The Metropolitan Opera: The Exterminating Angel

Nov 18, 2017

2h 22m

★ 7.7

Overview

After the acclaimed Met premiere of Thomas Adès's "The Tempest" in 2012, the composer returned with another masterpiece, this time inspired by filmmaker Luis Buñuel's seminal surrealist classic "El Ángel Exterminador", during the 2017–18 season. As the opera opens, a group of elegant socialites gather for a lavish dinner party, but when it is time to leave for the night, no one is able to escape. Soon, their behavior becomes increasingly erratic and savage. The large ensemble cast tackles both the vocal and dramatic demands of Adès's opera with one riveting performance after another. Tom Cairns, who also penned the work's libretto, directs an engrossing and inventive production, using a towering wooden archway to trap the characters onstage. And Adès himself takes the podium to conduct the frenzied score, which features a host of unconventional instruments, including the eerie electronic ondes Martenot.

Genres

Fantasy

Music

Production Companies

The Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera: The Exterminating Angel Trailers

Cast

Edmundo de Nobile

Joseph Kaiser

Lucía de Nobile

Amanda Echalaz

Leticia Maynar

Audrey Luna

Leonora Palma

Alice Coote

Silvia de Ávila

Sally Matthews

Francisco de Ávila

Iestyn Davies

Blanca Delgado

Christine Rice

Alberto Roc

Rodney Gilfry

Beatriz

Sophie Bevan

Raúl Yebenes

Frédéric Antoun

Eduardo

David Portillo

Colonel Álvaro Gómez

David Adam Moore

Götterdämmerung, the final instalment of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung, is a story of human passions. Two essentially benevolent creatures, involved with and possibly doomed by their traffic with the gods, find treachery and evil in the world of the humans, and are ruined by the dark side of humanity. Iréne Theorin, acclaimed worldwide for her portrayal of Wagner’s heroines, stars as Brünnhilde opposite Lance Ryan, who continues his radiant portrayal of the tragic hero Siegfried. The strong cast also includes Mikhail Petrenko as the dark antagonist Hagen and Johannes Martin Kränzle, who once again shines as his father Alberich. Waltraud Meier has a memorable appearance as Brünnhilde’s sister Waltraute. With this 2013 recording of Götterdämmerung, the musically and visually compelling Scala Ring Cycle by Daniel Barenboim and Guy Cassiers was completed and proved to be one of the highlights of the Richard Wagner bicentenary.

9.2

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No overview available.

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0.0

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6.6

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The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.

0.0

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5.4

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7.2

Donkey Skin

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A fairy godmother helps a princess disguise herself so she won't have to marry her father.

0.0

Arabella

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6.1

End of Days

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0.0

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4.2

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0.0

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0.0

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8.2

Kui saabub õhtu

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No overview available.

0.0

Hänsel und Gretel

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6.6

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5.3

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10.0

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0.0

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