Opera Under the Stars
 

The Magic Flute- Mozart

Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) takes place in a mythical land between the sun and moon. It is a special type of opera known as a Singspiel (pronounced Zing-shpeel). These operas are characterized by spoken dialogue that breaks up the songs, much like today’s modern musicals! But Singspiels also include ballets, fantastical characters and exaggerated characterizations of good and evil.

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We definitely see the evil in the Queen of the Night. Bent on getting revenge on her enemy, Sarastro, the Queen gives her daughter, Pamina, a dagger and orders her to murder Sarastro. Der Hölle Rache (The pangs of Hell) really shows her anger as she promises to disown Pamina if she fails at this task.

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The Queen leaves and Sarastro finds Pamina fighting with Sarastro’s servant (he is threatening to reveal the Queen’s plot if Pamina doesn’t love him back). Pamina begs Sarastro to forgive the Queen. He sings In diesen heil’gen Hallen (Withing these sacred halls), reassuring her that revenge and cruelty have no place in his domain.

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We now skip to the very end of the opera. Papageno, the bumbling, reluctant side kick of the story’s hero, Tamino, has spent the show looking for love and failing. He is an odd character, typically costumed as a bird-man hybrid. Along the journey in this opera, he has acquired a magic bell that can be used to summon his true love. He rings it and Papagena appears! They sing this cheerful duet, Papageno Papagena duet, that imitates birds’ mating calls and discuss the many children they will have together and if they will be Papagenos or Papagenas!

 

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Carmen-Bizet

Carmen is still the most popular opera in the repertoire even at close to 150 years old! The composer, Georges Bizet, unfortunately never knew the opera’s success. Its opening performances were a complete disaster and he died before the show began to gain popularity.

Carmen follows the story of a young gypsy woman and her ill-fated love with the soldier, Don Jose. Today, we are going to present a medley of some of Carmen’s greatest hits.

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We open with the Habanera, Carmen’s provocative songs about the untameable nature of love. She is on a break from her work as a cigarette girl at the local factory. This song gets everyone’s attention, but she seems to be directing her gaze at the soldier Don Jose who is trying to ignore her.

A fight breaks out once the girls go back to work and we find out that the instigator was Carmen. She sings Tra la la..Coupe-moi, brûle moi, (tra la la..cut me, burn me). She taunts Zuniga, the guard who arrests her. Zuniga tells Don Jose to tie Carmen’s hands while he leaves to prepare the prison warrant. While Zuniga is gone, Carmen turns her attention to Don Jose once again. She sings the Seguidilla, singing about a night of dancing and passion with her lover, hinting that Don Jose should meet her at the local tavern. Don Jose is mesmerized and agrees to let her go free. Zuniga re-enters and begins singing Voici l’ordre partez, (Here is the order). Carmen shoves Don Jose and makes her escape. Don Jose is then arrested for dereliction of duty.

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Act 2 begins with Carmen at the tavern with her friends. Two months have passed since the arrest of Don Jose. They are entertaining the officers and sing what is known as the Gypsy Song. It’s a great party song, getting faster and more wild as the song goes. The women are dancing almost as much for themselves as they are for the men. Jose is released from prison and goes to find Carmen. She gets angry when he hears a bugle call and says he must report back to the barracks. She convinces him not to go and he finds himself in the mountains on a smuggling mission with Carmen and her friends.

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Micaëla, Jose’s childhood friend from the country enters trying to find him. They had a brief moment together at the beginning of the opera, but thoughts of Carmen pushed Micaëla far from Jose’s mind. She has decided to go look for him but is a shy girl from the country and very afraid of this gypsy crew in the mountains. In her aria, Je dis que rien m’epouvante (I say that nothing frightens me), she gathers her courage and prays to God that she might have the strength to save Don Jose from Carmen, who Micaëla believes is a temptress.

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Carmen and her friends, Frasquita and Mercedes are passing the time reading tarot cards, The Card Trio. The friends are having a wonderful time reading fortunes of marrying, one for love and one for wealth. Carmen reads her cards and sees only death in her future.

