A Count in Disguise Stars in 'Le Comte Ory' at The Met: Live in HD

Rarely-Heard Bel Canto Comedy Opera to be Screened in Potsdam on April 9 & 17

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Dressed as a nun, Count Ory, portrayed by tenor Juan Diego Flórez, grasps at Countess Adèle, played by soprano Diana Damrau, right.

POTSDAM, NY (03/31/2011)(readMedia)-- A rarely-heard bel canto comedy is coming to the Metropolitan Opera stage -- and The Met: Live in HD series -- for the first time.

The Metropolitan Opera will present its first-ever performances of Gioachino Rossini's final comic opera, "Le Comte Ory," in an upcoming production by Bartlett Sher. Maurizio Benini conducts an exceptional cast of stars, led by tenor Juan Diego Flórez in the title role, soprano Diana Damrau as Countess Adèle, and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Isolier.

The New York Times is already calling the new production "lively" and "stylish," while the Washington Post said it's a "rare feast for the ear," and a "treat for the eye as well."

The vocally-dazzling comic opera, in which a love-struck count resorts to trickery to seduce a lonely countess, will be transmitted to movie theaters in 46 countries through The Met: Live in HD on Saturday, April 9.

"Le Comte Ory" will screen live at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, with an encore transmission at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 17 at Potsdam's Roxy Theater. The expected running time is three hours. The opera will be performed in French, with English subtitles.

Sponsored by SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, the series has introduced pre-opera talks for the remainder of the 2010-11 The Met: Live in HD season.

Crane student Vincent Covatto will speak in advance of each performance, including two discussions before the screening of "Le Comte Ory." One talk will be held at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, April 1 in the Crane Green Room on the SUNY Potsdam campus, and the other will be at 12:30 p.m. directly before the opera in Potsdam's Roxy Theater on Saturday, April 9. To learn more about the pre-opera talks, visit metinhid.craneoperaensemble.com.

Rossini's opera "Le Comte Ory" portrays Count Ory, who poses first as a mystical hermit and then as a female religious pilgrim, in order to win the heart of Countess Adèle.

Director Bartlett Sher describes the opera as "a place where love is dangerous. People get hurt. That can be very funny and very painful. Rossini captures both -- with the most beautiful love music Rossini ever wrote."

In the North Country, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music and J.S. Cinemas sponsor the 2010-11 season of The Met: Live in HD. Music-lovers and novices alike can watch the staging live from the Metropolitan stage in New York City, where high-definition cameras capture the action and the dramatic music is presented in surround sound, with English subtitles, through The Met: Live in HD.

The Metropolitan Opera's The Met: Live in HD series has won both Peabody and Emmy Awards, and sold more than 2.2 million tickets worldwide during the 2009-10 season. For the upcoming fifth season, The Met: Live in HD will expand to 1,500 theaters, and add Egypt, Portugal and Spain to its network of now 46 participating countries.

Ticket prices for the series are the lowest available in the nation: $18 for an adult, $15 for senior citizens, $12 for students and $9 for youth age 18 and under.

Tickets are available by calling the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277, or visiting the Roxy Theater or Northern Music & Video in downtown Potsdam or the CPS Box Office in the lobby of Sara M. Snell Music Theater. You can also reserve tickets online by visiting www.cpspotsdam.org.

For more information on the 2010-11 The Met: Live in HD season, visit the Metropolitan Opera website at www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_next.aspx.

To learn more about The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution, and is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011.

-www.potsdam.edu/crane-