Vocal performance majors in Meadows School of the Arts are tuning up for several operas this semester. Since opera is normally performed in a foreign language, the typical crowd attracted to such performances might not be thought to be college students.
But that is not stopping SMU from putting shows on.
“The Singing Violin” and “Let Your Hair Down” will be performed in the Margo Jones Theatre April 20 and 21 while “Cosi fan Tutte,” an opera composed by Mozart, was performed in the Bob Hope Theater Feb. 8-11.
Valerie Jackopin, a junior vocal performance major, plays the role of Leila in “The Singing Violin,” a one-act opera performed in English.
“‘The Singing Violin’ is a gypsy fairy tale about a young girl, Leila, who falls in love with Lavuta the woodsman and the trouble these two young lovers encounter when Leila’s evil sisters try to prevent Leila and Lavuta from being together,” said Jackopin.
“If the young couple hopes to have a future together, they are going to need some help from a magic violin,” she explained.
While the story line alone might be enough for some people to attend the performance, others may want to support the performers or the faculty.
“The Singing Violin” was composed by SMU’s “gifted and talented Meadows faculty member Simon Sargon,” according to Jackopin.
Sargon has been a professor of composition at SMU for 23 years. As for composing the upcoming opera “The Singing Violin,” his inspiration comes from “the dramatic situations and the personal feelings of the characters,” he said.
If people are looking for a reason to go to the theatre, Sargon has a few ideas.
“Any art form is an enlightening experience for the listener or the viewer,” he said.
“In the case of opera you have an art form that appeals not only to the ear with its music but also to the eye with its dramatic enactment and to the emotions with its characters,” Sargon said. “When everything is working, opera can be an overpowering experience, satisfying on many levels.”
For some students who have seen operatic performances outside of SMU, the production values vary from performance to performance. Junior Katie Lanning is an avid operagoer and has seen productions in Vienna and China.
When comparing the performances from abroad to the performances at SMU, Lanning says that SMU’s operas “are more comparable to the few I saw in Vienna, just based on the composers and material they used [as well as] the costumes, languages etc.” she said. “Chinese opera is very different.”
Not only are the costumes different, but the settings are as well. “The setting is so much more personal at SMU because the Bob Hope Theatre is small and intimate whereas [the other] opera houses are astoundingly ornate and formal,” Lanning said.
On a campus that holds so many diverse organizations, it is surprising to some that SMU has not promoted Meadows and the opera more.
“I heard of the operas here through my friends who are involved, but I don’t think I would’ve really noticed otherwise,” Lanning said.
Sargon thinks that “it would be great if the audience base could be broadened, and I think more publicity on campus and more information about the opera being performed, as well as the young artists involved, might serve to draw in a wider audience.”
The upcoming operas offer elements of romance, comedy, and drama. To purchase tickets or to find out more information about the performances, visit the box office on the first floor of Meadows.
