Tag: metopera

Opera in HD: Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro at The MetOpera

arts-NY

Opera in HD: Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro at The MetOpera

Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro by Mozart in the modernized setting from the Metropolitan Opera stage

Stream from anywhere on Saturday, July 18, 2020

Susanna Phillips as the Countess, Nadine Sierra as Susanna, and Luca Pisaroni as Figaro in Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro."
Susanna Phillips as the Countess, Nadine Sierra as Susanna, and Luca Pisaroni as Figaro in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

A cornerstone of any opera house’s repertoire, Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro is available to stream on Saturday, July 18, 2020. Sir Richard Eyre’s dynamic production had opened 2014-2015 Met Opera season. The recording from October 18, 2014 features sopranos Marlis Petersen and Amanda Majeski; Isabel Leonard sings the role of the pageboy Cherubino; Ildar Abdrazakov leads as Figaro and Peter Mattei is Count Almaviva. James Levine is conducting.

Premiered at the Met in the 2014-2015 season, the current production transposes the action from the late 18th century Spain to an elegant villa of the 1930s. It fluidly employs the rotating stage for the fast change of the decor and uninterrupted action when moving from scene to scene. The creators and the cast present a highly entertaining and instructive storyline about the virtues of love, decency, loyalty, and the vice of jealousy.

Ingeniously using a sequence of comic scenes with hidings and cross-dressings, Beaumarchais’s play denounces the feudal rules and highlights the wits and smarts of the lower classes. According to Beaumarchais’s contemporaries, the play foreshadowed the French Revolution.

The libretto for the opera was written by Mozart’s favored collaborator Lorenzo Da Ponte. Da Ponte adapted a popular play La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro by Beaumarcheau for his libretto which he completed even before Mozart started writing music for the opera.

At the MetOpera, Le Nozze’s magical music and catchy arias are delivered by the incredible cast with confidence and mastery. The beauty of the duets and the ensemble arias are well-matched by the orchestral work while the comic scenes and the moments of tension are skillfully calibrated and are presented with vitality and affection.

Enjoy the vibrant production of the timeless masterpiece by Mozart and Da Ponte.

The opera’s run time is 3 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission; sung in Italian with the subtitles. The stream starts at 7.30 pm and is available for 23 hours.

STREAM NOW

 

Stay in the know about future events and offers by subscribing to ARTS-NY newsletter       

 

Read More

Opera HD: Tosca from the Metropolitan Opera

arts-NY 1 Comment

Opera HD: Tosca from the Metropolitan Opera

Love, idealism, and ruse in a thrilling drama by Giacomo Puccini

Bring the Metropolitan Opera’s magnificent experience to your home by streaming the historic December 1978 performance with Luciano Pavarotti; watch from anywhere on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Sonya Yoncheva as Tosca and Željko Lučić as Scarpia in Metropolitan Opera
Sonya Yoncheva as Tosca and Željko Lučić as Scarpia / Photo: Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera

MetOpera offers the archival recording of Puccini’s masterpiece with the star-studded cast delivering a passionate tale. This memorable performance features riveting soprano Shirley Merrett in the title role, tenor Luciano Pavarotti as her lover Cavaradossi, and baritone Cornell MacNeil as Scarpia. The opera was recorded on December 19, 1978.

From its premiere in the early 1900s, Puccini’s Tosca has triumphantly entered the repertoire of every opera house. Eagerly anticipated by the fans, the opera is a highlight of the MetOpera season.

The most recent production of Puccini’s Tosca by Sir David McVicar at the Met Opera, which has staged in the 2017-2018 season, offered a grand theatrical experience for the opera fans. The set and costume design for this production was done by John Macfarlane, who as a painter added to the depth of the characters through the rich design of the decorations and the period costumes. McVicar’s production which a review by AP describes as “similar to Zeffirelli’s”. It replaced a spare modern staging of Tosca by Luc Bondy which was not warmly received by the Met opera buffs.

You can stream Tosca from home on June 4, 2020.

 

STREAM NOW

 

 

Stay in the know about future events and offers by subscribing to ARTS-NY newsletter   

Read More

Opera in HD: Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera

arts-NY

Opera in HD: Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi’s masterpiece about a court jester Rigoletto

Stream from anywhere on Saturday, May 16, 2020

A scene from Rigoletto by Verdi at the Metropolitan Opera
A scene from Rigoletto by Verdi at the Metropolitan Opera; photo by Marty Sohl

Rigoletto in Las-Vegas? Verdi’s extremely popular opera set to a powerful play by Victor Hugo seems to be destined for any epoch and impervious to the time and place transformations. With an ever-relevant fable and beloved arias widely familiar to opera fans and recognizable to those new to the genre, this opera is a time-tested favorite of every opera house.

