Puccini’s TOSCA presented as Met Opera Live-in-HD Broadcast on January 27

Rockland, Maine - The 2017 - 2018 Metropolitan Opera’s Live-in-HD season of broadcasts from Lincoln Center to the Strand Theatre continues on January 27 with a simulcast of Puccini’s  Tosca. An Encore broadcast will be presented on Tuesday, February 6 at 1pm.

 

Rivaling the splendor of Franco Zeffirelli’s set and costumes of the Napoleonic era, Sir David McVicar’s ravishing new production offers a splendid backdrop for two extraordinary sopranos sharing the title role of the jealous prima donna: Sonya Yoncheva and Anna Netrebko. Vittorio Grigolo and Marcelo Álvarez alternate in the role of Tosca’s revolutionary artist lover Cavaradossi, with Michael Volle and Željko Lučić as the depraved police chief Scarpia. Emmanuel Villaume conducts.

Tosca premiered at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome, in 1900. Puccini’s melodrama about a volatile diva, a sadistic police chief, and an idealistic artist has offended and thrilled audiences for more than a century. Critics, for their part, have often had problems with Tosca’s rather grungy subject matter, the directness and intensity of its score, and the crowd-pleasing dramatic opportunities it provides for its lead roles. But these same aspects have made Tosca one of a handful of iconic works that seem to represent opera in the public imagination. Tosca’s popularity is further secured by a superb and exhilarating dramatic sweep, a driving score of abundant melody and theatrical shrewdness, and a career-defining title role.



Now in its 12th season, the Met Live-in-HD series brings New York City’s prestigious Metropolitan Opera to movie theater audiences nationwide. Featuring new talent as well as seasoned veterans, the 2017-18 season features ten transmissions, including five new productions, two of which are Met premieres. The Strand Theatre will broadcast each live event on a Saturday, and re-broadcast an Encore performance on a following Tuesday.



Sung in Italian with Met titles in English. Estimated Run Time: 2 hrs 53 mins, with two 30-min. Intermissions. Tickets: $27/Adults, $15/Students 18 and under, and college students with ID; available at www.rocklandstrand.com or (207) 594-0070.  Encore show tickets available day-of-show: $23/Adults, $5/Students 18 and under, and college students with ID. For more information visit www.rocklandstrand.com. Tel: (207) 594-0070 Email: info@rocklandstrand.com. The Strand Theatre is located at 345 Main Street in Rockland.


Photo 1: Act II of David McVicar's new production of Puccini's "Tosca". Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera



Photo 2:    Vittorio Grigolo as Cavaradossi and Sonya Yoncheva as Tosca in rehearsal for David McVicar's new production of "Tosca". Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.



Photo 3: Sonya Yoncheva as Tosca and Željko Lučić as Scarpia in an Act II rehearsal for David McVicar's new production of "Tosca". Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera,

Saariaho’s L’AMOUR DE LOIN as Met Opera Live-in-HD Broadcast on December 10

ROCKLAND, Maine - The 2016 - 2017 Metropolitan Opera’s Live-in-HD season of broadcasts from Lincoln Center to the Strand Theatre, 345 Main Street, continues on Saturday, December 10 at 1pm with Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin. An Encore broadcast will take place Tuesday, December 20 at 1pm.
 
Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s breakthrough opera was described by the New York Times as “transfixing…a lushly beautiful score.” Commissioned by the Salzburg Festival, where it was first seen in 2000, it will now finally have its Metropolitan Opera premiere in a dazzling new production by Robert Lepage, featuring glimmering ribbons of LED lights that extend across the length of the stage and over the orchestra pit. Eric Owens is the knight on a quest of love and Susanna Phillips is his lover on the other side of the sea. Conductor Susanna Mälkki makes her Met debut.

Sung in French with Met titles in English. Estimated running time: 2 hours 33 min. Tickets: $27/Adults, $15/Students 18 and under, and college students with ID; available at www.rocklandstrand.com or (207) 594-0070.  Encore show tickets available day-of-show: $23/Adults, $5/Students 18 and under, and college students with ID. Season ticket packages are also available. For more information visit www.rocklandstrand.com. Tel: (207) 594-0070 Email: info@rocklandstrand.com.

Photos: Scenes from the Met Opera’s L’Amour de Loin

Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Opera