The Met: Live in HD
Arabella
Richard Strauss
Saturday, Nov. 22 | 1 p.m.
Museum of Art | Sinnott Family – Bank of Utica Auditorium
$26 Members | $32 General Public | $16 Students
Strauss’s elegant romance brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th-century Vienna to cinemas worldwide in a sumptuous production by legendary director Otto Schenk that “is as beautiful as one could hope” (The New York Times). Set in Vienna around 1860, the historical moment that drives the plot is the situation of a fading landed gentry attempting to keep up appearances while somewhat adrift in the modern urban melting pot.
While certain elements of operatic farce are present, there is great elegance about the work, and its characters’ journeys are moving and affecting in their own way. The title character—honest, pure, well-meaning—is one of opera’s most appealing and believable characters. Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen stars as the title heroine, a young noblewoman in search of love on her own terms. Radiant soprano Louise Alder is her sister, Zdenka, and bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is the dashing count who sweeps Arabella off her feet.
The score of Arabella is beautiful and charming, with a wealth of lyrical melody perfectly attuned to the demands of the story and characters. Strauss’s most exalted domains—his writing for the soprano voice and for the orchestra—are magnificently apparent throughout this score, with the title character’s introspective soliloquy in Act I being just one stunning example. He also calls upon the orchestra to create unforgettable effects, nowhere more notable than in the touching final scene, in which the listener is transported into a musical experience of forgiveness, wisdom, and the burgeoning of true love.
Language: German
Run Time: 4 hrs., 10 min., with two intermissions
To purchase tickets at the student price, call 315-797-0055.
Cinema Series Sponsor: Elizabeth R. Lemieux, PhD.
