“Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” Live in HD

Watch the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera 2014–15 season “Live in HD” in the Harris Center Cinema.

Saturday, April 25, see Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.

Opera’s most enduring tragic double bill returns in an evocative new production from Sir David McVicar, who sets the action across two time periods but in the same Sicilian village. Marcelo Álvarez rises to the challenge of playing the dual tenor roles of Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Canio in Pagliacci. Rae Smith (War Horse) has designed the moodily atmospheric 1900 village square setting of Cavalleria, which transforms to a 1948 truck stop for the doomed vaudeville troupe of Pagliacci. Eva-Maria Westbroek (Cav) and Patricia Racette (Pag) sing the unlucky heroines, and Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium.

Join Randye Jones, soprano and Burling Library media room supervisor, at 11 a.m. for a free introductory opera talk.

Jones will provide historical background on the day’s opera and discuss salient aspects of the drama, music, and performance. The opera itself begins at 11:30 a.m.

The lecture series is coordinated by Eugene Gaug, associate professor of music.

Tickets

Tickets are available at the Pioneer Bookshop, the Grinnell College Bookstore, and at the door on the day of the show.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, children, and Met Opera members.

Tickets for Grinnell College faculty, staff, and students have been generously funded by the Office of the President and are available at no cost at all ticket locations. Family members not employed by the college are required to purchase tickets.

Email calendar@grinnell.edu and ask join the Public Events listserv if you’d like to get reminders about performances and ticket distribution.