Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Stage Director: Chuck Hudson Conductor: James Albritten
Piedmont Opera 2007
Despina the Chinese Doctor
"Powerful Ending: Piedmont Opera gives 'Cosi' some clarity--stage director Chuck Hudson clarifies the less-than-clear conclusion of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. Hudson's brilliant take on an opera:…Almost everything the singers do brilliantly illuminates or complements lyrics, instrumental sounds and the emotions they express. Thanks to Hudson, one scene flows smoothly into the next... We enjoy this Cosi for all the right reasons. It makes us laugh, and its music moves us in ways that few other scores can." -Ken Keuffel, Winston-Salem Journal
Ryan Taylor & Janine Hawley Brian Stuckie & Karin Wolverton
"Piedmont Opera's Così fan tutte: Fresh Insights Amid Tradition. My fulsome praise of stage director Chuck Hudson's splendid achievements in his traditional staging of Mozart's Così fan tutte. Fresh touches abounded throughout this production… An imaginative twist at the end is fully justified by the ambiguity of both Mozart's music and da Ponte's libretto…Hudson' "outside the box" approach was visible during mimed onstage action during the overture…Hudson's staging benefited from a strong cast of young singer-actors who threw themselves wholeheartedly into the spirit of his approach." -William Thomas Walker, Classical Voice of North Carolina
The Island of Capri