Rising Alternative Opens Opera Season with Mefistofele

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Mon, 09/23/2013 - 10:53 -- Nick Dager

On October 3 Rising Alternative will present The San Francisco Opera’s performance of Mefistofele, Arrigo Boito’s retelling of Goethe’s Faust, which The New York Times called a monumental work of "choral grandeur and melodic richness" in one of the most impressive productions ever seen at the War Memorial Opera House. Audiences across Europe will see the performance live in movie theatres brought to European with just the delay needed for time zones.

The cast includes Ramon Vargas as the philosopher who sells his soul to the Devil; Patricia Racette as the woman he desires; and, in the vividly menacing title role, a singer the Times called the "seductively malevolent" bass-baritone Ildar Abdrazakov, a "full bodied bass-baritone" renowned for his "wonderfully evil portrayals." The Italian maestro Nicola Luisotti will conduct.

Mefistofele is the first of 13 new live broadcasts that Rising Alternative will bring to cinemas for the 2013-2014 season.  It will be the first of two operas that Rising Alternative will bring from San Francisco. The second one, Lucrezia Borgia, will come in early 2014 with the Renée Fleming in a starring role.  

Rising Alternative www.risingalternative.com