Weekend Planner: Metropolitan Opera ends high-definition season with popular double bill of plays

Published 9:32 am Thursday, April 23, 2015

Patricia Racette plays Nedda with Marty Keiser, Joshua Wynter and Andy Sapora in Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.” - Provided

Patricia Racette plays Nedda with Marty Keiser, Joshua Wynter and Andy Sapora in Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.” – Provided

The Met: Live in HD ends its season this Saturday with a new production of the popular verismo double bill of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.”

Marcelo Alvarez will star in both operas, first as the callous Turiddu in “Cavalleria Rusticana” and in the second opera as the mercurial clown Canio in “Pagliacci.” While these two operas have almost always been paired together at the Met since 1893, they have different composers and unrelated storylines.

“Cavalleria Rusticana” is is a story based on passion, betrayal and jealousy set in a Sicilian village on Easter Sunday. The opera focuses heavily on Santuzza, the peasant girl that Turiddu, a military man, seduces and abandons when he has an affair with his former lover.

Eva-Maria Westbroek plays Santuzza and Marcelo Alvarez plays Turiddu in Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana.” - Provided

Eva-Maria Westbroek plays Santuzza and Marcelo Alvarez plays Turiddu in Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana.” – Provided

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“Pagliacci” is about a troupe of traveling clowns headed by Canio. When Canio finds out that his wife, Nedda, has had an affair with a villager, Silvio, he stabs her to death onstage during a performance. This is set post-World War II in the same Sicilian village. The troupe arrives in a car and sets up shop in the piazza. The opera includes a riotous series of vaudeville routines.

The run time for both operas is approximately 3 hours and 5 minutes. Both operas will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. The start time of the opera is 11:30 a.m.

Meet the Met will be at 12:15 p.m. Friday at the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center. There will be discussion of the operas, composers and singers. A shortened Meet the Met will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the theater in the Green Room prior to the opera.

 

Friday

• The Red Cross will have a blood drive from 2 to 7 p.m. at St. Theodore Catholic Church.

 

Saturday

• Residents with proof of city residency can deposit certain items for free or reduced cost from 9 a.m. to noon at the transfer station as part of Home Town Pride Clean Up Day.

• Lake cleanup will be from 9 a.m. to noon starting at Frank Hall Park.

• Telling Your Family Story with Collage will be from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Freeborn County Historical Museum. Admission is free.

• The Naeve Alumni and Nurses Club will have its annual spring luncheon at 11 a.m. at First Lutheran Church. Call 507-826-3229 for additional details.

• The 4-Man Best Shot 2015 kick-off tournament will begin at 12:30 p.m. at Wedgewood Cove Golf club. The entry fee is $50 per player or $25 for season pass holders. Call 507-373-2007 to sign up.

• Bowl-a-Thon for Arc of Freeborn County will be from 1 to 3 p.m. at Holiday Lanes. Bowling is free with $30 in pledges. Call 507-377-3469 for more information.

• The Freeborn County, You Tell Us presentation will be from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Freeborn County Historical Museum.

• The Glenville American Legion will have a steak fry from 5 to 8 p.m. Burgers and fries are available. Cost is $13 for steak and $8 for burgers and fries.

• National Theatre Live presents “The Hard Problem” at 7 p.m. at the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $20, $12 for students.

 

Sunday

• Enjoy breakfast from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Albert Lea American Legion. Pancakes, potatoes, scrambled eggs with or without ham, sausages, fruit cup, juice, milk and coffee will be served. Cost is $7.

• The Cantori spring concert will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at United Methodist Church.

Movie listings

• Friday, Saturday and Sunday: “Furious 7,” “Home,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” “The Age of Adaline,” “The Longest Ride,” “Unfriended” and “Woman in Gold.”