LSO 2022-23 Program Book Fall Concerts

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA CLASSICAL
The Missouri native trained with the late
renowned pedagogue Richard Miller. He is also
a former participant in the young artist programs
of Cleveland Opera, Opera Delaware, and Opera
Memphis. He was the 2012 Artist Division
Winner of the National Opera Association's Vocal
Competition and, in 2013, was a winner in the 3rd
Annual Concorso Internazionale di Canto della
Fondazione Marcello Giordano in Catania, Sicily.
Notes on the Program
The period extending from the mid-nineteenth
through the early twentieth centuries was a
veritable golden age of opera. Opera as a form of
entertainment was popular with and accessible
to people from all walks of life, and as such new
operatic traditions emerged and a standard
repertory of the most successful productions
formed. All across Europe distinctive styles were
developed and key composers rose to fame as
national treasures within their home countries.
Tonight’s program presents a varied sampling of
pieces from these large-scale dramatic works,
including vocal and instrumental pieces from
stories both comic and tragic.
Overture to La Forza del Destino
Prelude, Recitative, and Aria (“Celeste Aïda”)
from Aïda
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
We begin with two pieces by the most influential
opera composer of the nineteenth century, the
Italian master Giuseppe Verdi. La Forza del
Destino (“The Power of Fate”) (1862), Verdi’s
22nd opera, tells a tangled story in which the
characters come together through happenstance.
Its Overture is a staple of the standard orchestral
repertoire and, as on tonight’s program, is often
played as the opening piece of concerts. The
work introduces a potpourri of themes from the
opera itself, beginning with the ominous threenote
unison “fate” motif.
Next comes another Verdi work: the achingly
lovely Aïda (1871) aria “Celeste Aïda” (“Heavenly
Aïda”), preceded by an instrumental prelude
and the recitative “Se quel guerrier io fossi!” (“If
only I were that warrior!”). In this rhapsodic Act
I romanza, Radamès, a young Egyptian warrior,
sings of his wish to gain victory on the battlefield
as an army commander and of his secret love for
the captured Ethiopian princess, Aïda.
Manon Lescaut – Intermezzo to Act III
“E Lucevan le Stelle” from Tosca
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Widely regarded as Verdi’s immediate successor,
Giacomo Puccini brought Italian opera into
the twentieth century. Manon Lescaut (1893),
Puccini’s third of 13 total operas, tells the story
of Chevalier des Grieux and his lover, Manon
Lescaut. The celebrated Intermezzo takes place
between Acts II and III and foreshadows the
lovers’ tragic fate. Echoes of the couple’s famous
Act IV love duet in which Manon dies in des
Grieux’s arms emerge juxtaposed with themes
from happier preceding scenes.
A similar tragic theme colors the next aria, “E
Lucevan le Stelle” (“And the stars were shining”),
one of the most famous of all operatic arias. The
work is drawn from the third act of Puccini’s Tosca
(1900) and assumes the point of view of Mario
Cavadarossi, a painter who is enamored with
the singer Tosca, as he sings of his desperate
love for her while awaiting his own execution.
“Vesti la Giubba” from I Pagliacci
Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919)
Composer and librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo is
best remembered today for his opera I Pagliacci
(1892) which tells the story of Canio, a commedia
dell’arte actor who murders his wife and her lover
onstage in the midst of a performance. The aria
“Vesti la Giubba” (“Put on the costume”) comes at
the end of Act I, right as Canio discovers his wife
has been unfaithful but must still make himself
ready for a performance as Pagliacci the clown.
Canio epitomizes the role of the tragic clown as
he attempts to mask his pain through this deeply
moving lament.
Triumphal March & Ballet from Aïda
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
We return once more to Verdi’s Aïda with the
Act II Triumphal March & Ballet in which the
warrior Radamés leads the Egyptian army in a
victory procession following their war against the
Ethiopians. The celebratory parade opens with
a rousing fanfare before a chorus of trumpets
picks up the main theme; few operatic melodies
are more familiar than this jubilant tune.parade
opens with a rousing fanfare before a chorus of
trumpets picks up the main theme; few operatic
melodies are more familiar than this jubilant tune.
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