Baylor Opera Theater Presents Cavalli's Omindo

November 20, 2008

by Jaime Bates, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

The Baylor University Opera Theater will present two performances of Francesco Cavalli's Ormindo on Friday, Nov. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 22, in Roxy Grove Hall on the Baylor campus at 7:30 p.m. Both performances are free and open to the public.

Ormindo is a rarely heard, early baroque opera, first performed in Venice in 1644. It was the third opera produced by the collaboration of Francesco Cavalli and librettist, Giovanni Faustini. Ormindo is a romantic comic farce concerning two pairs of lovers and is set in the city of Fez, in the ancient Kingdom of Mauretania.

"This is a comic opera, designed to provide entertainment, as well as an amusing look at human nature and a battle of the sexes," said Richard Veit, concert and promotion manager at Baylor.

Michael Johnson, director of Baylor opera, will produce this staging of Ormindo and lead both performances.

"Johnson wanted to bring something new to Baylor and the Waco community," Veit said. "This unjustly neglected opera provides humor and universal themes that transcend the centuries."

There are two separate casts for Ormindo. On Friday, the principal roles will be sung by graduate Brian Arnold (Ormindo), senior Tony González (Amida), sophomore Rachel Hibbs (Nerillo) and sophomore Krystina Horton (Sicle). On Saturday, the principal roles will be sung by senior Michael Gasparro (Ormindo), senior John Carmack (Amida), junior Mary Glennon (Nerillo) and graduate Elizabeth Saxe (Sicle). All eight Baylor students are music majors.

The Baylor Opera Theater was established in the early 1940s. It now presents eight performances a year. Recent productions include: Falstaff, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, La Boheme, The Barber of Seville, The Crucible, The Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figar, and The Gondoliers.

For more information on Ormindo contact the Baylor University School of Music at 254-710-3991.