| Summary: | My thesis is the performance of two operatic roles: Zita in Giacomo Puccini's Gianni
Schicchi, performed on March 7 and 9, 2002, and the Sorceress in Henry Purcell's Dido
and Aeneas, performed on March 8 and 10, 2002.
Gianni Schicchi is derived from a section of Dante's Inferno, dealing with the death of
Buoso Donati and the greed of his surviving relatives. Zita is cousin to Buoso and aunt to
Rinuccio, one of the lovers. She is part of the family ensemble, which is onstage for
almost the entire opera - a very unusual occurrence in opera. After Buoso's death, Zita
becomes the commandatore of the family, a comic mezzo-soprano character role that
remains bitter and greedy until she and the family are chased offstage.
Dido and Aeneas is based on Virgil's The Aeneid, and deals with Dido, the queen of
Carthage, in her relationship with, and loss of, Aeneas. The Sorceress, an evil mezzosoprano
role, who carries herself as if she were queen, plots disaster for both Dido and
her lover, and oversees the queen's subsequent death.
I am entering both roles combined as my thesis because they were performed in the same
run of a double bill with the UBC Opera Ensemble. The two roles differ in character and
musical style, creating a nice juxtaposition for my thesis. === Arts, Faculty of === Music, School of === Additional material: 2 videos (Koerner Library). === Graduate
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