Arts and Culture Flourish on the Big Screen of The Ridgefield Playhouse with The Met Opera

Soak in a great day of arts and culture at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, with two wonderful presentations on their big screen. At 2pm is The Met Opera's encore presentation of Cherubini's Medea, which kicks off the highly anticipated 2022-23 Live in HD season. It is presented courtesy of the FirstLight Home Care Classical Series, underwritten by Liz & Steven Goldstone, and Sabina Slavin. Having triumphed at the Met in some of the repertory's fiercest soprano roles, Sondra Radvanovsky stars as the mythic sorceress who will stop at nothing in her quest for vengeance. Later that evening, take a tour of the magical city of Venice from the comfort of a theater seat! As part of the RPAC Gallery Great Art on Film Series, The Playhouse will screen Venice: Infinitely Avant Garde at 7:30pm. It is also part of the FirstLight Home Care Classical Series, as well as the Cohen and Wolf P.C. Movie Series. The documentary showcases masterpieces by Tiepolo, Canaletto, Rosalba Carriera and the intellectuals who fell in love with Venice: from Canova to Goethe, Lord Byron to Walter Scott, down to the great Hollywood stars drawn to its yearly Film Festival. Media sponsor for the event is WLAD 94.1fm/800am.

In this encore presentation of Medea, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky stars as the mythic sorceress who will stop at nothing in her quest for vengeance. Joining her in the Met-premiere production of Luigi Cherubini's rarely performed masterpiece is tenor Matthew Polenzani as Medea's Argonaut husband, Giasone; soprano Janai Brugger as her rival for his love, Glauce; bass Michele Pertusi as her father, Creonte, the King of Corinth; and mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Medea's confidante, Neris. Carlo Rizzi conducts. Its composer, Luigi Cherubini was greatly admired by Haydn, Beethoven, Rossini, and Chopin, and skillfully navigated the radically changing tastes in music and politics in his day. A fiery retelling of a seminal Greek myth, Medea had its world premiere in 1797 in Paris at Théâtre Feydeau. The opera is set in the Greek city of Corinth, a wealthy and sophisticated locale already ancient by the time of the events in the opera. Medea herself is a foreigner from Colchis, a land thought by Greeks to be wealthy but primitive and which was associated with overly empowered women. Radvanovsky has previously triumphed at the Met in some of the repertory's fiercest soprano roles, having made her Met debut in 1996 as Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto.

From the Playhouse seats, we "travel" from Greece to Italy thanks to the documentary Venice: Infinitely Avant Garde. 1600 years after its legendary foundation, Venice continues to be unique for its urban landscape and for its rich history, but above all, the city is unique for its identity, which combines the charm of decadence with the excitement of being on the cutting edge. This tour of the city takes in masterpieces by Tiepolo, Canaletto, Rosalba Carriera and the intellectuals who fell in love with Venice: from Canova to Goethe, Byron to Walter Scott, down to the great Hollywood stars drawn to its unique, yearly Film Festival.

For more information or to purchase touchless print at home tickets ($25, Members & Seniors $20, Students $15, Children 18 & under FREE; $12.50), go online at www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org or visit or call the box office at (203) 438-5795. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge Road, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT and is committed to keeping the arts alive and available to all.

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