Crane Alumnae Renée Fleming & Stephanie Blythe Share Stage in Met Live's 'Rodelinda'

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SUNY Potsdam alumnae Stephanie Blythe, top, and Renée Fleming will perform alongside each other in the Metropolitan Opera’s “Rodelinda,” screening live on Dec. 3.

• Renée Fleming ’81 sings the title role in “Rodelinda.”
• The Metropolitan Opera staging for “Rodelinda” features sumptuous costumes and handsome sets, according to the Classical Review.

POTSDAM, NY (11/17/2011)(readMedia)-- The next installment of The Met: Live in HD will feature two of SUNY Potsdam's most celebrated alumnae -- superstar soprano Renée Fleming '81 and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe '92. The Crane School of Music is proud to sponsor the upcoming live screening of Handel's opera "Rodelinda" in Potsdam.

Sensational in Stephen Wadsworth's much-heralded production, Fleming is reprising the title role in "Rodelinda" that she sang in 2004. She is joined by Blythe as Eduige, and countertenor Andreas Scholl as Bertarido. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts.

Handel's opera, based on the life of a seventh-century queen of Lombardy, premiered at the Met in 2004. The opera, in which Rodelinda's love for her exiled husband remains steadfast despite the romantic and political machinations of his enemies, is a showcase for some of Handel's most extraordinary arias and duets.

Handel's "Rodelinda" will screen live at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Potsdam's Roxy Theater. In addition, there will be an encore transmission on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 12:30 p.m. as well.

The opera will be performed in Italian, with the English subtitles. The approximate running time is four hours, 15 minutes, with intermission breaks.

Crane student Jeffri Peralta will present a pre-opera talk a half-hour before all live performances this fall, including at noon on Dec. 3 in the movie theater to discuss "Rodelinda" before it airs.

In the North Country, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music and J.S. Cinemas sponsor the 2011-12 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.

The Metropolitan Opera's The Met: Live in HD series has won both Peabody and Emmy Awards, and sold more than 2.6 million tickets last season, expanding to 1,600 theaters in 54 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 or www2.potsdam.edu/cps/eventpgs/methd.html.

For more information on the 2011-12 The Met: Live in HD season, visit the Metropolitan Opera website at www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx.

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

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-