IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO

IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO
(THE SECRET MARRIAGE)
MUSIC BY DOMENICO CIMAROSA
CONDUCTED BY PAUL GOODWIN
DIRECTED BY JONATHAN MILLER
ORCHESTRA: MEMBERS OF BROOKLYN PHILHARMONIC

In Italian with English Titles

Love knows no boundaries, but parents with social aspirations can be another matter. So what to do when you’re in love with a penniless peasant but your father prefers you wed a nobleman? Marry the peasant–in secret–and trick your sister into marrying the wealthy guy instead. Thus begins Domenico Cimarosa’s comic opera treasure Il matrimonio segreto (1792), coming to BAM in a new production by the perpetually illuminating Jonathan Miller (most recently at BAM with his incomparable production of St. Matthew Passion, Spring 2006).

By staging Il Matrimonio Segreto in its original eighteenth-century setting, Miller enables the light-footed comedy to sparkle and the remarkable roster of singers–conducted by Paul Goodwin–to shine in some of opera buffa’s greatest roles. As one misunderstanding begets another, Cimarosa’s mellifluous score curls with effortless command through scenes of erotic intrigue and thwarted couplings, pairing bel canto melody with richly orchestrated ensemble pieces shared between triangulated lovers.