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MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at 847-491-4819
or jkm229@northwestern.edu
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Dunbar Early Music Festival to Present Rare Piccinni Opera
Nov. 17-18
EVANSTON, Ill. --- The Northwestern University School of Music's
Evelyn Dunbar Early Music Festival will present, as its centerpiece,
Niccolò Piccinni's
rarely performed opera La
buona figliuola (“The Good Girl” or “La
Cecchina”) at 7:30 p.m. Friday,
Nov. 17, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, in Cahn Auditorium,
600 Emerson Street, on the Evanston campus. Sung in Italian with
English super titles, both performances will mark the opera's
first fully-staged presentation in the United States using period
instruments, pitch and tuning.
Complementing the performances will be a panel discussion on
Piccinni's
opera that will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, in Lutkin
Hall, 700 University Place.
A comedic masterpiece, La buona figliuola was
composed by Piccinni in 1760 on a commission from the city of
Rome. The opera created a furor, quickly becoming the most popular
and performed work of the 18th century. The libretto, written
by Carlo Goldoni and based on Samuel Richardson's 1740 novel
Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded, was published in London.
It tells the story of a forbidden love between a nobleman and
his beautiful, virtuous gardener. Issues of class are raised,
similar to those raised later by Mozart in his opera Le nozze
di Figaro. La
buona figliuola was
premiered in the United States in 1967, at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, and has since only been performed a few times
in this country.
The panel discussion about the opera will feature James Turner,
a Samuel Richardson scholar and professor of English at the University
the California-Berkeley; Professor Dinko Fabris, musicologist
and head of “Casa Piccinni” (the Italian research
institute for composer Niccolò Piccinni) at the Conservatorio
di Bari in Italy; and Associate Professor Cindy Gold of Northwestern's
department of theatre. Panelists from the School of Music will
include Professor Robert Gjerdingen, specialist in 18th century
musical style, and Associate Professor Jesse Rosenberg, specialist
in 19th century opera. Professor Thomas Bauman, musicologist
and chair of the department of music studies at Northwestern,
will moderate.
The Evelyn Dunbar Early Music Festival was founded in 1998 through
a generous gift of Ruth Dunbar Davee, in memory of her sister
Evelyn. Its purpose is to combine informed performance and scholarly
inquiry. A schedule of festival events follows:
Evelyn Dunbar Early Music Festival Schedule
Performances of Niccolò Piccinni's rarely heard
opera La buona figliuola (“The Good Girl” or “La
Cecchina”)
with libretto by Carlo Goldoni and based on Samuel Richardson's
novel Pamela:
Or Virtue Rewarded, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, and 7:30
p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston
campus. Stage director, Noel Koran; music director and conductor,
Stephen Alltop; period costumes, Elizabeth Shaffer; period sets,
Jackie Penrod; lighting, Jackie Reid. Ticket prices for each
performance are $15 for the general public; $12 for senior citizens
and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5.50 for full-time students.
Panel Discussion on Niccolò Piccinni's opera La buona
figliuola, 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, Lutkin Hall,
700 University Place, Evanston campus. Panelists will include
Dinko Fabris, professor, Conservatorio di Bari in Italy and
head of “Casa Piccinni”; Robert
Gjerdingen, Northwestern University School of Music professor
of music studies; Jesse Rosenberg, Northwestern University
School of Music associate professor, clinical, music studies;
Cindy Gold, associate professor, Northwestern's department
of theatre; and James Turner, a Samuel Richardson scholar and
professor of English at the University of California-Berkeley.
Professor Thomas Bauman, a musicologist and chair of the department
of music studies at Northwestern's School of Music, will moderate.
Admission is free. Tickets are not required.
For more information, or to order opera tickets, call Pick-Staiger
Concert Hall at 847-467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.com.
NORTHWESTERN NEWS: www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/
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