Curtis Opera Theatre Presents Staged Duets In Opera OnDemand
Semester-long project expands students' artistic and tech skills alongside innovative virtual staging.by BWW News Desk
The Curtis Opera Theatre announces a new virtual offering entitled Opera OnDemand. Available for free online streaming from January 22 through February 1, 2021, the project features beloved duets from the Italian opera canon. Through months of musical preparation, innovative staging techniques, and state-of-the-art video editing, Curtis's rising opera stars perform in custom virtual sets, united in pairs from their individual locations across the globe.
The electrifying evening highlights familiar scenes from masterful Italian operas by Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Short, witty episodes follow nefarious schemes, tests of loyalty, playful escapes, mistaken identities, and soaring avowals of love. Stage director Scott Skiba and music directors Grant Loehnig and Miloš Repický lead the 90-minute performance, with concepts by production designer Brittany Merenda. Semi-staged duet scenes, accompanied by piano, are sung in Italian with English translations available. The Curtis Opera Theatre is supported by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation.