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Music

Symphony presents a night at the opera

Concert to feature overtures, arias and soaring solos

Sweeping overtures, soaring solos and the highs and lows of perfectly-pitched stage dramatics – the San Juan Symphony is teaming up with local singers this weekend for a program that pays homage to the high art of opera.

The symphony’s second performance of its season, “Opera Celebration,” will take place in Farmington on Saturday and Durango on Sunday. The performance will pack the stage with roughly 60 symphony orchestra musicians, 90 regional singers and two soloists for a tour through some of history’s best-loved operas.

Linda Mack Berven, artistic director of the Durango Choral Society, will guest conduct the show. Berven will lead the orchestra, choir and soloists through scenes from works like “Carmen,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Prince Igor” and “Die Fledermaus.” On tap: crime, passion, a Gypsy curse, mistaken identity and rollicking drinking tunes, sung in Italian, English, Russian and French.

It’ll be a lively night of music, Berven said.

“Let’s just say, the theme of celebration really works here, because there’s a lot of drinking and dancing and delight,” she said. “You are going to get beautiful solo singing, you are going to get a professional symphony and you are going to get a great big choir. It’s a big spectacle.”

The performance will feature soloists Gemma Kavanagh and Corey McKern, along with the Durango Choral Society and the Caliente Community Chorus.

Berven stressed that you don’t have to be an opera snob to appreciate this show.

“This is a concert for everyone. Opera is about you and me and the world we live in,” she said. “We’re going to de-calcify it. We’re going to bring opera home to your heart and demystify opera.”

Berven and San Juan Symphony Music Director Arthur Miller came up with the idea of the Opera Celebration about a year ago as a way to stage a crowd-pleasing show, Berven said.

“Together, we came up with the idea of an opera concert with big choral scenes, solos and an overture,” she said. “We knew that it would be popular with the audience and that it would be really fun for the players.”

The song selection, she said, came down to creating a journey of highs and lows that will inspire a full range of emotions in the audiences.

The symphony is expecting a crowded house; Berven urged season ticket holders who don’t plan to attend to sell or give their tickets to others.

“We really don’t want anybody to get turned away,” she said.

kklingsporn@durangoherald.com

If you go

The San Juan Symphony will present its “Opera Celebration” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Henderson Performance Hall at San Juan College in Farmington, and at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive. Visit www.sanjuansymphony.org for more information.



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