 

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Les Misérables- Claude-Michel Schönberg

Les Mis is the story of a man’s desire for redemption set along side a revolutionary period in France. Based off the lengthy novel by Victor Hugo, this musical is the longest-running musical in London’s West End. Carole saw the show there in 2008 on a choir trip! Highly recommend stopping by if you find yourself across the pond.

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The three songs featured today are three of the most popular out a musical filled with hits.

In On My Own, Eponine, daughter of the local tavern owners, the Thénardiers has been living with her parents on the streets for awhile. They lost the tavern years ago due to her father’s greed. She has met and fallen in love with a young student and revolutionary, Marius. He thinks of Eponine as a great friend, but is not aware she loves him and does not love her back. In fact, he has just asked her to help him find the home of a new woman, Cosette, who came to the streets with her adoptive father, Jean-Valjean, to hand out food.

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I Dreamed a Dream, is sung by Cosette’s mother, Fantine. She has had a rough life and can’t seem to get a win. Her daughter, Cosette, is being raised by the Thénardiers (for a cost) and Fantine loses her job at Valjean’s factory. She must sell her possessions and prostitute herself to try and make enough money to pay. She sings I Dreamed a Dream, reminiscing about broken dreams and Cosette’s father. Valjean finds Fantine and recognizes her as one of his former employees. He takes her to a hospital where she dies, pleading with Valjean to watch over her daughter Cosette.

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Stars is sung be the police officer, Javert. He has a ridged sense of justice and believes that criminals cannot be reformed. He has been tracking Valjean for years as he is an escaped fugitive trying to rebuild his life. He has been on Valjean’s trail the entire musical, but Valjean always manages to get away. Javert makes a vow that he will find Valjean and recapture him.

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We close our set today by visiting the Thénardiers’ tavern. In Master of the House, M. Thénardier is hard at work scamming his clients and cooking the books. Its quite the party down at the Thénardiers. Just keep an eye on your wallet!

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Candide-Bernstein

Candide is a comic operetta based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. The story is bleak but there is much humor in Bernstein's writing.

 

The opera opens with Cunegonde and Candide among other students at the castle in Westphalia. Their teacher, Pangloss, discusses how to be happy and the students buy in deeply. Happiness is the goal of life. But Candide is the illegitimate nephew of the Baron while Cunegonde is a true heir. Candide is in love with Cunegonde and eventually they profess their love to each other and imagine their happy life together. The Baron is not thrilled as Candide is of lower status and banishes Candide from the castle. He ends up being forced to join the Bulgar army who attacks the castle killing Cunegonde and the other students.

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Or so Candide thinks. It turns out that Cunegonde is not dead. She has escaped to Paris where she survives pandering two two wealthy men (on different, mutually agreed upon days of course.) She sings Glitter and Be Gay, contemplating the choices she has made in order to survive. Candide eventually finds Cunegonde and her companion know as The Old Lady. But in the process of their reunion, he inadvertently kills her two wealthy patrons.

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After these murders, Cunegonde, Candide and the Old Lady flee to Cadiz. The Old Lady sings, I Am Easily Assimilated, revealing more about her past and giving the two lovers a lesson in blending in

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Much more chaos ensues in these characters’ lives. There are reunions, goodbyes, more accidental murders, and journeys to the far reaches of the earth. Cunegonde and Candide run into each other one final time at a masked ball and Cunegonde tries to rob Candide, not recognizing him. The masks fall away and after some shock, the illusion of living and idealized life is shattered. Life is just life. With his remaining money, Candide buys a farm and resolves to marry Cunegonde and they will work hard with what little they have to cultivate their life, Make our Garden Grow.

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Thank you!!

We want to thank all of you for joining us this evening. We hope you had an enjoyable evening with us. Cheers!

 

​While this concert is free, we do take donations. It is with your support that we can continue our mission - to make opera accessible to everyone. If you would like to donate, you can place cash in the jars on the tables near the stage. We also accept payment via Vemno @overdressedduo. For a check donation or if you would like a receipt for your donation, please speak with one of our volunteers wearing the pink volunteer lanyards. We thank you for your support.

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​Overdressed is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

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