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Since 2004, Bryan Symphony Orchestra audiences have been treated to three operas in TTU’s Wattenbarger Auditorium: Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and “La Boheme” and Verdi’s “La Traviata.” All three are tragedies and feature huge soprano parts, achingly beautiful arias and breathless drama.



The upcoming BSO-Asheville Lyric Opera production of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” is part of an earlier opera tradition - one that employs comedy to convey its moral.



“In ‘Figaro,’ part of the point is that life is complicated, and we tend to take ourselves too seriously,” said BSO Music Director Dan Allcott. “It lets us look at the complex emotions surrounding relationships while allowing us a chance to laugh at ourselves. For more than 200 years, this comic opera has charmed audiences with its humor and its moral of the power of forgiveness.”



The BSO and ALO will perform “The Marriage of Figaro” beginning at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15, in TTU’s Wattenbarger Auditorium.



While reservations are already limited, 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.



Sunday’s concert is sponsored by Albert and Rosemary Ponte and Angelo and Jennette Volpe.



“The Marriage of Figaro” is considered “comic opera,” in which the plot is advanced through the use of “recitative,” or lightly accompanied poetry.



“In comic opera, the vocal style is less florid, more natural, like real conversation,” said Allcott. “There’s more acting, to help convey the humor. Mozart revels in writing vocal ensembles - six to eight people all singing at once.”



Even the music is presented differently. For one thing, the orchestra for “Figaro” is smaller, but most noticeably for the BSO audience, the musicians will play in the Wattenbarger pit, a rare event in the Bryan Fine Arts Building. The collaboration with Asheville Lyric Opera also allows for a more complete presentation of the opera. Running time including intermission is 2 hours, 30 minutes.



Founded 10 years ago by Artistic Director David Starkey, the Asheville Lyric Opera has, from the beginning, collaborated with professional symphony orchestras to round out its productions. In October, it performed three sold-out performances, with Allcott serving as guest conductor.



"The Asheville Lyric Opera has always benefitted from collaboration with symphony orchestras because of their high quality of musical leadership,” said 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."



Allcott has conducted more than 250 performances in the orchestra pit of the Cobb Performing Arts Centre, home of the Atlanta Ballet, with whom he has served as music director for nine years.



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 seven of the nine singers who will perform “Figaro” this Sunday. 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, TTU faculty member Diane Pulte, who joined the ALO ensemble onstage in Asheville in the role of Marcellina in October.



The entire cast and orchestra will also be in Cookeville on Monday for the BSO’s annual education concerts for Putnam County 4th graders. Those performances are sponsored by First National Bank and with additional funding provided by an Arts Builds Communities grant administered by the Tennessee Arts Commission.



The Bryan Symphony Orchestra, a member of the League of American Orchestras, is the only professional symphony in a rural area of Tennessee. Learn more about the BSO’s programs by visiting its web site at www.bryansymphony.org.