Two operas this weekend!

From Gisela Moffit:

 

Hi, this weekend we will experience comedy and/or tragedy.  So plan ahead so that you can see both. 

CMU's Opera Theatre will present Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" on Friday and Saturday (March 15/16) at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Staples Family Concert Hall in the Music Building.  There is a double cast and you may want to go twice because each one has wonderful singers.  Cost is $ 7.00 for students and seniors and $ 10 for all others.  They are available at the Central Box Office, CMU Event Center at 989-774-3045, at the door or online at www.cmich.edu/ticketcentral.

As to the tragedy, the MET Live in HD will present Riccardo Zandonai's opera "Francesca da Rimini" on Saturday, March 16 at 12 (noon) at Celebration Theatre. This is a brand new production, the first in 27 years at the MET.  It is based on an episode in Dante's "Inferno" and stars the Dutch Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek in the title role who falls in love with Paolo sung by Marcello Giordani, but their love is doomed.  Running time is 240 minutes with 3 intermissions. 

New York Times music critic Steve Smith wrote, "From the moment the curtain rises you are awed by Ezio Frigerio's towering, grandly detailed sets, designed for a 1984 resurrection of a work neglected since 1918.  Franca Squarciapino's costumes delight your eyes.  Zandanai's luxuriously orchestrated music caresses your ears".  Looking forward to seeing you soon.  Gisela=

March show at Art Reach

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From now through March 30 in the Art Reach Gallery "Food For Thought", an installation by Jacqueline Baerwald, will truly delight you. She is a painter, photographer, graphic designer, and mixed media designer. Baerwald received an Associate in Fine Arts degree from Delta Collage in 2011, graduating with Highest Honors and receiving the Peter B. and Suzanne Smith Frantz Art Award. Her work ranges widely in media but all stems out of an interest in the human condition. Food for Thought developed out of a desire to question what is fed to our minds, as individuals, as well as a society. Created entirely from recycled or reused materials, the underlying "food" themes were derived from society's impulsive consumption of entertainment, technology, and advertising. The artist states, "The table is full, the menu is enticing. In this fast-paced, fast-food society there is a need for reflection and real digestion. Come with an inquisitive appetite, it will be a feast for the eyes and mind". Please join us at a reception for this fine artist on Thursday, March 7 from 5 - 6:30 pm.

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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