Opera Shorts: A Hand of Bridge by Samuel Barber, The Telephone by Gian Carlo Menotti and The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weill

Friday, November 3 at 8 p.m. / Set in an intimate black box studio and directed each year by a different distinguished guest artist, Opera Up Close features small ensembles, but big ideas. This year, the program features three insightful and thought-provoking opera shorts. Barber’s “A Hand of Bridge” is a nine-minute opera that documents two unhappily married couples who, while playing a hand of bridge, confess their inner-most desires through ariettas that span a range of emotions. Menotti’s comic opera, “The Telephone,” captures the humor of a young man attempting to propose to his girlfriend, only to be repeatedly interrupted by her endless telephone conversations. Weill’s “The Seven Deadly Sins,” an intriguing satirical ballet chanté (“sung ballet”) in nine scenes, was the composer’s final collaboration with German librettist Bertolt Brecht, and follows a woman’s internal struggle with sin as she journeys across the United States. Sung in English with piano accompaniment.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for senior citizens and $5 for non-SU students. Purchase tickets at the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre box office; call 540/665-4569 or go to visit www.conservatoryperforms.org. The box office is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and two hours before this performance at the venue. All Shenandoah employees can pick up free tickets for performances at any time. Free “rush” tickets are available to SU students two hours prior to this performance.