Vietnam and whose baton will be guiding the 60-member orchestra.

Co-organised by the US Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Orchestra and Ballet, tickets cost VND150,000-VND250,000 and are available at the theatre.

(Source:VNS)

Tag: Hanoi , Vietnam

Opera extracts to enchant Hanoi audiences

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