Published: April 10, 2008 12:50 pm         

BSO presents "Madame Butterfly"

With the lush orchestration, costumes, dramatic lighting and scenery and professional singers flying in from Los Angeles to Canada, it's easy to see why the Bryan Symphony Orchestra's semi-staged production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly is the only event of its kind in the Upper Cumberland.

Small wonder, then, that the April 20 performance is sold out. Only stand-by ticketing is available. The concert begins at 3 p.m. in Wattenbarger Auditorium, the concert hall of Tennessee Technological University's Bryan Fine Arts Building. Call (931) 372-6088 for information.

In a semi-staged production, the orchestra and conductor move to the back of the stage, and the singers perform in the foreground. It's a different orchestral experience — and one that only happens every other year in this region.

"The idea is to avail our audience to the splendor of opera," said Music Director Dan Allcott. "It's the only professional opera performance they can see in the Upper Cumberland. Our area is rich in staged events — plays in Cookeville and Crossville, the annual opera workshop production by Tech students — but this is the only opportunity for our audience to see a semi-staged opera performance at home.

"In my first season, we performed a semi-staged production of Puccini's La Boheme, and the reception was so overwhelmingly positive that I felt encouraged to program more — but only every other season, because it's tremendously hard for us to orchestrate these productions."

Allcott followed the success of La Boheme with Verdi's La Traviata, an event engaging the talents of seven operatic singers.

"Hiring singers comes with a lot of careful consultation with people in opera whom I know and trust," said Allcott. "The singers need to understand the intense duress of our production cycle; nowhere else do you have dress rehearsal the morning of the performance itself. So these singers not only have to be skillful and talented, but physically able to take on that kind of schedule.

"It's all part of our very organic and exciting process here. As hard as these productions are to pull off, what makes it worthwhile is the coming together of singing, orchestra, the visuals, the drama, and the huge response of our audience."

Madama Butterfly herself is played by Shana Blake Hill, an experienced singer the Los Angeles Times calls "an intense young soprano." With solos on stages from coast to coast to her credit, Hill has also ventured into recording; her performance of “The Mission” opens Paramount Studio’s blockbuster The Sum of All Fears, starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman. Hill's rendition of the track is included on Paramount’s 90th anniversary CD collection of most memorable songs from its movie soundtracks.

Hill is joined by tenor Adam Diegel, a native of Memphis who joins the New York City Opera this season in a performance of Tosca and Cavalleria Rusticana; baritone Jonathan Carle, a veteran performer of some of the world's most beloved operas; mezzo-soprano Diane Pulte, a member of the TTU voice faculty who was a regional finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in 1997 and 1998; tenor Jason Ferrante, who has performed on stages on five continents and has been heard on NPR, PBS, and as a panelist on the Metropolitan Opera Quiz.

Supporting roles include Capshaw Elementary kindergartener Ella Grace Clopton, who plays a non-singing part, and members of the Tech Chorale, TTU's premier choral ensemble, directed this year by visiting Assistant Professor Craig Zamer.

Concert-week events for this final performance of the BSO's 2007-'08 season begin April 16 at the Palace Theatre in Crossville, where a preview luncheon is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Allcott will lead a discussion about the concert program, and participants will have a chance to ask questions during the catered lunch. Cost for the April 16 preview luncheon is $10 at the door, and reservations can be made by calling 484-6133 by Monday.

PBS affiliate WCTE-TV, Ch. 22, will broadcast "Prelude and Coffee: Conversations with the Conductor" at 7:30 p.m. April 17 and rebroadcast at 8:30 p.m. April 19.

The last Symphony Social of the season begins at 7 p.m., April 18 at West Textures Framing and Fine Art, at 24 W. Broad St., Cookeville. There's a $10 cover charge at the door. Call 372-6088 for reservations by Monday.

Finally, on the day of the concert, TTU piano faculty member Catherine Godes will give a preview lecture at 2 p.m., in Room 223 of the Bryan Fine Arts Building. A post-concert reception will be held in the Bryan Fine Arts lobby, and the audience is invited to an early dinner at Mauricio's Italian Restaurant, at 232 N. Peachtree Ave., in Cookeville. Dinner reservations should be made by calling (931) 372-6088.

The Bryan Symphony Orchestra, a member of the League of American Orchestras, is the only professional symphony in a rural area of Tennessee. The April 20 concert is sponsored by Albert and Rosemary Ponte and Angelo and Jennette Volpe, as well as the Bank of Putnam County. Additional funding for this project is provided under an agreement with the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.