Shifted to Las Vegas in the 1960s, Michael Mayer’s 2013 production of Rigoletto gets a modern look while telling the same centuries-old story of corruption, evil, and love. While the power of the old man curse put at the center of the tale seems less believable in the 20th century, the dirty intrigues and the ruthlessness of the lonely figures doing shady business look rather plausible.

For the free streaming on Saturday, May 16, 2020, Met Opera selected the production performance on February 16, 2013 with Zeljko Lucic as Rigoletto, Diana Damrau as Gilda, Piotr Beczala as Duke; Michele Mariotti conducts.

 

STREAM NOW

 

Stay in the know about future events and offers by subscribing to ARTS-NY newsletter  

 

Read More

Opera in NYC: Falstaff at the Metropolitan Opera

contact@arts-ny.com 1 Comment

Opera in NYC: Falstaff at the Metropolitan Opera

Verdi’s final opera Falstaff fills the house with magnificent ensemble singing. Bring the Metropolitan Opera’s magnificent experience to your home via streaming 

The review and the cast is based on the 2019 performances

Ailyn Pérez as Alice and Ambrogio Maestri in the title role of Verdi's "Falstaff."
Ailyn Pérez as Alice and Ambrogio Maestri in the title role of Verdi’s “Falstaff.” Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Robert Carsen’s vibrant and colorful 2013 production of Verdi’s Falstaff brings together a powerful ensemble of opera stars with Ambrogio Maestri, baritone, in the title role, Ailyn Perez, soprano as Alice Ford, and Golda Schultz, soprano as Alice’s daughter Nannetta. Carsen’s clever shift from Shakespearean time to the mid-20th century expresses complex themes of renewal, gender equality, fidelity, and trust while telling an enlightening and joyful story full of lighthearted jokes, fateful misunderstandings, and a happy ending.

Falstaff, the last of Verdi’s operas, was based on Shakespeare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. The majestic music by the Italian master combined with a witty storyline in the libretto written by Arrigo Boito, an opera composer in his own right, makes for a triumphant career finale for Verdi. In this season’s MetOpera production, Maestri’s confidence and gusto in the portrayal of a fateful Falstaff fit perfectly with the rest of the powerful cast. Brightly colored stage design and vivid costumes add hilarity and buoyancy to the plot. The free-flowing ensemble singing creates a production that is a lively fete for the actors and a delight for opera lovers.

STREAM NOW

Stay in the know about future events and offers by subscribing to ARTS-NY newsletter    

Read More

Opera in NYC: Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera

arts-NY 1 Comment

Opera in NYC: Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera

Performances have been cancelled through March 31, 2020

Love, idealism, and ruse in a thrilling drama by Giacomo Puccini

Returning to the MetOpera in the Spring 2020 with Anna Netrebko and Jennifer Rowley alternating in the title role; performances start from March 26, 2020 

Scene from act I of Pucinni's Tosca at MetOpera
Act I of David McVicar’s new production of Puccini’s “Tosca”;photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

A superb production of Puccini’s Tosca by Sir David McVicar at the Met Opera, which has premiered in the 2017-2018 season, offers a grand theatrical experience for the opera fans. The performances are restarting from March 26, 2020. This season the production features an extraordinary cast of singers with a forceful presence on stage. Two opera divas, Anna Netrebko and Jennifer Rowley are sharing the title role with Najmiddin Mavlyanov and Brian Jagde singing Cavaradossi, and George Gagnidze and Michael Volle alternating as Scarpias. Maestro Bertrand de Billy is conducting.

The set and costume design for this production is done by John Macfarlane, who as a painter is adding to the depth of the characters through the rich design of the decorations and the period costumes. McVicar’s production which a review by AP describes as “similar to Zeffirelli’s” is replacing a spare modern staging of Tosca by Luc Bondy which was not warmly received by the Met opera buffs. Get tickets at 20% off ; from $30.

BUY TICKETS

 

Stay in the know about future events and offers by subscribing to ARTS-NY newsletter   

Read More