Word: orontea
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Quality opera at Harvard is rare. With few operatic productions ever seriously undertaken throughout the year, the mesmerizing portrayal of Antonio Cesti's early baroque opera Orontea conceived by Sarah Meyers '02 and Divinity School Student Matthew Burt resembles nothing that Harvard theatre has seen in recent memory. Sponsored through the annual collective effort of the Harvard Early Music Society, the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra, and the Fogg Art Museum, Orontea is far from another Harvardian rendition of some overproduced Broadway show. Beautifully flowing costumes, radiant voices and an incredibly professional sound characterize this...
...looking for something a little further from home, then take a walk to the Fogg Museum Indoor Courtyard to see Antonio Cesti's baroque opera Orontea. Produced by the Harvard Early Music Society and performed with period instruments, Orontea tells the story of an Egyptian queen who vows that she will never marry. But of course such a vow is bound to change. This is opera, after all. Complications ensue but at last nupital vows prevail. Look at today's preview story for more information...
...Orontea...
Despite its banal theme, Orontea became one of Italy's most popular works during Cesti's lifetime, and last week's La Piccola Scala performance suggested why. From start to finish, it was a singer's opera. The orchestration for the most part was slender, graceful, beautifully designed to give space to the principals (Mezzo-Soprano Teresa Berganza, Tenor Alvino Misciano), who sang aria after aria in serene, long-breathing lines. Bright with sentimentally colored melodies, Orontea scored a hit even with the critic of the Communist L'Unita, who conceded that "it really...
...charge, according to a contemporary report: "Father Cesti in a performance of his Orontea in Lucca did take the tenor role of Alindoro, embarrassing and loving all women and showing himself ready for amorous duets with...