Park City Opera was established in 2024. Artistic director Ben Beckham said a “preview season” debuted last summer with 20 small concerts and events.
Now the opera company is set to host its first production: Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.”
“It was written in the mid-1800s and despite being, you know, almost 200 years old, it is still hilarious,” Beckham said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Aug. 6.
Jake Stamatis will play Figaro in the beloved and popular opera. It’s his third time performing the role and said the opera is both a comedy and a love story.
The story begins with Count Almaviva seeing a woman, Rosina, from her window and immediately falling in love. The Count then looks for a way to meet Rosina and enlists Figaro to help.
Stamatis said the problem is Rosina is essentially trapped; she’s the ward of the nobleman, Bartolo, and has an obligation to him. Bartolo is in love with her, but Rosina isn’t interested.
“It becomes like a rescue mission in the end, and on the way, it's full of jokes and farce, disguises and everything you can imagine,” Stamatis said. “It really is a jam-packed evening of opera, comedy, laughs and a really good time.”
Stamatis is originally from a small town in Pennsylvania called Tunkhannock. He said it’s a beautiful place to live, but there wasn’t a large classical music scene.
He heard opera for the first time in college and, like Count Almaviva upon seeing Rosina, immediately fell in love with it.
“The drama, the vocal Olympics that it takes to just sing any of these operas, is just so impressive to me, and the challenge of it, it's almost like a puzzle,” Stamatis said.
There are three aspects to preparing for an opera role, Stamatis said. One is mastering the language. Operas are typically in foreign languages and “The Barber of Seville” is in Italian. Stamatis said even if a singer doesn’t speak the language fluently, they still need to understand what they’re saying and master pronunciation.
Next is the music. Opera singing is very technical and spans the entire vocal range of each singer. Opera singers must also be able to amplify their voices as no microphones are used.
“We’re doing something very virtuosic,” Stamatis said. “We're showing the audience what is possible from the human voice.”
Finally comes the acting. Stamatis said performers have to use their movements and facial expressions to engage the audience in the story.
Park City Opera’s production of “The Barber of Seville” will open Sunday, Aug. 24 with a 2 p.m. matinee at the Park City Library’s Santy Auditorium. Two 7 p.m. performances follow on Aug. 29 and 30 at a speakeasy and music lounge called Premiere Park City on Main Street.
Tickets start at $25 for students, children and seniors. Matinee tickets for adults are $55 and weekend tickets are $75.
