Music Academy's Hahn Hall to Host
Simulcast of 'La Damnation de Faust'
For Immediate Release November 11, 2008
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – A visually arresting production of La Damnation de Faust, Hector Berlioz's timeless contemplation of good and evil, will be the focus of the Metropolitan Opera's next "Live in HD" simulcast of the 2008-09 season at the Music Academy of the West on Saturday, November 22. The Music Academy's Hahn Hall will air the live simulcast at 10 am as well as an encore screening at 2 pm on Sunday, November 23. Tickets cost $22. Free parking is available on the Music Academy campus.
Robert Lepage, one of theater's most imaginative directors, brings a thoroughly modern sensibility to Berlioz's rarely staged masterwork, among other things employing an array of video imagery to stunning affect. Says Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times: "Working with the interactive video designer Holger Förterer, Mr. Lepage has created a staging in which eerily detailed video depictions of everything from a grassy field to a fiery hell shift and morph in response to the movements and singing of the cast and chorus." The production features Marcello Giordani in the title role opposite Susan Graham as Marguerite and John Relyea as Méphistophélès. James Levine conducts. According to Mr. Tommasini, "Mr. Relyea is a vocally commanding Méphistophélès, mixing stentorian power with wily, seductive lyricism," while Ms. Graham brings "a lovely blend of rapturous richness and elegant restraint" to the aria D'amour, l'ardente flame.
The 2008-09 "Live in HD" season at the Music Academy kicked off September 22 with a live simulcast of the Met's opening night gala featuring soprano Renée Fleming in fully staged scenes from three operas. The series will continue on Saturday, December 20, with a live simulcast of Jules Massenet's Thaïs, conducted by Jesús López-Cobos and with Ms. Fleming in the title role and Music Academy Distinguished Alumnus Thomas Hampson appearing as the monk Athanaël. The Met has announced that its "Live in HD" series will feature 11 transmissions for 2008-09, including the opening night gala. Upcoming highlights include the March 21 performance of Bellini's La Sonnambula, starring Natalie Dessay and Music Academy alumnus Juan Diego Flórez. Most Met performances will be simulcast on Saturdays at 10 am local time, with encore screenings on Sundays at 2 pm.
Under an agreement announced in the spring, the Music Academy became one of about 70 nonprofit organizations to participate in the Met's groundbreaking "Live in HD" series. Launched in December 2006, the series features live transmissions of Met Opera performances to select venues in 17 countries throughout the world. Most participating venues are movie theaters. The transmissions are in high definition, and performances are captured using robotic cameras and other advanced technologies. As a result, simulcast viewers can see the onstage action from striking angles and enjoy a heightened awareness of the narrative elements of both the performance and the production. Simulcasts also include behind-the-scenes features, live interviews with cast and crew, and insightful short documentaries.
The series has met with impressive commercial and critical success, prompting the Met to increase the number of transmissions from eight last season and to rapidly expand its pool of participating venues. Music Academy benefactors Leatrice Luria and Leslie Ridley-Tree funded the technology necessary to simulcast the Met transmissions in Hahn Hall.
For more information, call 969-8787.
Founded in 1947, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, as well as guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and fully staged opera. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
