Orcas Center is pleased to present two amazing Operas from The Metropolitan Opera during the month of November on screen in HD: Manon and Turandot.
November 3rd, 11am: Manon
The Metropolitan Opera
Tiered Ticket Pricing: $12, $25, $47
A take on the quintessentially French tale of the beautiful young woman who is incapable of forsaking both love and luxury, Massenet’s Manon features one of the truly unforgettable, irresistible, and archetypal female characters in opera. While the story is firmly set in class and gender issues of the past, the character of Manon herself is timeless, convincing, and familiar. The opera has been a success ever since its premiere, championed by a diverse roster of singers who have cherished its dramatic opportunities, exalted style, and ravishing music.
Making her role debut as the title heroine is American soprano Lisette Oropesa, who won both the Met’s Beverly Sills Artist Award and the Richard Tucker Award earlier this year.
Michael Fabiano—a fellow winner of both the Sills and Tucker prizes—co-stars as Manon’s lover, the Chevalier des Grieux, alongside Artur Rucińskias Manon’s cousin Lescautand Kwangchul Youn as the Chevalier’s father, the Comte des Grieux. Carlo Bosi,as Guillot de Morfontaine,and Brett Polegato, in his Met debut as de Brétigny, round out the principal cast. Maurizio Benini conducts Laurent Pelly’s production,which transports the action from its original 18th-century setting t othe Belle Époque era of late 19th-centuryParis.
November 8th, 1pm: Turandot
The Metropolitan Opera
Tiered Ticket Pricing: $12, $25, $47
Puccini’s final opera is an epic fairy tale set in a China of legend, loosely based on a play by 18th-century Italian dramatist Carlo Gozzi. Featuring a most unusual score with an astounding and innovative use of chorus and orchestra, it is still recognizably Puccini, bursting with instantly appealing melody. The unenviable task of completing the opera’s final scene upon Puccini’s sudden death was left to the composer Franco Alfano. Conductor Arturo Toscanini oversaw Alfano’s contribution and led the world premiere.
Two of opera’s most thrilling dramatic sopranos, Christine Goerke and Nina Stemme, reprise their fierce portrayals of the title princess. Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to conduct Franco Zeffirelli’s dazzling production of Puccini’s final masterpiece, which also features tenors Yusif Eyvazov and Riccardo Massi as Calàf, sopranos Eleonora Buratto and Hibla Gerzmava as Liù, and bass-baritone James Morris as Timur.
