February 26: Out our windows moments ago...

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Opera Parsifal at Celebration Cinema Saturday

From Gisela Moffit:

Hi, on Saturday, March 2 at noon (note the earlier starting time) we will be seeing Wagner's final opera "Parsifal" live from the Met at Celebration Cinema.  Many opera aficionados consider it his greatest masterpiece, but it is so multilayered that the Canadian director, Francois Girard, whose production we will see, said it "was an impossible piece and undirectable".  It is the story of a young man who reared away from society embarks on a quest to gain wisdom, reconciliation and compassion.  Girard sets his production in a postapocalyptic world "made barren by global warming" (NYT review, Feb. 10).  Be prepared:  there will be lots of (fake) blood symbolizing Amfortas' wound that can't be healed until someone arrives who has learned compassion.

 

Parsifal is sung by Jonas Kaufmann (we saw him most recently in "Faust"), Kundry is Katarina Dalayman, Amfortas is Peter Mattei, Klingsor (the baddie) is sung by Evgeny Nikitin and Rene Pape is Gurnemanz.

 

The opera is 340 minutes long, but ... there are two intermissions!   Looking forward to seeing you soon.  Gisela

Thinking outside the box

Before looking at the answer try doing this.

Great opera at Celebration Cinema Saturday

From Gisela Moffit:

 

Are you ready for "Rigoletto" set in Las Vegas of the Rat Pack days?  The Duke is transformed into a Sinatra type playboy singing with a (fake) microphone in this mecca of decadence, power, money, and sex.  Even the libretto is updated.  The New York Times cites the example "My sights are set on a swingin' girl, so hop on, Baby, let's take that whirl" which is a "very hip, finger snappy, Rat Pack way of saying it."  So we are in for an exciting experiment.  You can decide for yourselves if it worked or not.  The critics are mostly positive.

 

The Duke is sung by Piotr Beczala, Rigoletto by Zeljko Lucic, Gilda, his daughter, by Diana Damrau, Maddalena by Oksana Volkova and Sparafucile by Stefan Kocan.  Michele Mariotti is the conductor.  Looking forward to seeing you there.  Gisela=

First big snow of 2013 out our way...

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