Sunday, January 14, 1 p.m., Orcas Center
— from Susannah Weaver for Orcas Center —
Orcas Center presents the New York Met’s new production of Adès’s The Exterminating Angel streaming Live in HD on Sunday, January 14 at 1:00 pm. Join us for the Met. Come and see what the Huffington Post declares: “A spectacular American premiere of one of the most anticipated openings of a new opera in years.”
The Met presents the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name. Hailed as “stunningly innovative” at its October 26 Met premiere, The Exterminating Angel is a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests cannot escape. Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto in collaboration with the composer, directs the new production, and Adès conducts his own adventurous new opera.
Critics agree that the music is dazzling and recommend that if you see only one opera this year to make it The Exterminating Angel. The new production is audacious, “Mr. Adès’s wild, searing score explores the emotional undercurrents of the story and fleshes out the horror of the characters’ situation. Played with crackling perception and color by the orchestra—bristled with manic, almost madcap, energy,” said the New York Times.
New York Magazine declares the opera hyperdramatic. “Ades must have been moving toward this work his entire life. I can’t think of another living composer who can conjure fear, contentment, bitterness, disgust, and joy with a few quick measures.” “Adès’s Kaleidoscopic music transforms into a scarily contemporary comedy, a kind of modern Falstaff in which the cosmic joke is on everyone,” said Wall Street Journal. “A sly mix of humor and bludgeoning force—a virtuoso cast.”
Tickets for the Met’s The Exterminating Angel are $20 and $15 for students, with $2 off for Orcas Center members. They may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or by calling 376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center Box Office open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12-3 pm. $5 subsidized tickets available at the Box Office. This show is rescheduled from November 26 and those ticket holders have tickets available in the box office for the January 14 event. For more information about Orcas Center’s 2017-2018 season visit www.orcascenter.org.
