From New York and Moscow to Belfast

From New York and  Moscow to  Belfast

Puccini’s great opera ‘TOSCA,’ from the Metropolitan Opera

The classic romantic ballet ‘LE CORSAIRE’ from The Bolshoi Ballet

[caption id="attachment_44030" align="alignleft" width="260"] The Bolshoi Ballet performs Le Corsaire[/caption]

November sees two great classics of opera and ballet screened  from two of the world’s major cultural capitals to Belfast as part of Classical Arts Ireland’s 2013-14 season of live satellite events reports George Fleeton.

On Saturday 9 November at 6pm , in Odeon Belfast and the Odyssey Cinema,  one of the greatest of all Italian operas – Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ – comes live from the stage at the Met . Record Irish audiences are expected as part of a global audience in 64 countries of over 300,000.

A classic drama of love, intrigue, betrayal and corrupt power set against a background of political revolution, Puccini’s glorious and dramatic music has made Tosca one of the most enduringly polular operas of all time. The magnificent Patricia Racette is the tempestuous diva Floria Tosca.  The great French tenor Roberto Alagna sings Tosca’s lover, the painter, Cavaradossi and George Gagnidze is the corrupt, sadistic and lustful Scarpia.   This powerful work is conducted by Riccardo Frizza.

 On Sunday 17 November at 3pm the focus switches to Moscow when Bolshoi Ballet presents one of the great  lavish spectacle ballets from its repertoire – ‘Le Corsaire.’ (The Pirate). This can be seen at both the Odyssey Cinema and at Queens Film theatre

This exotic tale of the beautiful slave-girl Medora who is sold by a slave dealer to a local Pasha, but is resuced  by Conrad,  a pirate chief with whom she falls in love, has all the ingredients of a classic exotic adventure-romance. It features some of the most famous individual scenes in Ballet, including the famous le Corsaire  Pas de deux.

[caption id="attachment_44028" align="alignright" width="250"] Tosca – Patricia Racette as Tosca and Roberto Alagna as Cavaradossi, (Photo by Ken Howard).[/caption]

With music by Adolphe Adam, this Bolshoi production by Yuri Burlaka and Alexei  Ratmansky is one of the most lavish (and expensive)  ballet revivals ever staged.  Featuring up to 120 dancers , glorious costumes, a staged shipwreck, and magnificent dancing,   it has all of the exotic color and dramatic sweep that the epic adventure story requires.

  www.classicalartsireland.com

THE MET: LIVE IN HD worldwide

The pioneering Met: Live in HD has been a global phenomenon since it began seven years ago, and set a template for a whole new way of experiencing live entertainment. More than three and a half million tickets were sold during the 2010-11 season. ‘The Met: Live in HD’ can now be seen in more than 1,600 venues in over 60 countries.

CLASSICAL ARTS IRELAND

CAI is a not-for-profit voluntary organisation established in 2011. CAI promotes and develops a range of activities in Opera in Ireland, and in the related fields of Ballet and Classical Music. This includes an annual season of live satellite HD screenings transmitted to venues in communities all over Ireland.

Live in HD 2013-14

VENUES    

FULL CAI 2013-14 SEASON SCHEDULE

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