Virginia Opera season highlights Italian works

For the 2008-09 season, the Virginia Opera has scheduled Italian works for all of its major productions. Artistic director Peter Mark says that was not intentional on the part of the company. "It just happened that way," Mark said.

"In essence, Italian is the most musical language in the world. So it's not unusual to think of Italy as the birthplace of opera," Mark said. "The general Italian personality is so expressive and volatile. Spend some time in Italy, and you will find that the Italians really know how to live. The people, the music, the food. The Italian people do not hide their feelings. If they have a complaint about something, they voice it, and then it's over and done.

"Opera is all about expressing emotion about life's dilemmas that are not so neat and easy to wrap up. It really explores the rough edges of life as we know it . . . the inconsistencies, the passions, the conflicts, the absurdities. And the Italians do this better than anyone," Mark said.

Italy is widely recognized as the opera capital of the world. There are many other countries that try to lay claim to that title, but the facts are overpowering.

While its roots can be traced to the 16th century, most agree that the golden age of Italian opera was the late 18th and entire 19th century. Many cite five men as the top Italian opera composers: Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) and Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1857-1919).

By no means are these the only Italian composers to write opera, but they are the most recognized.

Opening the Virginia Opera season will be "Il Trovatore" by Verdi, followed by Donizetti's "The Elixir of Love," Puccini's "Tosca" with "The Barber of Seville" by Rossini closing the season.

For details on story lines, singers and dates for each production, visit the Virginia Opera Web site at www.vaopera.org.

"Il Trovatore" will be performed at Richmond's Landmark Theater on Oct. 24 and 26.