Opera comes to Ste. Geneviève

Opportunities are rare for West Islanders to see a musical production of the near epic proportions of Cavalleria Rusticana, a lavish, large-scale opera which will be staged in Ste. Geneviève next Tuesday.

The one-act opera, by 18th-century composer Pietro Mascagni, “is the most famous piece in the repertoire,” said Manrico Tedeschi, founder of the Il Canto Opera Association and producer of the concert.

“People will recognize a lot of the music, which has been used in many films, including in the last scenes of Godfather III. The intermezzo is also very famous,” said the internationally acclaimed tenor, who has performed in major venues all over the world, most recently in Rome in December.

Cavalleria Rusticana is an elaborate undertaking which brings together over 125 vocalists, musicians, and extras in what the Ste. Anne de Bellevue resident calls “my most ambitious project to date.”

Featured will be a 45-member orchestra, as well as the 45-voice chorus Cantabile, which whom Tedeschi has collaborated in the past. Among five professional soloists will be tenor Edgar Ernesto Ramirez and soprano Makiko Awazu, who play the lead roles in this perennial tale of a doomed “love triangle.

“And the sets, designed by Jean-Claude Olivier, are beautiful.”

Tuesday’s concert marks the third time Il Canto has mounted an operatic production at the performance hall since the association surfaced in 2006.

There has also been a series of concerts at other West Island locations and at Stewart Hall in Pointe Claire, including one last month which paid homage to Enrico Caruso; Il Canto returns to the cultural centre in May.

The April 7 concert, which gets under way at 8 p.m., “will be dedicated to my father, who gave me a passion for opera I’m trying to pass on,” Tedeschi said.

Salle Pauline Julien is located at 15615 Gouin Blvd. (Collège Gerald-Godin). Tickets can be reserved by calling 514-626-1616.