Join us for Dinner and a Diva, on Tuesday, May 17th and Thursday, May 19th, for a night of delicious food and performances from Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Enjoy a gourmet four-course dinner featuring hors d’ oeuvres, fresh salad, choice of two entrees, dessert, coffee/tea, and two glasses of wine, all for only $65 per person (tax included; gratuity separate). Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar open at 6:15 p.m., and the dinner and show start promptly at 7:00 p.m.
“Il Trovatore, (Italian: “The Troubadour”) opera is four acts by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (Italian libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, with additions by Leone Emanuele Bardare) that premiered at the Teatro Apollo, in Rome, on January 19, 1853. Based on the 1836 play El trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez, the opera is one of three considered to represent the culmination of Verdi’s artistry to that point. The opera was a triumph from the first night. Themes of obsession, revenge, war, and family are conveyed through characters who present dramatic contrasts. The central character—and the one who seems to have attracted Verdi’s interest most strongly—is the gypsy Azucena. (He had considered naming the opera for her.) The composer, who by this time had mastered the Romantic and bel canto traditions, took so many aspects of the opera (including fiery characters, extreme dramatic situations, and virtuosic demands on singers) to the very limits of current possibilities that, later, critics ridiculed the characters and plot as being well beyond plausible. Yet the music was transcendent, and the opera continues to be widely performed. Act II features the “Anvil Chorus” (or “Gypsy Chorus”), which has become one of the best-known passages in the operatic repertoire.”
Dinner and a Diva: Il Trovatore is sponsored by Ron Kite and Laura Brookshire. Make a reservation at 404-432-6680 or on our home page.
