The "Live in HD" program, now in its third year, transmits live performances from New York to 800 theaters around the world, from the College's Loew Auditorium to cruise ships in the Atlantic.
"The Met is putting their most glamorous and photogenic singers into the performances that are being broadcast," visiting music professor Scott Paulin said. "It clearly does play into what the Met is trying to do with this initiative, which is trying to market opera as something appealing, not something old and stodgy."
Ironically, the first opera in the "Live in HD" series this winter, Puccini's "La Rondine," had been abandoned by opera companies after its 1917 premiere in Monaco because depression-era audiences responded negatively to the lavish lifestyles portrayed in the story.
Angela Gheorghiu and her husband Roberto Alagna, who play the leads in "La Rondine," pushed the Met to put on this revival (rather urgently due to impending budget cuts).
The Met Opera obliged, and "La Rodine" was broadcast on Jan. 10, complete with beaded period costumes and a set that included ceiling-high, Tiffany-inspired windows.
The Hop added encore performances for all of the "Live in HD" shows this year and brought in Opera North, a Lebanon-based opera company, to help support the series, Sydney Stowe, manager of film at the Hop and organizer of the "Live in HD" series, said.
Despite the program's popularity, attendance among Dartmouth students is still low, said Paulin, who has given introductions at several of the presentations. Although Paulin often asks his own classes to attend, he said the Upper Valley community has taken advantage of the "Live in HD" program more often than have students.
The next three operas to be broadcast at the Loew are some of the most influential works in operatic canon.
"Orfeo ed Euridice"
Jan. 24 and Jan. 25 at 1 p.m.
"Orfeo ed Euridice," a celebration of the power of music, is based on the famous Greek myth of Orpheus and his efforts to resurrect his wife Eurydice, according to music professor Steve Swayne.
This production stars mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as Orpheus, although the role was originally written for a castrati, Swayne said.
Composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the opera is actually a PG-rated version of the myth, without the pedophilia and savage death.
Like other 18th century operas, it concludes with a "lieto fine" -- a happy ending -- which, in this production, is presented in the form of a ballet choreographed by Mark Morris, Swayne said. Gluck's attempt to reform the "opera seria" attracted the attention of later composers, including Mozart.
"Lucia di Lammermoor"
Feb. 7 and Feb. 14 at 1 p.m.
Movie fans may be familiar with this opera's aria "Il Dolce Suono" from the film "The Fifth Element" (1997). Unfortunately, the aria devolves into "some techno, hip hop thing" in the film, Swayne said. In its original version, however, the aria is the epitome of the "bel canto" opera style that characterizes "Lucia di Lammermoor."
The opera is one of the most frequently performed, filled with "coloratura" singing -- beautiful and dramatic vocals -- especially from its women, according to Swayne.
Later composers like Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt modeled their work after the bel canto style. Both "Orfeo ed Euridice" and "Lucia Di Lammermoor" were not performed for the first half of the 20th century because few sopranos were technically capable of the elegant singing required.In the 1950's, however, stars like Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland repopularized the bel canto form and killed the hefty, Wagnerian soprano stereotype.
"Madama Butterfly"
Mar. 7 and Mar. 8 at 1 p.m.
Like "Lucia," "Madama Butterfly" is another frequently performed opera that follows a tragic plot. The story, which inspired "Miss Saigon," follows Cio Cio San, the titular character, who commits suicide after the man she loves marries another woman.
"I am not a big 'Madama Butterfly' fan, but when I took my class over the summer to see it, some people absolutely fell in love with that opera, and I can see why they might fall in love with Cio Cio San," Swayne said.
