Iolanta/Bluebeard’s Castle –The Met: Live in HD double bill on Feb. 14
Performance transmitted “live” to FLC campus from New York’s Metropolitan Opera
DURANGO, Colo. – The Met: Live in HD continues its 2015 season on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, with Tchaikovsky’s lyrical fairy taleIolanta, about the psychological awakening of a blind princess, and Bartók’s harrowing Bluebeard’s Castle, in which newlywed Judith must open seven locked doors to discover the full depths of her husband’s dark secrets.
Acclaimed Polish film director Mariusz Treliński makes his highly anticipated Met debut with this exciting new production, inspired by classic noir films of the 1940s, which brings together two rarely performed one-acts. Valery Gergiev conducts the double bill, which is a co-production with Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera.
Anna Netrebko stars as the title character in Iolanta, with Piotr Beczala and Aleksei Markov as Vaudémont and Robert, two rivals for her love.
Nadja Michael sings the central role of Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle, with Mikhail Petrenko as her mysterious and menacing new husband.
Iolanta/Bluebeard’s Castle will be broadcast live in high definition from New York’s Metropolitan Opera in the Vallecito Room of the Fort Lewis College Student Union beginning at 10:30 a.m. The Met: Live in HD is presented locally by the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. Run time is approximately 3 hours, 40 minutes. Iolanta/Bluebeard’s Castle will be sung in Russian/Hungarian with English Met titles.Host behind the scenes is Eric Owens.
Link to a variety of videos from Iolanta/Bluebeard’s Castle at http://www.metopera.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx.
As noted by The New York Times, “Tchaikovsky’s music for Iolanta is wistful, tremulous and full of yearning, qualities Ms. Netrebko communicates through her bittersweet singing. Yet flashes of vocal intensity, a Netrebko hallmark, come through when Iolanta tells of her increasing confusion. Ms. Michael brings a strong, bright voice and visceral intensity to Judith. There were overwhelming passages in Mr. Gergiev’s account of this astonishing Bartok score, with its Expressionist angst and Debussy-like lushness. He brought out rustic, folkloric elements in the music that seemed fresh.”
In recent years, the heroine of Iolanta has become one of Anna Netrebko’s most acclaimed roles, and this season’s Met performances will be her first North American performances of the role. Iolanta is Netrebko’s second Tchaikovsky role with the company; she opened the 2013-14 season as Tatiana in his Eugene Onegin. The Russian soprano made her company debut in 2002 as Natasha in the Met premiere of Prokofiev’s War and Peace and has since sung 15 more roles at the Met.
Polish tenor Piotr Beczala opened the Met’s 2013-14 season as Lenski in Eugene Onegin, opposite Netrebko, and returned last winter to sing the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka. This season marks his first North American performances of Count Tristan Vaudémont, a role he has previously sung at the Salzburg Festival and Baden-Baden Festival. He made his Met debut in 2006 as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Aleksei Markov has previously sung the role of Robert at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and the Teatro Real in Madrid. He made his Met debut as Andrei Bolkonsky in Prokofiev’s War and Peace in 2007. Markov currently sings Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata and later this spring will sing Count Anckarström in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.
Nadja Michael has previously sung the role of Judith at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. The German soprano made her Met debut as Verdi’s Lady Macbeth in 2012. One of her best-known roles is Strauss’s Salome, which she has sung in leading opera houses around the world, including the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; San Francisco Opera; and La Scala.
Russian bass Mikhail Petrenko made his Met debut in the 2002 company premiere of War and Peace, singing the roles of Marshal Davout, Bolkonsky’s Valet, and Tikhon. His other roles with the company have included Prince Galitsky in last season’s new production premiere ofPrince Igor, Pistola in Verdi’s Falstaff, Hunding in Wagner’s Die Walküre, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, and Pimen in the new production premiere ofBoris Godunov.
Valery Gergiev has conducted more than 100 Met performances in a varied repertory, including the company premieres of Prokofiev’sThe Gambler and War and Peace; Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa; and Shostakovich’s The Nose. He made his Met debut in 1994 leading a new production of Verdi’s Otello. Gergiev is the general director of the Mariinsky Theatre, the artistic director of St. Petersburg’s White Nights Festival, and the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
The “magic” of The Met: Live in HD events is that they are delivered 100 percent live via satellite. Audiences throughout the world experience the production at the same time as the audience sitting in the Metropolitan Opera itself. Additionally, between acts, The Met: Live in HD viewers are treated to backstage interviews and other features the “in person” audiences never see.
[*A synopsis of Iolanta/Bluebeard’s Castle follows at the end of this release.*]
Since the Live in HD series launched in 2006, more than 16 million tickets have been sold to opera lovers worldwide. The Met: Live in HDis now seen in more than 2,000 theaters in 69 countries around the world.
Two performances remain in the 2014-2015 Live in HD series:
- Mar. 14, 2015, 10:55 a.m. – La Donna del Lago (Rossini)
- Apr. 25, 2015, 10:30 a.m. –Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)/Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)
Advance tickets for individual screenings of The Met: Live in HD ($21-$23) are available on-line at www.durangoconcerts.com or by calling 970.247.7657, or at the Ticket Office inside the Durango Welcome Center at 8th St. and Main Ave. in Downtown Durango,Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. All sales final.
Tickets will also be available on the morning of the performance, one hour in advance of show time, at the FLC Student Union.
The Community Concert Hall is a not-for-profit, multi-use performance venue located on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Its ability to bring a diverse spectrum of shows to Southwest Colorado is made possible through a partnership with the college, a state-supported, independent institution of higher education, and financial and in-kind contributions from generous members of the community.
