Program Description
Event Details
Join us in the Scott Room for an afternoon of one of the great staples of classic opera!
The New York Opera Forum will be presenting a concert version of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Un Ballo in Maschera ("A Masked Ball").
Un Ballo is a dramatization of the 1792 assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball. It follows Gustavo and his friend and advisor Count Anckarström as the king brushes off talk of a growing conspiracy against him. Anckarström's wife Amelia is loved by Gustavo from afar, and, when circumstance causes Anckarström to learn of the king's affections and assume that Gustavo and Amelia are engaging in an adulterous affair, the count decides to join the conspirators.
Un Ballo in Maschera is notable for its extremely tumultuous production history, undergoing at least three rounds of changes at the demands of Italian censors in both Naples and Rome and uproar following the attempted assassination of Emperor Napoleon III of France by several Italian nationalists in 1858. It was only allowed to be staged after the setting was changed to Boston during its British colonial period and names of several character changed such as Gustavo to Riccardo and Anckarström to Riccardo. Nowadays it is part of Verdi's standard repertoire and the setting of the story is normally reverted back to Sweden.
Please note that this program is lengthy. There will be an intermission.
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About the company
The New York Opera Forum was founded by Richard Nechamkin in 1983 to give classically trained singers the opportunity to learn and perform standard operatic repertoire in the original languages. They work with singers on all levels, from students to professionals, providing quality training and performance opportunities. Complete operas are performed in concert with piano accompaniment; scenes programs are staged with minimal props and costumes.