×

Met Live season features premiere, chat at Opera House

Submitted Photo Live at the Met, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live, high definition (HD) opera transmissions to theaters around the world, continues at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center on Saturday with Matthew Aucoin’s contemporary take on the Greek myth, Eurydice.

Live at the Met, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live, high definition (HD) opera transmissions to theaters around the world, continues at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center on Saturday at 1 p.m., with MacArthur Fellow Matthew Aucoin’s contemporary opera, Eurydice.

Opera House Executive Director Rick Davis notes that “due to the continued high positivity rate of COVID in Chautauqua County, and in accordance with Village, CDC and State guidelines, we are requiring all patrons to wear masks before, during and after Opera House events.”

The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, who attempts to harness the power of music to rescue his beloved Eurydice from the underworld, has inspired composers since opera’s earliest days. Rising American composer Aucoin now carries that tradition into the 21st century with a captivating new take on the story.

With a libretto by Sarah Ruhl, also a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow, and adapted from her acclaimed 2003 play, the opera reimagines the familiar tale from Eurydice’s point of view. Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads Aucoin’s evocative music for this Met Live transmission. Soprano Erin Morley sings the title role, opposite baritone Joshua Hopkins as Orpheus and countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski as his otherworldly alter-ego. Bass-baritone Nathan Berg is Eurydice’s father and fellow resident of the underworld, with tenor Barry Banks as Hades himself. Sung in English with subtitles, the production runs two hours, 45 minutes with one intermission.

In a special partnership with Chautauqua Opera Company (COC) and the State University of New York at Fredonia’s School of Music, the Opera House will present a virtual Opera Chat on at 11 a.m. Dec. 9 with Metropolitan Opera Conductor Daniela Candillari. Candillari, COC’s 2017 Assistant Conductor, makes her Met debut on Dec. 8 conducting this new production of Eurydice. She joins COC General and Artistic Director Steven Osgood in this very special virtual chat. Candillari, praised for her “confidence and apparently inexhaustible verve” (The New York Times), continues to be recognized for her dynamic and compelling performances at opera houses and on concert stages throughout North America and Europe. Equally at home leading contemporary and long-beloved repertoire, Candillari “finds equal inspiration in tradition and novelty.” (Opera News)

Individual tickets to each of the operas in the season are $20, ($18 Opera House members, $10 students). A flexible subscription of eight tickets which can be used however you want – one at a time to eight different operas, all at once for eight people, or anything in between – is available for $142. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 716-679-1891, Tuesday-Friday, 12-4:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online anytime at www.fredopera.org.

The Opera House is equipped with assistive listening headsets for the hearing-impaired. Simply request one from any usher or Opera House staff member.

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center is a member-supported not-for-profit performing arts center with a mission to “present the performing arts for the benefit of our community and region … providing access to artistic diversity … and high quality programming at an affordable price.” It is located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today