Albert Herring

by Benjamin Britten

Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 10, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, April 11, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Bijou Theatre
803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville TN.

“Country virgins, if there be such, think too little and see too much.”

Opera literature, a genre not well-known for subtlety, is populated by a lengthy cast of characters, none of whom would ever have been heard of were it not for the extravagance of the demands that they make upon their long-suffering, if less voluble cast members. Commoners demanding kingdoms, royalty demanding intimate relations with important deities; this princess, vexed because her demands for the head of a particular prophet on a silver platter look as if they will go unmet, and that witch, incensed when her deepening hunger for child-flesh goes unsatisfied. Whether the eventual prize is love, power or riches, the opera world, seen in a certain light, is an endless stretch of gimme, gimme, gimme, the major exponents of which, seem also to be the loudest.

High on the list of honors for most demanding is seen (and heard), Rossini
Festival weekend, Saturday through Monday, April 9, 10, and 11 when UT Opera Theatre's 2010-2011 season finale, Benjamin Britten's delightful ALBERT HERRING takes the Bijou Theater stage.

"Want virgins, not trollops," is command, battle cry and fervent wish of
Lady Billows, an indomitable if misguided main character in this, one of the true operatic comedies of the 20th century.

Inspired by a short story by Guy de Maupassant, Britten's endearing tale of innocence lost boasts one of music theater's daffiest casts of characters. Set at the close of England's Victorian era, the opera tells of the determination of Lady Billows, matriarch and moral watchdog to the tiny fishing village of Loxford, and of her quest to pull the community back from the snapping jaws of moral degradation into which she fears it is about to tumble. Her master plan includes a revival of the May Day Festival of yore, a celebration of virtue capped when the town's worthiest girl is crowned Queen of the May. The discovery, however, that Loxford is a village without a virgin nearly scuttles the project until it is suggested that the ultimate symbol of virtue would be better represented by a May King, the perfect candidate for which exists in the person of Albert Herring, shy, well-meaning son of the local greengrocer. Happy to teach the slatternly girls of the village a lesson, Lady Billows agrees to the change of plan. Albert's coronation is planned and executed, and his prize money is magnanimously bestowed, all to the moral satisfaction of Loxford's leading citizens. And not one of them suspects the shocking uses to which ALBERT, fortified by a generous serving of rum-spiked, coronation lemonade, plans to spend his winnings.

Since its 1947 Glyndebourne Festival Opera premiere, ALBERT HERRING has been one of the repertoire's most charming and enduring chamber operas.

Kevin Class conducts and Michael McConnell directs faculty guest artist,
Andrew Wentzel and an exemplary cast of talented student performers from the University of Tennessee's highly respected voice and orchestral programs in this masterful operatic comedy.

Join the UT Opera Theatre for this delightful season finale. Performances
are Saturday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.; and Monday, April 11, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. All performances will be held at the Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville.

Contact Us

UT Opera Theatre
2438 Dunford Hall
915 Volunteer Blvd.
Knoxville, TN 37996-4040

Phone: 865-974-3241
Fax: 865-974-1941
Email: music@utk.edu