Ithaca, N.Y. — The opera Don Quixote at the Marriage of Comacho will be performed by Triphammer Arts at the CRS Barn Studio in Ithaca at 7:30 p.m. on August 1–3.
“[Don Quixote] has lively and varied vocal music and the pastoral setting was perfect for the outdoor performance space at the CRS Barn Studio,” said Steven Stull, who co-directed the production with choreographer Jeanne Goddard.
The comic one-act, composed in 1761 by Georg Philipp Telemann, depicts one of fictional nobleman Don Quixote’s numerous adventures. Don Quixote is the famed protagonist of Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes’s work, a would-be romantic knight who habitually becomes lost and confused.
The opera revolves around a country wedding and the drama that ensues after Don Quixote and his witty squire Sancho Panza become involved.
“Telemann used this pastoral scene from the long series of Don Quixote’s quests as a framework for lively vocal writing and amusing portrayals of a range of characters,” said Stull, who also stars as Don Quixote in the production.
“It requires me to maintain a double focus,” said Stull of his two roles. “As a performer, I’m invested in my character, my singing, and my stage movement, but as a director, I need to step out and take the larger view of the entire stage picture.”
Stull discovered the seldom-performed opera while researching one-acts earlier this year, he said. Because the opera was originally set to a German libretto, Stull, Goddard, and David Neal (who plays Sancho) translated the text into contemporary American English to make their production more accessible to modern audiences.
“We worked to find a balance between an exact translation and text that is singable and understandable for the audience,” said Stull.
Live accompanying music will be provided by keyboardists Richard Montgomery and William Cowdery. According to Stull, many of the singers serve as faculty members at local colleges such as Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland.
Tickets will be available for purchase at the door. Regular tickets cost $20. Discounts apply to seniors and students.