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With its comical characters, convoluted plot, and sheer genius in mixing comedy with drama, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro requires a deft hand in production and direction – and that is precisely what Cookeville can expect in the Nov. 15 performance of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the Asheville Lyric Opera.



The performance, which features an ensemble cast of eight singers, begins at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15, in Wattenbarger Auditorium. The BSO-ALO collaboration is essential to do justice to the beloved Mozart composition, said BSO Music Director Dan Allcott, who conducted the ALO’s October productions of Figaro in Asheville, where the singing ensemble performed three sold-out performances. Along with costumes, set pieces and staff from ALO, they’ll make the trip to Cookeville to revive the production with our orchestra.



“Figaro is both touching and funny – and that takes direction of a much more complex nature,” said Allcott. “Because the cast is large, and the physical action intricate, the production is dramatically demanding. Comedy is harder to stage than tragedy – and in the case of Figaro, the complexity of the plot also figures into it.



“Thanks to this collaboration with Asheville, we can do an opera of a totally different sort here in Cookeville,” he said. “It allows our audience a chance to see one of the best operas of all time – and an opera that simply would be impossible to produce on our own.”



The Asheville Lyric Opera, currently celebrating its 10th season, has been characterized as one of the gems in the many-jeweled crown of the arts-centric Asheville community. It’s the only touring company of its kind in the entire country, and while at home, performs six productions a year in the Diana Wortham Theater.



"The Asheville Lyric Opera has always benefitted from collaboration with symphony orchestras because of their high quality of musical leadership,” said ALO Artistic Director David Starkey. “Our experience with Figaro, however, has gone beyond our normal expectations, because of Dan Allcott's significant experience in leading orchestras in theatrical orchestra pits. That requires a different skill than leading the orchestra on the stage."



In 2010, Allcott concludes a 10-year run as music director and principal conductor with the Atlanta Ballet, with whom he has directed more than 250 performances of the dance company’s orchestra.



The stage director of Figaro is Jon Truitt, director of opera at the University of Evansville. He’ll be joined by a sizeable ALO production crew and six of the eight singers who will perform Figaro in November. Truitt himself sings the role of Count Almaviva. Other cast members include Elizabeth Truitt, also from the voice faculty at Evansville, as well as ALO regulars Andrea Blough, Jonathan Ross, Daniel Webb, Scott Joiner, Matthew Boutwell, and newcomer Regina Davis.



Rounding out the vocal parts is a favorite of the Cookeville audience, Diane Pulte, who also has performed roles in the BSO productions of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Verdi’s La Traviata, as well as a trio of Baroque arias this past spring. Pulte, who auditioned for the role of Marcellina with the ALO on Allcott’s recommendation, performed it in Asheville in October.



“Collaboration in musical presentation is not only essential these days, but much more rewarding to the audience, because the two organizations bring their strongest qualities together in presenting the performance,” said Starkey.



And that’s especially important in the production of a composition as dazzling as Figaro, which itself is a collaboration of three Europeans: the composer Mozart, the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, and the author of the original plays on which The Marriage of Figaro is based, Pierre Beaumarchais.



“This work is the result of the labors of three geniuses,” said Allcott. “What makes The Marriage of Figaro one of the crowning achievements of its time is a combination of its plot -- a servant whose wit and intellect help him conspire successfully against his master -- its poetry, which advances the plot with ease and understanding, and its music, which brilliantly brings the story to life in a modern way. Those three elements came together in a way that’s as relevant now as it was more than 200 years ago – and explains why it continues to rank among the most popular operas performed today.”



While reservations are already limited for the Nov. 15 performance of The Marriage of Figaro, there will be tickets available at the box office several hours before the performance begins at 3 p.m., thanks to subscribers who release their seats to the reservation line over the weekend. If you don’t already have reservations, you may call the box office now and be added to the standby list – or you may visit the ticket window in person beginning at noon on Sunday. Tickets are $28 for adults, $24 for seniors 65 and up, and $8 for students. Call 931-525-2633.