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the little opera theatre of ny

/presents /
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*2 LITTLE TRAGEDIES OF PUSHKIN*
* *

*Mozart & Salieri *by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov**
&* A Feast in the Time of the Plague *by César Cui**
* *
Hudson Guild Theatre
441 West 26^th Street /(between 9^th & 10^th avenues)/
New York, NY 10001

Wednesday, Friday & Saturday - October 14^th , 16^th , 17^th at 8pm
Sunday, October 18^th at 3 PM

Tickets available through www.smarttix.com <http://www.smarttix.com/>
212-868-4444

all tickets $35.00

New York City (August 15, 2009) - The LITTLE OPERA THEATRE of NY (LOTNY)
is pleased to present the *2 Little Tragedies of Pushkin*, a production
in English of two one-act Russian operas based on the verse plays of
Alexander Pushkin. The first part of the evening is Nikolay
Rimsky-Korsakov’s*/ /Mozart & Salieri*, and the second half of the
evening is the U.S. premiere of *A Feast In The Time of the Plague *by
César Cui. The Rimsky-Korsakov opera will be presented in the
translation by Thaddeus Motyka and Harlow Robinson, first heard in New
York in 1981. The César Cui opera will be the first performances of a
new translation by Lyle K. Neff.


*2 LITTLE TRAGEDIES OF PUSHKIN* will be presented in three evening
performances on Wednesday, Friday & Saturday October 14^th , 16^th and
17^th at 8pm; and a Sunday matinee at 3 PM on October 18^th at Chelsea’s
intimate Hudson Guild Theatre. The production will be directed by
LOTNY’s artistic director *Philip Shneidman*. *Marcus Parris* is the
conductor. *Mungo Thomson*, a visual artist included in the 2008 Whitney
Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, has designed the sets
for both operas. *Catherine Miller* is the associate music director;
*Natalie Robin* is the lighting designer; and *Hannah Meadows* is the
choreographer.

The /Little Tragedies/, four short verse plays by *Alexander Pushkin
(1799–1836)*, inspired many of the great Russian composers. Pushkin is
often considered the founder of modern Russian literature. His poems,
stories, and plays are the source material for many Russian operas and
ballets including Glinka’s /Ruslan and Lyudmila, /Tchaikovsky’s/ Eugene
Onegin,/ and Musorgsky’s /Boris Godunov/. His influence continued into
the Soviet Era and can be heard in compositions by Shostakovich,
Schnittke, and Stravinsky. Ballets and Rock operas alike draw from his
stories.

In the year 1830, not only did Pushkin work on his great epic poem
/Eugene Onegin/, complete other poems, several short stories and folk
tales, but he also wrote the four short verse dramas that comprise the
/Little Tragedies/. Each features a protagonist whose central internal
conflict determines both the plot and structure of the story. Pushkin
focuses on human passions and the interplay between free will and fate:
though each protagonist could avoid self-ruin, he, instead, freely
chooses it.


*Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) *and *Cesar Antonovich* *Cui
(1835-1918) *were both members of “The Mighty Five,” the group of highly
influential Russian composers at the turn of the 20^th century.

*Rimsky-Korsakov* is considered to be the architect of Russian
composition through an embracing of Russian folk song and lore in union
with Western compositional traditions. His one-act opera /Mozart &
Salieri/ follows Pushkin’s verse almost word for word. The work relates
the apocryphal tale of a manically jealous Antonio Salieri, who invites
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to dinner and then poisons him. The part of
Salieri was vehicle for the great Fyodor Chaliapin who performed in the
opera’s premiere in 1898. Peter Shaffer’s popular play and movie
/Amadeus /drew freely from Pushkin’s play, probably the most famous of
the /Little Tragedies/.

The lesser-known* *composer *César Cui *was born Lithuania and moved to
St. Petersburg as a young man. He gained great recognition as a
talented engineer in the Imperial army and was also prolific composer
and music critic. Up until recently he was most well known for
completing the scores of others: Darghomïchsky’s /The Stone Guest/ (also
one of the /Little Tragedies/) and Musorgsky’s /The Fair at Sorichintsï. /
/ /
/A Feast in the Time of Plague/ is the story of a group of friends
gathered at the wake of one of their number, to share their memories of
their fallen friend. Pushkin had in turn adopted and translated the play
from another earlier English play. The opera was first performed on
November 11, 1901 in Moscow.


ABOUT THE CAST

The production will be double cast. Sharing the role of “Mozart” in Part
I, and “The Young Man” in /A Feast in the Time of the Plague /(Part II/)
/will be tenors *Matthew Pena* (“Azor” – /Zémire et Azor//American
Classical Orchestra, “Pluto”- /Orpheus in the Underworld/ / Bronx Opera)
and *Robert Arthur Hughes *(“Ed”-/Strange Fruit / /NYCO, “Rodolfo” –
/The Bohemians / /LOTNY.) “Salieri” will be sung by young artist
*Matthew Yohn* (“Luther, Crespel, Schlemil” – /Les Contes D’Hoffman /
/Vertical Repertory Players, / /“Leporello”- /Don Giovanni/ / Mannes
College) and Opera and BWAY veteran *Larry Small* (“Dr. Malatesta” –
/L’Elisir / /Garden State Opera, “Leporello” – /Don Giovanni/ / Opera
Festival of Rome, “Max” -/Sunset Boulevard/, “Old Deuteronomy”-/Cats)/.

