‘Scenes’ offers a taste of opera

Opera NAU

Get a taste of NAU Opera during the performance of Opera Scenes, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, in Ashurst Auditorium. The performance is free and no tickets are required.

“This is a great opportunity to discover why there are so many opera fans,” said Nando Schellen, NAU Opera director. “We have more than 30 enthusiastic vocal performance students eager to present opera as well as their progress on the ladder of artistic achievement.”

Schellen said the two-hour performance will feature excerpts that convey an array of emotions. They include selections from Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Cosí fan tutte.

Other shorter works will include scenes from Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, Beethoven’s Fidelio, and Otto Nicolai’s opera version of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

“We have tremendous talent. Many people call us the top university opera company in Arizona,” Schellen said. “Few universities in the country can give undergraduates an opportunity to perform like we do.”

According to Schellen, the student performers will be accompanied by three pianists. The scenes will be performed in English, German, French and Italian, with a narrator.

For information contact Nando Schellen at (928) 523-6749.