Great Performances | PBS » Angela Gheorghiu http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:54:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 GP at the Met: La Rondine: Preview of La Rondine http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-rondine/preview-of-la-rondine/718/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-rondine/preview-of-la-rondine/718/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:19:44 +0000 colin fitzpatrick http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/?p=718 Opera’s golden couple, Angela Gheorghiu and husband Roberto Alagna, offer viewers a rare chance to experience Giacomo Puccini’s attempt to meld Italianate opera with the bittersweet Viennese operetta formula Saturday, April 25 at noon (ET) on Great Performances at the Met on PBS HD (check local listings). Last seen at the Met in 1936, La Rondine (The Swallow) is the tale of an unhappy kept woman who opts for one last fling with an idealistic young man, then returns – like the swallow – to her rich benefactor, sadder and more worldly wiser.

Watch a preview below:


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Soprano Gheorghiu and tenor Alagna (“singing with ravishing, tender voices and onstage intimacy,” wrote AP) are the lovers Magda and Ruggero, with tenor Marius Brenciu as Magda’s friend Prunier and veteran Met bass Samuel Ramey as her keeper, the banker Rambaldo. Marco Armiliato conducts.

The glittering new Art Deco production is by Nicolas Joël, with sets by Ezio Frigerio, costumes by Franca Squarciapino and lighting by Duane Schuler. “A beguiling production,” raved The New York Times, “sophisticated, charming and poignant.”

Great Performances at the Met: La Rondine, the seventh of 11 productions airing this season, is sung in Italian with English surtitles; Giuseppe Adami wrote the libretto, after A.M. Willner and Heinz Reichert. The production was transmitted onstage as part of The Met: Live in HD January 10, 2009, and recorded for this telecast. Brian Large directs, with series favorite Renée Fleming as host. Jay Saks is audio producer.

The world’s most popular (and arguably slowest) opera composer, Giacomo Puccini oversaw La Rondine’s premiere in Monte Carlo in 1917. It followed La Fanciulla del West (Girl of the Golden West)) by seven years and preceded Il Trittico by one.

Great Performances is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS. Corporate support for Great Performances at the Met is provided by Toll Brothers. Special funding for this telecast is provided by the Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund.

Visit Great Performances Online at pbs.org/gperf for additional information on this and other Great Performances programs.

For the Met, Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park are Supervising Producers, and Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik are Producers. Peter Gelb is Executive Producer. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is Series Producer; David Horn is Executive Producer.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-rondine/preview-of-la-rondine/718/feed/ 17 GP at The Met: La Bohème: Introduction http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-boheme/introduction/282/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-boheme/introduction/282/#comments Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:21:47 +0000 daniel ross http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/?p=282
la boheme

Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

Composer: Giacomo Puccini

Librettists: Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

Production: Franco Zeffirelli

Conductor: Nicola Luisotti

Performers: Angela Gheorghiu (Mimì), Ramón Vargas (Rodolfo), Ainhoa Arteta (Musetta), Ludovic Tézier (Marcello), Quinn Kelsey (Schaunard), Oren Gradus (Colline), Paul Plishka (Benoit/Alcindoro)

Synopsis:
Franco Zeffirelli’s timeless interpretation of the Puccini favorite has been delighting audiences at the Met for more than 20 years. GREAT PERFORMANCES at the Met is there when yet another magnificent cast takes to the stage in this enduring classic. Exciting young conductor Nicola Luisotti presides over a glorious vocal ensemble led by Angela Gheorghiu, who sings Mimì at the Met for the first time in twelve years, opposite tenor Ramón Vargas as her lover, Rodolfo.

Opera synopsis courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.

Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “La Bohème” has been provided by Toll Brothers, the Irene Diamond Fund, the Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund, M. Beverly and Robert G. Bartner, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS.

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]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-boheme/introduction/282/feed/ 14 GP at The Met: La Bohème: Production Credits http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-boheme/production-credits/283/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-la-boheme/production-credits/283/#comments Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:16:15 +0000 daniel ross http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/?p=283 Web Credits

Producer: Anu Krishnan
Designer: Lenny Drozner
Graphic Art: Ying Zhou-Hudson, Emily Nonouchi
Technical Director: Brian Lee
Production Assistant: Diana Cofresí-Terrero
Copy Editor: Leslie Kriesel
HTML Implementation: Brian Santalone

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Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Anthony Chapman, Director of Interactive & Broadband. Bob Adleman, Business Manager. Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director, Corporate Affairs.

Television Credits

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “La Bohème”

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