Crane Presents U.S. Premieres of One-Act Operas by Donizetti, Offenbach

Crane Vocal Faculty Performs Operas Reconstructed and Translated by Students for the First Time in America

POTSDAM, NY (10/03/2014)(readMedia)-- SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music will present the U.S. premiere performances of two one-act operas: Gaetano Donizetti's "Teresa e Gianfaldoni" and Jacques Offenbach's "La Leçon de Chant Électromagnétique." Students and faculty have united in both the creation and execution of this rare performance.

The operas will be presented in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Donizetti's beautiful bel canto jewel, "Teresa e Gianfaldoni" is based on a true tragedy similar to "Romeo and Juliet." Soprano Samantha Stinson will play the role of Teresa di S. Clair, alongside Crane voice faculty member Donald George, tenor, as Giuseppe Gianfaldoni.

Offenbach's hysterical spoof "La Leçon de Chant Électromagnétique" ("The Electromagnetic Singing Lesson") depicts a slightly mad Italian professor, who invents a machine that instantly creates the perfect singer. The part of Professor Pacifico Toccato will be played by Crane voice faculty member Jonathan Stinson, baritone, alongside George as Jean Marais.

Both one-act operas were reconstructed by Crane School of Music student Daniel Mertzlufft from a manuscript and a nineteenth century publication, translating the works for modern notation and orchestration. SUNY Potsdam international student Veronica Lavia translated the operas from their original Italian and French into English.

Both transcriptions were Kilmer Undergraduate Research Projects. Mertzlufft and Lavia have both presented these opera projects at conferences, including the 2013 National Council on Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse, and the 2014 SUNY Innovative Exploration Forum in Albany.

Mertzlufft will conduct the chamber orchestra for this performance. The orchestra includes MacKenzie Hoffman on violin, April Beard on viola, Curtis Karwacki on cello, Kyle Chamberlin on clarinet, and Mark Carr and Corinne Bouchard on flute.

About the operas:

Donizetti's "Teresa e Gianfaldoni" is based on the true love story of a couple that chose to die rather than marry someone they did not love. First, Gianfaldoni arrives in a forest glen, distraught and despondent followed by Teresa who is also despairing. They meet and then decide on their final action of death, which is then celebrated with ecstatic Italian music. It was because of this terrible event that the marriage laws in France and ultimately in most Western countries were changed to allow, without legal permission, people the choice of whom they will marry.

Offenbach's "La Leçon de Chant Électromagnétique" is a humorous take on an Italian professor who has invented a machine that can make anyone an opera singer instantly. A simple-minded shepherd agrees to be the first to try the machine and does succeed in singing, but not before a series of humorous things happen along the way.

This concert will be broadcast live on the SUNY Potsdam website at the performance time. To view the program and see other upcoming streaming performances, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution.

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