The Opera Lovers organized in 2004 with the main purpose of enhancing the knowledge and enjoyment of opera in the Villages and supporting opera in the larger community. Membership is open to residents and small yearly dues. We have a considerable collection of opera DVDs, many from the Metropolitan Opera, with opera superstars such as Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Leontyne Price.
2026 Opera Lovers Schedule
Date Title Composer
Jan. 15 Aida G.Verdi
Feb 19 Manon Lescaut G. Puccini
Mar 19 La Fille du Régiment G. Donizetti
Apr 16 La Traviata G. Verdi
May 21 Tosca G. Puccini
June- August Summer Break
Sept 17 Il Tabarro G. Puccini
Sept 17 Pagliacci R. Leoncavallo
Oct 19 Rigoletto G. Verdi
Nov 19 Kismet Wright/Forrest*
Dec 17 The Nutcracker Ballet P. Tchaikovsky
* Adapted from A. Borodin
Please join The Villages Music Society’s Opera Lovers on Thursday, May 15 at 2 p.m. in Montgomery Center, when we will present “Faust” by Charles Gounod.
Is the freedom of youth worth an eternity in hell? It is to the aging Faust, who makes a pact with
Mephistopheles to exchange his soul for Earth’s mortal pleasures. With his youth restored, Faust woos Marguerite, but his troubles are far from over. Along the seductive path to riches and power, Faust realizes his salvation is tragically bound to others, including those he loved.
By the time Johann Wolfgang von Goethe began writing the epic saga that would inspire Charles Gounod’s opera, the legend of Faust—the ultimate “deal with the Devil” story—was already a few centuries old.
This Metropolitan Opera production has been updated to the end of World War II with the detonation of the atom bomb, and then goes back to Faust’s youth, which would be around the beginning of the First World War. Jonas Kaufmann, the most versatile tenor of his generation, stars as Faust, and the renowned René Pape is the fascinatingly evil Mephistopheles. Marina Poplavskaya’s beautiful voice equally conveys Marguerite’s happiness, sadness and madness. Gounod’s music is gorgeous, even though the plot is not!
Please join us on May 15. No registration is required and the event is open to all Villagers. If you need any additional information in the meantime, please call Mary Stradner at (408) 887-3293. Please note that this will be our last opera until September! We also recommend visiting https://VillagesMusicSociety.org for information about other musical events.
If you need a ride to any Villages Music Society event, please contact Villages Medical Auxiliary at 408-238-4230 to arrange your free transportation.