Così Tour: Final Weekend

This weekend is your last chance to catch the Young Artists’ Fall Tour of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. The singers perform tonight at Benaroya Hall (in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall) and Sunday night at the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth.

Tonight’s cast hasn’t performed in a week, so today they had a quick “brush-up” rehearsal to give the singers a chance to refresh their musical memories, said Education Events Manager Justina Schwartz. “Since tonight’s a sold-out house, and this group hasn’t sung the opera since the 13th [in Bellingham], we wanted to be sure they could put their best musical foot forward tonight,” she said. The group will also arrive at Benaroya several hours before the performance to take some time to get used to the stage—to move the scenery around, rehearse any tricky blocking, and make sure everyone’s comfortable.

The brush-up was also helpful because several of the singers spent the past few days in New York City auditioning for young artist programs at companies such as Wolf Trap Opera and Houston Grand Opera, hoping for slots in their summer or fall programs. They returned late last night, so Schwartz said it was helpful to have this rehearsal so the singers could bring their focus back to Così. Are we going to see you this weekend?

And check out these photos from the performance last Sunday night in Kirkland (gotta love those mustaches!). The following three photos are © Bill Mohn; the above two photos are © Alan Alabastro.