Event Description
The DPAA’s New Year’s Eve celebration will be a feast for the senses as they take Dayton on a trip to Bella Italia – the beautiful country of Italy! The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance welcomes to the stage two outstanding vocalists for this special performance. Dayton Opera is pleased to welcome back soprano Chloé Olivia Moore and tenor Benjamin Werley to the Schuster Center stage.
The program opens with the delightful and instantly recognizable first movement of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, fittingly named “Italian.” Mr. Werley then joins to sing the deeply moving aria “Vesti la Giubba” from Leoncavallo’s heartbreaking opera I Pagliacci, which Dayton Opera presented just a few years ago. There is certainly no shortage of emotional Italian operas, and Ms. Moore takes the stage to sing perhaps one of Puccini’s most beautiful arias: “Ch’il bel sogno” from his dreamy opera La Rondine.
Next, it’s the lyrical Sinfonia No. 52 from one of the most beloved Baroque composers, Antonio Vivaldi. Mr. Werley and Ms. Moore then take the stage together to sing Verdi’s seductive duet “Teco io sto…O qual soave brivido” from his politically controversial and once-censored opera Un Ballo in Maschera. The first half of the program closes with the fourth movement of Resphighi’s Pines of Rome. A tone poem that depicts pine trees in four locations around Rome, Pines of Rome’s fourth movement is a glorious nod to the past victories of the Roman army on a military road leading triumphantly into the city.
The second half of the program opens with the light and airy “Dance of the Hours” from Ponchielli’s 1835 opera La Gioconda. Most will quickly recognize the tune that was woven into a 1963 musical letter back home from one less-than-enthusiastic summer camper. Ms. Moore then graces the stage once again in this half of the program to sing another of Verdi’s exquisite works: “Merce, diletto amiche” from his grand opera I Vespri Siciliani.
Then, audiences will surely tap their feet, hum along, or even sing the words if they know them to Luigi Denza’s festive “Funiculi-Funicula.” Mr. Werley takes the stage next for the final time this evening for Tosti’s dizzying and vibrant “Marechiare.” Finally, it’s a trip to Italian cinema at its very finest for Nino Rota’s Suite from La Dolce Vita, the magnificent 1960 film by Federico Fellini. The sweet life, indeed!
The evening closes with the beautiful Blue Danube Waltz from Johann Strauss II, Radetzky’s March from Johann Strauss I, and the traditional and nostalgic Auld Lang Syne as we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome 2020!
The night would not be complete without a sneak peek of what is to come from the DPAA as an announcement is made from the stage regarding the upcoming 2020-2021 season.
8 pm to 10:30 pm
The Schuster Center New Year’s Eve traditions that revelers have come to love and anticipate will again be part of the evening’s festivities: delicious food-by-the-bite available for purchase in the Wintergarden beforehand, a complimentary flute of champagne at intermission, and a colorful climactic balloon drop. All of these have made this evening in the Mead Theatre the essential place to be on New Year’s Eve in Dayton.
This New Year’s Eve concert is an excellent option for those looking for an end-of-year tradition that favors the 8 pm to 10:30 pm time slot and sets the tone for whatever else concert-goers may want to do that night before the ball drops. Seats should be reserved early, as New Year’s Eve with the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance nearly sells out every year!