For years now, music director Joel Rosenberg has closed out the Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City's season with large-scale choral works. This year, Rosenberg has gone where few other conductors have been and programmed Gioacchino Rossini's final opera, the epic "William Tell."
"I wanted something interesting for the organization," Rosenberg said. " 'William Tell' has some big choruses, and it's great music." He added that the work is different from Rossini's other operas. "This is his most intellectual opera, and it's superior to any of his other works."
The Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City (formerly known as the American West Symphony and Chorus) will give three performances of Rossini's opera beginning Friday. Rosenberg said that these performances will also mark the opera's Utah premiere. " 'William Tell' has never been performed in Utah, either in a concert or stage version."
Rossini was a master of comic opera, but he did in fact write a few works with serious subject matters, and "William Tell" is by far his loftiest creation. Based on the German playwright Friedrich Schiller's play about the legendary Swiss patriot, Rossini wrote some of his most original and effective music for this work. He was only 36 when he wrote it in 1828 for the Paris Opera, and surprisingly it would be his last.
"He was one of the most active musical figures of his time," Rosenberg said. "He was the toast of Europe and lionized as a composer. But he decided to stop composing after he completed 'William Tell.' "
The impact that "William Tell" had on 19th century audiences can be seen in contemporary accounts. Vincenzo Bellini, himself a successful composer of nearly a dozen operas, said that, " 'William Tell' made all contemporary works, including mine, the work of pygmies." Hector Berlioz at first disparaged it, but after studying the score praised the work in glowing terms in an article he wrote. Even Richard Wagner, not known for having kind words for the works of other composers, noted that in the opera's best moments, Rossini had anticipated Wagner's own theories.
Wagner could certainly have been referring to the final scene of "William Tell." "In that scene, which is a final apotheosis, there is a spirit of exultation," Rosenberg said. "And in its tonality and harmony, it foreshadows Wagner's 'Entrance of the Gods Into Valhalla' (from 'Das Rheingold')."
Rosenberg, noting that the four-act opera is almost never performed in its entirety, has cut the work down to around 1 1/2 hours. "We're going to be performing the most beautiful passages from each act," he said, adding that there are two special sections of the work. "Besides the finale at the end of the opera, the finale to Act I is also fabulous. It's for all of the soloists and the chorus, and the writing is virtuosic." Rosenberg said that Rossini's mastery of vocal writing in "William Tell" is amazing. "He lets every soloist have his or her opportunity to shine. You find some of Rossini's most demanding writing here, especially for Arnold and William Tell."
In the principal roles at these performances will be baritone Eric Glissmeyer singing William Tell; tenor Kenneth Shelley as Arnold, a Swiss patriot; soprano Camille Boyle as Jemmy, Tell's son; mezzo-soprano Stina Eberhardt as Hedwiga, Tell's wife; and soprano Jill Dewsnup, who recently sang the role of Marenka in Lyric Opera Ensemble's production of Bedrich Smetana's "The Bartered Bride," will sing Matilda, the daughter of Gesler, the governor of Schwyz and Uri. Others in the cast are Todd Miller, Shane Warby, Gary Sorenson and Chad Hilligus. The chorus is under the direction of Cameron Rose, and Robert Englund is the featured cello soloist.
If you go. . .
What: "William Tell," the Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City
Where: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 8600 S. 700 East
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $7 adults, $5 seniors and students, $15 family pass
Where: Assembly Hall on Temple Square
When: May 21, 7:30 p.m.
How much: Free
Where: Libby Gardner Concert Hall
When: May 24, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $7
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com