Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Utah Opera's The Pearl Fishers

Last year on MLK Day, I attended Utah Opera's wonderful production of La Traviata.  I loved the opera and it ended up being such a lovely evening.  This year on MLK Day I did the same thing with the same person, but this time the opera was The Pearl Fishers.  It was also amazing and, once again, I had a lovely time.  Ironically, I didn't know much about this opera and I was really on the fence about seeing it.  However, I was convinced otherwise and I am certainly glad that I was because I would have hated to miss this!  Zurga is the leader of a village in Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) and his childhood friend, Nadir, has come to visit.  They were both once in love with the same woman, Leila, but they gave her up for the sake of their friendship.  A veiled priestess comes to the village to pray for the superstitious fisherman who are diving for pearls.  When she sings to banish the evil spirits, Nadir recognizes her voice and knows it is Leila.  They declare their love for each other but the villagers are afraid because this means that Leila has broken her vows.  When Zurga realizes that the priestess is Leila, he sentences them both to death.  Will Zurga be ruled by vengeance or friendship?  Georges Bizet (you may be more familiar with his other opera, Carmen) is the composer and the music is incredibly beautiful!  The duet "a fond du temple saint" sung by Zurga (Craig Irvin) and Nadir (Brian Stucki) where they renounce their love of Leila for the sake of their friendship is nothing short of exquisite and I had goosebumps through the whole thing.  Their voices (Irvin's baritone and Stucki's tenor) complimented each other so well.  (I realized during the opening notes that this duet is actually featured in the movie Gallipoli which is one of my very favorites).  The passionate duet between Leila (Andrea Carroll) and Nadir is also absolutely incredible.  There was quite a bit of choreography in this opera and I thought it was quite dramatic, especially when they danced with fire.  The costumes were beautiful and exotic.  I loved everything about this production and I am so glad I didn't miss it!  The Pearl Fishers will run until Jan. 25.  Go here for more information and tickets.

Note:  I frequently attend the opera with one or more of my cousins and we always have such a good time.  Over the years we have seen Fidelio, Rigoletto, The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, and now, The Pearl Fishers.  A while back I was talking about our experiences at a family gathering and I referred to our group as a sort of "Opera Club."  My aunt thought that I said "Awkward Club" and agreed with me! What?

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