This story is a triumph for small town America.
Beginning Oct. 4, The MET: Live in HD will return to Durango. Ten transmissions of matinee performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City will be screened at Fort Lewis College.
Thanks to Charles Leslie, our persistent Concert Hall Director, this is the second year the college has sponsored the MET Live in HD. The live transmissions are gaining a local audience – of new and old opera fans.
Single and season tickets go on sale Aug. 19 for those who have attended before. Presumably, you’re in the computer system at Durango Welcome Center. Tickets for the public go on sale Aug. 21.
Season tickets for all 10 live transmissions are $207 plus service fees. Dixie June Reed, who works for the Concert Hall, told me in a telephone interview that translates to $1 per ticket if you walk in and buy the package. If you phone in your order, the service fee per ticket is $2. If you order online, www.durangoconcerts.com, the fee is $3 per ticket. It’s up to you.
Single tickets for adults are $23. Senior citizens pay $21, as do students, children and MET members. It pays to go to the Welcome Center and buy tickets directly.
What do you get for your money? Ten performances through May 10 playing Saturday mornings, usually beginning about 11 a.m. The screening takes place in the movie-theater-like Vallecito Room in the FLC Student Union. The seating is comfortable, and there’s plenty of free parking for opera fans.
Every Friday before a performance, I’ll be writing a preview in the Herald. At least you’ll know the story and some interesting history.
If you’re a novice, these performances are a great place to start. They are user-friendly with a host interviewing singers or the conductor during intermission. You’ll also get to see set changes.
You can bring a snack and/or a Thermos to get you through. Sometimes, FLC’s snack bar is up and running, so you can buy lunch down the hall during intermission. It’s up to you.
Here’s the lineup:
Oct. 5: Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” an odd Russian love triangle with a strong heroine and gorgeous music, based on Pushkin’s story in verse.
Oct. 26: Shostakovich’s “The Nose,” a comic opera about the misadventures of a bureaucrat, based on a short story by Gogol.
Nov. 9: Puccini’s “Tosca,” a searing tragedy about love, passion, rape, murder and Rome.
Dec. 14: Verdi’s “Falstaff,” about a larger-than-life Shakespearean character, conducted by the Met’s own James Levine.
Feb. 8: Dvorák’s “Rusalka,” an enchanted fairy tale featuring the enchanting soprano, Renee Fleming.
March 1: Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” a new production about a very old story – the beginnings of Mother Russia.
March 15: Massenet’s “Werther,” pained love sung by the tenor heartthrob Jonas Kaufmann.
April 5: Puccini’s “La Bohème,” the famous Franco Zeffirelli production ablaze with French passion albeit in a cold, Parisian loft.
April 26: Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte,” a spritely game of courtship and disguise.
May 10: Rossini’s “La Cenerentola,” a fanciful Baroque version of the Cinderella story.
jreynolds@durangoherald.com. Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, artist and critic.
