INDIANA UNIVERSITY OPERA THEATER ANNOUNCES 1997-98 SEASON

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Marriages and mayhem will abound in the Indiana University Opera Theater's 1997-98 season, along with an appealing blend of comedy and tragedy -- all containing some of the most glorious music of the operatic stage. IU Opera Theater productions are in the Musical Arts Center on the Bloomington campus, and all include projected supertitles in English. Curtain time is 8 p.m.
The season will begin Sept. 27 with Gaetano Donizetti's Don Pasquale. Additional performances will be Oct. 4, 11 and 18. A masterpiece of Italian opera buffa (comic opera), Don Pasquale focuses on the hilarious deception of its stubborn title character, whose disapproval of his nephew's intentions to marry the young widow Norina incites him to seek a wife after years of happy bachelorhood. The work is a true comedy, relying on the trickery and beguilement of the characters rather than upon situational blunders. Donizetti's score employs expert theatrical timing and features memorable melodies.

Eugene Onegin by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky will open Oct. 25 and repeat on Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and 8. A tragic tale of love and loss, Tchaikovsky's most celebrated opera tells the story of the imaginative, innocent Tatiana and her ill-fated attraction to the handsome but disdainful Onegin. Tatiana admits her love for Onegin in a letter, but he dismisses her love, stating that marriage is not for him. Eventually, Onegin's heartlessness and cruelty provoke his comrade Lensky to challenge him to a duel in which Lensky is killed. Only when it is too late - - when Tatiana has married another man -- does Onegin realize the suffering that he has inflicted both on himself and on those he loves.

The fourth creation of the famous partnership of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, H.M.S. Pinafore will open Nov. 15, with additional performances Nov. 16, 21 and 22.

A comedy of errors, the plot centers around Ralph Rackstraw, a humble sailor who loves Josephine, the daughter of Captain Corcoran of the H.M.S. Pinafore. When Corcoran tries to force Josephine to marry a more reputable man, Ralph and Josephine attempt to elope. A satire of the British social class system and the British navy, H.M.S. Pinafore features a familiar score that includes such celebrated songs as "For I'm Called Little Buttercup" and "I Am the Captain of the Pinafore!"

W.A. Mozart's masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro will open Jan. 31, 1998, with additional performances Feb. 6, 7 and 14. Figaro, one of opera's most famous protagonists, has his wedding-day preparations disrupted when Count Almaviva plots the seduction of his beautiful young bride, Susanna. Meanwhile, the page Cherubino dreams of the elegant Countess, who bemoans her husband's wandering affections. In order to rouse the Count's jealousy, the Countess plots with Susanna and Figaro to entrap the Count and protect the innocent Susanna. A series of deceptions, mistaken identities, shocking discoveries and a beautiful score have made this one of the most popular operas of all time.

A 20th-century classic, Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites will open Feb. 21 and be repeated Feb. 27, 28 and March 7. Torn by the claims of her faith and the terror of the French Revolution, Blanche de la Force, the daughter of a family of aristocrats, seeks to avoid her struggle with the world by joining the religious order of the Carmelite nuns. But the order is soon dissolved by officials of the new regime in France. The nuns take a vow of martyrdom and are subsequently imprisoned for their act of rebellion against the tyranny of the Revolution. Receiving a sentence of death, the nuns process to the guillotine and Blanche must choose between loyalty to her order or betrayal through escape.

A tale of jealousy and disguise, Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff will be offered April 11, 17, 18 and 25. Set in the quaint English village of Windsor during the reign of Henry IV, Verdi's last opera is a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. Sir John Falstaff, the portly knight and infamous carouser, is infatuated with the wives of Sirs Ford and Page, to whom he sends identical love letters. The women, who discover Falstaff's shallow trickery, plan their revenge on the ridiculous lover. Ford and his companions also learn of Falstaff's lustful pursuits and join the ladies in a hilarious rendezvous in the supposedly haunted section of Windsor Forest.

The Friday Night Mini-Series, which allows families, students and non-students to enjoy opera at a significant savings, will continue next season. A special event, ranging from a backstage look at the Musical Arts Center to informative discussions with IU music faculty and students, will precede each Friday evening performance.

The 1997-98 Friday Night Mini-Series will include performances of Eugene Onegin, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Marriage of Figaro, Dialogues of the Carmelites and Falstaff. The series offers a good introduction to opera. Tickets are $64 for general admission and $40 for students of all ages.

Subscribers who wish to keep the seats they had for the past season must renew before May 16. New subscription orders are now being accepted at the Musical Arts Center Box Office and will be filled after June 2. The deadline for all subscription sales is Sept. 3; series tickets will be mailed after Aug. 19. Single ticket sales begin on Sept. 8. For ticket information call the MAC box office at 812-855-7433.

For more information about the opera series or the School of Music, contact Erik Novak, 812-855-0089 or 812-855-3911, enovak@indiana.edu)