The Met: Live in HD Presents Dramatic Russian Opera "Boris Godunov"

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René Pape sings the title role in Mussorgsky’s masterpiece, “Boris Godunov,” screening locally through The Met: Live in HD at noon on Oct. 23.

POTSDAM, NY (10/14/2010)(readMedia)-- The Met: Live in HD will return for the second show of the 2010-11 season with the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky's masterpiece, "Boris Godunov," starring German bass René Pape. The Russian epic follows a ruthless czar who murdered a child heir to the throne in order to ascend to power, and his struggles with guilt.

Directed by Stephen Wadsworth, the New York Times said the opera production "comes to life through the nuanced and affecting performances of the cast and chorus." Valery Gergiev conducts Mussorgsky's epic spectacle that captures the suffering and ambition of a nation, with Aleksandrs Antonenko, Vladimir Ognovenko and Ekaterina Semenchuk leading the huge cast. Pape is singing the monumental title role for the first time at the Met in this production.

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. "Boris Godunov" will be screened live at noon on Saturday, Oct. 23, with an encore transmission at noon on Sunday, Oct. 31 at the Roxy Theatre in downtown Potsdam. The expected running time of the opera is five hours.

"There are two protagonists in Boris--the title character and the people he rules," Wadsworth said. "Through Boris we see the private mind of a flawed leader, and through the chorus we see the volatility of a people skeptical about their leaders. Boris seems to me a good person who made a terrible mistake and ultimately cannot live with it. He yearns for his lost innocence."

The opera "Boris Godunov" is based upon Alexander Pushkin's play of the same name, which chronicles the rise and fall of the historic Russian leader, who ruled first as regent and then as czar from 1585 to 1598. Following his reign, Russia descended into a period historians call the "time of troubles." "Boris Godunov" is the most recorded of all Russian operas.

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 the State University of New York at 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.

-www.potsdam.edu/crane-