Bennington woman makes Mozart

By Patrick McArdle Herald Staff

BENNINGTON — A town employee is hoping to revive the local tradition of opera with a performance of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” at Hubbard Hall in Cambridge, N.Y., this weekend.

Alexina Jones is both producing and appearing in the comic opera which will run Friday, Aug. 15, 16, 21, 23 and 24.

Jones, an administrative assistant for the town of Bennington, had recently received her master’s degree in classical vocal performance from New York University’s Steinhardt School in 2006 when she performed a classical aria at Hubbard Hall during an open cabaret.

The performance led to talk of putting Hubbard Hall, an opera house built in 1878, back to its original use.

“It ballooned into something a lot bigger than I expected,” Jones said.

Jones, who performs the part of Despina, said “Cosi Fan Tutte” will be the first show she has produced.

Opera was once an important part of Bennington’s cultural heritage. The Bennington Opera House stood on the northwest corner of downtown’s Four Corners.

Bennington Museum librarian and local historian Tyler Resch said the three-story building was “really beautiful” and “dominated the downtown architecture.”

The opera house was opposite the Putnam Hotel in the Four Corners and both had been built by Henry Putnam. The hotel still stands but the opera house burned down in 1957 after it had been converted to a movie theater, according to Resch.

Jones, who lives in White Creek, N.Y., said she has been involved with Southern Vermont for eight years. In that time, there haven’t been many opportunities to see opera performed locally.

The Lake George Opera performs in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Rutland generally hosts one opera a year. Opera concerts are performed sometimes in Williamstown, Mass., and Albany but not full, costumed operas, Jones said, and there are other venues in upstate New York but they entail a bit of travel.

If the production of “Cosi Fan Tutte” is successful, Jones hopes to see the opera productions continue for Southern Vermont and New York audiences with a small show in the winter and a larger show in the summer when trained singers are available during their breaks from school.

The opera, with a title that translates as “All Women Do It” or “Thus Do They All” and is also known as “La Scuola Degli Amanti” or “The School for Lovers,” was chosen because it has a small cast, it’s a comedy and it’s well-known. “Cosi Fan Tutte” is one of three operas — the other two being “Don Giovanni” and “The Marriage of Figaro” — written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with librettos by Lorenzo daPonte.

In the opera, two young men make a bet with another man in a bar about the faithfulness of their fiancées. The bet requires them to pretend to be called off to war, then return disguised as Albanian noblemen to woo each other’s women.

Jones said it all ends happily but the two young soldiers learn a lesson about trying to fool the women they plan to marry.

The production runs about two and a half hours, with an intermission, and Jones said first-time opera audiences shouldn’t worry that they’ll be intimidated by the experience. The program will contain notes to help the audience understand the story and the production is done “in-the-round” so the audience surrounds the show. Subtitles for the opera’s Italian lyrics will be projected onto the balcony.

“The audience will feel like they’re a part of the show. They won’t feel like it’s such an esoteric, untouchable art form,” Jones said.

There seems to be an audience for opera, according to Jones, because there are less than two dozen tickets left for Friday’s opening night.

Tickets are available by calling Hubbard Hall at (518) 677-2495. For more information, visit Hubbard Hall’s Web site at www.hubbardhall.org.

Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.