Beatriz Figueroa, Juanita Iñiguez, and Carlie Buchanan rehearse for Mozart! Mozart! (Sacramento State/Craig Koscho)

Wolfgang’s best will be performed as part of Sacramento State’s Arts Experience in the appropriately titled Mozart! Mozart! at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, in the campus’s Capistrano Concert Hall, 6000 J St.

The University’s Opera Theatre will present arias, duets, trios, and entire scenes from some of the composer’s best-loved works, including The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro.

“The works range from the classically majestic to the farcically comedic,” says Opera Theatre Director Omari Tau. That includes the lilting trio "Soave sia il vento" and the dazzling Queen of the Night aria “Die Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen.”

The operatic sampler will be performed by 17 singers and two pianists.

Tau notes that Mozart’s music faded in popularity at one point. "Even though his genius was undoubted, Mozart’s music did not have the strong hold on opera companies that it now has,” Tau says. “In the 20th century, his works saw a resurgence through a great deal of examination.”

Since then, Mozart’s popularity has endured for a number of reasons. While he had many contemporaries who wrote in the same style, Mozart was different. “He created on a different level,” Tau says. “He has great melodies and orchestration, yes, but he was also taking on things with a greater sense of dissonance, energy, and vitality.”

Sophomore Beatriz Figueroa has two numbers in Mozart! Mozart! She portrays Zerlina from Don Giovanni, singing “Vedrai, carino.” She also appears with fellow performers Jordan Krack, Carlie Buchanan, and Juanita Iñiguez in a number from The Magic Flute.

“Mozart is one of my favorite composers,” Figueroa says. “His music is the most fun to perform and to sing. It fills my soul.”

Tickets for Mozart! Mozart! are $10 general, $7 seniors and $5 students, available at the University Ticket Office, (916) 278-4323 or www.csus.edu/hornettickets.

For more information on the University’s School of Music and its Opera Theatre Company, call (916) 278-5191 or visit www.csus.edu/music. For media assistance, call Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156. – Craig Koscho