Thursday Scholarship Series with Mozart, Puccini

The UGA Opera Theatre returns to Hodgson Concert Hall for the Thursday Scholarship Series, performing two one-act comic operas—Mozart's "The Impresario" and Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi"—in two performances on October 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. 

The Opera Theatre will combine with the UGA Symphony Orchestra to stage these opera masterpieces, semi-staged with English supertitles. This is the first time the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s opera ensemble has performed two operas for its major fall production.

“Being able to bring these delightful masterpieces to our students and audiences is extremely gratifying, and a project I have hoped to present for the past ten years of my tenure here at UGA,” said Frederick Burchinal, the Wyatt and Margaret Anderson Professor of the Arts at the School of Music and director of the UGA Opera Theatre.

“The Impresario,” or “Der Schauspieldirektor,” leads off the production, taking aim at theatre culture with a story about a frustrated theater manager, an equally frustrated, but hopeful non-singing singer and a wealthy "benefactor" who's only real interest in the theater is to promote his two recent love conquests.

“What makes this even more amusing is the awareness that from the 1750s to today, nothing has really changed in the theater/opera world,” said Burchinal.  

Two fantastic evenings of music await, with the opportunity for an in-depth look at the production with a pre-performance lecture at 6 p.m. before the Oct. 21 performance. An RSVP sent to semery@uga.edu is required for this pre-concert event. And don't forget tomorrow at noon, the UGA Golden Age Band performs the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s annual Concert On The Lawn near the Arch.