Opera aficionado Norm Hollingshead will preview Rossini’s “The Wicked Adventures of Count Ory,” a farcical tale of a notorious skirt chaser and his escapades in a French castle.
Hollinghead’s free talk is 2 p.m. Saturday, July 30 at the Bainbridge Public Library.
“The Wicked Adventures of Count Ory” is a new production by the Seattle Opera that packs the punch of a Broadway musical with a nod to the humor and visual style of Monty Python. The Seattle Opera premiere is Saturday, Aug. 6, and the production runs through Saturday, Aug. 20 at McCaw Hall.
The comedy takes place in a medieval French village — while the men are off fighting the Crusades, the ladies are easily enticed by the notoriously naughty Count Ory. Australian Stage Director Lindy Hume and Production Designer Dan Potra have let their imaginations run wild, creating a mashup of medieval France and psychedelic ‘70s flower power.
“It’s the perfect summer opera; let your hair down and have some fun,” said Seattle Opera General Director Aidan Lang. “While the composer was Italian, Le Comte Ory was written in French — which seems like a natural fit given the delightful and risqué humor.”
Conducted by Maestro Giacomo Sagripanti (“La Cenerentola,” 2013), the show is complete with whimsical animation, vivid colors and fun choreography. The Ory experience begins with walking through the doors of McCaw Hall, where patrons can enjoy a mashup of live jazz and opera. Dressed as nuns, members of “The Bad Habits” band will offer Rossini-inspired tunes to set the mood for the wild romp.
In the onstage tale, there’s no end to the schemes Ory and his merry-making minions will try when it comes to earning a lady’s affection. First, the Count attempts to encourage relaxed morals by disguising himself as the village love guru. But when that fails, he and his men pass themselves off as nuns and inveigle themselves into the home (and later, bedroom!) of the beautiful Countess Adèle. In the truly ridiculous love trio that concludes the opera, Ory’s androgynous page, Isolier, comes between his master and his lady love.
Through the stylings of Barry Banks and Lawrence Brownlee, Seattle Opera brings the title character to life. Brownlee, a Grammy-Award nominee whose voice has been called an “instrument of great beauty and expression” (NPR), was celebrated for ushering in “a new golden age in high male voices” (The New York Times). Making his company debut is Banks, a British artist at the top of the opera world who possesses the “same combination of tonal sweetness and pinging clarity that made Pavarotti famous” (The Telegraph).
Viewers will be treated to two Seattle Opera favorites when Sarah Coburn, most recently seen at McCaw Hall as Zerbinetta in “Ariadne auf Naxos” (2014), sings Countess Adèle opposite Brownlee.
Singing opposite Banks is Lauren Snouffer, a rising star who makes her company debut as the Countess in what will be the first of two engagements at Seattle Opera this season.
Other singers making debuts at McCaw Hall include Hannah Hipp and Stephanie Lauricella in the trouser role of teenage Isolier, as well as Rodion Pogossov and Will Liverman as Raimbaud.
Ory also sees the return of Patrick Carfizzi (The Tutor), Maria Zifchak (Ragonde), Jennifer Bromagen (Alice), and Eric Neuville (Young Nobleman).
