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Classic comic operas fill the bill

Two comic one-act operas, "Gianni Schicchi" by Giacomo Puccini and "Il Campanello" by Gaetano Donizetti, will be performed at the Mendelssohn Theater by voice students. Pier Calabria will lead the University Philharmonia Orchestra. The two operas will be sung in Italian and there will be English supertitles.

Major doesn't like using labels to identify works, but he said that this weekend's entertainment promises to be good, "lowbrow" fun. "It's charming. It's a diversion. It's light," he said. "It's a distraction from life, as good operas and movies and plays are supposed to be."

Donizetti's "Il Campanello," written in one week in 1836, is what Major called a "comedy of exaggeration."

"It's a typical example of early Donizetti comedy. It's simple and charming," Major said. "There's nothing highbrow about it."

The full title of "Il Campanello" -- "Il campanello di notte" -- is translated "The Night Bell," and refers to an old Italian law that requires a pharmacist to answer his bell at any hour of the night. In the opera, the elderly Don Annibale Pistacchio has married young Serafina. Enrico, Serafina's jilted beau, has vowed to ruin the couple's wedding night. Enrico rings the bell, bitter and in various disguises.

Puccini wrote 12 operas, including "La Boheme," "Tosca" and "Madama Butterfly." His only comedy, "Gianni Schicchi," fills out this bill.

"'Schicchi' is a different beast in that it's a much more developed, mature work from a very mature composer," Major said.

In "Gianni Schicchi," the wealthy and repentant Buoso Donati has died and willed all of his money to the church. His relatives, feigning grief, are mortified to learn of the departure of what they consider the family fortune.

The rash relatives turn to the cunning peasant Gianni Schicchi for help. Schicchi explains that Buoso's death should be kept a secret until a dying Buoso -- an impostor -- can leave a final will with the notary.

But in comedy, nothing's that easy. "Both operas have been conceived very specifically," said Major, applauding the stage designs and sets.

"They're very fun and very funny. It's amusing how we've done it," Major said, adding, "but I don't want to give it away."