The heroic folk-legend of Swiss patriot William Tell is this week’s Sunday Opera (12/2 3:00 p.m.) from Opera Southwest. Gioacchino Rossini’s opera, with a libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis which was based on the play by Friedrich Schiller, features the love story of Arnold and Mathilde told against the Swiss fight for freedom, led by Tell, from the Austrians who have been in power for one-hundred years.
The cast includes Sean Anderson in the title role, Claudi Chapa as his wife Hedwige, Sharin Apotolou as Jemmy, Tell’s son, Caroline Worra as Mathilde, and Matthew Vickers as Aarnold. Also included in the cast are Justin Hopkins as Gesler, Jeffrey Beruan as Walter, Hans Tashjian as Melchtal, Arnold’s Father, Xavier Prada Caceres as Ruodi, and Joseph Cordova s Rodolphe. Anthony Barrese conducts the Opera Southwest Orchestra and Chorus. We’ll take a bit of a departure after the opera with a ballet score by Paul Reade for “Hobson’s Choice” which was based on the play by Harold Brighson about a headstrong woman to takes her father to task and makes her and her sisters’ lives better as a result. The score will be played by the Royal Ballet Symphonia conducted by Barry Wordsworth.