“The Chairman” in /Feast/ will be sung by Baritone *Dennis Blackwell*
(/Margaret Garner, Dead Man Walking// NYCO, “Sancio Panza” – /D//on
Chisciotte in Sierra Morena// Caramoor) and *Ross Benoliel* (
“Sciarrone” – /Tosca/ /NYCO, “Schaunard”– /La Bohème/ / Madison Opera.)
“Louisa” in /Feast /will be sung by sopranos *Jacqueline Noparstak
*(“Foreign Woman” /The Consul/ / Glimmerglass, upcoming “Manon”- /Manon
// Opera in the Heights) and *Michelle Serrano Moeritz* (“Susan B.
Anthony”- /The Mother of Us All / / LOTNY, “Dido”- /Dido & Aenas //
Bronx Opera.) The mezzo role of “Mary” in /Feast /will be sung by
*Suzanne Chadwick Levine *(Opera Festival of New Jersey,* *Spoleto
Festival dei due Mondi.) Other ensemble casting to be announced soon.

ABOUT THE CREATVIE TEAM

Conductor *Marcus Parris* is the founder and music director of Virtuosi
International. Parris is also the principal conductor of the Opera in
the Highlands in Newburg, New York, whose performances have included
/Madama Butterfly/ and /Hansel & Gretel/. He has appeared as a guest
conductor at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Atlantic Union
College Chamber Orchestra. His composition /Impala/ (2006) was recently
performed by the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Leon
Botstein.

Director *Philip Shneidman *has directed /The Mother of Us All /and/ La
Finta Giardiniera /for LOTNY; /Eugene Onegin /and/ Dialogues of the
Carmelites /for Mannes College, where he is the Director of the
Extension Division Opera Workshop. Theatre work includes: /Fully
Committed/ (Adirondack Theatre Festival) /Romeo and Juliet/ (Queens
Theatre in the Park) /Vladamir Mayakovsky, a tragedy/ (Here Arts Center.)

Art Director *Mungo Thomson *is an artist working in film, sound,
sculpture, and installation. Thomson’s work has been exhibited in
museums and galleries all over the world, including Los Angeles, Paris,
Berlin, Auckland, Vilnius, Mexico City, Athens and New York. The/ 2
Tragedies/ marks his first foray into opera and set design. He* *divides
his time between Los Angeles and Berlin*. *

Pianist & Associate Music Director* Catherine Miller* collaborated on
LOTNY’s recent performances of /The Bohemians /and/ The Mother of Us
All/. Last season she was a recitalist in the /Classical Concert
Series/ at St. Peter’s Church on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

Lighting Designer *Natalie Robin*’s* *work has been seen at stages all
over NYC including the Minetta Lane, Target Margin, & the SPF Festival.*
*Choreographer *Hannah Meadows *will contribute dances that form an
intermezzo between the two operas.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS

*Lyle K. Neff*, a composer who has published articles in /The Pushkin
Review/ and /Opera Quarterly/, has written extensively on César Cui.
*Thaddeus Motyka* has directed and translated many opera productions
including the New York premiere performance of this translation/ /of/
Mozart & Salieri /on a* *double bill with Salieri’s /Prima la musica poi
le parole/*. *Professor at Northeastern University, *Harlow Robinson
*is the author of /Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography, /and /The Last
Impresario, The Life, Times and Legacy of Sol Hurok,/ among several others.

*The Little Opera Theatre of NY* is a chamber opera company that was
launched in September of 2004 with a concert at The Kosciuszko
Foundation. LOTNY has subsequently performed concerts and staged
productions in diverse venues such as Socrates Sculpture Park, The
Hudson Guild Theatre, The Dahesh Museum, and The Box, a Lower East Side
performance club. The Little Opera’s repertory began with Mozart’s /La
Finta Giardiniera/, and has expanded to include the work of Handel,
Haydn, Vivaldi, and Weill. With its April 2008 performance at The Box,
the Little Opera Theatre of NY added Virgil Thomson & Gertrude Stein’s
landmark opera, /The Mother of Us All/, to its repertory. Last season’s
performances were /The Bohemians/, part of the city wide September
Concert presented at Socrates Sculpture Park; and /New Voices/, a
concert of original chamber operas by three living composers: Edward
Ficklin, Kim D. Sherman and Inessa Zaretsky. /New Voices/ marked the
world premieres of one-act operas by Ficklin and Zaretsky and the
continued development of a new chamber opera by Sherman. This September
marks LOTNY’s 5^th year anniversary.

For more information about *The Little Opera Theatre of NY*
please visit the their site, www.lotny.org <http://www.lotny.org/>
or contact
Philip Shneidman, Artistic Director
pshneidman@lotny.org <mailto:pshneidman@lotny.org>
212 560-2228

*The Little Opera Theatre of NY*
Old Chelsea Station
PO Box 1392
New York, NY 10113
212 560 -2228
www.lotny.org <http://www.lotny.org/>