Portland Opera & OMSI Film Series “Opera on Screen”

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Portland Opera and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) have launched “Opera on Screen,” a series of high-definition film screenings featuring recent productions from the San Francisco Opera. The series opened on September 5th with Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Mozart’s Don Giovanni and continues with Puccini’s La Rondine, and Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saëns.

The screenings take place at OMSI’s recently renovated Empirical Theater, which features a fourstory tall screen and a Dolby Atmos sound system, making it the most technologically advanced venue in the state. Each screening will be preceded by a special introduction given by a Portland Opera staff member.

General admission tickets for the complete series and individual screenings now on sale at www.omsi.edu/emperical-theater. Portland Opera subscribers and OMSI members receive
significant discounts on subscriptions and single tickets.

Upcoming screening schedule:
Fri, Sept 19, La Rondine “The Operetta Tradition”, at 7pm
Sun, Sept 21, Samson and Delilah “Femmes Fatale in Opera”, at 4pm
Fri, Oct 3, Don Giovanni “Innovation & Technology in Opera” at 7pm
Sun, Oct 5, Madame Butterfly “The Bishop Who Birthed Butterfly”, at 4pm
Fri, Oct 17, Samson and Delilah “Femmes Fatale in Opera”, at 7pm
Sun, Oct 19, La Rondine “The Operetta Tradition”, at 4pm

Madame Butterfly
Patricia Racette as Madame Butterfly/San Francisco Opera

About the Operas:
La Rondine is Puccini’s foray into operetta—the bittersweet tale of the Parisian courtesan Magda, who falls in love with an idealistic young man named Ruggero, only to decide she must leave him and return to her life of indulgent pleasure. Angela Gheorghiu is featured as Magda. The opera is sung in Italian, with English subtitles.

Samson and Delilah is the epitome of grand opera—the story of the Biblical hero who loses his powers, thanks to the diabolical Delilah, but is able to summon his faith for one last feat—the epic destruction of the Philistines and their temple. Clifton Forbis and Olga Borodina star in the title roles. The opera is sung in French, with English subtitles.

Madame Butterfly is Puccini’s heart-breaking tale of a Japanese geisha who marries and is then abandoned by a callous American sailor, Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton. When Pinkerton returns to Japan with his new American bride, Madame Butterfly realizes their relationship is over and commits hara-kiri. Patricia Racette stars in the title role. The opera is sung in Italian, with English subtitles.

Don Giovanni is Mozart’s tragicomedy about the final days of a serial seducer, who meets a spectacular dénouement after he kills the father of one of his would-be conquests. The production stars Mariusz Kwiecien in the title role. Don Giovanni is sung in Italian, with English subtitles.

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