Marlborough – The Friends of the Marlborough Public Library and the Paternoster Memorial Opera Trust will present “Opera Prima Vera” with Italian Serenades Wednesday evening, April 11, in the Bigelow Auditorium. The 7 p.m. concert will star internationally acclaimed soprano Maria Ferrante, tenor Ray Bauwens, and pianist Narine Badadjanian. The concert is open to the public and there is no admission charge.
The first portion of the program of familiar opera arias will give opera lovers a real treat. The arias will include music of Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Tosti, Leoncarallo, Ernesto DeCurtis, and Edwardo Capua. The second portion will consist of many very popular Italian serenades.
Soprano Maria Ferrante maintains a full schedule of performances on the international stage, and her name has become familiar to audiences world over. She has appeared live many times on television, including in May 2003 WGBH-TV as Sacerdotessa in Verdi's Aida. She was invited to commemorate The Goethe Institute of Boston's 250 Gala Celebration with Xavier de Maistre, solo harpist with the Vienna Philharmonic.
The concert is funded in part by the Ezra Cutting Trust, Bank of America-Trustee, and the Friends Memorial Fund, established by a $25,000 anonymous donation. All donations received at the concert will go to the Paternoster Fund to be used to purchase opera related materials to add to the library's collection.
For further information, call 508-529-9907 or 413-648-9663, email [email protected] or [email protected], or visit www.mpl-friends.org.
