The Met: Live in HD opens with Tosca at Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts October 10

The Met: Live in HD opens with Tosca at Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts October 10

Image: Tosca The 2009-10 Met Live in HD season opens with Puccini's "Tosca" starring soprano Karita Mattila in the title role at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. The house opens at 12:30 p.m. for the pre-performance program of live interviews. In celebration of the first Met Live in HD broadcast of the season at Fairfield University, attendees will enjoy a special reception.

An encore performance broadcast takes place later the same day at 6 p.m. Once again, the house opens one-half hour earlier for the pre-performance program. Currently, there is a waiting list for the 1 p.m. performance. Seating is still available for the 6 p.m. performance. Seating is reserved and tickets are $22 general, $20 seniors, $15 students and children.

Fairfield University recently added to the Live in HD experience at the Quick Center with the purchase of a new surround sound system that is fully installed and calibrated specifically for the Center's space.

"Tosca" combines Puccini's glorious musical inspiration with the melodramatic vitality of one of the great Hitchcock films," says Met Music Director James Levine, who conducts this new production.

The opera tells the story of three people - a famous opera singer, a freethinking painter and a sadistic chief of police - caught in a net of love and politics.

Soprano Mattila, recently seen in last season's Live in HD presentation of "Salome," sings Tosca for the first time outside her native Finland. Luc Bondy, acclaimed for his imaginative theater and opera productions, directs in his Met debut. The cast also includes Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi and George Gagnidze as Scarpia.

Gagnidze, who made his Met debut in the title role of "Rigoletto" last season, sang Scarpia with the New York Philharmonic in June 2008. The Georgian baritone made his opera debut in 1996 and has regularly performed dramatic roles such as Scarpia, Rigoletto, the Dutchman in Wagner's "Der Fliegende Holländer," and Renato in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" in the opera houses of Germany and Eastern Europe.

Sets are by Richard Peduzza (also a Met debut), costumes by Milena Canonero and lighting by Max Keller.

Since The Met: Live in HD launched on Dec. 30, 2006, more than 3 million people in 35 countries have seen it. This season Live in HD adds seven countries to its list of broadcast venues, making a total of 42 countries that broadcast the series live.

Tickets are available at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit the website at fairfield.edu/quick .

Running time is approximately 3 hours 27 minutes with 2 intermissions.

Directions: Fairfield University is located off I-95, exit 22 at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.

Posted On: 09-15-2009 10:09 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 57