So What's the Big Event Coming to Media, PA in 2013? A Cultural Experience Unlike Any Other!

Rome, Paris, Berlin, London and now Media, PA.  That's right, Media will be on the world stage for the American premiere of a new Italian opera (IAGO), which will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi at the Media Theatre in May 2013.

Soprano Performer, Sharon Zhai

The group recently had an international competition in Saluzzo Italy, not far from where I visited this summer, where Sharon Zhai was chosen as the leading soprano for the opera. She is Chinese and will come to Media to sing the role of Desdemona. 

I'm not sure the dates have been posted yet, but check back for announcements or visit mediatheatre.org for upcoming information.  The show/s won't last long and once concluded, Sharon and the opera will be traveling back to Italy for additional performances.

In the meantime, I've been contacted by the group about reporting on their upcoming visit.  I look forward to that and am excited to share what will be a HUGE cultural event for Media!

The Birth of Opera:

The birth of opera is thought to have officially occur in 1600, when Jacopo Peri presented his opera  "Eurydice" at the wedding of Henry IV of France to Marie de Medici. (at left Rubens shows Henry IV receiving her portrait). The Florentine Camerata, a group of well known humanists, poets, musicians and intellectuals of which Peri was a member, believed the new form, an amalgamation of all arts, might heal their tainted society. In Peri's words, "To return to the Greek tradition of melody and naturally inflected text where singing imitates spoken language. I believe in the example of the Greek tragedies which adapted music to language."

credit: http://www.sing.internationaloperatheater.org/#!__about/italy

Tedman