Despite the title, the audience did not hear one note of Mozart but rather two operas based on poems written by the 19th century Russian Alexander Pushkin. MozartÕs life was the subject of the first opera ÒMozart and SalieriÓ, while the second, Òthe Stone Guest,Ó was about his great opera ÒDon Giovanni.Ó

The above quote from Salieri captures the essence of the first opera. Its lovely music portrays one of the great mysteries and tragedies in the world of classical music. It centered around the theory that Salieri, out of jealousy over GodÕs gift of musical genius to Mozart, poisoned him. This may be familiar to you from the Tony award-winning movie Amadeus, a movie that I highly recommend seeing for its amazing portrayal of the human being behind the genius.

But back to the opera! I can tell you that, apart from my being an avid operagoer, this was an interesting experience. I sat in the hall waiting impatiently for the lights to go down so the opera could start. I watched in shock as the conductor walked on stage with the entire orchestra; a few minutes behind followed the a lone opera singer. The first chord was struck and still the lights had not gone down. Oh well! I adjusted my mental frame rapidly from opera to concert and watched as the singer portraying Salieri lifted a stand and opened a book. Wait! What?? His lovely baritone voice filled the theater and I soon forgot the stand, the book and the lack of costuming as he vocally carried me into the story. Then Mozart entered, elegant in a tux with a tenor voice any singer would die for. My absorption was an incredible testimony to their superb acting.

But wait -- the opera is being sung in Russian! It was delightful to hear such beautiful music played by the American Symphony Orchestra and sung in such a difficult language. It was 45 minutes of sheer beauty! To top it all off, I got chills when a choir arose from the highest tier at the very end and began to sing MozartÕs ÒRequiemÓ (so I lied! There was some Mozart!)

The second opera, ÒThe Stone GuestÓ was much lighter than the first and featured six singers. Salieri now played Leporello and Mozart became Don Juan. I initially felt disappointed because I didn't really want to watch Don Juan and remember him as Mozart (but from what I gather, they were not that different :)). The real surprise was to see the dark and gloomy Salieri transformed into the jester-like Leporello before my eyes. I was soon swept up into this drama as well. I was highly enjoying myself when I saw her, swaying on stage in a tight red gown and short hair. She got to her seat, opened her mouth, and from the very first note I knew Stephanie Novacek was a fellow mezzo! With joy I noted her rich, dark tone with a lovely vibrato that was heard on every note.

I was sorry, however, to realize that she was only in a few scenes. She soon turned over the spotlight to Marina Shaguch, a soprano with an extremely high and slightly piercing voice who played the outraged Donna Anna. Overall, I believe my one major criticism of the singers was the lack of dynamics that helps to set the mood. I could not distinguish from piano to forte, so a bit of the emotion was lost. Aside from this, however, I truly enjoyed both operas. Despite a little difficulty with the translations, I loved having a libretto to take home rather than the supertitles. It was a delightful experience and I recommend it to anyone in an adventurous mood.