Many operas have been based on popular plays, and the comedy on this week’s Sunday Opera (3/3 3:00 p.m.) is an excellent example of when this works to perfection. The opera is “La Vedova Scaltra” or “The Cunning Widow” by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari with a libretto by Mario Ghisalberti which is based on a play of the same name by Carlo Goldoni. The fourth of five operas based on Goldoni plays by Wolf-Ferrari, the story centers on a wealthy widow who is wooed by suitors from four different countries (Great Britain, France, Spain, and Italy) and the complications that ensue.
The cast includes Anne-Lise Sollied as the widow Rosaura and as her four suitors: Maurizio Muraro, Eanuele D’Aguanno, Mark Milhofer, and Riccardo Zanellato. They’re joined by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, and Karl Martin conducts. Whom will she choose? Ah, tune in this Sunday to find out! Also tune in for more glorious music from Wolf-Ferrari when host Michael Kownacky plans to bring you the overture and intermezzo from another of his works, “Doctor Cupid” followed by the Sinfonie da Camera in B-flat major, Op. 8 and the delightful Serenade for String Orchestra.
