Amelia al Ballo and Il Tabarro

Maryland Opera Studio’s annual piano opera, with its minimal props and scenery, brings the talents of the vocal program’s second-year Master’s degree students into sharp focus.There is literally nothing for the young singers to hide behind as they create and perform their roles with only piano accompaniment.

This year, they’ll flex their creative muscles and their vocal cords in two productions – Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amelia al Ballo and Giacomo Puccini’s Il Tabarro.

Amelia al Ballo, directed by Nick Olcott, is an opera buffa in one act. Written in 1937 when Menotti was 23 years old, it was his first critical success.

Puccini’s Il Tabarro, directed by Leon Major, is part of a triptych of one-act operas that includes Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica. A moody romantic tragedy quite different in tone from the better-known Gianni Schicchi, Il Tabarro displays the composer’s lyrical gifts to their fullest.