Opera Club: Free Screenings in CH 3

The Opera Club will hold a free screening of two 20th century operas in the Clubhouse 3 Leaning Center on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 1:30 p.m. Vice President Robert Kastanek will introduce the operas, which appeal to peoples’ emotions in different ways. All are welcome. Both productions will be shown with English subtitles.

• Arnold Schoenberg’s “Erwartung” (Expectation): This is a thoughtful musical exploration of what goes on in a human mind under stress. The sole performer is a woman who enters a dark forest in search of her beloved. There follows an emotional journey of the mind with a series of contradictory feelings that encompass fear of being followed, hope of finding her lover, anxiety, jealousy, happiness, along with hallucinations and imagined threats. When she ultimately discovers her lover dead on the ground her thoughts and emotions turn to grief, anger and exhaustion. The sojourn represents a musical journey into a human psychological condition.

• Leos Janacek’s, “The Cunning Little Vixen”: This comic opera focuses on woodland beings interacting with humans. A forester in Brno captures a cute baby fox whom he names Vixen and brings her home as a pet for his children. However, this creature resents losing her freedom and runs back into the forest, where she interacts with a host of other forest creatures, demonstrating her independence. In due time, the Vixen is attracted to a handsome Fox with whom she falls in love. The two get married and raise a family of cubs. However, when a human poacher named Harasta appears, seeking a fox pelt, he shoots and kills the Vixen. When the forester returns, he sees new life among the Vixen's descendants, confirming the cycle of birth, death and renewal.

No dues or fees are collected. For more information, contact Margaret Gillon at 562-370-3844 or margaretgi@yahoo.com. —Sylvan Von Burg