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UNT Opera Presents Rachmaninoff and Puccini: Tales from the Silk Road

This unique double bill production of Rachmaninoff’s Aleko and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi journeys across continents, threading together stories of passion, exile, and deception through the rich tapestry of human expression.

Inspired by the literary giants Pushkin and Dante, these operas are presented as tales rediscovered along the historic Silk Road — where ideas, cultures, and technologies once flowed freely. A community of Romani traders from Pushkin’s poem The Gypsies and a conniving family of merchants inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, are woven together by the historic trading route, bringing their characters to life in vivid operatic form.

In Aleko, a restless man seeks freedom among Romani traders, only to be consumed by jealousy and the very passions he hoped would liberate him — an echo of Pushkin’s poetic meditation on outsiderhood and fate.

In contrast, Gianni Schicchi delivers biting satire as a clever commoner outwits Florence’s greedy elite, in a comic turn straight from Dante’s Inferno. The power of cunning speech — and the written will — becomes both a weapon and salvation.

Together, these operas examine how stories travel, transform, and endure — from a song sung by a campfire to a will written by candlelight, from the steppes of Asia to Renaissance Florence — reminding us that human nature, in all its folly, transcends time.

Program

Please note, this program is subject to change. Final program will be available by the day of the performance. 

Livestream is not available for this event.