Be prepared for some operatic tomfoolery on this week’s Sunday Opera (11/5 3 p.m.) with Gioachino Rossini’s 1828 comedy “Le Comte Ory.” Although the opera might not be that familiar, the music may be since Rossini, the king of recycling, used a great deal of the score from “Il Viaggio a Reims” which had been written for the coronation of Charles X three years before.
“Le Comte Ory” follows the romantic escapades of the count of the title who, while all of the knights are away at the Crusades, tries his hardest to seduce the wife of another with little success even as he masquerades as a hermit and a nun. The cast includes Christopher Bozeka as the randy count along with Lindsay Ohse, Laurel Semerdijian, Amanda Crider, Tim Mix, Matthew Hanscom, and Mary Brzezinski. Anthony Barrese is the conductor leading the Opera Southwest Orchestra and Chorus.
We’re turning to music of Bedrich Smetena to fill our afternoon after the opera, and his collection of symphonic poems featured under the title of Ma vlast or My Fatherland. Written as separate entities by Smetana, they are often heard that way, so we’re very happy to be bringing them to you as a set that paints a delightful, musical picture of the Czech landscape and history. It’ll be performed by the Hardec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra with Marek Stilec conducting.