Sunday nights at the opera

Winter, no buses, midterms… we’re all in need of a little escapism. But if the winter blockbusters are leaving you cold, and you don’t have the time for the latest bestseller, why not rarify your recreational activities and enjoy a night at the opera – for free?

Sunday Night at the Opera is the brainchild of Michael Parker, and one of Dalhousie’s best-kept secrets: one Sunday each month for the duration of the term, Dr. Parker shows an opera DVD from his extensive collection, using Dalhousie’s Ondaatje Hall as an impromptu opera house.

“I was teaching up in Newfoundland, and was running it there,” Dr. Parker explains of the event’s origins. When he retired and moved to Nova Scotia, “I thought, well, I could start it here as well.”

Sunday Night at the Opera’s first season at Dalhousie was in 2008; the 2011/2012 year marks its fourth season. Dr. Parker says that “there’s always been a very strong support within the community” for Sunday Night at the Opera: he routinely sends announcements to a mailing list of over 250 people. This year’s run will feature two more offerings before adjourning for the summer: Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt) by Handel and The Love For Three Oranges by Prokofiev.

Dr. Parker calls Handel’s Julius Caesar “one of his masterpieces.” Often, he says, “opera composers… took an idea from the classical world and adapted it, but this one is fairly accurate.” Fairly extensive, too: Julius Caesar runs five hours. “It’s a brilliant piece, and it’s a really interesting production, too.”

Drawing from the four periods of opera

If five hours sounds like too much to Handel – or if you’d just prefer lighter fare -- you may want to hold out for The Love For Three Oranges. Dr. Parker always finishes a season’s showings with a comedy, and Prokofiev’s work is a whimsical adventure in which a prince falls in love with a princess rescued from the confines of an orange.

Dr. Parker, himself a composer, has loved opera since his teens – his own enduring favorites include Strauss and Handel. “They take a little getting used to, I’ve found out… to me, he (Strauss) is one of the greatest composers, for sure. He’s able to write about human emotion that we can all relate to on a very personal level.”

In making his selections for Sunday Night at the Opera, Dr. Parker attempts to draw from each of the “foyr periods” of opera – “baroque, classical, romantic, and modern”.  Furthermore, each composer’s operas are shown in chronological order. Dr. Parker also attempts to balance screenings of well-known works with more obscure pieces.

“It’s to offer a balanced program across periods and styles,” Dr. Parker explains. He reckons that he owns enough opera DVDs to offer 15 seasons of Sunday Night at the Opera: “I’ll be 75 then, and I think that’ll probably be time to retire from this project!”

Julius Caesar in Egypt shows Sunday, March 11 at 5 p.m. and The Love For Three Oranges shows Sunday, April 15 at 6 p.m. Both showings will take place in Ondaatje Hall (the Marion McCain Building) and both are free. Seat reservations are required and may be made at Michael.parker@dal.ca. More information can be found on the Department of Music's website.