Summer Opera Lyric Theatre to Present Mini-Festival, 7/31

ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, DER VAMPYR and MARTHA are unexpected treats for opera lovers longing for adventure. In Strauss' opera, the god Bacchus arrives on Ariadne's desert island to rekindle the fires of love in her heart, much to the amusement of the flirty Zerbinetta and her comedian boyfriends!

Marschner's opera DER VAMPYR, starring a Dracula like figure, could easily rouse the ire of today's feminists with its tale of male immortality bought with the blood of maidenhood. However, the ladies quickly get the upper hand in von Flotow's MARTHA when two farmers are given a lesson in love from two ladies of the court, off on a lark at Richmond Fair disguised as 'village maids'.