La Finta Giardiniera (The Mysterious Gardener) was a breath of fresh air. Performing at Reynolds Performing Arts Center, the Oklahoma School of Music and University Theatre partnered to perform Mozart’s Italian opera, La Finta Giardiniera. Whether you were watching a close friend in the cast, or simply seeing the opera for enjoyment, La Finta Giardiniera did not leave any audience member displeased. 

The Italian opera is Mozart’s dark comedy take on love and betrayal. La Finta Giardiniera is set in the 18th century in the garden of the Podesta’s villa in northern Italy. Hunter Birkhead, a junior vocal performance major, battled emotions of jealousy as Count Belfiore. Rodney Westbrook, a second year vocal performance MM candidate, stabbed and left his lover for dead. Marchesa Violante disguised herself as the garden-girl, Sandrina, and searched the countryside with her loyal servant, Nardo, who was looking for the Count. A Russian native, Ekaterina Kotcherguina, a second year vocal performance MM candidate, and Patricia Westley, a second year vocal performance MM candidate and opera fellow, played Sandrina. Michael Bailey, a vocal performance sophomore, and Kevin Slavin, a vocal music education senior, played her loyal servant, Nardo.

The opera captured the torn emotions of the garden girl and Count Belfiore and unraveled the tangled mess of love, betrayal and giddiness. Although betrayed by Count Belfiore, Violante still could not let love pass her by knowing this was her second chance with him and might be her last. 

“The most challenging part of rehearsing my role was being able to convey genuine emotions through a foreign language,” Birkhead said. Both Birkhead and Kotcherguina mastered their roles’ emotions of dismay and unending love, making the Italian language almost easy to understand. 

La Finta Giardiniera was well directed and well played by many OU students and the crowd gave a standing ovation. I was truly shocked by how much I enjoyed watching and listening to such a beautiful production.