I went to the CIM opera (alone :() on Friday to see “Mozart vs. Salieri” - two one-act librettos from Mozart’s “The Impresario” and Antonio Salieri’s “Prima la Musica, Poi Le Parole”. Each was set in modern times and some liberties were taken that were absolutely hilarious. As well, each featured a conflict of dueling prima donna divas that relished in showing off their high D’s, similiar to the infamous (though not quite factual) conflict of ‘rivals’ Salieri and Mozart.
The audience was nearly rolling in the aisle for both productions. “The Impresario” was set in a beautiful 1920’s apartment decorated with Victorian era furniture. The premise of the story is Mr. Angel has written a opera titled “Immortal Suicide” which is to feature not one, but two of the biggest sopranos in the business. The only problem is convincing the two of them to sign the contract. Neither is thrilled with the idea of working with the other and is quite vocal about the flaws in the other.

The trios were absolutely beautiful. The quality of the singing was beyond great - their runs up and down the vocal range were incredible. What made the evening even more memorable was their outstanding acting and flawless German diction. You will be hard pressed to find a better cast.

Antonio Salieri’s work wasn’t quite as impressive as the Mozart, but was equally humorous and well performed. This selection was set in a well worn 1960’s apartment and sung in Italian. A slightly innebriated poet and a composer have very little time to set words to music and convince Donna Eleanora and Tonina to sing their Bravara arias in the production.

As the words were written by the poet and composer in haste and drunken stupor, some of them weren’t clear. “Stacatto” (Cut short crisply and detached) turned into “castrato” (a male who was castrated at a young age to maintain his high voice beyond puberty) which created some enjoyable comedy.
Professor Davidson, the visiting guest conductor of the perfomance, invited me to come and hear it. I haven’t seen him since I played in the Duke Orchestra last semester under him and it was nice to see him again. I am glad he invited me and I thanked him after the show.