Opera Excerpts
As an encore to our regular season of fully staged, complete performances, we are pleased to bring you a free evening of selections from some of the worlds best-loved operas. Join us Wednesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. for scenes from La Bohème, La Traviata, Lamico Fritz, LElisir dAmore, Don Giovanni and Il Trovatore. No need to book tickets just turn up, take a seat, and enjoy yourself! (Performances are at Bickford Centre Theatre, 777 Bloor St. West, across from the Christie subway station.)

La BohemeLa Bohème

Sung in Italian. Puccinis endlessly fresh and touching tale of romance, highjinks, sicknesss and death among a group of high-spirited Bohemians in Paris in the 1800s. Scenes from acts 1 and 3. In act 1, the poet Rodolfo helps his neighbour Mimi light her candle, find her key and fall in love. In act 3, he is agonizing about the consumption that will eventually kill her, while his friend Marcello has a spat with his all too flirtatious lover, Musetta. Rodolfo and Mimi decide to stay together until the spring, but it seems Marcello and Musetta wont make it through the night.
Rodolfo is sung by Michael Sugrue, Mimi by Ilaria Lee, Marcello by Mel Nicosia and Musetta by Shek Ko.

L'Elisir d'AmorLElisir dAmore
Sung in Italian. Duets from Acts 1 and 3. Donizettis comic gem involves a simple village lad, a beautiful country girl and some quack medicine that turns out to do more or less what it promised! Nemorino, the country bumpkin, is sung by Caesar Juarez, and Adina, with whom he is hopelessly in love, by Shek Ko. In another scene, the mountebank Dr. Dulcamara, sung by John Allec, manages to persuade the gullible Nemorino that an ordinary bottle of wine is a magic love potion.
La Traviata
Sung in Italian. Duet from Act 2. Violetta has abandoned her life as a courtesan, and is living in the country with the one man who really loves her, Alfredo Germont. While he is away, she is visited by Alfredos father, who begs her to leave the man she loves because their scandalous relationship is destroying any chance his daughter might have of making a suitable marriage. One of Verdis most heart-rending duets. The role of Violetta is shared by Nicole Dunsmore (March 16) and Ilaria Lee (March 17), and Giorgio Germont is sung by Mel Nicosia.
MascagniLamico Fritz
Sung in Italian. In Mascagnis opera, Fritz Kobus, a wealthy and generous landowner, has sworn to remain a bachelor, and cannot fathom falling in love. David, a rabbi, predicts that within a year Fritz will march down the marriage aisle. It is Fritzs birthday, and Suzel, the daughter of one of his tenants, arrives to offer him a bouquet of flowers. In the next scene, she sings a romantic ditty, and Fritz enters complimenting her on her singing. Captivated by her charm, he helps her with her chores. In the Cherry Duet, they feel their attraction blossoming. Cesar Juarez sings Fritz, and Shek Ko interprets Suzel.
Il TrovatoreIl Trovatore
Sung in Italian. One of Verdis most passionate operas. The Count di Luna and the troubador Manrico are rivals for the love of Leonora, and we learn in act 1 the story of a Gypsy woman burned at the stake years ago for bewitching Di Lunas younger brother. The Gypsys daughter sought vengeance by kidnaping the child and, so the story goes, burning him at the very stake where her mother died. In this scene from act 2, Azucena the Gypsys daughter relives her mothers fiery execution, recalling the dying womans plea for vengeance. Manrico asks to hear her full story, becoming confused when Azucena, overwhelmed with memories, blurts out that by mistake she hurled her own son into the flames. Assuring him of a mothers love, Azucena makes Manrico swear revenge, but he says a strange power stayed his hand when he could have killed Di Luna in a duel. A messenger brings news that Leonora, thinking Manrico dead, plans to enter a convent. Despite Azucenas pleas, Manrico rushes away. Manrico is sung by Romulo Delgado, Azucena by Karen Bojti and the messenger by William Parker.
Don GiovanniDon Giovanni
Sung in Italian. In this scene from Mozarts masterpiece, the ever libidinous Don Giovanni has set his sights on the peasant girl Zerlina, even though it is her wedding day. Having got rid of her betrothed, he attempts to seduce her by promising to marry her himself, and by pointing out that his palace is a prime piece of real estate. Don Giovanni is sung by Mel Nicosia, and Zerlina by Shek Ko.