The local mini opera company OperaOggi presents a smorsgasbord of classical scenes from world famous operas at the Polish Slavic Center tomorrow, Nov 13, 8pm.
This is the second presentation of “Walk to the Opera” series and includes scenes from Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” Puccini’s “La Boheme,” and Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.”
The Polish Slavic Center is located at 177 Kent St (a half a block from Manhattan Ave).
Tickets are $20 at the door. No reservations required. $10 tickets for Senior Citizens and students up through high school and Groups of 10 or more.
(Please contact Diana Reyna’s office to arrange for Group bookings: (718) 963-3141).
I look forward to seeing you all there. Please tell your friends, please support opera in your neighborhood! — Thomas Lawrence Toscano
Here’s our mini-interview with the illustrious Maestro, Thomas Lawrence Toscano:
What is your background in Opera?
My background in opera started when it was discovered that I had a voice (while a freshman at Denver Univ). That was in 1970. I quickly began to be involved in many productions and sang until 1985. Simultaneously, I was already a conductor and conducted many scenes and excerpts in various venues. While in Brazil, I was responsible (as Associate Producer and Music Director) for bringing the first Philip Glass opera to Latin and South America, the Fall of the House of Usher in 1991. I’ve had extensive experience both as a singer and a conductor.
How do you do opera on a shoestring?
We don’t spend money on anything but essentials. We do everything “in house” and seek out those venues which allow us very inexpensive rental fees etc. The directors have to devote enormous amounts of time , pro-bono. Our “black-box or minimalistic” approach to performing means that we utilize only props, no scenery, no special lighting, just the drama, the words, the singers and of course, the great music. We also utilize only a piano and not an orchestra or reduced ensemble.
What is the importance of making opera accessible to the people?
There is a misunderstanding that opera is an elitist art form. It is not. For instance, Mozart’s “the Magic Flute’ was conceived for a theater that was independent of the aristocracy. It was a “peoples” theater where they were much more “lively” the audience certainly than there was in the usual castle setting. Opera also, these days, is often done in very large halls, which has over the years, distorted the conditions of the original performances. These large halls have influenced the kind and type of voice that sings the roles of many well known operas. Therefore the voices have become larger, the orchestral sound more powerful to accomodate such a grander scale. However, originally opera was done in a much more intimate setting. Our settings, certainly not always ideal, allow for an intimacy that the larger halls can’t possibly match. Making, very often, our audience to comment on how thrilling and fulfilling our performances are because they have a greater access to the true emotional reality which we provide.
Do you think opera is an experience that can feel relevant and easy to appreciate for audiences today?
Abosulutely. Opera is about life. Very serious powerful events which are contemporary to us all, are examined in the majority of operas. Love, death, betrayal, prejudice, injustice all of these elements are a part of opera. Nothing new for us today, in fact, often times the subject matter of opera had to be disguised because of the oppressive society that was in power at that time. For instance, Verdi was constantly having trouble with censors. Do you remember when our previous mayor made a stink about an art installation at the Brooklyn Museum? This was, in fact, a form and an attempt at censorship as well. Contemporary opera, opera written today or within the last 100 years often presents unspeakable acts, such as the “Dialogues of the Carmelites” by Poulenc which in fact deals with the excecution of nuns. There have certainly been real life situations, withing our life times, where nuns have been executed. Pretty relevant indeed.
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