The Coolidge Corner Theatre

$20/ $17 Seniors, students, Coolidge Members and BLO subscribers

Co-presented by Boston Lyric Opera.

Set in France during the Second Napoleonic Empire (1852-70). The courtesan Magda de Civry, provided for by the banker Rambaldo, meets the young Ruggero Lastouc who has just arrived from the province at a party at her home. She meets him in disguise in a Parisian café where she falls in love with him, in the belief that by doing so she can reawaken a magical adventure she had in the past. Just like a swallow flying away towards the sun, Magda abandons the banker and goes to live with Ruggero on the French Riviera. Since he has no money the young man writes to his parents to ask their permission to marry his beloved, and this is granted readily. However, the thought of belonging to someone completely and having to renounce her previous brilliant life makes Magda so sad that she decides to leave her beloved Ruggero although it breaks both their hearts.

1h50m with one intermission

Music by: Giacomo Puccini

Conductor: Carlo Rizzi
Design: Peter J. Davison
Starring: Fernando Portari, Fiorenza Cedolins

$20/ $17 Seniors, students, Coolidge Members and BLO subscribers.

Co-presented by Boston Lyric Opera.

Following five years of extraordinary success with La Sonnambula, Norma and Beatrice di Tenda, I Puritani, the last opera written by a young Bellini, who died at age 34, is the richest example of transition from the lyrical classicism to the passion of romanticism. The first performances, in Paris, 1835, interpreted by the most beautiful voices of the time, became a legend.

For this production of I Puritani, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna has reunited two young stars who could well become the dream couple in the opera world: Juan Diego Florez and Nino Machaidze. Conducted by the extremely talented Michele Mariotti, I Puritani has been directed by the internationally renowned Pier’Alli, who, for more than 25 years, has set milestones in the story of opera direction.

2h35m with one intermission

Music by: Vincenzo Bellini

Conductor: Michele Marioti
Starring: Juan Diego Florez, Nino Machaidze

$20/ $17 Seniors, students, Coolidge Members and BLO subscribers.

Co-presented by Boston Lyric Opera.

Hector Berlioz‘s “Benvenuto Cellini, a French opera written in the 1830s, is so complex, richly detailed and prolifically imaginative that Berlioz‘s contemporaries often considered it unplayable. However, this is resoundingly proven false in the 2007 Salzburg Festival production of director Philipp Stölzl, conductor Valery Gergiev (“the wild man of music“) and a high-caliber cast accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and its chorus. Called “the surprise hit of this year’s Salzburg festival” (Bloomberg), the production met with rave reviews world-wide.

2h44m with one intermission

Music by: Hector Berlioz

Conductor: Valery Gregiev
Starring: Burkhard Fritz, Laurent Naouri

$20 general / $17 seniors, students, CCT members and BLO subscribers.

Co-presented by Boston Lyric Opera.

Eugene Onegin is an opera based on the novel in verse by Aleksandr Pushkin. It is a classic of Russian literature and its eponymous protagonist served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes. The story concerns Eugene Onegin, a selfish hero who lives to regret his blasé rejection of a young woman's (Tatiana's) love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with Lensky, his best friend.

2h30m with one intermission

Music by: Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Conductor: Alexander Vedemikov
Starring: Makvala Kasrashvili, Tatiana Monogarova