The Met: Live in HD continues Mar. 16 with Francesca da Rimini
The Met: Live in HD continues Mar. 16 with Francesca da Rimini
Performance transmitted live to FLC campus from New York’s Metropolitan Opera
Durango, CO – A rare revival of Zandonai’s compelling drama, based on an episode from Dante’s Inferno, will be screened live in the Vallecito Room of the Fort Lewis College Student Union Saturday, Mar. 16, 2013, 10 a.m. as The Met: Live in HD continues with the opera Francesca da Rimini. The Met: Live in HD is presented locally by the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
Eva Maria-Westbroek (Sieglinde in 2010’s Die Walküre) sings the title role in the first Met revival of Zandonai’s romantic masterpiece in more than 25 years, with Marcello Giordani (also starring in this season’s Les Troyens) as her clandestine lover Paolo. The score highlights the contrast between themes of war, brutality and violence, and the passionate music of Francesca and Paolo, which includes a soaring love duet.
Robert Brubaker (Mao Tse-tung in 2011’s Nixon in China) and Mark Delavan co-star as the villain Malatestino and Paolo’s brother, Gianciotto, who tricks Francesca into an unhappy marriage.
Marco Armiliato, veteran of many previous Live in HD productions, including last season’s Met premiere of Anna Bolena and 2010’s Il Trovatore, conducts Zandonai’s lush, romantic score. Piero Faggioni’s critically acclaimed production – set in Renaissance Italy – captures both the lyrical beauty and horrific brutality of Zandonai’s opera.
[*An act-by-act synopsis of Francesca da Rimini follows at the end of this release.*]
Staged in four acts, Francesca da Rimini runs approximately 4 hours. Light lunch items will be available for sale at the Student Union during the Met screening.
The Met: Live in HD events deliver performances 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. It has expanded its worldwide distribution to 1,900 theaters in 64 countries, the largest global audience the initiative has ever reached. New countries joining the Live in HD network this season include Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Madagascar, Montenegro, Qatar and Serbia. The Met: Live in HD has sold more than 12 million tickets since its inception in 2006.
The current series kicked off Oct. 13, 2012 and during the 2012-2013 season will feature a total of 12 live performances, including seven new Met productions. All productions are screened in Durango on Saturday mornings. The final production of the season – Handel’s Giulio Cesare – will be screened on April 27, 2013.
Advance tickets for individual shows – $25 ($23 for seniors, students, children and Met members) – 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. All sales final.
Tickets will also be available on the morning of each 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.
