Music Academy's Hahn Hall to Screen
Metropolitan Opera Simulcast of 'La Rondine'
For Immediate Release December 16, 2008
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – An exciting new production of La Rondine, Puccini's gorgeously melodic look at love, will be the focus of the Metropolitan Opera's next "Live in HD" simulcast at the Music Academy of the West on Saturday, January 10. The Music Academy's Hahn Hall will air the live simulcast at 10 am and present an encore screening at 2 pm on Sunday, January 11. Tickets cost $22. Free parking is available on the Music Academy campus.
Completed in 1916 (though revised several times thereafter), Puccini's elegant and poignant opera tells the story of a worldly woman who falls in love with a naïve younger man. Superstar soprano Angela Gheorghiu plays the kept woman who gambles on true love, and tenor Roberto Alagna – Ms. Gheorghiu's real-life husband – portrays the man who causes her to question the cost of her glittering existence. The Guardian of London has hailed Ms. Gheorghiu's "dark, liquid tone" and her ability to capture her character's "lonely anguish." Nicolas Joël directs and Marco Armiliato conducts.
The 2008-09 "Live in HD" series will continue on Saturday, January 24, with a live simulcast of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, featuring choreography by Mark Morris and starring Stephanie Blythe and Danielle de Niese. Most Met performances are simulcast on Saturdays at 10 am local time, with encore screenings on Sundays at 2 pm.
Launched in December 2006, the Met's groundbreaking "Live in HD" series features live transmissions of Met Opera performances to select venues in 17 countries throughout the world. The transmissions are in high definition, and performances are captured using robotic cameras and other advanced technologies. Simulcasts also include behind-the-scenes features, live interviews with cast and crew, and insightful short documentaries.
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, guest conductors, and soloists. Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
