An evening of opera will be presented on campus at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday in Esber Recital Hall, Music Building I.

Opera Intermezzo, directed by Susan Boardman, associate professor of music, is a diverse compilation consisting of five operas: Signor Deluso, by Thomas Pasatieri; Carmen, by Georges Bizet; The Old Maid and a Thief, by Gian Carlo Menotti; Ariadne auf Naxos, by Richard Strauss; and Cosi Fan Tutte, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Pasatieri's Signor Deluso is an opera portraying a complicated triangle of jealous lovers and misunderstandings.

Lovers accuse each other of infidelity, only to have the situation resolved by the maid, who sheds light on the confusing circumstances. Faithfulness prevails in the end, and the lovers are reunited in their unconditional and eternal love, Boardman said.

The play ends with a lesson to the audience: "Don't believe everything you see."

"This piece is very humorous and very pretty," said Elena Panchenko, pianist for the Opera Intermezzo.

Boardman said Signor Deluso is very similar to musical theater.

"For the [celebration of Schwab Auditorium's 100th anniversary], we presented the last half of Signor Deluso and people loved it," Boardman said. "Many people see the word 'opera' and then they don't show up. People are often surprised."

A duet from the first act of Bizet's Carmen will be presented. Don Jose, a young Spanish soldier, encounters the beautiful and seductive gypsy Carmen. He falls in love with her instantly, but shortly afterward he encounters his old girlfriend Micaela, to whom he is engaged. Sent by his mother to give him a letter and some money, Micaela's kiss brings back memories of comfort for Don Jose, Boardman said.

"Don Jose is a simple country boy who falls in love with a woman beyond his league," Boardman said. "Micaela makes him feel good and the duet shows us his sensitive side."

The Old Maid and a Thief, by Menotti, is the story of an old maid who lets a handsome young beggar into her house. She allows him to stay, giving him money and food. In an attempt to make him remain with her, she goes so far as to rob from the church's collection basket to give him money. Because of this, the townspeople cannot figure out who the thief is. In the end, the beggar runs away with another woman and robs the old maid of everything.

Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos tells the story of a Greek myth about Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos. Ariadne desperately tries to free her lover Theseus from her father's labyrinth, where he is entrapped. Although her affection is directed to Theseus, she learns that she is destined to marry Bacchus, the god of wine, Boardman said.

The first part of the second act of the opera will be performed, and will show Ariadne pining away for her lost lover while three nymphs attempt to console her. This piece will be presented in German, Boardman said.

The fifth piece, Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, is a complex tale of two sisters in love with two brothers.

The brothers are challenged by servants to fool the girls into thinking they are not who they really are. The brothers dress as Albanians and pretend to drink poison, so that the sisters will have pity for them in their sickness.

At the end of this act, the sisters realize they have been fooled and they are angry with the brothers, Boardman said.

Ten students will perform in Opera Intermezzo. The opera is being presented by the College of Arts and Architecture, the School of Music, and the Opera Theatre.

"There is a nice variety in this opera," Boardman said.

"There is Mozart from the classical period, Strauss from the early 20thcentury, and the others from the late 20th century."