Redwood Symphony-Opera in Concert:Pride and Prejudice
- When
- Event has passed (Sat Apr 6, 2019 - Sun Apr 7, 2019)
- Cost
- $10 - $35
- Tags
- Music, Classical Music
Description
Celebrated opera composer Kirke Mechem’s Pride and Prejudice receives its concert world premiere with Redwood Symphony and a chorus from Notre Dame de Namur University.In the first complete performance, Jane Austen’s classic novel has been made into a passionate two-hour opera with a cast of twelve professional soloists directed by Notre Dame’s Performing Arts Department Chair Debra Lambert.
“At last, this revered novel has been transformed into a brilliantly witty and soulful opera that we are delighted to premiere,” Redwood Symphony Maestro Eric K said. “What a gift for Bay Area symphony, opera and Jane Austen fans!” Both performances are with “supertitles”.
Mechem is a Bay Area resident with international acclaim.
He began his adaptation of Austen’s book more than a decade ago. After many workshops, partial tryouts and revisions, his work is ready for its first complete performance.
“I am delighted to finally be sharing my ‘Pride and Prejudice’ with local audiences,” said Mechem, who will attend the performances. “It is hard to believe this beloved classic has never been made into an opera.”
Turning Austen’s nearly-400-page novel into a 36-page libretto was a labor of love for Mechem, carefully making cuts, telescoping scenes and characters, and rearranging locales while preserving the story in Jane Austen’s own words wherever possible.
“Some people naïvely believe that an opera is simply a musical setting of a play or of scenes from a novel, like fitting music to a poem. It is no such thing,” Mechem said.
“While it must take care to shorten the story, opera allows music to heighten and deepen the personalities and emotions of the characters, and adds another dimension to ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ ”
Redwood Symphony, a recent winner in the San Francisco Classical Voice’s Best of the Bay competition, is an all-volunteer orchestra dedicated to the performance of an ambitious, contemporary repertoire, as well as the great orchestral classics. The innovative programming and emphasis on education are two reasons why so many of the most talented musicians from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area volunteer their time to play, and why audiences and critics have been so enthusiastic about Redwood
Symphony’s artistry.
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