Opera Fans, Start Your Engines

Time was, only a few years ago, that short of a hike to the Big Apple, the only way to enjoy the Met was on WAMC radio (Alan Chartock’s animosity notwithstanding). Not that it isn’t still a most enjoyable and easy way to experience great opera; I am especially enamored of the voice of Met announcer Margaret Juntwait, who replaced the venerable Peter Allen (for those of us with a long memory of Saturday afternoons by the radio). Plus on radio you can listen to the entertaining Opera Quiz at intermissions. And no purchase is necessary. But it is truly a gift that the HD broadcast has made it possible to experience the next best thing to being there, and at roughly half the cost. In addition to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie and the Warner Theatre in Torrington carry HD broadcasts of the Met performances. The Met’s season looks to be a really exciting one, with high drama taking center stage. This weekend brings “Don Giovanni,” Mozart’s classic retelling of the Don Juan tale, which he subtitled “The Rake Punished.” Mozart composed it a year after his groundbreaking “Marriage of Figaro,” followed, eventually, by “The Magic Flute.” The Met’s principal conductor, Fabio Luisi, is in charge. Luisi is now widely figured to follow the ailing James Levine as music director. The Mahaiwe and the Bardavon will both broadcast the opera live in HD on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 1 p.m. The Mahaiwe showing features an introductory talk at 11 a.m. by opera scholar Scott Eyerly. Other upcoming highlights of the season include performances of all four operas in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Philip Glass’s “Satyagraha,” three Puccini operas including “Madama Butterfly,” and Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd,” one of the seminal operas of the 20th century. For Mahaiwe tickets, call 413-528-0100 or go to www.mahaiwe.org; for the Bardavon, call 845-473-2072 or go to www.bardavon.org; and for the Warner, call 860-489-7180 or go to www.warnertheatre.org. Remember, I said that the HD broadcasts are “the next best thing.” If you can swing an opera ticket and a trip to New York City, there is still nothing quite like experiencing grand opera in the grandest opera house of them all.

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