Andrea Chenier At The Palace Cinemas
Celebrated tenor Jonas Kaufmann sings the role of the poet embroiled in the politics of the French revolution in The Royal Opera’s production of Umberto Giordano’s opera Andrea Chénier, captured live in high-definition from the stage of London’s Covent Garden in January and screening in Australian cinemas in February/March.
Conducted by Antonio Pappano and directed by David McVicar, the new production for the Royal Opera is a fictionalised account of the life of Chénier, opening during the opulence of pre-revolutionary France and coming to its climatic end in the final days of the ‘Reign of Terror’. The performance also features Australian baritone Peter Coleman-Wright as Pietro Fléville.
Andrea Chénier, is famed for its challenging tenor role and demanding arias including the famous tenor aria Un dì all’azzuro spazio, also known as L’improvviso and the soprano aria La mamma morta.
The story begins in 1789 at a lavish winter garden party in Paris where Chenier falls in love with the beautiful aristocratic Maddalena, sung by Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek. Six years later Maddalena has lost everything and France has descended into a city consumed by suspicion and fear. Condemned by a revolutionary love rival Gérard, sung by the outstanding Serbian baritone Željko Lučić, the fateful couple reunite to face the barbaric ‘Revolutionary Trial’.
Not seen at Covent Garden since 1985, Giordano’s powerful and moving opera is staged to great visual effect from the sumptuous palace of the Countess of Coigny to the drab streets of Paris swathed in the tricolor.
Click here for screening times and dates. www.palaceoperaandballet.com.au
