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.
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| City/Town | Venue | |||
| Arklow | GCG Cinema | M | B | BP |
| Belfast | Odyssey Cinema Titanic Quarter | M | B | BP |
| Odeon Belfast | M | |||
| Queens Film Theatre | B | |||
| Castlebar, Mayo | The Linenhall Arts Centre | M | ||
| Cork | Omniplex Mahon Point | M | B | BP |
| Drogheda | Droichead Arts Centre | M | ||
| Dublin | Screen Cinema, Townsend St | M | B | |
| IMC Santry | M | B | ||
| The Lighthouse, Smithfield | M | B | BP | |
| IMC Dun Laoghaire | M | B | BP | |
| Odeon Stillorgan | M | |||
| Swan Omniplex, Rathmines | M | B | ||
| Galway | The Eye Cinema | M | B | BP |
| Letterkenny | Century Cinemas | M | B | BP |
| Limerick | Omniplex Dooradoyle | M | B | |
| Lisburn | Omniplex Lisburn | M | B | |
| Sligo | GCG Cinema | M | B | BP |
| Waterford | Odeon Waterford | M |
| Metropolitan Opera | Bolshoi Ballet | Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra |
FULL CAI 2013-14 SEASON SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | Title | Stream |
| Sat. October 5th 2013 | 6pm | Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky) | Met |
| Sun. October 20th 2013 | 4pm | Spartacus (Live) | Bolshoi |
| Sat. October 26th 2013 | 6pm | The Nose (Shostakovich) | Met |
| Sat. November 9th 2013 | 6pm | Tosca (Puccini) | Met |
| Sun. 17th November 2013 | 3pm | *Le Corsaire (recorded live) | Bolshoi |
| Fri. 6th December 2013 | 6.30 pm | Schubert, Beethoven/Dudamel | Berlin Phil |
| Sat. 14th December 2013 | 6pm | Falstaff (Verdi) | Met |
| Sun. 22nd December 2013 | 3pm | *Sleeping Beauty (recorded live) | Bolshoi |
| Tues. December 31st2013 | 4pm | Beethoven, Dvorak, Brahms etc. / Lang Lang | Berlin Phil |
| Sun. January 19th 2014 | 3pm | Jewels | Bolshoi |
| Sun. February 2nd 2014 | 3pm | Lost Illusions | Bolshoi |
| Sat. February 8th 2014 | 6pm | Rusalka (Dvořák) | Met |
| Fri. February 28th 2014 | 6.30 pm | Bach: St John Passion /Rattle | Berlin Phil |
| Sat. March 1st 2014 | 5pm | Prince Igor (Borodin) | Met |
| Sat. March 15th 2014 | 5pm | Werther (Massenet) | Met |
| Sun. March 30th 2013 | 4pm | The Golden Age | Bolshoi |
| Sat. April 5th 2014 | 6pm | La Boheme (Puccini) | Met |
| Sat. April 26th 2014 | 6pm | Così fan tutte (Mozart) | Met |
| Sat. May 10th 2014 | 6pm | La Cenerentola (Rossini) | Met |
| Wed. June 18th 2014 | 6.30 pm | Strauss, Brahms /Barenboim | Berlin Phil |
