Verdi's 'Ernani' Brings Award-Winning Young Soprano to Met Live in HD

Up-and-Coming Singer Angela Meade Stars in Opera about a Love 'Quadrangle'

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Up-and-coming soprano Angela Meade plays Elvira, left, next to Roberto Biasio in the title role in “Ernani.” Marcello Giordani will play Ernani on Feb. 25 in the Met Live transmission.

POTSDAM, NY (02/09/2012)(readMedia)-- The Metropolitan Opera will bring its revival of Giuseppe Verdi's "Ernani" to movie screens across the world, just days after its star received one of the most prestigious awards a young vocalist can be honored with.

Soprano Angela Meade takes center stage in the thrilling early gem by Verdi, in the next installment of The Met: Live in HD on Feb. 25. Meade was recently bestowed with the seventh annual Beverly Sills Artist Award.

The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is designated for extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met. Meade made her Metropolitan debut in 2008 in the starring role in "Ernani," which she will bring to international audiences in the live transmission.

"Her voice is plush and penetrating, though the power comes effortlessly from the body and richness of her sound. Her top notes soared over the orchestra. Yet just as impressive were her finespun pianissimo phrases," Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times said of Meade's work in the opera. "She can be a cautious singer, and she started tentatively here. But as the evening progressed, she gained confidence and conveyed the pathos, anguish and torment of a young woman being pulled apart by three controlling men, one of whom she adores."

Verdi's "Ernani" is set in 16th century Spain, and is based on a play by Victor Hugo. In the title role, tenor Marcello Giordani plays Ernani, an outcast bandit who is really the disguised former Don Juan of Aragon, who lost his land and titles in a civil war. He is in love with Elvira, who is about to be forced to marry her uncle, Don Ruy Gómez de Silva, a part sung by bass Ferruccio Furlanetto. The third unexpected challenger for Elvira's affections is Don Carlo, the king, played by baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

"Ernani" will screen live at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 at Potsdam's Roxy Theater. There will be an encore transmission at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 4.

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

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.

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 2011-12.

-www.potsdam.edu/crane-