I was already regretting having missed English tenor Ian Bostridge at the University of Louisville's School of Music when I opened my New York Times afterward to see the notice of his concert at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center. What an opportunity missed! I knew I should have made the effort, even though there was another show that weekend and March Madness basketball games to watch.
If you made a similar regrettable mistake to mine, we have a chance to redeem ourselves this weekend when the University of Louisville Opera Theatre performs two one-act operas -- the comic Gianni Schicchi and the dramatic Suor Angelica by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who also composed classic operas, La Boheme and Turandot.
Gianni Schicchi is probably the more well-known of the two and features the famous aria, "O mio babbino caro." Even non-opera lovers have probably heard this one, as it was prominent on the soundtrack for the lovely Merchant Ivory film, A Room with a View.
Shows are at 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 9 and Saturday, April 10 at the Brown Theatre, 315 W. Broadway. Tickets are available through the Kentucky Center box office by calling 502-584-7777, online at www.kentuckycenter.org, or at the door as available. Prices are $20 for general admission and $10 for UofL affiliates.