November 16, 2006

Piccinni's rarely performed opera on Nov. 17, 18

The 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.

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.

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. Other panelists include School of Music faculty members.

Admission is free. Tickets are not required.

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For more information, or to order opera tickets, call Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at (847) 467-4000 or go to www.pickstaiger.com.