Australian premiere: 31 October 2002, The Street Theatre Canberra
Opera buffa in 2 acts
Music by Baldassare Galuppi
Libretto by Carlo Goldoni
Additional material & performing version arranged by Vivienne Winther

Love blooms in a Venetian country garden in this delightfully flirtatious opera of new age farmers, saucy servants and meddling merchants. With a witty script by commedia dell’arte writer Carlo Goldoni, author of A Servant of Two Masters, and bubbling music by Casanova’s favourite composer Baldassare Galuppi, this ground-breaking comic opera served as the model for Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. The opera is an entertaining comedy of clashes between young and old, city life and country life, scheming servants and their gullible masters, all set in a stunning 18th century garden, with delicious jewel-like costumes. Stopera’s 2002 Australian premiere production toured to the Castlemaine State Festival for a sell-out season in 2003.

In this polished production by Stopera, The Country Philosopher comes up as sparkling and amusing as when it first delighted a Venetian audience 250 years ago. This is a highly accomplished and professional production which is a delight from start to finish. W L Hoffmann Canberra Times Nov 2002

Stopera put together a fantastic cast of singers for this production. Under the direction of Caroline Stacey and music direction of Vivienne Winther, the performance as a whole was compelling. The timing, the energy and the characterisation made for a show that brought out the comedy as well as the social parody of the work. Richard Windeyer Opera~Opera Dec 2002.

Musical Director: Vivienne Winther
Director: Caroline Stacey
Design: Kaoru Alfonso
Costumes: Cathie Clelland

Cast:
Eugenia (sop): Judith Dodsworth
Lisetta (sop): Jayne Pickering
Don Tritemio (bass): Eddie Muliaumaseali’I / Paul Hughes
Rinaldo (ten): Steven Smith
Nardo (bar): Adam Miller
Ensemble: 3 musicians
flute; cello; harpsichord

Duration: 100 min