Fresno Famous

July 24th Friday at 7 PM * Mozart's Magical Musical Life

Featuring Bastien und Bastienne * Fresno Art Museum, Bonner Auditorium *

2233 North First Street * (Between Clinton & McKinley)

One of Mozart's earliest 18th century operas, written when he was only twelve years old, Bastien und Bastienne is a one act “singspiel*.” Bastienne (British Soprano, Angelina Billington), a shepherdess, fears that her dearest friend, Bastien (German Tenor, Julian Michael Rickert), has forsaken her for another pretty face. Colas, the village soothsayer (California Baritone, Jeremy Silver) advises her to act coldly, which will make him come running back. When Bastien is heard approaching, Bastienne hides herself and Colas informs him that Bastienne has a new love. Bastien is shocked and asks the magician for help. Colas opens his book of spells and recites a nonsense aria filled with random syllables and Latin quotations. Colas declares the spell a success and that Bastienne is in love with Bastien once more. Bastienne, however, decides to keep up the game a bit longer and spurns Bastien. Will the two decide that they've gone far enough and agree to reconcile? And, what ever will happen to Colas? * Singspiel refers to opera in the German language containing spoken dialogue and usually comic in tone. The earliest singspiels were light plays whose dialogue was interspersed with popular songs. Resembling the contemporary English ballad opera and the French opéra-comique (both of which stimulated its development), the singspiel rose to great popularity in the late 18th century. Its success was in part, related to reaction by composers and audiences against the conventions of the then dominant Italian opera styles.

Festival Events are Free with donations welcome at the door in order to promote a greater interest in, exposure to, and attendance of opera in Fresno -made possible, in part, through the Community Enrichment Program of the Fresno Arts Council, the Bonner Family Foundation, Exxon Mobile, Bank of the West, Fred Schlotthauer Memorial Education Fund, AZCAL Management, and Pure Sense, among other individual and corporate sponsors of the Annual International Vocal Competition, and the Festival Finale performances! For more information, please see http://www.calopera.org/opera_events.html

Location: Fresno Art Museum, Bonner Auditorium, 2233 North First Street, Fresno
Starts: 2009 Jul 24 - 7:00pm
Ends: 2009 Jul 24 - 7:00pm
Website: http://www.calopera.org