We have another rarity on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/15 3:00 p.m.) as we travel one last time to Opera Southwest for a long-forgotten opera by Giovanni Bottesini entitled “Ali Baba.” Based on the story found in “One Thousand and One Nights,” Bottesini’s work was well-received after its premier in London in 1871, but the score was lost shortly thereafter, and it wasn’t heard for over a century. Opera Southwest has brought this lost work to life, and we’ll hear it this week under the leadership of Anthony Barrese. The cast includes Ashraf Sewailam as Ali Baba, Christopher Bozeka as Nadir, Monica Yunus as Delia, Kevin Thompson as Aboul Hassan, and Laurel Semerdjian as Morgiana.
We’ll stay with the same source material after the opera when Michael Kownacky will present Carl Nielsen’s delightful work for soloists, chorus and orchestra based on the story of Aladdin. This complete score features Mette Ejsing Guido Paevatalu with the Danish National Radio Chamber Choir and Symphony Orchestra with Gennedy Rozhdestvensky conducting.
