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Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera Performs Martha At The Napa Valley Opera House
Napa, CA – Donald Pippin’s Pocket Opera will perform German composer Friedrich von Flowtow’s Martha at the Napa Valley Opera House on Sunday, February 18 at 2 p.m. The matinee will be performed in English (translation by Donald Pippin) and will feature actors sharing the stage with a pocket-sized philharmonic. Tickets are $35 and $30.
Donald Pippin's approach to opera is to tell the story in the clearest manner possible. He once said that there is "a whole category of operas where, if you don't know the story on the way to the theatre, you won't know it on the way home, either." With Pocket Opera presentations it is really possible to know the plot of the opera on the way home. Pippin brings the story to life via his nationally recognized English versions of opera libretti, in which he translates the spirit of the work rather than word by word, with complete fidelity to the composer's musical intentions.
In Martha, Lady Harriet is blessed with everything usually considered desirable -- youth, beauty, intelligence, charm, wealth and position. Under the placid rule of Queen Anne in an era of relative peace and prosperity (for the lucky few), why is she unhappy? Why the ennui, melancholy, discontent and restlessness? What is the missing ingredient?
She is in for a rude shock. With her good friend Nancy, she follows a wild impulse to visit Richmond Fair, a noisy place of bustle and merriment, where servant girls come annually to auction off their services in hopes of a year’s employment, and where the local farmers come to eye the merchandise and make their bids. Here the two highborn ladies, in rustic garb, have the time of their lives masquerading as peasantry, until they find themselves suddenly swept into the action. The two delicately nurtured blossoms have unwittingly hired themselves out as farmhouse servants for a solid year. This is only the first step of an unpredictable adventure.
WHO: Donald Pippin’s Pocket Opera in
WHAT: Martha by Friedrich von Flotow
WHEN: Sunday, February 18, 2 PM
COST: $35/$30
WHERE: Napa Valley Opera House, 1030 Main Street, Napa, CA 94559
PUBLIC INFO: (707)-226-7372, www.NVOH.ORG
CONTACT: Teri Stevens, teri@nvoh.org, 707-603-2338
WHAT: Martha by Friedrich von Flotow
WHEN: Sunday, February 18, 2 PM
COST: $35/$30
WHERE: Napa Valley Opera House, 1030 Main Street, Napa, CA 94559
PUBLIC INFO: (707)-226-7372, www.NVOH.ORG
CONTACT: Teri Stevens, teri@nvoh.org, 707-603-2338
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More than 30 years in the making, The Napa Valley Opera House, a national historic landmark, restored the Margrit Biever Mondavi Theatre in June 2003, a second-floor theatre that was originally constructed in 1879. The NVOH 2007 Fall Season marks the fifth year of programming in the intimate 500-seat theatre, the “Jewel of Napa Valley” located in the heart of downtown Napa. Patrons experience an eclectic array of performing arts including theatre, dance, comedy, jazz, blues, world music, and family programming in a world class setting.
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