Director, Nicola Bowie
Conductor, Steven Osgood

Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center
Friday, August 4, 8 pm and Sunday, August 6, 2 pm
Tickets $35/$48

THE STORY
The most popular opera buffa of the 1790s and still a delight today, Il Matrimonio Segreto (The Clandestine Marriage) is a comic whirlwind of sibling rivalry, covert marriage and fickle affection. Enjoy a sparkling overture and music that is witty and elegant in its portrayal of the characters, including the comic bourgeois gentilhomme Geronimo and the ridiculous Count. Like a Shakespearean comedy, all ends well with forgiveness and true love.

THE SCENE
This production is set in the 1930s using art deco staging and imagery. Reminiscent of an old Hollywood movie, the set replicates a glamorous estate in the age of the Great Depression. Chrome and glass reflect the sharp angles and lines of the art deco movement.

THE LIBRETTO
Giovanni Bertati based his libretto on a comedy by George Coleman and David Garrick that was a stage success in London. Bertati retained much of the plot and motivations, but transposed the scene from London to Bologna.

THE MUSIC
Domenico Cimarosa was a court composer during the reign of Catherine II in St. Petersburg. He spent a year in Vienna, succeeding Salieri as Court Kapellmeister and wrote Il Matrimonio Segreto while there. His music is characterized by limitless merriment and wit, with lyrical and tasteful vocal parts. Although he wrote dozens, Il Matrimonio Segreto is the only opera of Cimarosa’s still performed today.

TICKETS
Availabe from San Francisco Opera Box Office
Tickets $35/$48

Contact the San Francisco Box Office Monday through Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm, (415) 864-3330 or download an order form. Tickets for this performance are not available online. Last minute, or walk-up tickets also available at the Cowell Theater.

Il Matrimonio Segreto is sponsored in part by Reid & Peggy Dennis, The L.J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, the Frances K. and Charles D. Field Foundation, The Stanley S. Langendorf Foundation and is part of the In Performance Series at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center, which is supported by Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Fort Mason Foundation.

Conductor Steven Osgood sponsored by Bob & Terri Ryan.