ESU Professor to Give Presentation “Music Comedy at its Best: Shakespeare, Verdi and Falstaff” on Dec. 6

Posted by: admin on December 2, 2013, No Comments

Opera is not limited to tragic themes and characters, but many people are unaware that the form also includes sparkling, comic gems.

Opera enthusiast Eugene Galperin, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mathematics at East Stroudsburg University, will explore the lighter side of the genre in “Music Comedy at its Best: Shakespeare, Verdi, and Falstaff” on Friday, December 6, at 2 p.m. in the Dale Snow Theatre of ESU’s Fine & Performing Arts Center, Normal and Marguerite streets. The presentation is open to the public at no cost.

One of most notable music comedies ever created, Falstaff, is a hilarious and wise tale of self-indulgence, deceit, jealousy and hypocrisy by two stellar dramatists – the playwright William Shakespeare and the composer Giuseppe Verdi.

The program, geared toward people with little or no knowledge of opera, will provide an introduction to Verdi’s Falstaff, a Metropolitan Opera production that will be screened December 14 and 18 at Cinemark in the Stroud Mall.

“These broadcasts have been going on for years and most students haven’t been aware,” Galperin said. “I attempted to spark some interest and increase attendance of these broadcasts. After my first talk on Puccini’s Tosca on November 8, several students and community members attended the broadcast for the first time.  That was encouraging, and I would like to keep it going.”

The Cinemark screenings are part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Live-In-HD series designed to make outstanding opera productions accessible to audiences throughout the world. The first showing is at 12:55 p.m. on December 14; the encore presentation is at 6:30 p.m. on December 18.

The program is being sponsored by the departments of music and theatre. For more information, please call Galperin at 570-422-3931.