Concert - Musicians of Ma'alwyck - Poor Soldier Opera @ SCCC

In Janruary of 2009 Musicians of Ma´alwyck, the music department of the Schenectady County Community College, and the center for the Revolutionary Era Studies( in assocaition with Saratoga Battlefied, the National Park Service and Siena College) will present a fully professional production of the 1783 opera The Poor Soldier. This popular British opera, with a libretto by Irish playwright John O´Keeffe, was a favorite of George Washington. Featuring seven singers and a classical size orchesra, this work was performed almost every year in America, from its premiere here in 1784 all the way up to the 1850s. Albany newspapers of the early 1800s document the opera´s production in Albany, and include descriptions of performances, as well as cast lists. The performances in the first decade of the 1800s were by the renowned theatrical troupe, the Old American Company, and were under the direction of Hallam.