For gorgeous melody, spellbinding coloratura and virtuoso vocal fireworks, "I Puritani" has few equals. The first new Met production of Bellini’s final masterpiece in nearly 50 years involves a striking staging by Charles Edwards, who makes his company directorial debut after many successes as a set designer. The Met has assembled a world-beating quartet of stars, conducted by Marco Armiliato, for the demanding principal roles. Soprano Lisette Oropesa and tenor Lawrence Brownlee are Elvira and Arturo, brought together by love and torn apart by the political rifts of the English Civil War, with baritone Artur Ruciński as Riccardo, betrothed to Elvira against her will and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Elvira’s sympathetic uncle, Giorgio.
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Want even more behind-the-scenes access? Each week, Met Opera chorus member Katherine DeYoung brings you exclusive looks at the sets, costumes and fun production facts on our Instagram. Follow @classicalipr on Instagram to catch her video dispatches and get an insider’s perspective.
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From the Met: "Girl meets boy. Girl loses boy. Girl spirals into madness in a blaze of vocal glory. It’s a framework that has proven successful for many a bel canto masterpiece —including Bellini’s 'I Puritani,' whose heroine spends most of the opera’s three action-packed acts out of her senses.
"'I Puritani' was the final work from Vincenzo Bellini, the great Sicilian exponent of the bel canto style of opera. It was written specifically for the talents of four of the best singers of its day, and the opera’s success depends almost entirely on the vocal abilities (and artistic sensibilities) of the performers. Its depiction of madness — both in individuals and in communities — is extraordinary: the opera suggests that the veneer of sanity can slip away at any moment, that madness can plunge a person into a destructive abyss."
Read the synopsis from the Metropolitan Opera.
Composer: Vincenzo Bellini
Libretto: Carlo Pepoli
CAST
Bruno: Tony Stevenson
Riccardo: Artur Ruciński
Elvira: Lisette Oropesa
Giorgio: Christian Van Horn
Arturo: Lawrence Brownlee
Gualtiero: David Pittsinger
Enrichetta: Eve Gigliotti
Young Arturo: DeAundre Addison
Young Elvira: Taylor Massa
Lord Talbot: Richard E. Waits
