Let the Festivities Continue!!

Spring weather's firm foothold on us here in East Tennessee reminds us that the time has come for the Knoxville Opera Company's 14^th annual Rossini Festival! The centerpiece collaboration between the KSO and the KOC this year is a work not by Rossini, but Verdi: Il trovatore (The Troubador). Curtain times are Friday night, April 24 at 8:00 and Sunday afternoon the 26th at 2:30, at the Tennessee Theatre, while the street fair will be Saturday between the performances. Verdi composed 30 operas and only the first (the rarely heard Oberto) and the last (Falstaff) are comedies. So while there is much triumphant music and some light moments in each of his works, the math works out that if you attend a Verdi production, most likely someone is going to die. (In the opera, I mean!) Act II starts with the celebrated “Anvil Chorus,” a tune which no one could mistake for anything but Verdi, but throughout there are beautifully composed tunes that illuminate the characters' feelings in a way that artfully transcends any language barriers. (There will be “operatitles,” but still, that's no excuse for not learning Italian in the two days you have until the curtain goes up Friday night).



The Rossini Festival itself is the third major arts and culture festival weekend in a row, recommending Knoxville for the title of “Festival City.” Two weekends ago it was the Rhythm and Blooms festival, and last weekend (and ongoing throughout April) it was the long-running Dogwood Arts Festival. Here is a link to the schedule for all of the 55 acts, and here is a link to the Opera Company's Festival website.



Next week sees the strings of the KSO traveling to Maryville to mix it up with the Maryville High School orchestra, April 28^th at 7:00 at the Clayton Center for the Arts. (Note to KSO players: our call is at 6:00 PM). Beloved works by Bizet, Saint-Saëns, and Sibelius will be offered at this free concert. That is by no means all that is going on next week, but all that I have time for at this juncture.




Hope to see you downtown on Saturday!