The Met: Live in HD

Andrea Chénier

Umberto Giordano

Saturday, Dec. 13 | 1 p.m.
Museum of Art | Sinnott Family – Bank of Utica Auditorium
$26 Members | $32 General Public | $16 Students

Giordano’s passionate tragedy stars tenor Piotr Beczała as the virtuous poet who falls victim to the intrigue and violence of the French Revolution. Following their celebrated recent partnership in Giordano’s Fedora in the 2022–23 Live in HD season, Beczała reunites with soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Chénier’s aristocratic lover, Maddalena di Coigny, with baritone Igor Golovatenko as Carlo Gérard, the agent of the Reign of Terror who seals their fates. Met Principal Guest Conductor Daniele Rustioni takes the podium to lead Nicolas Joël’s gripping staging.

Giordano’s great tragedy blends verismo’s focus on the raw emotions of everyday people with the spectacle of historical grand opera. By focusing on individuals caught up in a wildly dramatic moment in history, the opera manages to be both human and epic in scope.

Giordano’s score is lush and stirring, with emotions expressed powerfully and immediately by the orchestra and by the singers. In Act I, for example, the title character’s famous solo “Un dì, all’azzurro spazio” pulls the listener directly into the world of Chénier. The soprano must produce an amazing depth of expression in her great Act III aria, “La mamma morta,” and the baritone has the thrillingly impressive solo “Nemico della patria.” The tenor and soprano also express their love in two of the most charged duets in Italian opera, one in Act II and another as they face the guillotine together in the opera’s finale.

Language: Italian
Run Time: 3 hrs., 30 min., with two intermissions

To purchase tickets at the student price, call 315-797-0055.

Cinema Series Sponsor: Elizabeth R. Lemieux, PhD.