Wabash College Music Department will present The Telephone, a comic opera in one act by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti. The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, October 25, in Salter Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Center.
This light-hearted opera is one of Menotti’s most accessible. In this story, Ben would like to propose to Lucy before he leaves on a trip. Before he can pop the question, the phone rings and Lucy talks on and on, leaving him frustrated. Finally, Ben calls Lucy from a nearby telephone booth and proposes. The phone conversations range from chatty to argumentative to consolatory with corresponding playful, dramatic, and lyrical musical settings.
The opera was composed in 1946 to be paired with Menotti’s opera The Medium. Both were presented in 1947 on Broadway as part of the Ballet Society’s opera season. Despite positive reviews, audiences were small at first. After famed conductor Arturo Toscanini attended and his attendance was leaked to the press, the seats were always full. The Telephone has been performed on radio and television, and its popularity has led to translations into many languages.
Performing the opera includes Lisa Lowry, soprano, Jerome Síbulo, baritone, and Paul Pisano, piano. Lowry is adjunct instructor of voice at Wabash. Lowry and Síbulo have done graduate work at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and have performed in operas and concerts around the United States and Canada. Pisano studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is a solo recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber music performer, vocal coach, and accompanist. He has performed in Italy, Canada, and in many U.S. venues.
The performance is free and open to the public.